Ooo neat.

You know, sometimes I miss not being on the pulse of all things anime and manga, like I was back as a teenager. Because this looks like it would have been awesome. (Vis)

Seriously, an anime version of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot? Awesome. Heck, an anime that has an OLDER WOMAN as a main character is surprising enough for me. Though naturally there's apparently a cute younger female character inserted too. But that's not too bad, and it seems like she's got a purpose at least.

I may have to check this out!

Non-Comic Moment of Misanthropy

This makes me fucking thrilled that I'm no longer working in a toy store. Jesus.

In fact, I'm so happy to no longer be remotely connected to the service industry that I feel suddenly energized and motivated to resume studying.

God, sometimes I hate people.

A Return and Another Query

I've just gotten home from Thanksgiving at my friends'. :-) It was fun. Very different from what I'm used to, but different in a fun way. Lots of people. (I'm used to really spending the holiday with just my immediate family), fair amount of kids, and so on. I had a good time. <3

Don't really have a blog post though. Maybe in the vein of the post of a few days ago.

If you could go on a date with any superhero...just a date, mind, no strings attached and no promises to put out or anything like that, who would you pick?

I think personally, I'd pick Booster Gold. He's not my type at ALL, but he's not above exploiting time technology to have fun and he's not as sleazy as Hal. He's got a good sense of humor too.

What about you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm ducking in from spending the holiday with my friend's family to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, if you're American anyway. Everyone else should have a happy day too, but possibly sans giant cardboard turkeys.

Unless that's your thing of course. :-)

A Hypothetical

I was thinking of the age-old question: If you were to be trapped on a desert island with one comic book character (we can assume for the case of theory that superheroes with applicable powers are somehow blocked from using them to escape), who would it be?

Of course, my first thought was Batman, as he'd be most likely able to get us off the island, but on the other hand...he's also kind of a dick. Can you imagine trying to share coconuts with BATMAN? Egads.

My second thought would be a Green Lantern. But...well, let's face it, while they're creative and reasonably likely to eventually break us out. They're also really annoying. I'm including John in that because I'm sure he's got some annoying habits we don't know about. I love them, but trapped alone on an island with them? No way.

I suppose my actual pick would be Alfred. Batman would rescue Alfred, and I'd get to come along, and until then the island would be the most liveable island ever. I bet Alfred would know some awesome coconut recipes.

What about you?

No Post Here

I'm actually contemplating going to see Twilight. I've never read the books, mind, though they sound hilariously bad. But it seems like going to see hilariously bad in a movie would be even better.

Sparkly vampires, after all.

I wonder about all the folks I've read who keep going on about how unhealthy the entire thing will be for young female readers. And to be fair, in one sense, I agree. At the very least, the excerpts, recaps, and summaries I've seen sound wretched.

At the same time, I grew up on soap operas and Sweet Valley High and some truly wretched shoujo manga. Not to mention, my mother's romance novels. Unhealthy, horrifying fantasy relationships with terrible role models are hardly new for young girls after all. I do think there are unhealthy after effects, but I don't think it's going to bring down an entire generation of young girls.

Then again, I haven't read it, so maybe it will.

I think the most fun part of it is seeing the actor playing Edward rag on his own character in interviews though. I mean, yeah, it's unprofessional, but he's also playing a sparkly emo vampire, so I think possibly one has to cut him some slack. It's still hilarious though.

She-Hulk and a Tangent

Eek, later blog post than I usually write. Oh well. :-) That's vacation for you.

Personally, I'm really disappointed to hear that She-Hulk is being cancelled. I'm not sure why, as, to be quite honest, I haven't been reading it. (I had problems toward the end of Slott's run, and Peter David is very much a take-him-or-leave-him sort of writer for me. Also, I was annoyed that somewhere along the line, Jen seemed to lose the lawyer focus. Though to be fair, I've no idea if she gets it back.

I'm actually more disappointed by this than I am by Manhunter, and I actually read Manhunter. I suspect it's because, much as we may gripe, it's hard to argue that DC didn't give Manhunter a chance. There was the cancellation game before. Then it was brought back. Kate was added (if sloppily) to Birds of Prey which ought to have garnered more readers. I suppose that the sales just didn't measure up.

I'm clinging to hope that she'll appear when they do Adventure Comics again, since Manhunter was part of that lineup way back when, and that would be a fun way to get new adventures out of characters that while cool, may not be able to front a book just now.

I'd always thought She-Hulk sold pretty well though. I suppose there are other reasons, but it's disappointing nonetheless.

Tangentially, I'd still like to see a comic about a superhero lawyer firm actually dealing with all those weird civil matters that ought to come up thanks to superheroing. Like inheritance laws when you come back from the dead. Or general liability when your superheroic base gets exploded. Things like that. An insurance company would be fun too, I think.

