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Jul. 7th, 2008 @ 08:39 pm Book talk
Current Music: "Dead End Poem," Octavia Sperati

Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism )

Y: The Last Man volume 1(ish) )
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May. 13th, 2008 @ 11:46 am Happy Tuesday!
Current Mood: pleased

1. My tax return arrived yesterday, woo! I'm not planning to splurge on anything - but not because I'm responsible. It's because I've already bought pricey things (or know of pricey things I will soon purchase) and I know I'll need that money in the bank. XD;;

2. The weather is supposed to turn gorgeous this week, and be warm and sunny for the weekend. (This is despite the fact that it is cool and drizzly today. Oh, Seattle. ♥)

3. Fic-writing continues apace. This one is coming much more easily than the last one, happily. I'm also working on an RP with [info]shadawyn, which makes me extra happy because it's been a while since the twins have really talked.

4. Last night I finished reading Batgirl: Year One, a trade that I picked up at the book sale. Awesome fun. The more I read of Barbara, the more I like her.

5. Wearing Pele today, and it's absolutely lovely.
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Apr. 22nd, 2008 @ 10:35 am Adam Hughes' Women of DC Comics poster
Current Mood: geeky

Posted here.

On the one hand, this is just a pretty, pretty image. I like Hughes' style, and the way his lines just look ... graceful? I don't know; I don't have the vocabulary to describe it.

There's always a 'but ...' )

As a side note, [info]nenena on LiveJournal evened things up a little by posting this link to male Disney character beefcake. Questionably worksafe, but high-larious. [Edit: Link taken down because the images were posted without artist permission. The artist is David Kawena, and you can find the images here if you have a deviantART account.]
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Sep. 11th, 2007 @ 08:59 am SECRET IDENTITIES: The Asian American Superhero Anthology

SECRET IDENTITIES: The Asian American Superhero Anthology
Picked Up for Publication by The New Press for Fall 2008 Release


Groundbreaking new graphic novel collection seeks contributions from Asian American artists and writers interested in exploring the superhero genre

this makes me squee like a squeeing thing )

from Jenn at reappropriate
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Aug. 26th, 2007 @ 09:46 pm How I Accidentally Went to PAX For Free

Even though I had decided not to register, even though I didn't take advantage of Paizo's call for volunteers. I actually didn't think I would go at all, because even though it sounded fun and other people were going (like [info]ratzeo, [info]irishninja, and [info]zinjadu) I decided not to spend the money on registering.

Cue Friday night, when [info]ratzeo comes home from the con and gives me a three-day pass. XD Apparently someone who had purchased one suddenly couldn't attend, and he gave it away to the first person who wanted it.

Saturday morning, I went into the con with [info]ratzeo, and the first time we went into the exhibitors' hall, we were handed a flyer advertising an appearance by Greg Rucka. He was there to sign demos of a PSP game called Logan's Shadow ... but the reason we squeed like squeeing things is that he's *also* a writer of many comics that are good liek whoa, including the very run of Wonder Woman that I just purchased and fangirled over the other day. Oh, and also? I happened to have two of them on my person so I could read them during any free time.

So! We hustled to the location of the signing and hovered in wait for about twenty minutes (we were early, and Greg himself was caught up in an interview that ran into the signing time). I actually didn't have the guts to ask if Greg would be willing to sign my trades instead of the product he was actually promoting, but [info]ratzeo was my courage and spoke up for me.

Greg was very personable, learning our names and chatting us up about the comic. He also joined in our general flabbergasting about the string of coincidences that set up this meeting - because seriously, that was almost too convenient to believe. He graciously signed my trades, and also gave us a copy of the demo (even though we don't have PSPs ^^;).

I, of course, did not have enough control over my faculties at the time to say anything coherent, or even express how much I love his story for Diana. I think he understood, though, based on my speechless glee. XD Besides, it was probably better that I couldn't speak, because we held up the line long enough as it was.

