DC Round-up

Starfire Vol. 1-2 by Amanda Conner

These two volumes starring everyone’s favorite Tamarian has the sun-kissed alien living in the tropical paradise of Florida as a way to distance herself from the drama of her relationship with Dick Grayson (who may or may not be dead?) and just general superheroing. Not that she doesn’t do that, but while in Florida, Kori takes the time to get an actual job at the aquarium with her doplin-translating skills, relax on the beach and help the Coast Guard.

Of course, there are some hijinks as the alien still has quite a bit to learn about earth culture like mortals are generally more prudish about walking around naked though most of the population eagerly enjoys the view. She develops a potential will-they-won’t-they with Sol who questions if it’s worth the potential heartbreak that comes with dating a superhero? She also befriends police officer, and Sol’s sister, Stella who guides her through human slang and other earth customs.

But villains always manage to find a way to disturb even the sunniest beach day from invading aliens who wish to vanquish the Tamarian heir to helping the superhero, Terra and her underwater/Earth’s core kingdom against a coup.

It was all very fun and Conner’s colorful artwork reflects that with its shine and luster but I felt it lacked a little depth in the case of Kori as her mortal friends dealt with the bulk of grief, stress over jobs and other emotional pathos. This really felt like a vacation for Kori. Though the one issue concerning her relationship with Dick was a departure from that as it dealt with the struggles of dating a bird whose duty to the Batfam and the mission always takes priority. I just wish there had been more connecting more of Kori’s thoughts about her life on Earth, if she misses her homeworld, even some family drama with her sister as the would have made an even more exciting fight than the usual alien enemy invaders.

Catwoman by Joelle Jones and Ram V.

The first three volumes of Joelle Jones’ Catwoman takes place right after the infamous Batman marries Catwoman event where Selina left Bruce at the altar, feeling that their moralities were too different despite the love she felt for the stern bat. Now she has to contend herself with her new life alone and her raging feelings of trying to go back to a love that cannot be.

Perhaps it’s a good thing that Villa Hermosa is being terrorized by the vain black widow, Raina Creel, who presents an excellent foil to Selina as she presents a toxic, narcissitic love, favoring one son over the other and unable to let go even in death. The complete opposite of Selina who feels she cannot accept love because she’s a “sinner” and a bad person and always has been. This is probably compounded by her currently caring for her catatonic sister, Maggie who is still suffers the trauma of torture by the Black Mask who was targeting Selina.

Selina also befriends other street kids but the accompanying danger of the police, the Penguin as well as the Neighborhood Watch committee headed by all conspire to bring more harm to Selina’s allies, adding to her list of collatoral damage in her attempts to help salvage Villa Hermosa while pay off her debts to other villains.

The following three volumes are taken by Ram V. as Selina departs from Villa Hermosa to her original lodgings in Alleytown. Just as Villa Hermosa was lush with ornate mansions alongside “humbler” duplexes, Alleytown is gritty, dirty and full of dirt from the refuse and alleycats that hang around there. Once again, Selina gains a flock of followers but dangers follow her at every turn.

Unfortunately, the last three volumes were a bit of downer for me because it relied on crossover events and knowledge of other series that bleed into this one rather than a standalone story so Selina’s personal narrative of re-finding herself was constantly interrupted by appearances of a Space Luthor, the Joker’s War and HArley quinn giving it a tonal whiplash.

Yara Flor by Jonelle Jones

The latest Wonder Girl didn’t quite remember her origins. In fact, Yara Flor seems to have blocked out her traumatic past where her indigenous village was burned down, her family killed and so on. Now she’s a well-adjusted Brazilian girl, trying to enjoy her vacation back home with her boyfriend when criminals attack and gods seek to take her hand. Not to mention Cassie Sandsmark and Artemiz are trying to find her before Hera and her bevvy of gods do lest Yara accidentally releases a new war between the gods and Amazons.

