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Posts tagged DC Comics
First Look at Some Wonder Woman Merchandise from Target
Earlier I posted that Target will start offering Justice League branded summer merchandise on May 19. Wonder Woman merchandise will be included and here are your first looks at two pieces.
What better way to lounge through the summer than in a Wonder Woman chair? (That looks kid size to me).
What’s better? Having a snack from your Wonder Woman snack container.
Yes, it’s pink and purple. But it’s Wonder Woman merchandise.
Target and DC to Offer Justice League Summer Merchandise
Target has become my go to place to get superhero stuff and I guess they’ll be collecting some more money from me this summer.
Today Target and DC/Warner Bros. announced that starting May 19 there will be more than 50 summer products featuring the full line-up of the Justice League.
The press release states:
Some of the more unexpected items include melamine dinnerware that features a purple and pink-clad Wonder Woman; an apron that transforms the cook into Batman; sand toys that will help beach-goers create Gotham City; and children’s Batman, Wonder Woman and The Flash beach towels that double as capes.
Dinnerware with Wonder Woman on it?
Happy Mother’s Day to the Moms of DC!
With all apologies to Dr. Seuss, a poem for Mother’s Day for the Moms of DC Comics.
There are Moms who are Queens
And Moms who are brash
If you have a mom or someone who is like a mom to you who you love and who loves you, remember today is Mother’s Day!
A Look at Lois Lane from a Kids’ Man of Steel Book
There’s quite a few kids’ early readers out tied into the Man of Steel movie including Man of Steel: Superman’s Powers. This book not only talks about Superman’s powers it also says how he gets his name.
Here’s a look Amy Adams/Lois Lane and click for the reveal.
New Wonder Woman Statue from Infinite Crisis Game Revealed
DC’s newest game Infinite Crisis will feature multiple versions of its iconic characters from various Earths. Wonder Woman will have at least three versions including Mecha Wonder Woman, regular old Wonder Woman and Atomic Wonder Woman.
Atomic Wonder Woman? Atomic Wonder Woman.
I will not be the least surprised if Atomic Wonder Woman has her own digital comic in a year.
(Source: New York Post)
A Wonderful Addition to Smallville Season 11
While the Smallville TV show included a number of familiar DC faces, the two other members of the Trinity were not seen. But the the spinoff comic Smallville Season 11 has been fixing that. Batman made his debut in the comic last year and now in an upcoming arc, so will Wonder Woman.
Given how great Bryan Q. Miller is at writing female characters, I’ve very excited to see this. And then I read this from an interview Miller gave about the news:
For “Smallville,” I’ve tried to mine and exploit the characteristics that, to me, embody the best of any interpretation of Wonder Woman. Strength. Intelligence, Nobility. And, most importantly, Love. But when we first meet Diana, she isn’t being called “Wonder Woman” just yet. She’s got a very specific mission. There’s a very big reason that she left the island, which we’ll eventually cover. Does she have the bracelets? Oh, yes. Like you see on the cover. And pants, of course. Regarding the rest of her “traditional” look - something tells me she might find her way to a lasso and some armor by the time all is said and done!
Can’t wait! The first issue lands August 14
Get Ready for Morrison and Paquette’s Wonder Woman: Earth One
The long awaited Grant Morrison take on Wonder Woman looks like it may be released soon. Earlier today the first artwork by Yanick Paquette from the 120 page graphic novel was revealed. Additionally Paquette seemed to suggest on Twitter that DC was about to make an announcement about the project. Perhaps it will be part of the August solicits?
Like JMS’ Superman: Earth One and Geoff Johns’ Batman:Earth One, this is an out of continuity take on the character. The project was first to be written by Greg Rucka who had it pulled from him for Morrison. Morrison’s take on Wonder Woman is sure to be interesting because, well, he’s Morrison. But also because almost every interview he’s done on the book has focused on the character’s sex life. In his most recent interview on the project he said he wants to give Wonder Woman “her Va-Va Voom back.”
Oh well, whether I’m eye-rolling on not at that last comment, I’ll be first in line to pick this one up.
And how gorgeous is this art? What do you think?