The rest of the day consisted of hanging out at the Paizo booth, a group of us acting as free advertising for the board games that were being demoed. I stayed in the exhibitors' hall mostly, because there were plenty of shiny things there to occupy my attention. Also, the only panel I was really interested in attending (about women in the gaming industry) was on Friday. That evening, I played in one of the open-call D&D adventures, using a character run by [info]ratzeo on the previous day. It was pretty fun, though I've been spoiled by having campaigns from [info]irishninja, [info]ratzeo, [info]shadawyn, and [info]chasdini, so I was somewhat unimpressed. ;)

So that was my surprise con Saturday, which was far more awesome than should have been allowed, as last-minute as it was. Some would call this lucky. I'm sure no one's surprised, though, considering who was involved with most of it. :P
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Aug. 23rd, 2007 @ 03:57 pm Geeking about Wonder Woman art

a.k.a. further development of my giant crush on Diana

Comics Dungeon had a big sale last weekend, so I picked up a bunch of trades, including some old X-Men books to round out my collection. [info]zinjadu also pointed me to the Greg Rucka run on Wonder Woman, so I grabbed those and so far I've read through Down to Earth and part of Bitter Rivals.

The trades are awesome, buuuuut the one thing impeding my enjoyment was the fact that every time I pulled out Down to Earth to read, I saw this. Why, why, why did DC decide to put Greg Land's fugly drawing on the cover of the trade? Why not keep the cover from the first printing? Why do we have to see Diana all pouty-lipped and vacant-eyed, with poorly drawn anatomy and ridiculously "windswept" hair? She has no ribcage. Her thighs are as wide as her head, with no visible muscle. The pose is static and boring; there's not even tension in her figure to make the picture interesting.

On the other hand, included in the trade is a pin-up by Stuart "Nextwave" Immonen that shows Diana standing still without looking boring at all. There's confidence in her pose, a sense of potential power and movement in both her and the jet. Unlike Land, Immonen knows what it means to be a storyteller with art (his pencils in Nextwave are really great, and worked even when Warren Ellis didn't include any dialogue).

Luckily, the rest of the covers in the trade are not by Land. Most of them are by J.G. Jones, who is a far better artist. I still have a nitpick with him, though, because in the covers for #200 (the image used for the first printing of the trade), #201, #202, #203, Diana's body is always twisted oddly, so her torso never faces the same direction as her legs. (In #202, it's not so bad, but her body is still tilted off balance, whereas behind her Veronica Cale's is not.) It doesn't make much sense, especially when I found this version of the cover of #200, which looks like the exact same image but with Diana turning to her left. This version is much improved, because at least her body doesn't switch directions twice. For the most part, Jones' paintings are good and he draws Diana with a reasonable (for a superheroine) body. It's just that one quirk.

Finally, I have to highlight this pin-up by Steve Rude, which was also included in the trade and is one of my favorite pictures of Diana ever. It's vibrant, detailed, and just happy. (Also, as [info]ratzeo points out, that black kitten on the right can only tell the truth now. XD)
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Jul. 31st, 2007 @ 01:30 pm The Dark Knight trailer




Remember, that's Heath "10 Things I Hate About You" Ledger doing the Joker's voice. Dayum.

Hat-tip: Jenn
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Jun. 15th, 2007 @ 11:53 am Leaving on a jet plane ...

One day left before [info]zinjadu and I flee the country (breathe, Dora, breathe!) and I'm just about ready to go. All my stuff is ready and just needs to be put in my suitcase. I've even managed to work within the regulations on liquid substances (which, by the way, includes liquid gel cap OTC medicines because they're semi-liquid - which begs the question, what would happen if I packed a cat?). Everything is in order and ready to go.

Now if my debit card would just get here already, dammit.

As you might expect, I'm going to have very little Internet access for the next two weeks. I'm going to try to check my email every few days or so, because I should be getting a notification about my prospective job soon. But besides that, I think I'd rather spend my time seeing the sights - so that means no blog-reading (gasp!). So if there's anything you want to talk to me about, speak now or for-two-weeks hold your peace.

The prospect of going blog-less for a couple of weeks meant that I was eager to get my fill of blogs ... but also a little hesitant, because most of the worthwhile content I read is also rage-inducing in one form or another, and I don't want to start my vacation off on a sour note. But the Internet gods must be smiling on me, because I found a lot of things that pleased me:

links! )

Okay, that's it from me for now. See you in July!
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May. 10th, 2007 @ 10:03 pm Hey, Marvel

Here's an idea: stop putting out shit that pisses me the fuck off.

Oh, look! It's MJ bent in a back-killing position, contorted to show off tits AND ass, with a waist smaller than her neck! Har, har! Oop, don't forget the obedient little smile while she does Spidey's chores. Hilarious!