Then again, I'm a weird person.

Placeholder

Well, on the plus side: vacation week officially starts today, by my reckoning. I plan to study and sleep, as upcoming finals are a bitch.

On the minus side, my power cord officially died so I have to go replace the damn thing. This also leaves out heavy duty blogging today on account of my laptop battery kind of sucks.

So basically I'll leave you with this mild reaction to this blog@ post that advertizes a Wolverine and the X-Men trailer.

Why does Emma Frost have blue lips?

Ooo, Cute!

Okay, you know, I've never been particularly interested in Astro Boy, even when I WAS into anime, but this looks insanely cute.

I think it's the spike that does it for me. I'm easily won over by spiky, sort-of-3d hair and big eyes. The animation looks neat too. I'm sold. :-)

Smallville Legion

Huh. This almost makes me want to watch Smallville.

I think Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl look well cast, though Lightning Lad looks maybe twelve at most. Still, I'm pretty curious to see what they'll do with this.

...Is it wrong that I'm hoping Cosmic Boy wears the fishbowl helmet?

More Love for Bad 90s TV

Aw. You know, two years ago, I'd have been really thrilled by this. Well, technically my reaction would have been "Yep, called it!"

Too bad, I pretty much wandered away from new-BSG a while ago. It's a good show, don't get me wrong. But I just wasn't emotionally invested in it. Also, I hate Starbuck with a passion. I appreciate that she's a groundbreaking character, actually allowed to be flawed in much the same manner as a male character, it's just that, in the end, she's like the kind of male character that tends to irritate the hell out of me. So there you go.

On the plus side, I finally found out where I put my copy of the Devil's Cape. Which I've owed a review on for months. It's nothing against the book, which looks awesome, merely that law school has been EATING MY BRAIN this year. But I've found my book again and I have Thanksgiving break coming up, so I can finally relax and read and review. (Thank you for being patient with me!)

As I've mentioned before, I've been watching a lot of the Sentinel. Which is incredibly, wonderfully, 90s. I have such a thing for paranormal-cop-paired-with-incongruous-partner shows. (I always thought Forever Knight started sucking after they lost Schenke. Seriously. The most fun part of having a vampire detective is the stereotypical garlic-loving Canadian-Polish partner damnit.) It's interesting in particular, because, unlike say Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues, I actually watched this show in its original run. It's interesting to see how my perceptions have changed and what catches my attention now that didn't when I was a fourteen year old squidget:

1) When I was a squidget, I was all about Sandburg, the geeky anthropologist sidekick. Granted, he is still kind of neat, being short and smart and enthusiastic. But now I have noticed something that apparently escaped my fourteen-year-old eyes. Jim Ellison is a fucking lunatic. If it moves, he will tackle it. If it is a vehicle, he will fall out of it, jump on it, or blow it the fuck up. Sometimes all three. If there is a gun, he will drop it. And he will still manage to be bad-ass, often in ways involving his belt.

I'm waiting for an episode in which he tackles a rocket, disables it with his belt, and beats the crap out of the pilot, while dropping his gun into a turbine or something. It seems inevitable by this point.

It shouldn't be surprising that he's my favorite character this time around.

2) As a corollary, it amuses the hell out of me that it's established that Ellison was a medic in the army. Do medics have to take the Hippocratic Oath? If yes. That's HILARIOUS.

3) The magic jaguars are awesome.

Also, apparently "super senses" include things like prophetic dreams, seeing ghosts, and raising the dead. Because... I dunno. Jaguars are cool? :-)

4) This is the first show I've seen in which the ex-wife of the main character is featured prominently and is not a) characterized as a raving bitch or b) characterized as being THIS CLOSE to falling into bed with her ex-husband at a moment's notice. There's a nice chemistry between the characters and the relationship is complex enough that I actually buy that these are two people who were in love once, found themselves fundamentally incompatible, and found themselves to be better friends once they parted.

5) This is also one of the few secret superhero type shows in which the characters "in the know" are actually smart enough to TELL THEIR BOSS about the whole superpowers thing. It cuts a lot of time from having to make shit up when your boss actually knows how you found out that your partner is being held in the abandoned factory through smelling duck feathers in the water.

6) It's a common thread of these kind of shows for the sidekick to be more libidinously-inclined than the main-character (my spellcheck does not think that "libidinously-inclined" is a word. However, it also does not appear to think "spellcheck" is a word either, so I'm taking it with a grain of salt). I think, however, it's relatively rare for the sidekick to be much more SUCCESSFULLY libidinous.

