SENYC Report: Reimagining the Female Hero

Following Marvel’s Next Big Thing, room 1E19 was turned over to a very different sort of panel. At once more important but less serious, Reimagining the Female Hero was my favorite panel at Special Edition: NYC and, judging from the reactions I’ve seen, I get the sense I wasn’t alone in that.

In a stark inversion of horror stories from previous conventions where feminist panels were trolled by attendees waiting out more traditional fare, I noticed many fans sticking around from The Next Big Thing. In fact, despite taking place in the same room as DC and Marvel’s offerings, the panel gave us reason to hope and easily held its own in terms of attendance.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that the panel had some pretty excellent creators. The line-up included Jenny Frison, a talented cover artist for series including Revival and Red Sonja; Emanuela Lupacchino, the artist on DC’s Supergirl and the Superman: Lois Lane one-shot; Marguerite Bennett, the writer of Superman: Lois Lane and Batgirl #25 and #30; Gail Simone, feminist icon and writer on Batgirl; and Amy Reeder, the artist behind Madame Xanadu and Rocket Girl, who arrived from her dedicated panel a short while into the discussion.

It’s also worth mentioning that the panel had an excellent moderator in the form of Professor Ben Saunders of the University of Oregon. While I hesitate to devote too much praise to the only man involved with the panel, Professor Saunders did an excellent job of keeping the focus on his panelists, encouraging their relevant digressions, and recognizing their celebrity while keeping the mood light yet respectful.

In short I left the room with a greater respect for everyone involved.

Justice League International #3 – Review

By: Dan Jurgens (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Actually, I can believe it’s not the Justice League.

The Review: On the topic of super-teams that need to distinguish themselves from the Justice League, let’s turn our attention to one of the most obvious offenders.  We mustn’t forget that for a long time, JLI was the Justice League, one that some readers loved and still remember as their definitive version of the team.  Ever since Grant Morrison’s “pantheon” version of League, however, JLI has been relegated to running joke status, a rut that can be a challenge to get out of.

It looks like Jurgens wants to tackle the issue head-on, but at an angle.  Instead of setting up JLI as an actual joke (vis-à-vis Geoff Johns’ take on Aquaman #1), Jurgens establishes them from the start as more of a PR stunt, a band of heroes that excel more in political correctness than actual competence as a fighting unit (Godiva proves, once again, that she is nearly worthless in a crisis situation).  Think of Vatican City’s Swiss Guard, and you’ll get the general idea.

To get the group past that image, Jurgens throws in a global-scale threat, betting they have what it takes to beat the odds and actually use their multinational strength for global good.  Of course, you have to question why other, more practiced teams (say, Stormwatch, or, I dunno, the Justice League?) don’t step in to take care of things as they usually do, but let’s leave that matter aside.  After all, the JLI have to prove themselves useful at some point, right?

Unfortunately, they don’t do much of that in this issue.  Overall, the plot becomes your typical “split off the team and watch them fall apart, two-by-two,” which becomes a bit predictable after a while, especially since each unit has exactly the same mission (one distracts the giant, the other establishes access to the cavern underneath) and they wind up scrapping with the exact same enemies (earthen golems that chitter—“Chtk-chtk-chtk!”—in an increasingly annoying fashion).

Justice League International #2 – Review

By: Dan Jurgens (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciller), Matt Ryan (inker), Hi-Fi (colorist)

The Story: Well, it’s not “Hands Around the World,” but it’ll have to do.

The Review: With one Justice League already in existence, and with all the world’s biggest, brawniest, most recognizable heroes counted in the roster, it really puts all other teams to shame, doesn’t it?  Justice League Dark may have proven its value where purely mystical threats are concerned, and Stormwatch when it comes to covert planetary guardianship, but JLI has been a sanctioned imitation from the start, and will have to work that much harder to break out.

It’ll have a much harder time of it if Jurgens doesn’t figure out how to write any of the characters beyond their most basic conceptions.  Rocket Red and August General spend most of the issue taking digs at each other’s nationalistic pride (“To be saved by miracle of Russian technology is glorious for you!”  “Chinese science would have been faster and more efficient.”), which comes across embarrassingly clichéd and antiquated—what is this, the late seventies?

This lack of identity applies double to the women.  While Godiva has sort of found a voice for herself (and it is the voice of a randy lady), her fellow females all have a sameness to their dialogue, making them exceptionally interchangeable.  Here’s a sample of all four women talking at once (see if you can tell who’s who!): “Is he trying to tell Batman what to do?”  “You heard right.”  “This is about to get good.”  …”He’ll need the doctor more than me.”

Even with the most fully-formed personalities of the team, Jurgens seems in creative competition with others and himself.  Batman sounds as dour and commanding as ever, but certainly has none of the spark Scott Snyder, Geoff Johns, or Grant Morrison have given him.  Jurgens gives Guy a lot of sound and fury, but none of the wit and depth Peter Tomasi lends him in Green Lantern Corps.  And while Booster, as Jurgens’ specialty, comes across the most convincing of all the team, his agonizing self-doubt certainly makes him unrecognizable.

While shocking to see the team rank on Booster, just because he chooses to back off from a fight and see to his teammate’s injuries, it’s even more shocking to see Booster simply take their abuse so personally and without a peep.  The fact he even considers stepping down at this first sight of discontent already proves he doesn’t have the chops to lead, and ultimately, it’s the intercession of Batman and August General, not his own skills, which restores trust in him.

