Zatanna #1 by Paul Dini

I think this is the first Dini comic where when I finished it, I wanted more. I can’t wait to read issue #2. I don’t know a lot about Zatanna, except for her basic story and powers, but Dini did an outstanding job with making me want to know more.

I was surprised to find that this comic seems to be going in a buddy cop direction, which I really like. A pleasant surprise. I like her partnered with Detective Dale Colton, who seems like an upstanding and practical guy. Just the type to be paired up with a character whose powers are magically based.

I was very pleased to see that Brother Night’s destruction lived up to Dale’s warnings to Zatanna about how gruesome the crime scene was going to be. It seemed to be more of a warning for the reader. The deaths of mobsters work well in that while they’re really horrific murders, Dini doesn’t overdo it by killing puppies.

My favorite part of this comic is how Zatanna immediately confronts Brother Night. She doesn’t waste time being scared of him. She doesn’t waste time making a plan. Zatanna just zaps herself to his lair, and then she proceeds to smartly take out his hence-people when they attack her. The plot is very nicely coherent for a new reader diving into Zatanna’s world.

My only complaint about this comic is Brother Night’s lair is a demon bdsm club. I don’t know if this was Dini’s direction or Roux’s artistic license, but bdsm needs to stop being a short-cut lazy way to express just how evil villains are. You know what made me know these villains were evil? How they killed an entire club full of mobsters and killed them very graphically, not because they’re into bdsm. Not to mention, Zatanna wears a fetish costume herself, so the book sends unintentional mix signals. Which is disappointing in an otherwise well-written first issue of what may be the start of a good series.

Zatanna #2 by Paul Dini

This was another excellent issue. I love what a forceful, confident person Zatanna is. I hope she remains so throughout the series, and Dini isn’t going to take this tale into a breakdown of her spirit. I do worry since Brother Night seems to be resurrecting her father to mess with her.

I love Zatanna taking a moment to help out Black Canary and Vixen, and then she turns down their offer for drinks because she’s too tired. Nice to have a little insert of realism into comic books. Running around all the time has to be tiring. Same with telling Mickey to stop the carpentry so she can get some shut-eye.

Which sets the perfect stage for Nightmare’s entrance. Dini does a good job at setting up Nightmare as very powerful by having him terrorize the neighbors. However, I do think Nightmare’s more subtle nightmares, such as a young girl being forced to give up her kitten to the pound by her stepfather, are more powerful than going full-force with demons biting Zatanna. A little too far when he knew better than to have Zatanna bring him into the real world. There she easily displaced of him, and perhaps she gave him his worse nightmare.

I also enjoyed the section with Dale and his detective skills. It’s nice to see human work in addition to the supernatural. And how Dale’s perhaps not as afraid of Brother Night as he should’ve been.

Zatanna #3 by Paul Dini

This comic is becoming rather awesome. Zatanna knows what she’s doing and knows how to use her skills. I always love character who use their brains as well as their powers. Likewise, I enjoy her team-up with Dale, because while Zatanna is the one to take down Brother Night, Dale isn’t running and hiding from him and isn’t going to be manipulated into backing off.

For an action-filled comic, the scenes were nicely paced. Roux’s does a great job with the art. I particularly love his page-layouts. The diamond-shapes bring a nice little reminder about Zatanna’s magical powers.

Zatanna has a lot of heart, and it’s really apparent when she saves her crew first. And that she takes the time to turn Mickey into her twin so Mickey can pull off the show Zatanna’s going to miss due to her fight with Brother Night.

I love Zatanna saving her father. I love her tears, while she maintains herself and her powers. A lesser hero would’ve folded under the emotional pressure of her/his father reappearing. The scene Zatanna has with him as she frees him, once again, is just lovely and perfect.

Zatanna’s take-down of Brother Night is likewise fitting. I love that she turns a powerless Brother Night into Dale, but knows that Brother Night will suffer more for the bargain he made with the devil.

In Sensation Comics #10, Wonder Woman helps Steve Trevor take down some Japanese and German spies who are attempting to blow up a train carrying soldiers. This is all fine and dandy and pretty much Marston’s standard Wonder Woman plot. But not so fast. There’s a twist.

(Sidenote: This tale features quite a bit of racist stereotyping as the main villain, who actually gets a lot of face time, is Ishti, a Japanese spymaster of some sort. He talks in broken English and stutters over his “s”es. There’s also a brief appearance of a train porter, who’s black and indistinguishable from the porter in the last issue.)

Wonder Woman, especially as Diana Prince, is an obsessed stalker in this story. There’s no question about it; she stalks Steve because she’s jealous.

Steve informs Diana that he doesn't want her. She decides to try out stalking.

The story starts with Steve lamenting about how he wishes Wonder Woman would appear before him. Instead, he turns around to find Diana, and he promptly informs her that he doesn’t need her and is going on a mission. Diana — while spying on them out her office window — discovers Steve’s going on a date with Dolly Dancer. Diana follows Steve and Dolly on their date: dark glasses and hiding behind menus like some bad romantic comedy. The whole time Diana comments on how she knows Dolly is no good.

Diana follows Steve and Dolly on their date.