Also, in retrospect, I'm far more used to seeing the Daniel Jackson/Spencer Reid style of hot-geek-who-is-charmingly-bumbling-and-unaware-of-his-hotness, which has some appeal I guess, but I'm finding it a nice change to see a geek who KNOWS his appeal with the ladies and how to work it.

That said, the series is still pretty much a slash-fest. But I knew THAT ten years ago.

7) Somehow, despite being a relatively dirty minded youngster, I completely missed the fact that the sense tests are totally bondage-y fun.

I did not however miss the part in one episode where the bad guy tells Ellison to take the wire out of his pants or he'll make Sandburg do it for him.

Brackett's kind of a pervert's all I'm sayin'.

8) The fact that the exterior of the Peruvian rainforest somehow is visibly temperate, overcast, and contains maple trees.

9) Richard Burgi has creepy eyes. Creepy. Also, his skin tone apparently reflects blue-screen light. Which makes certain horse racing scenes really fucking funny.

Here's a tip for any future cheap TV producers out there. If your lead actor's head reflects the blue screen light, stop moving in for the close up!

10) Belts are all purpose tools of garrotting, light-breaking, property destroying awesome doom. I may have to stop boycotting them.

...I love this show.

Models, Inc

You know, in a weird way, this Models, Inc. thing looks kind of awesome.

Though I still really want, more than anything, a "Daily Planet" themed comic. You know, a comic specifically revolving around Perry, Lois, Clark (in reporter mode only) and company as they do their nifty journalism thing. I just think it'd be really neat.

But this one doesn't look bad, and could be a lot of fun. :-)

Brief Disjointed Reactions

Oh. Wow.

My inner Trekkie is on pins and needles for this. That looks phenomenal. Egads.

--

On an unrelated note, I'm intrigued by DC bringing back Adventure Comics. Obviously, it'll probably be mostly featuring the Legion of Superheroes. But I was thinking of the other series that used to be featured in AC. Like Sandman, Starman, and Manhunter.

Maybe we'll be seeing Kate again sooner than I feared!

(What I'm really hoping is that Sand gets panel time out of this too. That would make me a very happy Kalinara. :-))

News

Blog@ blogger Carla Hoffman and her husband Lance were overtaken by a flash fire recently. I can't imagine what they're going through, but Blog@Newsarama are posting news and updates about their condition here and here.

It looks like folks are working on setting up a fund, so hopefully there'll be news on that soon.

Meanwhile, on her livejournal, Lea Hernandez has some advice on giving money and assistance here.

ETA: Mike Sterling's got info about the Lance and Carla Burn Fund here.

Belated Reaction to Cancellation News

I have to admit, I'm a lot more disappointed by the cancellation of Manhunter and Blue Beetle than I am Birds of Prey.

I suspect this is because I'm fairly sure that the BoP cancellation ties in with Batman RIP. From the 20 Questions thing on Newsarama, I'm guessing that after the Oracle miniseries, there'll be something resembling a BoP ongoing again if in a somewhat different form.

With Manhunter and Blue Beetle though, I'm less certain. I believe we'll see the characters around the DCU, but it's not the same. Eventually, they'll probably fall into limbo.

I get the reasoning behind it,, but it's incredibly disappointing. :-(

No Post Here

I'm taking a break from blogging today. Mostly because I finished the meme yesterday. Also, I have Sentinel DVDs, continuing my love affair with horrible 90s cop television shows. So, yeah. See you tomorrow. :-)

That Damned Meme - Home Stretch

Hah! Finally done! Triumph!!!

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Silver Surfer - really sucks at Pictionary. He's a decent artist but keeps ending up trying to draw things like "existential angst". That never goes well.

Galactus - would be surprisingly good at Pictionary.

G'nort - dreams of radioactive sheep.

Ted Kord - once played Danny Zuko in a high school production of Grease. He couldn't resist tinkering with the car though. Ultimately his drama club was the only one in the country with a working flying car.

Max Lord - Dated a rocket scientist once. It didn't work out. But she did like to tinker, so his cyborg parts got something of a free upgrade out of the deal.

Jessie Quick/Liberty Belle - knows how to gut a trout.

Booster Gold - got excellent grades in "classic television literature" in school. The fact that by his century "classic television literature" consisted of episodes of Days of Our Lives probably explains a lot.

Ganthet - Once presided over an intergalactic conga line. Blame Hal, everyone else does.

Squirrel Girl - is surprisingly adept at drinking games.

Dinah Lance/Black Canary - was a girlscout once. She could sell cookies to ANYONE.

Alan Scott - has a long standing vendetta against Simon and Garfunkel.

Wild Dog - has pet fish, or will, as soon as his schedule permits.

Dr. Druid - once dated a Vegas showgirl.

The Master (Doctor Who Master) - fanboyed Escher once. No longer.

