Final Projects Suck.

That is all!

In Defense of the Star Sapphire Costume (Sort Of)

Recently, on AIM, Ragnell and I got into a discussion about one of our favorite topics: Carol Ferris's costume. See, Ragnell HATES the costume. I on the other hand find it simply hilarious. But also, I actually think it provides an interesting insight into the character*.

(* Of course, this doesn't mean the creators INTENDED such insight, but well, the best part of being a comics fan is trying to make sense of the unexplainable.)

Now before you think I have absolutely no taste (which is probably true, but not in this case) I freely acknowledge that the costume is probably the ugliest thing in the universe. But in a weird way, I think it suits.

The thing that I've always liked about the variations of the Green Lantern costume is the way it reflects the owners' personal tastes and personalities. Hal's is default, which makes sense as for all his ego, he IS a military man and understands the power of the uniform. John's costume is less flashy, more sober and dignified, which reflects his gravitas. Arisia looks like a little girl trying (and failing) to be sexy. Kyle's first costume was a kid's idea for a superhero costume, while his second, designed after he had a better grasp of what the Corps actually was and whose footsteps he was following, reflected a more traditional design, but with a hint of non-conformity in the collar. Guy's is a drastic contrast from the spandex of his colleagues in a way that probably ought to have its own post.

In the same way, I think that the Star Sapphire costume reflects Carol Ferris. That seems a bit ridiculous, since Carol, in her civilian life is a fashionable, well-dressed, dignified business woman. But I think that's part of the point.

When Carol and Hal were first working together, in the Silver Age, he would pursue her bordering on the edge of sexual harassment. She, however, could never really pursue him back for many reasons, including her own personality and her position as his boss. She WANTED him, of course, but it couldn't happen.

(It's a fairly decent reflection of the problems facing women who have high positions in the business world, where it can feel like the only way to get respect as a professional is to essentially sacrifice any appearance of femininity or sexuality. The "frigid bitch female boss" caricature is prevalent for a reason. I find it interesting that the older I get, the more I sympathize and understand Carol's position in those comics. I find it depressing that in thirty or forty years, the situation is still so recognizable.)

Then came the Star Sapphire which opened the relationship to new levels, in entertainingly kinky ways. At least until the mess with the Predator, and all, but that's a tangent.

I think it's fairly important however to note that the Star Sapphire has always had kind of a freeing element to it. Carol, as the Star Sapphire, got to have power and use it, while still embracing her sexuality at the same time. This got ruined once the Predator stuff kicked in, but that element is still applicable now, I think.

Her costume was admittedly more tasteful then, but there's some additional pressure now. It's always hard to pinpoint DC's timeline, but the Star Sapphire storyline began pretty early in Hal's run, and we know that he's been Green Lantern for more than ten years by now. Carol's still a business-woman, with all the pressure that entails, married and then divorced, and she's definitely pushing past forty.

She's also been stuck in a mundane life after playing with aliens and near infinite power. That's got to be rough too.

So, really, it's not that surprising that now that she's once more a Star Sapphire, she's found herself in a costume like that. Think about it. Some of the most buttoned up, repressed people end up being kinky as hell once you get them behind closed doors, and Carol's had twenty years of repression and trying to meet the expectations of everyone else.

The costume is hideous, weird, alien and revealing. It's about as far from a repressed business woman's attire as you can get. Even the ugliness makes a nice contrast to Carol's normal, tasteful attire. And the thigh high boots, and nonsensical collar and other ridiculous design elements...well, you definitely can't say they're DOWNPLAYING sexuality.

So basically, since I read it in the sense of it reflecting Carol's personal hang-ups that I may or may not be projecting a little out of over-identification, I kind of like it.

Of course, the problem with my theory is that the costume seems to be the default for all new Star Sapphires. At the very least, it seems to pop up a lot in crowd scenes. But I can fanwank two possible explanations, I suppose. 1) they're following Carol, or 2) it's the Zamaron's design.

And actually, it works for me as a Zamaron design as well. That at least would explain the weirdness (aliens) and it reminds me of some quote I read once and can't remember where.

It basically argued that any woman could look attractive in pretty, flattering clothes, but it took a truly beautiful woman to look good wearing a potato sack.