Then, Diana eavesdrops on Steve’s call with Darnell where Steve tells him he’s going on a mission to New York City for the weekend and will be taking the train. Diana breaks into the train’s drawing room, which Steve will be staying in with Dolly, and marks the side of the train so she can find it later. Then slipping out, Diana changes into her Wonder Woman costume as the train leaves the station.

As not to be accused of stalking, Wonder Woman runs behind the train for 60 miles before jumping into the window. She hopes to catch a surprised Steve and Dolly in a compromising position. But, it’s just Steve currently in the room. Wonder Woman makes an excuse about exercising by chasing after trains. Yeah…

Wonder Woman. Just out doing some running for her health.

Wonder Woman disappears just as Dolly comes back into the room. Meanwhile, we discover that Dolly is indeed working with the Japanese and German spies. They want Steve to give them the code translation so they can blow up the trains moving high-ranking military officers across America. But to Dolly’s credit, she’s under duress as Ishti threatens to kill her with his knife.

Dolly appears in her show that night. And stalker Wonder Woman decides that she too is going to be in the show. After Dolly’s dancing, Wonder Woman goes up on stage and makes husbands tell the truth — about how they’ve been cheating on their wives — with her lasso and the audience loves and laughs with it. I apparently didn’t find it as funny as the audience did.

Taking some time out from stalking, Wonder Woman gets other men to confess about their cheating.

Next Wonder Woman spies on Dolly and Steve as they drink and continue their date back at Dolly’s place. Steve gives Dolly the codes and leaves at Dolly’s instance. Wonder Woman then demands Dolly confess her sins and tell her where the spies have gone. Turns out there’s a whole system of train tunnels under Dolly’s apartment and good thing that Etta and Beeta Lambda Sorority have arrived to help Wonder Woman explore them.

Steve is drunk. You can tell by his weird hair, which is ready to attack Dolly.

Dolly gases Wonder Woman with her perfume, and Ishti and his men take Wonder Woman below. Ishti learned from Gunther that if chains are welded to Wonder Woman’s bracelets she looses all her powers. So he goes about doing this. Then Ishti hooks up Wonder Woman to the electric grid, and in a this is not scientifically correct moment, Wonder Woman changes the electric current to “direct current” to survive the voltage. Kids, don’t try this at home. You will die.

No, Wonder Woman, you'd still be fried. Just in a different way.

Escaping due to the welder being a woman, not a man, Wonder Woman saves the day. Or actually, she leaves the bad guys loose in order to stop the train from blowing up. Or more precisely to save Steve. (Screw the rest of them or the people the spies shot as they came for one last try at the army soldiers.) Also somehow Etta is able to offer a bon-bon to Steve from atop a moving train. Go figure.

Etta's always one to share. Especially on top of a moving train.

Steve then tells Wonder Woman he would never betray her love, and he knew from the beginning that Dolly worked with the spies. Such comfort in the last panel (emphasis mine):

Steve: “My beautiful angel – Will you ever forgive me? I only made love to Dolly in the line of duty.”
Wonder Woman: “You always perform your duties so thoroughly, Steve! But I should have known your taste in women is better than that!”

Emotional maturity of 12-year-olds. Don't fall for it, Wonder Woman.

This is the first time I’ve felt like Wonder Woman was a bad influence for young women. In the past, some of her pining for Steve has gotten a little close to out of control. Especially the ridiculous notion that Diana is less than Wonder Woman when she’s the same person. However, stalking Steve in this issue makes her a poor role model. Wonder Woman can and is supposed to be so much better than this.

And as for Steve, I’m pretty sure “made love” meant the same thing in 1942 as it does today. Sex is still sex. I mean, okay, Wonder Woman and Steve are only dating in the loosest 6th grader sense of dating (minus the sex), but if he feels the need to apologize, maybe Darnell should’ve been sexing it up with Dolly instead. Wow. Sensation Comics #10 brings Diana and Steve’s relationship up to a whole new level of messed up.

I think I’m rather sad that this series is ending, and it’s taken me longer than normal to put together my review, post-reading it. I hope Marvel continues to make an effort in hiring talented women to write, draw, color, ink, letter, edit, etc. their comic books. I would hate to see this “marketing stunt” turn just into that.

Jo Chen’s cover is my least favorite out of all the Girl Comics‘ covers. First, I don’t think they’re all super tall. Like beyond supermodel tall. Nor do I think they are as skinny (or could be that skinny). With some minor adjustments, this would actually be a pretty cool cover. A very striking one.

The biographies this time were rather interesting. They focused on Louise Simonson, Ann Nocenti, and Glynis Oliver. With exception of Oliver, the other two women each had a story following their bio. It made me want longer biographies on the rest of the women featured in Girl Comics. Maybe an add-on for the hardcover anthology?

Introduction by Colleen Coover

Coover ends her on-going introduction on a perfect note. I loved seeing her image of herself at her desk with the ending, “We do it because we love it.” Yes. Exactly this.

Two women heroes ready for adventure.

Things That Never Change by Marjorie Liu

This was an all-around excellent story and my favorite of this bunch. I’m pretty much a self-admitted Wolverine hater, but Liu really nailed the dynamic between Wolverine and Jubilee. They were completely sweet with their platonic mentor-apprentice dynamic. Their brief fight scene showcased Jubilee’s fighting skills (thanks to her training) even without her mutant powers really well.