Salaak - is the Oan Limbo Champion seven years running. But only because the mathematical concept was disqualified. On a side note, the Guardians have finally stopped letting Hal Jordan pick the party games.

The Penultimate Meme Edition!

I'm in the home stretch and will have finished these by tomorrow.

...

Whereupon I'll have to think of something new to blog about. Damnit. :-)

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Jaime Reyes's mother - I believe if it came down to it, she could totally take out Lex Luthor, Deathstroke or any of those sorts in a probably unconventional but still effective way.

Movieverse!Pepper Potts - was once a tightrope walker. That's how she can run in those shoes. :-)

Movieverse!Tony Stark - Once bagged the entire Swedish Volleyball team while on a business trip in Tokyo. In fact, it was on the Tokyo Tower. He only noticed the unfortunate design of the mascot after the fact however. He lined his office with them for three weeks until Obadiah finally lost his temper and had them cleaned out.

Non-movieverse, emo Tony Stark - Probably did the same thing. But angsted about it.

Movieverse!Samuel Sterns - Actually always wanted to shave his head bald. He tried it once in high school. Not a good look for him.

Katma Tui - Was set up once on a blind date with Sinestro when she was very young. She threw her drink in his face.

Ben Grimm - Is a champion with a yo-yo.

Dawn Fury (Nick's sis) - Once married a stage magician and now works as a surprisingly effective SHIELD hypnotherapist who needlepoints explosion scenes.

Percival Pinkerton - Um. I may have to take a pass on this one. Considering the guy ended up running a Playboy-type nightclub complete with attractive women dressed as Bunnies, I'm not sure how to proceed from there. His awesomeness defies me even now.

J. Jonah Jameson - is actually a distant cousin of Nick Fury. This explains a lot.

Dr. Strange - has a thing for dinosaur bones. And bad sci-fi channel movies.

Dr. Doom - Worked as a TA for an intro to chemistry course back in college, before everything went wrong. Those poor students.

Dr. Midnite - Secretly has a jones for popcorn.

The Meme that Never Ends, part 4,560 or so...

Kyle Rayner - Kyle once took a web design course. He was actually pretty good at it, but never pursued it because he didn't like the limited palette.

Hercules (marvel version) - Plays a mean hand of Gin Rummy

Power Girl - Once had a rather erotic fantasy about Ted Grant. At first she wasn't sure she could look him in the face the next morning, but then he opened his mouth and made some crack about women drivers and things were thankfully back to normal.

Captain America (Steve, the other guys, or Buck) - The scary thing is, Steve really does think the wings look cool.

Tora - Is totally a domme. Guy enjoys every minute.

Bea - Might have had a thing for Sasha Bordeaux. Just a little thing. Maybe.

Hank Pym - used to be into emo-man-pain rock as a youngster. That totally explains Ultron, you know.

The Riddler - Before his fondness for puns, our Mr. Nigma used to pen his calling cards in Iambic Pentameter. That went about as well as you'd expect.

She-Hulk - Did not play volleyball in highschool but kind of always wanted to.

Frankenstein's Monster - Aw. Poor Adam, no one ever remembers his name because his dad was a dick. Honestly, he didn't even HAVE to make him a girlfriend. He could have just gotten him a puppy or something. Bastard.

Susan Storm-Richards - is a lot kinkier than you probably think and knows how to make use of forcefield powers and a rubber husband.

Janet van Dyne - was really good at math in school, but then concluded that boys weren't interested in smart girls and fell out of the habit. It was a shame really, because if she'd kept up with it, she might have been able to catch Hank's attention that much faster. Or at least share something with him that wasn't sex or superheroing.

The Meme that Ate My Blog Continued

Herein I have MORE things I believe about certain characters that are not supported (as far as I know) in comic continuity. :-) Feel free to argue with me or chime in.

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The Sixth Doctor - The Sixth Doctor's jacket is actually patterned after an ancient alien flag for surrender. That race did not survive long as no one could imagine something that awesomely offensive meaning anything but fight to the death.

The Tenth Doctor - Let's just say, you don't want to know how long that orange had been in the Doctor's pocket during the Christmas Invasion.

Adric - Aw. Poor annoying Adric. He's the sort of kid who probably got picked on in school something awful. Whatever the E-Space equivalent of swirlies is, you know he got it. But he probably had some decent nerd-revenge schemes in his day.

Bart Allen - In my mind, there is a special comic entitled "Bart vs. the Shinkansen". There might be terrorists involved. Also a bunch of very confused Japanese business men.

Connor Hawke - Long before hooking up with Ollie, Connor underwent a brief period of rebellion whereupon he decided to become a conservative republican lawyer. Of course he was eight at the time, but his mother still remembers that with considerable trauma. Connor's just hoping no one tells Ollie and gives him a coronary.