If a guy (or gal) is in love/lust with you when you're wearing something THAT awful, then you can believe his/her feelings are real.

And then of course, you can explain it away as it fitting so well with Carol's own hang-ups that she won't (or can't) change it.

So yeah, I don't deny that the Star Sapphire costume is utterly, patently stupid-looking and hideous, but it actually does work for me.

Besides, it's fucking hilarious. :-P

Happy Thanksgiving!

Err, if you're American, anyway. If not, enjoy some turkey (or whatever meal you like in place) and have a nice day anyway!

A Marvel Thought

You know, it's funny. I've never denied that I'm more of a DC than a Marvel fan generally, but thinking about it, there's one thing I like better about the way Marvel tends to characterize its superheroines.

The women characters have "types".

I'm talking about romance, of course. It's like if you look at the dating history of Lee Forrester for example. She's dated Cyclops, flirted briefly with Cable, and then got with Magneto of all people.

Her type apparently is "severely fucked-up."

Looking at Emma Frost for example, off the top of my head, we have Namor, Scott, Tony Stark (briefly), Sean Cassidy (sort of), and Sebastian Shaw. A monarch, a benevolent mutant dictator/general, a tycoon who was briefly head of SHIELD, a teacher, and a Hellfire King. It really seems that Emma has a thing for authority.

Kitty Pryde seems to have a thing for older foreigners with similar first names. (Though she was in England while dating Wisdom, so I guess that makes HER the foreigner. :-))

And Madelyne Pryor's gotten involved with three Summers men, if you count that brief weird thing with Nate Grey. (CREEPY!) That one may be Mr. Sinister's fault, granted, but still.

Of course, it applies to the guys too. One day I'll post my crazy theory on how every woman Scott Summers gets involved with acts as a parallel to each of his abusive father figures. Maybe later.

It just entertains me. It doesn't seem to be as easy to do in the DCU, except maybe that Clark has an initial kink, Diana seems to like blonds, and Oracle men who have no idea how to dress.

I'd watch it!

This is a pretty good look at the Flash, and where it's likely to go, but that's totally not why I'm linking it.

I'm linking it for this part:

That definitely solves the problem of the two Flashes looking too much alike, although it remains to be seen how they’ll both fit into DC’s publishing line. Will Barry get an eventual Flash ongoing, and Wally be appearing in a Justice League comic? Will there be a Wally “second feature” in the back of Barry’s Flash? Will Wally be stuck with appearing in Titans while Barry gets JLoA? Will Wally, Kyle Rayner and Connor Hawke get a reality show?

Wally, Kyle, Connor? As long as Power Girl and Guy Gardner get to make guest appearances, I am totally there.

Beware the Ides of March

Somewhere out there, I know someone must have written Rip Hunter/Cable slash fanfiction.

Someday I will find it. Or write it. Whichever.

Hmm.

Hmm, okay, well. This makes me slightly LESS intrigued about Hawkman's appearance on JSA.

Michael Shanks is a good looking man, but that...just looks weird.

Then again, is there ever really a live action type guy with wings who actually looks convincing? I can't really think of any. (It's why the one, the only, thing I'll actually give that dreadful Supernatural show credit for was to have their angel reveal using shadows as wing imagery. It looked incredibly cool instead of stupid.)

Then again, does Hawkman really need to look convincing? His wings are SUPPOSED to be strap on aren't they? (Wait, for that matter, why do they bother with feathers? Feathers molt and shed and are hard to clean, and they aren't necessary for flight so...)

Possibly I'm just using this topic as an excuse to avoid my paper.

A Thought.

Is it wrong that I've always thought Jason Blood and Rose/Thorn would make a cute couple?

Or possibly Jason Blood and Harvey Dent if I'm leaning toward slash.

It'd at least make for interesting date stories!

Motion Comics

You know what creeps me out? Motion comics. I can't explain it, they're just really creepy to me. They're just so...static. And I don't like how the camera focuses on the picture.

It's weird, because I'm not a traditionalist. I love things like the 40 years of Avengers DVD, and don't particularly feel the need to hold the comic in my hands. (Also, I'm kind of accidently destructive by nature. My comics don't tend to live long. I buy comics to read them, not to preserve them. My stuff would make a hardcore collector cry. The Avengers DVD stores much better and keeps much longer.)