The ice cream was the perfect bonding. It did seem a lot better than an adult substitute, such as beer might’ve. Seemed to be a more Jubilee touch as she was the one opening up to the Wolverine. If it had been Wolverine telling his sad stories, beer would’ve been the comfort food-stuff of choice.

They seemed so in-sync with each other, despite their separation. Just perfect.

Amora the Enchantress pin-up by Stephanie Hans

I really liked the dynamic pose that the Enchantress is in. I like the brooding magic. The hints of it. However, I really think the pin-up would’ve been enhanced by a better background. Some action or a little context.

The Job by Louise Simonson

This story was cute, certainly, as the Power Pack fought against the Snarks and took care of baby Cable. However, as a newcomer to the Power Pack and their dynamic, I found it very confusing just who was who and which powers were attached to which kid. Jason said that he found much the same problem every time he’s read Power Pack when I talked with him about this story.

At the end of the day, this just felt like a cute romp through a day-in-the-life of the Power Pack. But there wasn’t much substance behind the romp. The art left me with a similar feeling.

A Moving Experience by Lea Hernandez

This story was very adorable. I love the fake-out, when it seems as if Magneto and Wolverine are fighting each other. And there’s been so many times that Magneto’s gone back and forth from being a bad guy to a good guy, that his flip-flopping served this story well. The reveal that Wolverine was helping Magneto move was very fun.

Great comedic timing in the moment the reader realizes that Wolverine is helping Magneto move.

Likewise, the art went along perfectly with it. Hernandez has something of a simple style, but the way she moves the characters and changes their facial expressions brings the story to life. And who doesn’t love Wolverine riding on top of his little yellow plastic car at the end.

Blindspot by Ann Nocenti

This was my least favorite story in this anthology. Nocenti certainly put effort into the story. She wanted us to follow the different personalities of Typhoid Mary. But I just don’t think there were enough pages to tell a story about her personalities. Four characters in one story is just overwhelming (see the Power Pack story) when there are only six pages.

What I did love about this story was Crabapple’s art. It was very beautiful and is the kind of art that I hope to see more of in comic books. I loved the textured backgrounds. And how her unique comic style gives a free-flow to the page, which encourages reading. I’ll certainly be on the look out for her name.

Elektra and Daredevil pin-up by Sho Murase

I love how confrontational Elektra is here. Like the one reason she’s not coming after us (the viewer) is because Daredevil’s reminding her to maintain her cool with his hand. I love how she holds her two bladed sais, ready to attack. What I don’t love is the ribbon costume and her nipple. Could’ve done without those.

Chaos Theory by Kelly Sue DeConnick

DeConnick writes a lovely Satana. One who almost seems as though she’s on a mission. A mission of chaos. I like how DeConnick moves Satana further into the realm of Marvel’s magic players, instead of just demonhood. Even if she is still presented as a succubus.

The art in this story underwhelmed me. It felt almost too big, too much. And I’m not sure how well Melo and Benes’ styles blended together. In a lot of ways, I almost think the art cheapened the tale. Though I did like Satana’s hair.

Mixology at Terato Gena’s by Carla Speed McNeil

This story was a very fun tale of Kitty’s 21st birthday party. Which makes for the third Wolverine story in this comic, and the second one about the young girls which Wolverine mentored. Kitty is perhaps the character which you can actually believe she hasn’t had a lot of experience drinking before her 21st. I love her trying out various drinks, because yes, you aren’t born knowing what alcohol tastes the best for your palette. And the Thing was so the friend that always challenges you to a drinking contest.

Wolverine goads Kitty with sweet, fruity drinks.

McNeil did the best job at putting many characters in her short story and not overwhelming the narrative. Kitty is the focus the entire time; everyone else is rather extraneous, especially after Kitty starts drinking. And for the most part, I thought every character was pretty on-target. (Except the part with She-Hulk and Dead Girl, because She-Hulk doesn’t make fun of people like that.) I particularly loved the part with Lockheed. Because I don’t know about Kitty, but when I’m drunk, I often want my bed and the other comforts of home.

The ending was fabulous with Wolverine taking Kitty home and their exchange:
Kitty: “I love you, Wolvie.”
Wolverine: “I know, kid. You’ll grow out of that too.”

Oh, Girl Comics, I’m a little sad to see you go.

Comic book reviews for DC Comics’ Batgirl #10, Batgirl #11, and Batgirl #12 by Bryan Q. Miller

Batgirl #10 by Bryan Q. Miller

The Calculator is certainly one messed up, sick guy. However, I’m not so sure how enamored I am by this techno-virus which makes everyone attack Stephanie and Babs. I’m just not quite feeling it.

I love that the Batgirl cave has a secret kitchenette.

I also loved the parts about inner monologue issues, and the things that both Stephanie and Babs say out-loud that they don’t mean too. I’m really glad Stephanie ran into Nick in Babs’ office. I was so hoping Miller wasn’t going to go for the two friends have a crush on the same guy and fight over him stereotype, and this little scene makes me think we won’t have that train-wreck happen. I do like how slightly disappointed Stephanie is that Nick doesn’t recognize her out of costume.