Eddie Fyers - Has been told of the aforementioned incident and is saving it up to tell Ollie when the archer gets a little too obnoxious. After everything Ollie's put him through, he's earned one coronary.

Arrowette - I subscribe to the theory that Arrowette is totally one of Oliver Queen's brats. It's not an original theory, sure, but it makes too much sense.

Valerie Cooper - secretly collects stamps.

Mary Jane Watson-Parker - I firmly believe that comic!Mary Jane would be quite aghast and annoyed at the Movie!version of herself. Though I suspect she'd like movie!Gwen Stacy.

Gen (Usagi Yojimbo) - Um, I actually haven't read any of Usagi Yojimbo either, so I'm going to take another pass.

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More later! :-)

Wonder Woman Casting Rumors (No Meme Today, hah!)

I'm taking another meme break. Because, holy heck, is that more tiring than it looks. :-) (By the way, anyone who wants to play too is more than welcome. :-))

I was thinking that this whole Beyonce as Wonder Woman thing is kind of interesting.

I'll be honest though, I can't really see her as Wonder Woman. Mostly because the only thing I remember seeing her in is Austin Powers. Though to be fair, I thought she seemed to have fun with the role. And honestly, I've never thought of Lynda Carter as a spectacular actress.

I've always thought the biggest appeal to Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman was her obvious good humor throughout the whole thing. In that respect, Beyonce might not be a bad choice at all. And certainly, given all the dancing and other athletics, she's probably in good shape. I'm still skeptical, mind, but there are worse choices I can imagine.

I'll admit though, my heart is still set on Gina Torres as Wonder Woman. Mostly because she is awesome. Also, because she is awesome. But that's probably not meant to be. :-(

Still More Meme Answers

Egads. I will never be done with this meme. Okay. Here's today's batch.

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Cannonball - Has a weird thing about crocodiles.

Harley Quinn - was the sort of kid who always brought home sick birds to tend. No one ever bothered to ask how they'd gotten sick to begin with.

Nightcrawler - knows all the lyrics to the songs in the Sound of Music. It's kind of creepy actually.

Ron Weasley - You know, I'm like the only person I know who hasn't read these books. I read the first one, got bored by the end. But okay, I'll bite. Even though I'm sure he's never watched television, I suspect Ron Weasley would totally have liked Matlock.

Duke Nukem - Is a closet vegetarian. Okay. Not really. But he likes salad more than anyone would actually expect.

Strawberry Shortcake - has a secret vendetta against the Smurfs. It technically revolves around Smurfberries, but no one really wants to talk about it.

Spider Jerusalem - I've actually not yet read Transmetropolitan. It's on my list, but I think I have to take a pass. He does have an awesome name though.

Aunt May - Has a very colorful past. Ask Nick Fury about it sometime.

Buck Wargo - Sometimes being an awesome Millionaire-Scientist-Cowboy gets awfully tiring. Fortunately Guy's amusing enough to make up for those times.

Mace Gardner - Mace was always secretly a little jealous of his brother. I think he knew that, in some ways, the favorable treatment wasn't doing him any favors in the long run. And that, ultimately, his brother really is the better person.

Peggy Louise Gardner - I think one reason that good old Ms. Gardner underwent such a drastic personality change after Roland died was guilt and compensation. She hadn't been the sort of woman able to stop a man like him at the time, but now she's going to damn well make sure that it can NEVER happen again. Though really, she knows it's much too late to do any good, she wants her son to remember her as someone strong.

Susan Jordan - Susan likes Hal, but secretly thinks he's somewhat wishy-washy and unreliable. She wishes that Jim wouldn't get quite so emotionally invested in someone so likely to go traipsing off again.

Bucky - Bucky actually learned to pick locks from Steve Rogers, who felt that his previous, army-learned technique was terrible. Bucky never asked where Steve learned how to do that, mostly because Steve always wore such a guilty look on his face when the subject came up.

Sharon Carter - Sharon wanted to be a spy since she was a little girl, when she would wander about the neighborhood with a magnifying glass and a notebook.

The Red Skull - The first thing our Johann did when he had a spare moment after taking over a cloned body of Steve Rogers was find a harem of German women of suitable genetic lineage and ensconce them on a secret island base somewhere. Someday poor Steve is going to wash up on this island and have to face an army of terrifying, Nazi super-soldier children. Who are, in a round-about way, his own offspring. He will not take it well.

An Interruption

Taking a break from the meme answers today. (Still got the list in front of me though. :-)) This is theoretically out of mercy for any readers who could care less about my random silly thoughts about individual characters.