Hey, Marvel? That shit isn't funny. It isn't edgy or rebellious. Making women be on sexual display while engaged in domestic labor isn't new; it is, in fact, the same goddamn pressure women have had to face for-frickin-ever. Oh, and, guess what? Women shoved into uncomfortable positions that make them "sexy" to the viewer without allowing them any sexual pleasure - hell, any comfort - for themselves, is also not new. It's what we call the fashion industry. And advertising in general.

Hell, if we're talking about women being physically uncomfortable in order to provide sexual gratification for someone else, that's a good chunk of heterosexual relations.

In less teeth-gnashing news, Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel has the guts to be a decent human being. "What this world needs is a lot more than what we presently have" is true - and it goes for people like him, too.

ETA: Karen Healey makes things better.
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Apr. 24th, 2007 @ 11:23 am What objectification in comics? Take 2

Ladies and gentlemen, we've finally found proof of objectification in comics.

Is it Greg Land's eternal pornface on women? Nope. Michael Turner's inability to draw a woman's waist wider than her neck? Pssh! Rob Liefeld's ... well, anything? Of course not!

The actual culprit is, of course, Alex Ross. Yes, we all should have known, what with all that suspicious talent and photorealistic painting ability.

Look! He painted a guy who may-or-may-not-have-an-erection-or-on-the-other-hand-may-just-be-flaccid-but-well-endowed!

I mean, clearly we've never seen any female superheroes subjected to this sort of humiliation - drawn with exaggerated sexual body parts or with a hint of possible sexual arousal. And poor Citizen Steel, he's actually portrayed in a powerful pose that emphasizes his strength, rather than being reduced to contorting himself to display all his curves to the viewer at once! The horror!

The worst part of all, of course, is that Alex Ross has forced male comic fans to - gasp! - see a dude's penis. Which, like, totally makes you gay! And isn't! that! terrible! and not a homophobic reaction at all!

I don't know if the male population will ever recover from this setback.

Hat-tip: WFA
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Mar. 16th, 2007 @ 11:01 am What objectification in comics?

Sure, Power Girl has big boobs. Yet she's a strong, independent character with a rich history, plenty of internal struggle that allows her to rise above it and make us see beyond the superficial aspects of her characters appea - sorry, my train of thought has been distracted by the sound of a THOUSAND LOSERS FAPPING.

-Paperghost, in response to the cover of JLA #10.

Yeah, I needed a cheap laugh like that.

The sad thing is, I actually like Michael Turner's style and think he could be a good artist if he just, y'know, learned anatomy.
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Feb. 16th, 2007 @ 10:58 am So apparently ...

... writing things in all-caps just makes them seem funnier to me. No, I don't know why.

But maybe that's why I was giggling like a 6 year-old while reading the Girl-Wonder.org caption contest for Ultimate Power #6. "ULTIMATE POWER: WHEN I THINK ABOUT YOU, I TOUCH MYSELF #6 (of 9)." Hee hee.

Or maybe it's just the picture of Ollie in the poster's icon.

I remember that the all-caps was one of the reasons "The Adventures of God" made me laugh so much, back in the day. Apparently, something about big letters tickles me. (If you've never read the fic, do. X-Men + GOD = lolz)

Maybe I should stop dinking around and get back to work. Yeesh, can we tell I'm ready for the weekend?
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Jan. 26th, 2007 @ 10:32 am Getting the Elusive Female Audience

Thomwade shows us all how to impress female comic book fans in Advice for Artists & Writers: Getting the Elusive Female Audience. My favorite of the list:

6. Trace Porn: If you do decide to go for more realism, trace porn! This way, you get those rare women who want a more plausible body type. And bonus: poses. By tracing porn you can get those realistic poses and facial expressions that occur when fighting villains. You can really capture the closed eyes and wide open mouth that scream "OH YESYESYESYES! I am kicking your assssssssssssssss!" Plus, the girl is already naked, so you can draw the costume as it should be...looking like body paint.


Finally, Greg Land's secret strategy revealed!

Hat-tip: Tekanji.
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Jan. 16th, 2007 @ 05:49 pm Why I love Karen Healey

The Feminist Comics Fan Agenda.
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Jul. 13th, 2006 @ 09:57 am Link dump

Some links to start off your morning by making you laugh, cry, or go WTF?

-From the New York Times comes an article about the changing role of the word "slut." A decent treatment of the subject, especially for a mainstream publication - though you gotta love how both Ariel Levy (Female Chauvinist Pigs) and Leora Tanenbaum (Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation) are quoted, and yet there is nary a mention of feminism in the article. Ah well.