Injustice Game Plays Up The Killing Joke in Batgirl Reveal
As if the game shouldn’t already come with a mini-refrigerator due to its brutal murdering of Lois Lane, we now have this intro video of Batgirl that shows her being shot in the pages of The Killing Joke.
No, I’m serious. Really.
Because no one ever, ever has ever thought to have Barbara Gordon and the Joker face off again.
Because Barbara Gordon is all about getting shot by the Joker. Let’s forget whatever other skills she may have.
Because you couldn’t just have her beat the shit out of the Joker ‘cause, oh I don’t know, he’s a bad guy.
Nope, let’s keep showing that flying coffee cup from a story which is dangerously close to torture porn.
Let’s keep showing that blood stain on her skirt.
Because you really need this motivation for a game which involves superheroes beating the shit out of each other. Superman can’t be just crazy. He has to kill his wife and baby. Batgirl can’t just be an ass kicker. We have to relive the decision to “cripple the bitch”.
Ugh.
DC’s “Essential” Graphic Novels List Short on Women
In April DC announced that they would be distributing a free 121 page guide to their Graphic Novels. The guide will included DC’s backlist and will be distributed to fans, shop owners and libraries. Here’s a look at the cover via Publishers Weekly.
I got an early look last week and its an impressive piece. The upfront part has 25 “essential” graphic novels and there are a few surprises on the list. The guide is broken down into groupings - Vertigo gets it own list, MAD does and even All-Ages. There’s a long reading list in the back that includes the chronological reader for each title within its subgroup.
In other words this is going to be popular. And used to make a lot of buying decisions. And that’s why I was both surprised and saddened by the character sections. Here’s the characters who get their own multi page spreads on their backlists:
Batman
Superman
Green Lantern
Flash
and
Green Arrow.
But what about Wonder Woman? You know - member of the Trinity? The top female superhero?
Well, despite this guide being 121 pages and despite Green Arrow getting a two page spread via Bleeding Cool, this is what Wonder Woman got:
A two-page spread called “Women of DC” that also includes Batwoman, Batgirl, Catwoman and Huntress. The intro verbiage name checks the male superheroes as “icons” and then describes the women as just as powerful. They are called “dangerous” as well and the section picture is the cover of Batgirl Annual where Batgirl and Batwoman are fighting.
And the backlist recommendations were in the spread were puzzling The first volume of Wonder Woman from the new 52 (which I love) and then two volumes of the JMS reboot. It’s not like there aren’t more titles - Wonder Woman does get her own section in the back that has five titles. The exact number that Green Arrow has in his two page spread.
As you can imagine as someone who pretty much devotes a lot of time to promoting the female superheroes of DC Comics, this was a bit of kick in the ass.
How hard would it be in a 121 page guide to give Wonder Woman her own section? Why jam her in with the other female characters? Why couldn’t Wonder Woman get the same real estate in the guide than say, MAD Magazine?
But the real reason I’m upset is this guide is going to be used by stores and libraries to order books. So if Wonder Woman and the other ladies of the DCU downplayed the orders of the backlist will be impacted. I have visited many libraries and when I check out their Graphic Novel sections (usually in the Teen rooms) the number of books with female heroes is usually very small.
This guide isn’t going to improve that.
Getting people into female heroes and getting female readers isn’t going to get better when the female characters are marginalized and awkwardly bundled together. Catwoman and Wonder Woman don’t have anything in common except their gender no matter if the “dangerous” is dropped into a description.
It’s a cliche but it’s true - actions speak louder than words. A publisher can say it cares about its female heroes but if it doesn’t expend the level of promotion on them they way they do male characters the words don’t matter.
Meet the Newest Woman to Write Batman
Last year one of the glass ceilings in superhero comics had a batarang thrown at it when Becky Cloonan became the first woman to draw an issue of Batman. The writing side of the Batman ceiling has had a few cracks in it through the years with Devin Grayson, Louise Simonson, Ann Nocenti and Christina Weir all having stints on Batman titles. Women writing Batman books, however, are still rare and a very small percentage of the writers in the Batman-writing world. But in July another female writer will join the ranks. Marguerite Bennet will be co-writing the Batman Annual #2 with Scott Snyder. Bennett, as she discusses below, joins James Tynion IV, who is writing Talon and Red Hood, as one of Scott Snyder’s students to pick up a gig at DC.