Zatanna #2 – Review

by Paul Dini (writer), Stephane Roux (pencils & inks), Karl Story (inks), John Kalisz (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Zatanna battles Fuseli in the realms of nightmare and Brother Night makes Detective Colton an offer he can’t refuse.

What’s Good: Stephane Roux’s artwork in this issue is awesome.  He takes his game up to totally new levels for this issue.  A good part of it is due to much of the issue taking place in Zatanna’s dreams, which allows Roux to really cut loose with his lay-outs, allowing him to go wild with a couple of awesome splash pages or create pages that feel like organic collages while John Kalisz goes wild with the psychedelic colors.   Zatanna’s facial expressions are also really well done, instantly making her very likable.  Villains Brother Night and Fuseli look great as well; Brother Night’s barely changing sinister grin is creepy as hell and Fuseli reminded me of Gollum of LOTR fame.

Dini’s Zatanna continues to grow on me.  Her trademark sassiness is ever present and it was nice surprise to see her be completely unfazed Fuseli’s nightmares.  Instead going through the typical traumatic struggle with her past, Zatanna quickly interrupts Fuseli and starts kicking ass in the nightmare realm.  It was a total about-face from what I was expecting.  Dini also adds plenty of human touches to the character.  In constantly wanting a good night’s rest, Zatanna is instantly more sympathetic and vulnerable, which is in complete juxtaposition to her composure when battling Fuseli’s conjurations.  It’s really rather neat as Zatanna shows no vulnerability under stress, when we’d expect her to, but instantly becomes human outside of that stress.  If that’s not the mark of a superhero, I’m not sure what is.

Dini is also very effectively building up Brother Night.  Everything he does is subtle and minimal, just enough to hint at his power without ever pulling back the curtain.  There’s a demonstration of his power this issue that is really awesome in this respect; it suggests the sheer depth of his power without breaking out any pyrotechnics.

I also liked Dini’s depiction of Fuseli’s dream manipulation.  Instead of going with standard nightmares for his victims of falling or monsters or what have you, Fuseli’s constructions are realistic and close to life.  It’s far more effective and it makes a lot more sense.

Justice League of America #40 – Review

By James Robinson (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Rob Hunter, Scott Hanna, & Marlo Alquiza (inks), Pete Pantazis (colors), and John J. Hill (letters)

The Story: Dr. Light, Vixen, and Gypsy battle the Black Lantern versions of the former Dr. Light, Vibe, and Steel.

What’s Good: Mark Bagley continues to satisfy me with his output on Justice League.  All told, his characters have a cartoony, accessible, Saturday morning feel that’s very comfortable with the series, and unlike last month, there aren’t any botched facial expressions.

I also did rather enjoy Vibe and Steel’s continual calling out of Vixen and Gypsy, essentially calling them underpowered C-listers that no one cares about.  It only hurts, because, well, it’s kind of true.  It’s also in many ways an apt criticism of the JLA comic and a great segue into next month’s major roster shuffle.

Justice League of America #38 – Review

by James Robinson (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Rob Hunter (inks), Pete Pantazis (colors), and Rob Leigh (letters)

The Story: Someone dies, the remnants of the JLA discuss their future, and Despero attacks.

What’s Good: Even though it’s the death of an absolute z-lister, I really did like the opening scene this month. In providing a massive, faceless new enemy, it delivered that sense of foreboding danger that should be in the opening issue of any writer’s run. It felt meaningful and intense and promised good stuff to come.

Robinson also writes a powerful and likable Zatanna and her presence is probably the high point of the issue.  She’s just a lot of fun, light-hearted but also the undeniable heavy of the team at the moment. Robinson also does a good job on approaching Plas’ current predicament, including referencing his agelessness, limitations, and Plas’ own frustrations when he’s unable to act upon his creativity.

On art, Mark Bagley’s work is superb. This is basically the standard for the “modern DC superhero” look, and what better place for that than the JLA comic? It’s a bright, colorful, and pleasing comic full of youth, energy, and vitality. Bagley was definitely the right man for the job.

What’s Not So Good: Despite all this, this comic is something of a disaster zone. It’s not the fault of Bagley or Robinson, who outside of one atrocious punch-line by Despero, acquit themselves admirably.  Rather, this is a case of “wrong place, wrong time.”

The problem is that Robinson and Bagley are being thrown into a company-wide event before even managing to get through one issue. As a result, Robinson has far too much on his plate: the aftermath of Cry for Justice, McDuffie’s baggage, and leading in to a Blackest Night tie-in.

That said, his hands are also tied. Given that the Blackest Night tie-in will run for two months, his run won’t really start until January. As a result, he can’t fully introduce a new enemy. He can’t start his first arc. He can’t even introduce his JLA roster. He’s forced to give us 22 pages of chaos and water treading.

We get an utterly pointless and horribly familiar conversation about whether the JLA has a future or not. It’s one we’ve heard a million times and it’s without any real emotional impact or distinct flavor. It’s just the same tired material without nuance. It’s also more or less without consequence. Nothing changes and nothing is revealed thanks to the conversation. It’s just there to fill pages. Then we get a random, and I mean random attack by freaking Despero of all people. Huh? Where in the heck did that come from? Despero’s reasons are never explained and even if they were, it’d still be random. You can’t have a guy like Despero launch a surprise attack out of the blue with zero build-up.

Then BAM!  Blackest Night image of a zombie floating in the air!

Conclusion: This is a bad comic that still has hope for its run, given that none of it is Bagley or Robinson’s fault.

Grade: C –

-Alex Evans