In actuality, it's because I'm lazy and I want a nap. (Meme answers will be resumed either later today or tomorrow.)

On the plus side, The Graysons has been cancelled. Which honestly, is probably for the best, as the show concept seemed a bit off.

That said, if there's any superhero suited for the brooding fangirl-bait angst, it IS Dick Grayson.

I'm actually of the inclination that making a Nightwing series might have been a good idea. I mean, sure, no one who doesn't read comics has any idea who Nightwing is, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

All they really need to establish is that this guy used to be a child sidekick, is now striking out on his own, has ISSUES, and a very present if-not-literally mentor/father figure with whom said issues arise.

It's kind of Supernatural meets Smallville, in that respect.

Heck, you could set it up as the anti-Smallville. Instead of having it be a superhero BEFORE he becomes a superhero, make it about a superhero afterwards. Dick got fired, probably unfairly. Possibly he even has no intention of resuming a superhero identity right away, but circumstances force him into it.

In various episodes, we see old enemies carrying grudges again ex-Robin (who probably never needs to be identified as such) with old superhero friends who are worried about him since his firing... it'd be a fairly easy way to incorporate a lot of possibilities without convoluting the history too much. I think it'd work pretty well.

Meme Answers Part Deux

Here I continue with my answers to this meme. Again, it's only a few at a time. But I'll probably finish it in bigger batches over the weekend.

Hope these answers amuse you!

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Tyroc - I actually don't know ANYTHING about Tyroc beyond what Wikipedia says, but in my personal continuity, there is totally a crossover adventure where he and Black Canary go drunken caroling.

Jaime Reyes - Wanted to be a nun for about two weeks when he was three years old, despite the obvious chromosomal incompatibility. His mother still teases him about that sometimes.

Lois Lane - When she was a kid, she always wanted to be President. She realizes now that it's probably not a good idea as it would put Clark, as First Gentleman, under far too much scrutiny. On the other hand, Clark probably could make do.

Nightwing - I'm resisting the temptation to be mean to Nightwing. Instead, I've decided that Dick's really horrible fashion sense comes from his one nod to teenage rebellion against Bruce and Alfred's phenomenal taste.

Batman - I think Batman, while actually a bastard sometimes, other times just acts like a jerk to get a rise out of his superhero colleagues out of sheer amusement. In that sense, he's actually very much like Guy Gardner. I think there's a weird sort of understanding there. Though Guy still gets pissed off by the way Bruce treats his sidekicks.

Dum Dum Dugan - Met his wife when she walloped him on the playground. It was love at first sight.

John Stewart - Once had a really embarrassing experience in Miami. It was totally Hal's fault, and Katma will not stop laughing whenever the subject is brought up.

Tim Drake - While competent in pretty much any other capacity, in my head, Tim Drake cannot carry a tune to save his life.

Gambit - Used to give Wolverine's cigars a bit of a charge as a practical joke. He has since learned his lesson.

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:-)

Meme Answers - Sneak Peek

Hi! Okay, well, I owe meme answers don't I? :-)

Unfortunately, it's been a hectic day and you guys gave me one heck of a list, so it may take a while.

On the plus side, it means I won't be shy of blog posts for the next few days. :-)

As a disclaimer, I'm by no means familiar with every aspect of continuity regarding a lot of these characters, so it's very possible one of my beliefs will have been contradicted, or less likely but theoretically possible, actually established. If so, tell me. That amuses me.

Anyway, here's a sneak peek of what is to come!

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Rogue - I think Rogue's secretly a science fiction fan. Hard sci-fi, not floofy Trek style science fantasy. But, like, Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, et al? I think she goes for it. There's the sense of wonder and well, pun uninteded, but of constantly reaching TOWARD something in those books that I think would appeal to a character like her.

Linda Danvers - I think, Buzz aside, Linda always liked the good boys. Over-achievers, class presidents, boy scouts. That sort of thing. Her first crush was a dark haired, blue-eyed boy that looked remarkably like a younger Superman. This made things a little awkward later on, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Kara Zor-El - Would totally read Superman/Batman slashfic, if it exists in the DCU, if only to "innocently" drop a naive comment about it later and watch Clark get embarrassed.

Oliver Queen - Oliver Queen was totally a cheerleader in highschool. He actually did it to meet girls, but he claimed he did it as a rebellion against fascist gender stereotypes. It actually worked for the most part, he got a LOT of dates.

Mia Dearden - Mia likes humming "Kung-Fu fighting" when seeing Connor do martial arts. Because she can.

Aquaman's Sidekicks - I don't actually know that much about the sidekicks. Well, I know Tempest is whiny and Neptune Perkins is lame, but aside from that... I'd imagine actually that they were all really confused by the long-hair period. Seriously. Long hair underwater. What the heck was up with that.