DC Unveils Superman Unchained Anniversary Variants Featuring Lois Lane
DC just debuted the variant 75th anniversary covers for Jim Lee and Scott Snyder’s Superman Unchained and they look great and feature all of Superman’s supporting cast including Lois Lane. When the news of the variant covers first was announced Lois Lane was mentioned as only having a possible shared cover. That raised the ire of numerous fans (including myself) who let DC know through a Twitter campaign they wanted to see Lois get her due as well for the 75th. Sounds like DC listened because Lois is featured on a number of the anniversary covers.
The 1930s cover is by Bruce Timm and features a nod to Max Fleisher’s animated films as Superman battles robots while Lois looks on.
The Silver Age Variant by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez features Lois Lane, Superman and a Phone Booth.
The modern day cover is by Jerry Ordway and features Jimmy, Clark, Lois and Lex Luthor.
You can see the rest of the covers along with an interview with Dan DiDio over at IGN
What is the Greatest Female DC Superhero Costume, EVER?
There’s a lot written about female superhero costumes and it usually focuses on how bad they are. But are they all bad? I don’t think so. There are some costumes that manage to make a women look heroic, capable and are atheistically pleasing.
So let’s figure out the best one! It’s time for a tournament (And I know how you folks love tournaments!) to decide:
The best female DC superhero costume ever!
So here’s how it’s going to work. First round is going to be narrowing down the best costume for the ladies who have more than one or two - Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Power Girl, Black Canary, Zatanna and Catwoman (got another one? Let me know). Once those are decided we’ll go into a tournament that includes costumes that have stayed fairly consistent except for some tweaks - Batwoman for example.
What do you need to do? Send me your candidates for phase 1 (and if you have a particular costume in mind send that along) and who you think should be in phase 2 in the comments below or Tumblr ask by midnight EST Wednesday and I’ll start lining up the tournament.
I am going to keep to in-continuity costumes i.e. no Elseworld costume i.e no Kingdom Come, etc. I may decide to do a separate category for those. Or I may not. Let me know what you think.
Spread the word!
Graphic Artist Mixes Superhero Oaths and Art to Create Inspiration
Graphic artist Adam Thompson has put together a set of images that take the words from DC Comic’s Justice League and remixes of existing art to create a set of inspirational posters. The artist states:
Superheroes already have a prominent place in pop culture. Their images can be seen anywhere. As a fan I enjoy seeing the strength of these characters in the spotlight, but because I am looking to reach a new audience, I needed to find a new light. I had to consider that comic books are a series of images accompanied by dialogue, and since it’s the images that are already so prominent, I decided to focus on the dialogue.
In my mind, one of the most famous pieces of comics dialogue is the oath sworn by Green Lantern. I gave this some deeper thought and realized that the oath is, in a way, applicable to real life. Anyone, should they choose, can swear an oath to stand against evil. Then it hit me. Have all comic heroes said things that are applicable in real life? Have they all said things that can inspire any of us, comic fan or not?
The Superman poster quote is by Joe Kelly from “What’s so Funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way.”
He also has posters for Batman, Green Arrow, Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. You can see the rest here.
75 Years of Lois Lane - A Chat with Jerry Ordway
April 18 marked 75 years since Action Comics #1 landed on the newsstand. In that issue Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel introduced the world to one of the most important women in comics - Lois Lane (Superman made his debut in that issue, too). To mark this anniversary I’m chatting with some of her creators to get their thoughts on the character and her place in comic history.You can see the previous pieces here. Today’s thoughts about Lois are from writer and artist Jerry Ordway. Ordway was key creator in the early years of the post-Crisis Lois Lane. He was an artist and writer working on both The Adventures of Superman and Superman in the late 80s/90s including the issues where Lois chooses to marry Clark Kent.
So Jerry, what’s your first memory of Lois Lane?
Preview of The Movement #1
Gail Simone’s newest DC title hits the stands and digital devices on Wednesday and here, via the fine folks at DC Comics, is a preview. Getting a little bit of a Secret Six vibe here.