Yara’s story was really exciting because even though it made some references to previous Wonder Women mythos, this was more or less an origin story for Yara so it was easy to jump in. As usual I love, loved the inclusion of the Greek gods as usual and how they’re immortalness makes them so attractive yet foreign to human morals. I’m always up for more Greek gods. But I also enjoyed the Brazilian myths and legends included in the stories which gave Yara something unique to fight but more culturally impactful, not to mention terrifying. Just look at the story of Yara fighting .

While the fights of gods and Amazons were action-packed, I admired the human moments more like Yara’s funny reaction to Hera forcing her to drink ambrosia (a polite pass), the welcoming sisterhood of Cassie bonding with Yara and Yara connecting and remembering her past again. It’s those human moments that make the superhumans so entertaining to read.

Also there was a whole short story on Yara’s pegasus. How can you not love that?

Constantine: Distorted Illusions by Kami Garcia

Taking a detour from her Titans series for DC Ink, Garcia brings new life into everyone’s favorite British magician. This Constantine is still a wild teenager whose estrangement from his father led to his personal motto of “Don’t get attached, don’t get hurt.”

He’s a bit cynical and more than a bit arrogant when his stepfather keeps suggesting he join his magical society to get training. Lady Marguerite in the US is willing to take him up as apprentice. However, a real magician just has his talent, he doesn’t need a pretentious magic society if he’s already the best is Constantine’s way of thinking. That’s why he pisses off Lady Marguerite first thing when he lands and goes off to join his mate, Veronica and bassist Slaughter as lead singer of their band.

It’s all rock out and magic pyrotechnics when the trio decide to up their stage presece with a stolen grimouire, showing Constantine that he may have vast power, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get over his head.

Garcia does a great job in reflecting on Constantines youthful arrogance while highlighting his vulnerabilities as a perpetual screw-up that even he thinks he can’t fight the shadow of his neglectful father. The message of found family is a good one.

However, the requisite romance that populate most of these DC Ink books was not as satisfactory. Luna is Lady Marguerite’s ward sent to spy on Constantine after he leaves Marguerite’s mansion creating a typical spying-on-him-but-then-developes-real-feelings conflict and the push-pull between responsible, studious girl and arrogant, powerful, bad boy. But the romance was far too quick and I could see Constantine’s appeal to Luna since he’s freaking Constantine, I couldn’t believe he’d so quicly fall for her even if she was a challenge.

Goodhart’s art is well done with a clrar palette of blacks, blues and purples to highlight underground rock as well as powerful magics. Plus I enjoyed the Exorcist homages and reference to Jewel of Gravesend. Hopefully a Zatanna/Constantine crossover will come next!

The Flash: Rogues Reloaded

I’ll admit I read this more for the Rogues than the Flash. The first story does an excellent job in showing some of thier humanity and their desperation to get out of the constant cycle and humilation of being defeated by the Flash. Plus it shows how awesome Barry is by offering help instead of the grim beatdown that other superheroes are wont to do.

Not All Supermen: Sexism, Toxic Masculinity, and The Complex History of Superheroes by Tim Henley

Hanley returns with his detailed look into the history and culture surrounding superheros and the toxic masculinity they helped cement and espouse.

Starting with the beginning of the superhero genre during the advent of WWII, Hanley shows how superheros exemplified aggression from the beginning as fights were solved with fists. While some enemies were well-deserved recipients of the iron fist of justice, collatoral damage and innocent civilians caught in the fray were ignored, showcasing a casual disregard for human life. Not that this was a phenomena exclusive to male superheroes. The most iconic heroine from that age, Wonder Woman also fought first and asked questions later but her heroics were constantly intertwined with her creator’s fetishes just as Superman’s great build was rooted in his creator’s male fantasy to stand up against Hitler. The male power fantasy and male gaze objectification would continue on in different forms from there on.

