Comments | nevermore999: On these shenanigans with women pre-bronze age

nevermore999

On these shenanigans with women pre-bronze age

Jan 31, 2010 14:34

here and here

I agree with Maddy and bluefall for the most part.

Don't attack me, hear me out.

Wonder Woman and Black Canary and Lois Lane from the Golden Age are wicked awesome. And I've never read much old Marvel (or Marvel period...but guys, I recently bought a lot of Incredible Herc back issues AND I read Marvel Adventures and Books a Million I'm ( Read more... )

comic book women, women in comics, feminism, comics, ranting

Comments 31

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scottyquick January 31 2010, 23:30:59 UTC

They need to reprint those awesome romance comics. I loved the ones posted on Scans Daily.

bluejaybirdie January 31 2010, 20:52:04 UTC

This. Absolutely this. The whole going back to the Bronze/Silver Age thing at DC is killing me because it's just going back to those same straight white male characters. It's just so completely backwards. Say what you want about the 90's, but at least they had some serious diversity.

kalinara January 31 2010, 22:12:36 UTC

Okay, I'm mostly staying out of this discussion on an agree-to-disagree type basis. But your comment makes me have to ask in genuine curiosity ( ... )

bluejaybirdie January 31 2010, 22:37:26 UTC

It's not so much the 90's minority characters are getting totally eradicated, as it is that the focus is on the straight white male characters from the Silver Age.

The "Iconic" Versions of Characters:

Hal Jordan: Straight White Male
Barry Allen: Straight White Male
Bruce Wayne: Straight White Male
Clark Kent: Straight White Male
Diana: Straight White Female

Even dropping to a lower tier of heroes, you see a lot of the same.

Robin (in all incarnations except Steph): Straight White Male
Kara Zor-El: Straight White Female
Stephanie Brown: Straight White Female
Ollie Queen: Straight White Male
Aquaman: Straight White Male
Dinah Lance: Straight White Female

Now, I'm not saying these characters are bad. I adore some of them. But these are the characters that DC will be primarily focusing on in the upcoming months, and I would love to see some more diversity there.

(Kyle was, at least in theory, partially Hispanic, by the way)

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Thread 30

ashez2ashes January 31 2010, 23:21:55 UTC

I have to admit, I rather liked what I've read of silver age Supergirl (borrowed a hardcover archive edition from the library). As long as Superman wasn't around in the story, she got to have lots of fun crazy adventures.

skjam February 1 2010, 13:01:37 UTC

That DC editorial directive makes the Showcase Presents: Strange Adventures volume I reviewed a while back make more sense in retrospect. I had kind of wondered why there were so few women in the stories, and mostly in cameo roles. There was only one story that prominently featured a woman ( ... )

chalts February 6 2010, 06:05:54 UTC

You know, I don't think it's really Silver Age nostalgia that's motivating all this. It's Bronze Age nostalgia. Even in the Bronze Age, Hal Jordan was the main Green Lantern with John as the backup. Barry Allen was the Flash, Babs was Batgirl. Modern Supergirl is a lot more like her Bronze Age incarnation than her ridiculously sexist Silver Age incarnation.

Actually, speaking of Silver Age sensibilities, what's your take on Brave and the Bold? It's more Bronze Age in some ways, but it's got a lot of the zaniness of the Silver Age while still having major roles from female and minority characters. Also, Cluemaster appeared on tonight's episode, making me wonder if we'll see Steph some day.