Batgirl #11 by Bryan Q. Miller

I love the artificial, not-quite-right world in Babs’ head. I love that she’s living in the suburbs away from harm, which makes her dad extremely happy, and that she’s married to Dick, which makes her happy. Though she can’t be that thrilled to be serving food to Damien and Tim. In her fantasy, she both pleases herself a bit and pleases her father and Dick. I love Jim and Babs’ father-daughter dynamic, even if he is a little overly protective.

I also like how things from the missing world bled through: Bruce’s absence from the table, Jim referring to the turkey as a Bird of Prey, a man dressed as the Joker showing up at her door. Miller also does a great job with the Calculator here; he may be brilliant enough to capture Babs and figure out she’s Oracle, but he doesn’t really know anything about her and can’t interpret her dreams/nightmares.

Stephanie’s monologue about being screwed is too perfect here. Pitting her against both Catwoman and Huntress is also great. They are two of Gotham’s more impulsive fighters, much like Stephanie herself. And because of that impulse, it is more believable that Stephanie can get away from them.

I love Babs setting up Wendy to become a hero. Babs knows exactly what Wendy’s going through. She knows what it’s like to be a hero (or working with heroes) and then be paralyzed and sent off due to her disability. Babs understands that Wendy doesn’t want to live a normal citizen life.

Man-Bat had to have smelled bad. Sewer + fur = yuck.

Figures that Babs would turn the Calculator’s mind-trap for her in on itself.

Batgirl #12 by Bryan Q. Miller

This is such a stellar series. I really love it, and I hope others are reading it and enjoying it just as much as I do. Batgirl is one of the strongest titles being put out by DC right now.

I loved Babs exploring the Calculator’s mind. She found all his weaknesses. While at the same time, she still tried to save him. She still tried to let him come around. To have him put a stop to his own evil plot. When Bab’s saw how he’d been abused as a child, she wanted to help him break that cycle.

Of course, Wendy was the one who broke the cycle. She and her brother had broken away before, but Wendy was never really a hero until this moment. Wendy was brave and grieving at the same time. No one else could’ve put the Calculator in his cyber-coma other than her. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

I also love how this sets up the book to make it okay if Babs is off with Birds of Prey instead of always there for Stephanie. Wendy will be Proxy.

As for Stephanie, the comic opens on a brilliant note having her say, “I’m Batgirl” and ends on one as well with her off to fight villains in Gotham with Proxy guiding her. Stephanie may still be impulsive, but she’s growing.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is very engaging. I sat down and read the memoir in a couple days; I couldn’t put it down. Satrapi’s story isn’t just that of a young girl growing up in Iran, but also a historical viewpoint on the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

Satrapi’s art fits perfectly with the story. It reflects the youth in the story, and the stark black inking works well with the dourness of Marji and her family’s story. But at times, Satrapi’s illustrations are masterful with showing the warmth and love that Majri and her family have for one another.

While I wasn’t alive when the Iranian Revolution happened, like most Westerns, my view is littered with media interpretations (which are far too anti-Islamic for my comfort) and peppered with American leftist views on oil and imperialism. In fact in Satrapi’s introduction, she writes that she does not want Iran judged based solely on the extremists who came to power. And the other reason she wrote Persepolis was to remember all the Iranians who fought against the theocratic government.

Satrapi’s story comes from a somewhat privileged background itself. She left Iran right before she became a young woman, was educated in Vienna and Strasbourg, and now lives in Paris. Satrapi comes from a Marxist family, and her grandfather was the Prince of Iran before the Shah was put into power. Even when she still lived in Iran, Satrapi did not live the life of the typical young girl. Which I do think Persepolis, while it does not often explore other viewpoints as young Marji is a strong narrator, does address the privilege of her family and how their political views influenced her. Also at no point does Satrapi claim to be the sole viewpoint of growing up during the Iranian Revolution; in fact, Persepolis‘s subtitle (at least in the English version) is “The Story of a Childhood.”

What Persepolis does best is subtly weave a tale about how the Iranian Cultural Revolution is a misnomer. If anything, the oppressive nature slowly killed differences in culture and killed what Marji and her family loved about Iran. One of the most haunting stories recounts the end of Marji’s friendship with Neda Baba-Levy, the Jewish girl living down the street from her.

Marji comes into conflict with the new regime almost immediately. She and most of her female classmates are unhappy about now having to wear a veil while at school. And that their French school is now segregated by gender. Marji also questions her teachers as she notices the textbooks change to support the Revolution and put down the Shah. She additionally shocks her teachers when she informs them she wants to be a prophet when she grows up.

Satrapi shows the innocence of youth and oppression of the regime as the young girls fail to understand why they must wear a hijab.

As part of her self-declared prophet-hood, Marji has conversations with God nightly and converts her one-and-only follower her Grandma, as she makes a rule about taking care of the elderly. Her brand of religion is colored by her own child’s eye-view and what her family has taught her. The young Marji cannot understand why her parents don’t want to tell everyone she’s going to be a prophet or why the idea upsets her teachers so much.

