Witness My Articulate Fangirl Rage!
You know, sometimes the problems I have with how female characters are treated in comics seem so nebulous and plentiful that they are hard to pin down and explain properly.
But doing that post about Booster Gold #25 and the subsequent discussion was very helpful, because it provides a concrete example of how writers often neglect to consider the possibility of female characters having an active participating role in a story, even when it would have been really simple (and perhaps even easier) to do so.
My awareness of such things is heightened when it comes to bat-women and bat-girls, but looking back, Michelle (Booster's sister) was also kind of awkwardly shuffled out the door in that series as well.
When it comes to the bat-books, and to a larger extent, the entire DCU, it feels as though there is only so much room for so many characters to shine. And if some characters don't have a favoured creative team pitching ideas and advocating for them, they quickly become the runts of the litter.
Case in point, Barbara Gordon and Kate Kane, and Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
Barbara Gordon has been demoted from her former position of being the central nervous system for all Gotham and DCU heroes when it comes to information, research and communication. She used to pro-actively seek out missions and assemble appropriate field agents and teams.
Now she mentors one 18-year-old girl vigilante (Batgirl, Stephanie Brown). That's cool, but that's really not all she should be doing.
On the other hand, we have Kate Kane. We're finally getting a proper introduction to the character, and aside from the pointy-nippled bras, her stint in Detective Comics has been received pretty positively from what I've seen.
In fact, she's doing so well that Dan Didio has hinted that we'll be seeing more of her outside of 'tec, interacting with other bat-people, becoming more prominent, and maybe even getting an ongoing solo series of her own (given that Detective will inevitably end up reverting back to Batman).
And that's great. Except that I can't help but feel Kate's rise is at the cost of Barbara's. Especially when you take into account the history of Paul Dini and Alex Ross originally proposing that Barbara regain the ability to walk and become Batwoman.
Thankfully that idea was scrapped (why do I say thankfully? here's why). But then I start to wonder if the creation of Kate Kane as Batwoman kind of implies that they needed a Batwoman to fill the role that Barbara can't. And that makes me angry, because there's no reason why Oracle can't be involved in practically any given story. If she can't be there in person, fighting on the ground, then she's got field agents who can. Further to that, the idea that a Batwoman is necessary to tell stories that one can't tell about Barbara Gordon feels like the storytelling equivalent of someone in a wheelchair being invited into a restaurant with stairs but no ramp. If they just built a damn ramp, then there would be no barrier or exclusion! Maybe that's going too far with this one, but it's still an aspect I wonder about.
I'm only just getting to know the character, and I really, genuinely, do want to like Kate Kate and enjoy her as I do all bat-family characters. If a bit of bitterness seeps into my words when I talk about her, please know that it's nothing against her, but instead due to the lack of deserved respect I feel Barbara Gordon gets right now.
I hate that the situation makes me feel like the characters are in some ways being pitted against each other in competition for relevancy in the DCU. It seems like Babs is getting shoved aside because of Kate Kate, and that's annoying and awful, because Kate Kane is an interesting character who may very well prove to be an awesome part of Gotham and the DCU.
The same goes for Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. Both have suffered from controversial writing, with one being inexplicably turned evil and her characterization consistently ignored, and the other killed off and never remembered in canon until fans kicked up enough complaint that DC saw the value in bringing her back.
Nobody at DC apparently had the familiarity or interest in Cassandra Cain to realize all the contradictions and betrayal of character that Adam Beechen created in the Batgirl mini-series or his previous writing of her. And it would seem that Chuck Dixon was the only one who actually wanted to write her, before he left DC.
Bryan Q. Miller certainly doesn't have any interest in the character. And love Stephanie Brown though I do, it's kind of disappointing that DC would choose to yet another blonde girl to fill the role of one of their "iconic" hero mantles.
So, Cass Cain, one of the very few non-white bat-family characters (and pretty much the only regular one at that) gets shoved out of the picture and left in editorial limbo until 2010. And given that unlike with other DC projects, where they boast and drop hints about the glorious things to come, all we know is "2010". Which, to me, indicates that they haven't a clue what to do with her.
Again, I hate that it feels like two awesome female characters are pitted against each other in this fashion. Want a cool young adult female bat character? You've got it! You want two? GET OUT! They could have so easily created a Batgirl/Spoiler book. Steph is in college, maybe Cass decides to try and get her GED or starts a career as a dancer or teaching martial arts. They could've rented an apartment in downtown Gotham, have wacky roommate hijinks, crime-fighting team-ups and good times!
But, no. Only one gets the spotlight.
The whole things seems partly a function of the nature of the mainstream comics business as much as it is sexism. There's only so many comics a publisher can sustain producing with their limited niche market audience, and with DC, you've got five main acknowledged franchises: Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Wonder Woman. Five white straight guys and one woman. Homogeneity, to say the least. If they started up Sensation Comics again, gave Wonder-Girl a title, resurrected Birds of Prey and/or gave Oracle a solo series in addition to being a part of the JLA and occasionally mentoring in Batgirl (or Batgirl/Spoiler)--who's to say they would even sell when the general mentality is that all the action and important stuff is happening somewhere else in the DCU, where all the boys (you know, the real, iconic heroes) hang out?!
I don't know. But it still seems wrong, and I wish something could be done about it.
Actually, something that could be done about it is making female characters the stars, the integral heroes, or big events for once. But then, that would mean the guys might have to take the back seat, and not be the default hero. And while The Powers That Be at DC might be sympathetic to the plight of its female characters, I have a hard time envisioning them being comfortable with that idea enough to actually follow through with it, let alone entertain the notion.