Hanley goes on to detail how Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent brought about changes in the industry from how males and females were to be portrayed. Wonder Women was declawed in that she viewed her superheroing a burden she must bear until peace came, then she could happily devote her time with her love, Steve Trevor. In comparison, male superheros were happy with juggling their dual roles with the addition of flirting with cute costumed villainesses and damsels in distress in order to ward off the accusations of homoeroticism. Male superheros were obligated to save the day and be right all the time, exuding a paternal air and responsible authority as the status quo commands. There came a change in the sixties after the campiness of the Adam West Batman where the content and art style became more realistic and darker. However, with the additional focus on violence and anti-heroes like the Punisher, some fans began to miss the point and overglorified the violence espoused by these icons rather than the nuances of morality. The increase of graphic harm also extended to females in comics with an increase in fridging and rape than before.

As he recounts the history of male and female depiction, he also breaks down the readership numbers and behind the scenes thinking from the Marvel/DC brass as they tried to widen their demographic while retaining their main fanbase. Henley reveals how the efforts of the former are half-hearted at best with numbers of female readership dropping off, just like female writers/artists due to the difficulity of moving up in the ranks and the tendency of creators to hire those who are like themselves. There is a chicken and the egg situation as why should they put a lot of effort into a small readership that is uninterested in comics but then maybe they’re not gaining them because they’re not making enough of an effort?

As for the intensity and gatekeeping of the fandom, Hanley devotes several chapters, highlighting what psychologist Dr. Letamendi theorizes on why fans react so strongly to fake geek girls and imposters in their inner circle of comics, First, the false notion of limited resources as comics found on collectibles, memorabilia and all that collecting which extends to their mindset that only few can be true fans.

Second, misinterpreted sense of ownership as each fan feels so strongly connected to the product and that they only can decide who is “in or out.”

Third, is the resentment of a changing culture as fans had been previously persecuted or bullied for their interests now see how widely accepted it is and resent how art style/content/etc. is changing, prompting nostalgia for what it used to be.

He also studies how aggressive entitlement seeps out to live action rants on #ReleasetheSnyderCut, harrasing creators and actors and forming their own organization, Comicsgate dedicated to cancelling SJW/woke works, whose members often work alongside the more rabid conspiracy theorists of QAnon and other alt-right hate groups. He also discusses some of the sexual harrassment cases of known creators in the industry as reflective of wider problems in the field alongside the difficulty of breaking into it due to the exclusive, connections-only circle now that comics no longer look at submissions.

I found it all fascinating to see how something that I had thought as entertainment or hobby can define lives and personality, motivating a greater homogenous movement in the group known as comics fanboys. Like all art, comics is another medium that can be used to reflect and promote the values of the society we are living in. He also doesn’t just focus on the fandom’s treatment of male and female superheros but minority, and LGTBQ ones as well in the growing age of intersectionality and the vitrolic fandom response from comic nerds.

But for all the wealth of analysis and new information that discussed DC Comics and Marvel (with some Image Comics and Dark Horse thrown in), I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t as focused on the evolution of male superheroes as advertised. Rather Henley goes back to his expertise in delving in how superheroines got the short end of the stick in double standards and in portrayal often falling victim to the male gaze in artistic contortions to show off all their assests. For example, while superheroes oftentimes cheat death, superheros like Batman and Green Arrow come back and better than ever, ready to return fighting while instances like Black Canary bore the memory of her trauma and is slow to return to the life or Gwen Stacey who just doesn’t return.

There’s also the double standard in regards to turning evil with such examples like Jean Grey in the Dark Phoenix saga with a heavily sexualised BDSM energy and manipulation by Wagner leads to her to destroy a planet, she decides to sacrifice herself to atone, nevermind that she tried to fight it off the best she can. Terra from Teen Titans is also heavily sexualized after it’s revealed she betrayed the Titans to her master/boyfriend Slade and is subsequently killed for the betrayal. They’re called evil, mad, monsterous and must pay the price. But when male heroes succumb to grief like Cyclops, fihting and brutalizing friend and foe alike, he still stands a symbol of justice instead of asshole letting out his feelings on everyone instead of going to therapy. They’re very interesting points but I wished such analysis had been given to the male heroes like it implied in the summary.

A nice addition for any comic historian or educator.