Marji’s parents, Ebi and Taji, were hoping for a Marxist Revolution instead of the one they got. So much so that Marji’s long exiled to the USSR uncle, Anoosh comes back to Iran. In fact, at the beginning of Persepolis, Marji’s family seems to hopeful that everything will be better. She accounts how almost every day her parents go protest on the streets of Tehran.

Slowly the world around Marji and her family changes. Their friends, who were political prisoners freed during the Revolution, are once again jailed or killed outright on the street. Marji herself comes close to getting into trouble for her sneakers, jean jacket, and black market Def Leopard tapes. Her parents become more and more paranoid as the years go on. And they have good reason to as they watch their freedoms slowly erode. Marji departs from God as she sees Iranian boys her own age going off to fight — to be slaughtered — in the Iran-Iraq War.

But the strongest message I got out reading this was the resilience of beliefs and the resilience of a family’s love. Marji’s whole family is shaken, and some of them are killed. In the end, her family sends her away to Vienna to protect her. However, they do it out of love. They do it because they want to know that their daughter is growing up safely into the woman she wants to be.

Comic book reviews Invincible Iron Man #25, Invincible Iron Man #26, and Invincible Iron Man #27 by Matt Fraction

Invincible Iron Man #25 by Matt Fraction

Here Tony Stark is up and running. Or at least, kind of running because it turns out that all the character work Fraction’s done to Stark on his run of Invincible Iron Man has been forgotten by Tony since he forgot to back up his brain regularly. I hate when this happens.

I know I said, I was going to drop this title. However, then I read that in the more recent ones Pepper demands her Rescue suit and powers back. So ha.

But #25 has Tony taking back his company. Or perhaps, letting Pepper put it back together (like he told her to) and then undermining her by telling all the army’s investors off.

I do like the noble cause Stark Industries is going for: to make batteries that last forever and solve the energy crisis. But still. Tony couldn’t have placed one phone call to Pepper to tell her what his plan was. Not one word? Not one e-mail? Instead, Tony shows her up and embarrasses her. Ass. I suppose at least Fraction’s keeping me emotionally invested?

Invincible Iron Man #26 by Matt Fraction

I’m really enjoying the Hammer women as villains. Especially with their overly flashy and overly weaponized Detroit Steel. Such an all-American name, which makes it even better that they’re selling it to whomever pays the most. Very American indeed. Also I love them hiring Spymaster.

Tony giving Steve a way to essentially kill him seems fair considering (while he didn’t pull the trigger), Tony was pretty responsible for Captain America’s death. I do feel sorry for Maria. She’s watching these men play these games; and she’s not getting her old job back. Which has to sting because everyone else (good guy wise) is.

Larroca forgot to draw the rest of Stark’s goatee when he’s giving the Stark press event. Instead, Tony just has a smarmy mustache.

Stark seems to be missing a few machines, when he assembles all the Iron Men. And you’d think he’d disassemble the original one enough so it did work, but that they could put it in a museum or something.

Invincible Iron Man #27 by Matt Fraction

That’s right, my friends, Pepper’s back in style and form. Well, actually she has some minor surgery to recover from. And Tony has to build her a new suit, since apparently, he scrapped her old one along with all the old Iron Man tech.

I love how Pepper ambushes Tony. No, she’s not going to drop it. Tony may not remember what he promised her while on the run (nor did he remember the sex), but he trusts Pepper’s not going to give up. That’s what I love about her. I kind of expected Tony to tell Pepper that if she told him about his time on the run, then she’d be able to become Rescue again.

I also instantly adore Bambi Arbogast. I love that she has her ethical interests in making a lot of money. And I love how she instantly one-ups Tony when he says that he wishes he’d invested in hippie farms too. Additionally, she’s so wonderfully connected to the latest news and technology information. There’s nothing more perfect than when Bambi’s phone and Tony’s ring at the same time about Tokyo. Tony’s always better when he’s surrounded by a team of confident women.

And Rodey. I can’t wait to read about War Machine and Iron Man kicking ass side-by-side. Even if Rodey’s speech about betting all his winnings in Vegas did not promise a happy ending.

The last story in Wonder Woman #1 may be the most offensive story written yet. Okay, actually, I don’t think it’s any more offensive than the one about the circus’ elephants earlier this issue.

In this story, Mint Candy, brother of Etta and solider in the US Army, is targeted by Japanese spies in order to get information about his division’s orders. In a very convoluted plot, Mint hits his head after a fall from a sabotaged motorcycle and Etta and Diana head to the Candy family’s ranch in Texas to cheer him up. Etta wants to set Mint up with Diana, and Diana just wants information to save America from the Axis.

Mint’s portrayed as something of a Gomer Pyle-like character. He’s simple-minded, but is always trying to do his best to help out his country. While the text never says he’s not good enough for Wonder Woman, it’s implied. But that’s okay because he ends up finding true love away. He also serves as Steve’s damsel-in-distress proxy for this tale.

Much like his sister, Mint serves as a comedic relief.

The first bit of fail comes when Diana and Etta are aboard the train to Texas. Etta has the Porter bring her her suitcase. Sadly and unsurprisingly, the Porter, who is black, is drawn in black-face and speaks jive, and also sadly and unsurprisingly, Etta’s suitcase is full of candy, just enough to get her through the trip.