But doing that post about Booster Gold #25 and the subsequent discussion was very helpful, because it provides a concrete example of how writers often neglect to consider the possibility of female characters having an active participating role in a story, even when it would have been really simple (and perhaps even easier) to do so.
My awareness of such things is heightened when it comes to bat-women and bat-girls, but looking back, Michelle (Booster's sister) was also kind of awkwardly shuffled out the door in that series as well.
When it comes to the bat-books, and to a larger extent, the entire DCU, it feels as though there is only so much room for so many characters to shine. And if some characters don't have a favoured creative team pitching ideas and advocating for them, they quickly become the runts of the litter.
Case in point, Barbara Gordon and Kate Kane, and Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
Barbara Gordon has been demoted from her former position of being the central nervous system for all Gotham and DCU heroes when it comes to information, research and communication. She used to pro-actively seek out missions and assemble appropriate field agents and teams.
Now she mentors one 18-year-old girl vigilante (Batgirl, Stephanie Brown). That's cool, but that's really not all she should be doing.
On the other hand, we have Kate Kane. We're finally getting a proper introduction to the character, and aside from the pointy-nippled bras, her stint in Detective Comics has been received pretty positively from what I've seen.
In fact, she's doing so well that Dan Didio has hinted that we'll be seeing more of her outside of 'tec, interacting with other bat-people, becoming more prominent, and maybe even getting an ongoing solo series of her own (given that Detective will inevitably end up reverting back to Batman).
And that's great. Except that I can't help but feel Kate's rise is at the cost of Barbara's. Especially when you take into account the history of Paul Dini and Alex Ross originally proposing that Barbara regain the ability to walk and become Batwoman.
Thankfully that idea was scrapped (why do I say thankfully? here's why). But then I start to wonder if the creation of Kate Kane as Batwoman kind of implies that they needed a Batwoman to fill the role that Barbara can't. And that makes me angry, because there's no reason why Oracle can't be involved in practically any given story. If she can't be there in person, fighting on the ground, then she's got field agents who can. Further to that, the idea that a Batwoman is necessary to tell stories that one can't tell about Barbara Gordon feels like the storytelling equivalent of someone in a wheelchair being invited into a restaurant with stairs but no ramp. If they just built a damn ramp, then there would be no barrier or exclusion! Maybe that's going too far with this one, but it's still an aspect I wonder about.
I'm only just getting to know the character, and I really, genuinely, do want to like Kate Kate and enjoy her as I do all bat-family characters. If a bit of bitterness seeps into my words when I talk about her, please know that it's nothing against her, but instead due to the lack of deserved respect I feel Barbara Gordon gets right now.
I hate that the situation makes me feel like the characters are in some ways being pitted against each other in competition for relevancy in the DCU. It seems like Babs is getting shoved aside because of Kate Kate, and that's annoying and awful, because Kate Kane is an interesting character who may very well prove to be an awesome part of Gotham and the DCU.
The same goes for Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. Both have suffered from controversial writing, with one being inexplicably turned evil and her characterization consistently ignored, and the other killed off and never remembered in canon until fans kicked up enough complaint that DC saw the value in bringing her back.
Nobody at DC apparently had the familiarity or interest in Cassandra Cain to realize all the contradictions and betrayal of character that Adam Beechen created in the Batgirl mini-series or his previous writing of her. And it would seem that Chuck Dixon was the only one who actually wanted to write her, before he left DC.
Bryan Q. Miller certainly doesn't have any interest in the character. And love Stephanie Brown though I do, it's kind of disappointing that DC would choose to yet another blonde girl to fill the role of one of their "iconic" hero mantles.
So, Cass Cain, one of the very few non-white bat-family characters (and pretty much the only regular one at that) gets shoved out of the picture and left in editorial limbo until 2010. And given that unlike with other DC projects, where they boast and drop hints about the glorious things to come, all we know is "2010". Which, to me, indicates that they haven't a clue what to do with her.
Again, I hate that it feels like two awesome female characters are pitted against each other in this fashion. Want a cool young adult female bat character? You've got it! You want two? GET OUT! They could have so easily created a Batgirl/Spoiler book. Steph is in college, maybe Cass decides to try and get her GED or starts a career as a dancer or teaching martial arts. They could've rented an apartment in downtown Gotham, have wacky roommate hijinks, crime-fighting team-ups and good times!
But, no. Only one gets the spotlight.
The whole things seems partly a function of the nature of the mainstream comics business as much as it is sexism. There's only so many comics a publisher can sustain producing with their limited niche market audience, and with DC, you've got five main acknowledged franchises: Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Wonder Woman. Five white straight guys and one woman. Homogeneity, to say the least. If they started up Sensation Comics again, gave Wonder-Girl a title, resurrected Birds of Prey and/or gave Oracle a solo series in addition to being a part of the JLA and occasionally mentoring in Batgirl (or Batgirl/Spoiler)--who's to say they would even sell when the general mentality is that all the action and important stuff is happening somewhere else in the DCU, where all the boys (you know, the real, iconic heroes) hang out?!
I don't know. But it still seems wrong, and I wish something could be done about it.
Actually, something that could be done about it is making female characters the stars, the integral heroes, or big events for once. But then, that would mean the guys might have to take the back seat, and not be the default hero. And while The Powers That Be at DC might be sympathetic to the plight of its female characters, I have a hard time envisioning them being comfortable with that idea enough to actually follow through with it, let alone entertain the notion.