-Sony has now officially pulled the fucked up PSP ads and apologized ... sorta. From the official statement: [W]e wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended." In other words, We're sorry that YOU have a problem, but it's not really our fault. Gotta love pseudo-apologies like that. (Actually, what you have to really love are the comments in response, which include a few level heads but also some of the most stereotypical racially ignorant statements I have ever seen - including the gem, "i'm white, so i know these things.")

-Of course, not to be outdone by racism in the geek world, sexism makes its own showing by reminding us what a woman's place is. Thanks, Marvel!

-Ragnell shows us how "dynamic" translates into "porntastic anal sex pose" to some in the comics industry. Thanks again, Marvel!

-She also has a lovely and pithy analysis of Princess Leia's empowerment. XD

-And finally, [info]remix17 reminds us that feminists must be careful in their response to these things. Hilarious satire.
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May. 29th, 2006 @ 10:11 pm Click on these links!

Neat things that you should see:

-Ragnell's post on why X-3 sucked. Well, it doesn't explain all of it. But this was something I had overlooked.

-From [info]blue_bel, trivia about the movie. I've already heard some of these, and I don't know if they're all true, but they're interesting. Summer Glau auditioned for Kitty? (So glad she wasn't cast. I love her, and she would have been great for the stunts, but she just wouldn't be a good Kitty.) Also, apparently Brett Ratner (the director) studied John Cassaday's version of the Fastball Special from Astonishing X-Men. LIES.

-Tekanji's post (which links to another related post) on the woes of dating while being a heterosexual feminist.
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May. 29th, 2006 @ 07:20 pm Super Weekend Update!

Oh, Memorial Day three-day weekend, how I love thee~

Here are the essential bits, good and bad:

Friday: ADP showing )
Saturday: Game )
Sunday: Moving day )
Monday: X-3 )

And now I have to write a paper. Ugh.
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May. 23rd, 2006 @ 02:08 pm Repeat after me: "We are all individuals ..."

Tekanji has a thought-provoking post on a fetish website that's been getting some attention on the blogosphere lately, called Superheroine's Demise. I highly recommend giving it a read, but, in a nutshell: the website is about portraying poweful superheroines being beaten and defeated for the sake of (male) sexual gratification, and that's Not Okay for various reasons.

Tekanji makes the point that, far from being an extreme fetish we can/should ignore, it fits in quite easily with mainstream culture:

"If you accept my premise that the fantasy of dominating powerful women is a pervasive one for men in Western culture, then it would obviously follow that (male) comic fans would have this fantasy, too. Not to mention those who write and draw these heroines. In essence, the fetish of humiliating strong women is perpetuated by the comics themselves, in turn influencing comic book readers to see it as erotic, which feeds the idea that this is what comic fans want... lather, rinse, repeat until you have these themes becoming codified into mainstream thought."

And now, my turn )
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Apr. 4th, 2006 @ 03:57 pm Neat link

Here's a fun experiment. Go here and check out the image of Diana (a.k.a. Wonder Woman). Would you call the image sexualized?

I didn't, at first. Down in the comments section of the post, however, you can see an interesting conversation initiated by Tekanji that got me thinking. Her thoughts are further developed in this entry, which shows just how far my selective blindness clouded my initial interpretation.

As a lifelong comics fan, I've learned to tolerate T&A. I do see it, and recognize it, all the time - but I just put up with it. Or so I thought. But if you're exposed to something long enough, you begin to get numb until the point where you don't even notice it - in this case, the sexualization of female characters even in supposedly neutral settings.

This is what I'm used to seeing, and ignoring. (Enlarge the image if you dare.) But that's an obvious, if unintentional, exaggeration that everyone can recognize and laugh at. The stuff talked about above is more insidious.

Oh, and the "experiment" part comes from who does the evaluating - my guess is, if you haven't had at least some exposure to comic books (or anime), you'll have a similar reaction as I did. People who aren't familiar with the habits of comic art (see some comments in Tekanji's post) can recognize the sexual nature of the pose immediately.
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Feb. 16th, 2006 @ 08:04 pm OMG

Dude.

Joss Whedon and/or Warren Ellis fans (*pokes [info]ratzeo*): Go here. Start with comment #4. Yes, it's what you think it is.

XD XD XD

(from [info]cereta)
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