When Etta offers Diana a box of candy, Diana declines and then proceeds to give Etta a lecture on how fat she is and how she needs to go on a diet. Instead of say, being worried about her best friend’s health, Diana starts off her lecture telling Etta she needs to slim down in order to catch a man. When Etta claims that men love her, Diana goes into Wonder Woman-mode telling Etta that it’s unpatriotic to hoard, to hoard extra fat in your body. That’s right, being fat is unpatriotic. At that point, Etta concedes and tells Wonder Woman she’ll go on a diet and lose 10 pounds, and if she likes that, she’ll lose 50. Etta’s diet is not mentioned again until the end of the story, but Etta notably does not eat candy for the rest of their trip.

That's right, women should be thin for men and for patriotism. Ugh. Between the Porter and the lecture, this scene is beyond fail.

Etta and Diana meet up with Mint and Pancho, the Candy’s Mexican horse trainer. Interestingly enough, Mexicans are the only people of color to appear in Wonder Woman comics which aren’t outright racist stereotypes. Their portrayal is not completely unproblematic, but their portrayal doesn’t have the same problems of the Japanese, Burmese, or African-Americans’ depictions.

Mint decides to take them to an abandoned mine on the Candy property. (Pancho stays behind and makes a suspicious phone call.) In the mind shaft, the trio finds a woman, Pepita tied up inside and Mint proceeds to rescue her. Pepita claims that she’s been kidnapped and raped by a man who’s determined to marry her. Mint and she fall instantly in love with each other. Though the narration refers to Pepita several times as “dark and dangerous.”

Mint plays hero and rescues Pepita. They fall in love.

Later, when they’re alone, Pepita gives Mint cigarettes, which turn out to both knock him out and act as a truth serum. Pancho shows up and interrogates Mint on his division’s orders. Interestingly enough, Pancho’s skin coloring makes him the darkest Mexican, which I do think equates him with being the evilest. Pepita, on the other hand, is a lot lighter, which is used as a shorthand for her beauty and her innocence in all this.

On truth serum cigarettes, Mint divulges where the Army troops are going.

Pancho makes a dramatic exit before Etta and Diana show up. Though the horse trainer ends up being bucked off his horse later and consequently dies off-screen, never delivering his information.

Etta and Wonder Woman (in costume) leave Mint behind to chase (Etta riding on Wonder Woman’s back as she runs) after Pepita (on horseback) to Mexico City. To which I would like to point out that from the southern most tip of Texas to Mexico City is over 300 miles. But from Brazos, Texas (where the Candy ranch is, near Forth Worth) to Mexico City is over 600 miles. Pretty sure you had a map in 1942, Marston.

Yes, this is how they cover over 600 miles. Wonder Woman may have the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules, but perhaps she should've asked for the speed of a horse instead.

Pepita escapes when Etta and Diana are stopped at gunpoint by Mexicans and Japanese spies. Then they’re loaded into cars and taken part way to Mexico City. Mid-trip, the spies decided Etta is not only fat, but dead weight, and drop her off the back of the car so the other car (with Wonder Woman inside) can run her over. Wonder Woman, of course, easily breaks her bonds and somehow swerves both cars into crashing. All the bad guys die, and Wonder Woman and Etta continue their journey to Mexico City.

In Mexico City, they discover that Pepita is a famous bullfighter (another stereotype). She has killed 50 bulls in the ring, and they watch as she defeats another. But then, while waiting for the next round, one of the bulls, El Terrifico breaks out and goes right for Pepita. Wonder Woman swoops in to save her and lassos the bull. She makes El Terrifico lick her hand and then do a headstand.

And this was before Wonder Woman had powers to talk to animals.

In her dressing room, Pepita confesses to Etta and Wonder Woman that the Japanese threatened to kill her family and that’s why she helped get the information from Mint. She also gives them directions to a secret Japanese port base in Mexico and information that the Japanese plan to attack Mexico. (Another map note: Mexico City is over 150 miles from the ocean, and it’s more like 200 on the Pacific side.) Wonder Woman and Etta meet up with Steve Trevor and Mexico’s Captain Diaz (the whitest Mexican of them all, who apparently works out of Washington DC) at the base, and all the Japanese soldiers and spies are captured.

The story then quickly wraps itself up. Steve reads a newspaper, whose headline says that Wonder Woman has saved Mexico from the Japanese with the help of Steve Trevor. Pepita and Mint are reunited, and Wonder Woman gives their love a blessing from Aphrodite. And Etta tells Diana that the diet’s off and she’s going back to eating candy. Diana then laments in her thoughts that no one, not even Wonder Woman, can convince Etta to diet.

With her zombie arms, Wonder Woman blesses Mint and Pepita's love.

Comic book reviews for DC Comics’ Birds of Prey #1, Birds of Prey #2, and Birds of Prey #3 by Gail Simone

Birds of Prey #1 by Gail Simone

Simone outdid herself as she gets back together the Birds of Prey. Yes, it would have to be Babs calling on Dinah and Zinda, not the other way around. Dinah may have left, but Babs is the one who pushes people away. Much like her mentor Batman does.