So it's not an aversion to that. Maybe it's the speech thing. Kind of like my dislike of audio books. I read faster than people talk so every time I listen to one, I start chomping at the bit because they're so slow to get to the good parts. (Also, no skimming ahead.) If I'm at all familiar with the original comic, the same thing starts kicking in. Whereas an animated adaptation like the old X-Men cartoons don't have the same problem. Possibly just because my eyes get distracted by pretty colors and movement.

Attention span, I have not.

I'm sad a bit though. Motion comics are cool in theory, but they really don't work for me.

I've discovered while randomly surfing Wikipedia that I am apparently too stupid to understand BC dates outside of a classroom setting. For example, say, I'm reading about Augustus Caesar, and I'm trying to figure out how the heck old he was during the Liberator's war. I have to keep typing the numbers in notepad, or I get really confused.

It's basic math, but for some reason, once I start going backwards, I get really mixed up. I never used to have that problem. I think Law School really is making me dumber.

Or I just need to start sleeping more. Either way.

Not quite cryptic enough?

For the record, while I may not have been reading comics as long as a lot of you folk (five years this coming January!) I have to say,

I don't buy any death that takes place in the middle of a storyline involving alien zombies.

Especially not when someone's just started dating Sinestro's daughter.

I'm just saying.

No post!

I would have a blog post today, but I totally spent the time watching Jack of All Trades. Bruce Campbell in a post-Revolutionary War setting with about as much accuracy as Xena or Hercules.

It is hilariously awesome.

So yeah. No post. Sorry!

Damnit!!!

Fuck it, Geoff Johns. You got me.

Even the JSA couldn't get me to watch Smallville (though granted, it might be different if my favorites were involved) but you found the one, ONE, thing that would get me to watch.

Amanda Waller.

Because I don't care how fucked up or irritating the Smallville universe is to me. Amanda Waller is enough. Especially when played by Pam Grier.

Well played, sir. Well played.

Oooo!

Okay, I don't know whether this would work or not, but I would totally read Geoff Johns writing a He-Man comic.

The potential for awesome is just...well, awesome!

As long as they keep the main character's tendency toward gratuitous bondage I'm there!

A comic cover for you!

MPRE done! Might have passed! I have no idea! But I'll know in a month or so. If I fail, there's no real bad consequence since I can take it again in March.

At some point I have to resume doing Galaxy Ranger recaps, as they are fun to do. Sadly they also take a lot longer than just watching the show, so finding time is tricky.

But I feel bad about not posting for two days, so here's a present.



Can you believe that THIS ended up one of the most mimicked "villain" identities ever? I mean, really. For years it seemed like every villain who didn't want to reveal himself yet would suddenly start calling himself Erik the Red.

I've always said Cyclops was more of a diabolical genius than he lets on.

Also, this is more evidence that I'm using in my argument that there should be some AU/What-If storyline out there where Scott Summers totally became a Robin.

I mean think about it. He's about Dick's age. Angsty. Tall, thin and dark. Orphaned. Horrible fashion sense. Good tactical sense. Insane plans. He's perfect.

And really, he'd be the one character in both universes for whom Bruce Wayne as a father figure would actually be the HEALTHIEST option.

Wish me luck!

Okay, I have the MPRE on Saturday (Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam, if I'm not botching my acronym). I'm kind of nervous. Wish me luck!

Damnit. I ended up missing the V premiere. Can someone who saw it tell me if it's any good? Morena Baccarin (sp?) seems like inspired casting, though I've never much liked Scott Wolf. I liked the original a lot.

So, is it worth watching as a casual fan of the original? Or will I be disappointed?

Question

What's the worst comic book movie you ever saw?

For me, naturally, it's the 1990s Captain America. I've blogged about why.

There are other movies that are objectively bad that I really enjoyed, such as Nick Fury. And there are movies that are very bad adaptations that actually make decent movies if you pretend you never saw the original comic, such as Constantine. Captain America managed to combine bad, with bad adaptation, with the worst crime of all: it was boring! (And totally self-contradictory.)

So what's it for you?