Mr. Terrific (Michael Holt) - Does not like ABBA. But I strongly suspect a closet fondness for Zamfir, Master of the Panflute.

Amanda Waller - Totally did Nick Fury in a crossover that only exists in my brain. Also, she may have a secret base in Wisconsin.

Sand - This makes very little sense, but I remember reading the issue of SMT where Dian said she had no siblings, and somehow I came to the conclusion that he's not actually Dian's nephew but her illegitimate son. He was then raised by his grandparents who started spreading this fiction about Dian having a black-sheep type older sister. It's one of many things they don't actually talk about.

Mr. Fantastic - has a secret visceral fear of balloon animals.

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There is more forthcoming, but not this minute because I have to sleep!

Interlude Part II

Okay, well. Fuck. I'm not going to be getting any substantial blogging done tonight. There's no way. NO WAY.

Jesus. That SPEECH. I'm a blubbering mess and my only consolation is I totally lasted longer than this guy.

And McCain gave one hell of a classy concession speech, too. (Shame about the dicks in his audience. Seriously, yelling "Sarah!" at one point? Show your candidate some fucking respect, live audience!) It was a good run.

So, yeah. One more day to suggest people for the meme. I might have to stretch them out in a few posts, because sheesh, you folk are nosy parkers. :-) Right now, I have to go reclaim my dignity. :-)

Interlude

I'm not going to answer my meme yet, mostly because I like to give it one extra day for any stragglers. :-) Hopefully my answers will entertain you.

That said, today is Election Day! Well, if you're American, anyway. And if you haven't already voted via absentee or something. I'm excited and nervous.

I don't blog often about real world politics, mostly because I'm not all that interested in online debating it. Sorry guys, but that's the sort of thing I get to debate and discuss a lot in real life. I know you guys all have very good reasons for voting the way you do, I know I do, and I know we're not likely to convince one another. Especially not TODAY.

That said, I'm crossing my fingers and casting my ballot for Obama/Biden. Which I'm sure is not terribly surprising coming from a blog like mine. I've got nothing against you McCain fans, but he's not where I stand on the issues, so there ya go. I'd wish you guys luck, but that'd be a bit counter productive. Well, may the best man win! :-)

Anyway, we'll see tonight whether I get to cheer with joy or be dejected and melodramatically contemplate a move to Canada. (I probably wouldn't actually go, but I'm fond of dramatic proclamations.) :-)

Attempt at a Meme

Once more, I have no blog post. So I'm going to try a meme suggested by a friend via email. It's primarily for fanfic writers, I think, but heck, I've written one fanfic once. So hey, why not?

Essentially, you suggest a character, and I will tell you something that I believe whole-heartedly about that character that has no merit or basis what-so-ever in the actual comic books.

For example, I believe that Guy Gardner, though he will never admit this to anyone, bakes a mean quiche.

Don't let the name fool you. Quiches are indeed manly.

I also believe that back in the days when SHIELD's headquarters were still enterable via Barber Shop chair, Nick Fury would come in jauntily whistling "Johanna", just to freak out any showtune-familiar new recruits.

So...please suggest a character! Since empty memes always look so sad!

Happy news!

You know what makes me happy? Finding out that the Invisible Man tv show's first season came out on DVD this past year. I didn't know that! <3

I really have to keep more abreast of these things! I loved that show!

Josei Manga and Slash Fanfiction

(Warning, very incoherent and nonsensical ramblings follow.)

You know, honestly, this news makes me very annoyed and very tired.

Essentially, a prefecture of Japan has denounced nine manga as "harmful", six of which are sexually explicit "josei" manga. (Manga written for adult women.)

I will be honest. I haven't read the manga on the list. For all I know, these six manga might be the most exploitative, harmful, and disgusting comics that ever came out of Japan.

But somehow I doubt it.

I can't help but think of how I used to ride the train home from Sannomiya to Maiko, dangling with boredom from those stupid rings, until just to alleviate the boredom, I'd end up peeking upside-down at the big manga phonebook that some salariman sitting three people away was reading.

I'm a busybody after all. It was interesting. Sometimes they looked interesting, other times... well, there's nothing quite like glancing over and seeing some cute anime girl screaming "No!" while in full bondage gear getting gang-raped.

I'm not judging that guy, mind you. I've read my share of porn and I recognize that porn is fantasy. I've read my share. And rape is a common pornographic fantasy (for men AND women if fanfics and bodice rippers are any indication) and doesn't mean that the person who enjoys the fantasy would ever take part in the actual act.

I just wonder if THAT manga made the list.