I love Dinah and Zinda working together to save children. Well, Dinah’s saving children and Zinda’s being herself by helping out and meeting the locals. I know Babs is Simone’s beloved character, but I think her Dinah is just as strong, if not stronger.

Hawk and Dove’s introduction worked really well. Simone is good at introducing new characters to the team and introducing them to readers at the same time. I’ve always appreciated the slightly self-contained world which the Birds of Prey operate in.

The scene on the roof was so perfect. All of them together once again. Everyone’s one reactions were spot-on. Loved this line from Dinah: “One day these women will learn to say what they really feel without thinking it makes them vulnerable. If I have to beat the living crap out of ‘em to make it happen.” Oh, Helena, I felt the same way you did.

Someone signaling the Birds of Prey was perfect. As was the Penguin being there and getting to be the first causality. I’m pretty much with those guessing that the White Canary is either Sin or Cassandra Cain.

Birds of Prey #2 by Gail Simone

I felt so let down by this issues.

First, there was Savant’s death, Creote’s suicide, and the surrounding wank. I really hope they aren’t really dead and that Babs has sent them on a deep-cover mission. Or that Savant staged the whole thing so Babs did think they were dead, but it was only so White Canary thought they were dead too so Savant and Creote could better take down the White Canary. I’m crossing my fingers. But I don’t have much hope.

Second, I don’t understand how Black Canary still had a secret identity. I thought she was one of those superheroes who didn’t care. She doesn’t wear a mask or even have a stupid disguise that investigative reporters should’ve figured out long before they did like Superman. All she does it put on fishnets. Sometimes I wear fishnets, and people who know my face still recognize me.

Third, I have problems with Benes’ art. Here it got too T&A. Check out this panel with Dove and the Penguin:

Hey, Penguin, that's not Dove's face.

The first two-page spread of the Birds of Prey and Penguin in his hideout was obviously a giant fake-out. But I felt like it was an overindulgence of just what I don’t like about Benes’ pencils. Obviously, Oswald is a skeezy guy; but some things I just feel I didn’t need to see it in such detail.

I’m not sure I’m feeling Hawk and Dove as part of the team in these past two issue. And they started out so strong. I suppose this is a trial under fire, and they haven’t had all the quiet moments of team-bonding. Those quiet moments that made Birds of Prey so great. I’m sure Simone will get to them when there’s some time after hooking readers on the title’s relaunch.

I’m really glad that Savant and Creote aren’t dead. I rather did call the possibility that they faked their deaths. Of course, I didn’t think it was to come and kidnap Babs. Though Savant finally figured out who Oracle is, and I bet that’s how the White Canary made him play her game. But I did like them as reformed heroes. Just glad that Savant knew better than to underestimate Babs’ fighting skills.

Huntress and Black Canary’s dialog during the big fight scene was perfect. I’d missed this. That and Zinda’s one-liners to keep the book lighter. Rather interesting that the White Canary had an arrow which to pierce Hawk. Considering I’m not sure how she could’ve planned that in advance.

What I did think was perfect in this comic was the Black Canary and Huntress’ conversation about taking out the White Canary. Yes, Black Canary doesn’t kill people. Huntress does. But Dinah’s going to try her hardest in order to figure out whom the White Canary is and how to reform her. Of course, I kind of feel like a dolt for not being able to figure out just who the White Canary is.

Comic book review for Vertigo’s Orbiter by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran

If you’re going to read Orbiter, I suggest one thing: be a giant space fan. This is Ellis’ love letter to space. In fact, he writes a foreword in which he tells space he’d like a date with it on Friday at 8 p.m. And how humanity will benefit greatly from space travel. If we’d just go there already, dammit. I tend to agree with this statement, and predictably, I enjoyed this tale.

Orbiter takes place in the not-so-distant future. Here there has not been a manned (or womaned) space flight in 10 years, and the Kennedy Space Center grounds has become something of a tent-city. The beginning is interesting in that it’s the only real time we get a glimpse of what life outside the privileged scientists and doctors’ world-view looks like. Apparently, things are no good.

And while I wouldn’t considered Ellis’ vision of a not-so-distant future to be dystopian, it is still a further decline in terms of need and humanity’s destruction of Earth. Clearly, Ellis believes that humanity needs to explore space, not just because it’s cool and the final frontier, but for the survival of the species due to a dying planet.

Suddenly, a space shuttle called the Venture lands at Kennedy Space Center and ominously, the Venture kills the people who’ve camped out on its runway. The Venture’s been missing in space for 10 years. And it’s the reason the space program was shut down.

A three person team assigned to the Venture is Michelle Robeson, a biologist and the last living astronaut; Terry Marx, a physicist working in jet propulsion; and Anna Bracken, a psychiatrist who used to work at NASA with the astronauts. Quickly, there are several mysteries that they need to solve. They find dust from Mars in the wheels of the Venture. The Venture is covered in a skin-like material. And the Venture came back with only its pilot, Captain John Cost.

Terry works on figuring out the propulsion of Venture. It’s been changed by something. Or someone. He quickly discovers that there’s gravity being created on the ship. I felt like Terry was the character Ellis was most engaged with. Ellis most understood Terry’s point-of-view and wrote from it the majority of the book. Ellis certainly has mastered the techno-babble laced with some layperson’s science.

