Comic Book Resources

This is assuming that Johnston’s information is correct. We don’t know that yet.

I’m sure once CNN was calling for the interviews, instead of Newsarama, DC figured they’d better have something new to say…

Johnston’s other observation–about the gender of DC’s highly touted gay superhero–is my favorite comment on the whole Batwoman thing.

Excellent point, Kevin.

If Johnston’s snoops are correct with the information, Grayson isn’t all that bad of a choice; could’ve been worse.

If this is true, I’ve got no problem with DC doing a Batwoman ongoing as long as the character has a neat hook. It sounds so far like they’re going for a Bat-character who isn’t completely tied to/operating in the shadow of Bruce Wayne, which would be more than welcome – the last time they tried that (with Huntress), they just ended up having Batman dump on the character for a decade and a half, and that was a total waste. So doing something similar with Kathy Kane would be worth taking a shot. And besides, these books are crusted over with ancient characters by now. They’re practically dying for new blood – and even if the new blood in question is a retrofitted version of an old character, anything fresh would be a relief at this point.

As for the “she’s being prepped for an ongoing and Didio’s lying about it” thing, I’m not sure what the marketing rationale behind such a stealth campaign would be, but I don’t much care, either. DC has a right and a duty to promote their new characters as much as possible, and the typical fan objection of “they forced so-and-so down our throats!” seems terribly silly. Either she’s an interesting character or she’s not; how the company decides to promote her is frankly beside the point.

Johnston’s other observation–about the gender of DC’s highly touted gay superhero

Of course there’s a stronger bias against gay men than against gay women. From the perspective of the straight males that still dominate the market, attractive lesbians can still be objects of desire, whereas gay men are seen as alien and sexually threatening. There are of course plenty of gay men in mainstream comics, even if the vast majority of them are second- and third-tier characters unlikely to get a solo title anytime soon. The good news in this department is that Midnighter is getting his own comic soon; the bad news is that Garth Ennis is writing it, and I’m not sure if he’ll be able to resist filling it with sodomy jokes.

Of course, all of this could be a moot point if Johnston turns out to be wrong about this. I doubt that anyone’s gone over his old columns and actually counted, but I’d be surprised if he even clears a Drudgian “80% of the facts” standard.

It just seems–with such widespread media attention–that an ongoing has to happen. I don’t think Didio lied about it to Newsarama, I just don’t think he realized it was going to be such big news. I think the decision was made after all the attention.

“I bet they will still have ‘Because you demanded it!’ on the front cover.”

Just like we *demanded* Arana?

Didio’s Punisher analogy really irks me. Marvel didn’t roll out the Punisher in Spider-Man and then “allow” interest to grow. The Punisher was introduced as simply another new villain whom writers turned out to like well enough to re-use. Yes, over time, the character was developed and fan interest grew, but that was an organic thing, not a marketing strategy. Didio’s comment is another example of the top-down editorial/business-driven thinking that, as so many people haver remarked, is impinging on the creativity of individual writers – the very creativity that used to allow them to dream up presumably one-shot characters who could grow to massive popularity. Howard the Duck, anyone? (Yes, I know his day has come and gone.)

I like how people know exactly how to respond to a character who hasn’t even appeared yet based on the use of a promotional strategy that’s not even in use yet.

Daredevil didn’t grow “organically”; his character was “forced” on Marvel readers in 1964 just like every other character who first showed up in their own #1. Spider-Man only showed up in one story in a sci-fi anthology series before Lee and Ditko started shoving him down our throats in his own book. And the Fantastic Four? Who the hell “demanded” them? They just came out of nowhere!

Here’s a crazy suggestion: if you don’t like Batwoman, you don’t have to buy her comic. You didn’t like Arana or Gravity or whoever? Nobody put a gun to your head for those, either. And y’know what – when nobody bought those comics, they got canceled! Hey, guess the system worked! So how did the existence of twelve issues of Latina Spider-Girl rape your fanboy childhood?

This weirdly pissy attitude towards new characters completely mystifies me. No, you didn’t “demand” Batwoman, any more than you demanded Seven Soldiers or the Great Ten or Manhunter. That’s what a “new” character IS – someone that shows up without a pre-existing fan base, and thus without a pack of dribbling zombies going “OMG MOON KNIGHT AND GHOST RIDER TOTALLY NEED A NEW SOLO BOOK!!!11!!!”

The superhero genre is crusted over with decades-old and slowly-dying characters, many of which are simply retreading the same territory they’ve been doing for ages and many which never really worked in the first place but get periodically hauled out for a beating anyway. That so many fans are not only indifferent but downright hostile to the introduction of new characters kind of pisses me off.

moose n squirrel (great name, by the way) -

Assuming you’re responding (in part) to me – as your quoted “organically” seems to suggest – I never said anything indicating a prejudgment of the Batwoman character. She may be good, she may be bad – we’ll see. My comment was solely about Didio’s misguided analogy with the Punisher, and what it reflects about current editorial thinking.

My biggest “Because You Demanded It!” complaint–Rob Liefeld’s return to X-Force.

I demanded that? That’s a libel lawsuit waiting to happen, and quite possibly a defamation of character suit as well.

Moose, you’re freaking out responding to something that nobody said.

Yes thanks for your honesty. That is very refreshing on the net these days.

G