I spent ten years or so reading manga, and a good portion of my time in Japan traipsing around corner-store manga shops, bookstores, anime stores, doujinshi hideways and the like, but I recognize that ultimately my experience with the medium is fairly limited. I couldn't tell you for certain whether I saw more manga devoted to boys/men than I saw devoted to girls/women. I couldn't begin to guess the distribution for adult/pornographic manga. I know what I THINK I saw, but I'm well aware that my own biases and general unfamiliarity with the culture very likely skewed my perspective.

I'm certain there are harmful and offensive manga being produced for men AND women. But to be honest, I think this list sounds fishy.

Of nine offensive manga. Six were josei. I'd imagine that the remaining three were men's manga. But I don't know that for sure. That said, if we assume the best case scenario and that those three are men's comics...

That still is a ratio of 2:1. And to be honest, I sincerely doubt that there are twice as many "harmful" comics directed toward women as there are for men.

(And the original article indicates that other places have done similar.)

You know what it reminds me of? Slash fanfiction.

Not so much NOW. When everyone and their sister reads yaoi and slash, or seems to, and enjoys it. But when I started out on the Internet, I remember things differently.

I read my first fanfic at the age of eleven. My dad printed off a couple of fun Star Trek the Next Generation fanfics for me off of a bulletin board because I had run out of my collection of tie-in novels. I loved them immediately. Even the awful ones, because it was MORE of my favorite show.

I read my first slash fanfic in 1996. It was a Highlander fanfic that centered around my favorite characters and I decided to risk it even though I thought the idea was pretty mind-boggling. ("But...they have GIRLFRIENDS!" I thought.) I found that if I skipped over the sex scenes, it wasn't THAT much worse than the kind of really godawful hurt/comfort type general fanfic I adored reading. And there was the added advantage of never seeing "Duncan's new girlfriend who is EVEN OLDER THAN METHOS but can HIDE it, OMG!"

I understand the appeal of Mary Sue fics, and I don't begrudge anyone who likes them, and to be honest, I might have written my own once upon a time (As I recall it was a scary religious fundamentalist who hated Mr. Spock because she thought he was Satan but then learned the error of her ways when he saved her life and things went from there and you can't BELIEVE how bad it was! Thank god it never saw the light of day!) But it wasn't my thing. I liked reading about the characters *I* liked not some other person's fantasy insertion.

I'm not going to claim that the fics were all good (though there were some that were mind-blowing :-)) but I really enjoyed reading them. And, well, had a bad tendency to lie about my age a lot to get access to more. I remember the day I turned 18, turning to my friends and cheering "Now I can LEGALLY read the stuff I've been reading for five years."

...I hope that's not something I have to confess to the bar committee. Egads.

Anyway, eventually I got worldly enough and started noticing tirades against slash. It was out of character! It was exploitative! It was a mockery of the original product!

Like ALL fanfic isn't, really! Yeesh. But somehow it was always SLASH that seemed to get the press. Whenever someone went on a general "Fanfiction is BAD! OMG!!!", slash would invariably be brought up. And when other fanfic writers would get in on the chorus...

I always wondered what the PROBLEM was. Okay, granted, copyright violation. But that sort of issue is hardly JUST limited to slash. And certainly, there were mainstream stuff that was as bad or exploitative. And there was certainly equally graphic pornographic fanfiction that wasn't slash.

Gradually I started to realize that the problem was less some sort of "preserve the purity of the work" idea and more that well, adult fanfiction in general tends to be written by both men and women, but slash fanfiction largely is written by and for women. This is not to say some men don't read and write slash themselves, but the genre is still, I think, very female dominated.

In the end, despite the genders of the subjects of the stories, slash was and is a genre geared toward the sexual gratification of women. And some people (both men and women), I suspect, find this a threatening prospect.

I wonder if that's at the root of this condemnation of josei manga as well. The articles haven't been explicit about the content of the manga. I've personally never read them, and for all I know they are the most appalling pieces of work ever to see print.

But personally, I suspect they're, at worst, on the same level as the aforementioned phonebook manga I saw the salariman reading. I suspect that the ratio of "offensive" and "harmful" comics, even applying the standards of Japanese culture rather than American, comes about at a much more balanced ratio than 2:1.

I don't know. Nowadays, slash fanfiction is such that you can't spit on the internet without stumbling across SOMETHING. Gone are the days when I'd have to hunt down fanzines or lie about my age on mailing lists to see what can be found. And sure, there are still some folks who grumble and gripe, but they're like rocks dropped into the ocean at this point. Probably it always was.

Obviously the situations are ultimately very different, but I suspect josei manga is not going to be particularly adversely affected by this in the end. There's always going to be more sexual material being written by and for women. And men (and women too) will either figure out how to embrace it or ignore it.

It still makes me tired though.