Michelle is in charge of figuring out where the Venture’s been. How far it went, and how Cost survived it. Cost has no damage in his body one would expect to find after that long in space. In fact, he appears younger. Michelle’s the character with the least presence. I don’t know anything about her, except she’s broken because she’s not in space. Astronauts are supposed to be in space. I do think it’s telling that the character Ellis is most disconnected with is black and a woman compared to Terry, the white man.

Anna is the one who helps John come to terms with being back on Earth. She’s also perhaps the saddest character in the story. Anna’s more fully realized than Michelle, but less than Terry. She’s also the ones who bring the characters together. Perhaps Anna misses space even more than Michelle.

In the second half, they solve all the mysteries. Or at least come up with the theories behind what really happened. And Ellis pens the story in a way that you know their theories are indeed correct about the Venture and its modifications.

A major criticism of Orbiter is that there is no third act. But I feel Ellis does this on purpose. Humanity in space is left up to our imagination. Humanity’s interactions with other worlds and aliens are also up to our imaginations. Not to mention, the Venture’s second trip into space and the introduction of humans into space probably would’ve led to another book. And Ellis just wants us to remind why space is important, why we need to get out there.

As far as art, Doran’s pencils are remarkably unremarkable. I’m not a huge fan of her art, but nothing in this book made me dislike it, but similarly nothing won my attention either. Doran loves space just as much as Ellis, and I don’t wonder if this story had more stories in space that she would’ve upped her game.

Comic book reviews for Marvel Comics’ Black Widow #1, Black Widow #2, and Black Widow #3 by Marjorie Liu

Black Widow #1 by Marjorie Liu

This issue made me uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in a good way or a bad way? I still don’t know.

I love Natasha having her own series. I know the decision had more to do with her being in Iron Man 2 than probably anything else, but I still love this. I still love being able to buy at least one on-going Marvel title featuring a woman.

The feel and tone to the comic is really great. There’s a spy element; there’s a secret code. It feels very Avengers, the British spy TV show. Natasha out there on her own. The meet-up with the Black Rose was pitch perfect. I loved them fighting. I loved the fake out that he was a villain. And it being an old woman who cuts Natasha open and leaves her for dead.

However, the operating room scene made me uncomfortable. I just wanted to take Natasha away — but keep the doctors and nurses to fix her. I understand James rushing into the room, but Logan and Tony too? Seriously, the woman’s guts are on display for all of them to see. And they shouldn’t. They shouldn’t see that. Plus, doesn’t that violate several levels of cleanliness in an operating room?

Of course, Natasha being without anesthesia made me uncomfortable as well. But oddly enough, not at the same level as James, Tony, and Logan’s intrusion.

The flashback of Natasha and James on their date was well done. Great moments of the superheros just being themselves together. And yes, so Natasha — and James too — to have gone after the wife-beater.

Black Widow #2 by Marjorie Liu

Black Widow #2 has Natasha striking it out on her. Someone’s still trying to kill her. She leaves the hospital barely able to walk to go to her safe-house. And she does it without the help of anyone but herself.

Wolverine’s sent to the hospital to guard her. It’s clear that he knows more about the hit against her (not just because we saw him in last issue), but he’s not saying anything. Also, I feel like with all his superpowers and own paranoia, Wolverine should’ve noticed something was wrong and that the people trying to kill Natasha were there before he did.

We then have Tony, James, and Clint in a meeting with a bald guy. (I have no idea who this is supposed to be, except someone who worked with Osborn, but isn’t evil enough to be in jail.) Acuna’s Tony seems really off and I had a hard time connecting the personality to the drawing. Here Tony seems to have a mini fro and crazy sideburns and facial hair. I know Acuna likes the ’60s aesthetic, but this is a little too much.

One thing I really didn’t like was Pepper being victim fodder to get at Black Widow through Tony. Though I do assume that like Bullseye, Lady Bullseye also attacks people through those they care about. Though the whole Lady Bullseye and Elektra thing makes me wonder if Black Widow isn’t going to be involved in the Shadowland crossover, which I’m not reading due to being years behind on Daredevil.

Black Widow #3 by Marjorie Liu

I like the Elektra-Black Widow fight more than I thought I would. Kudos to both Liu and Acuna for making it a match of equals and not just a match to sell comic books. I buy the ’60s spy styling here, and I love the Carmen Sandiego hat Natasha wears. That and the shades just make her look so sleek and cool. And the coat nicely conceals her recent round of surgery bandages and wound.

Mod-style fighting between Black Widow and Elektra

I also really like the Black Rose helping her out here. I like that it’s not her boyfriend, Bucky. The writing’s excellent as it lets you know that the Black Rose considers Natasha his equal. That he’s helping her because they’re old friends, not because there’s an angle he’s working.

I assume the blonde woman in the club is Yelena Belova, the other Black Widow. (Unless she’s still in stasis.)

The action at the end was again, very ’60s spy. Natasha gets a bit of information and a better idea of who’s after her. But she doesn’t get all her answers, before the scientist is killed and the place torched.