8th PoC in SF Carnival

The 8th people!

You have no idea how much squee and joy this brings me. This month's Carnival is about dialogue between PoC. Intra-Racial Dialogue; What Lies Between Us is up at LadyJax at Livejournal.

Kali921, now would be a good time to bring out that promo post you lost from last month, update it some and swing it round and 'round.

This 8th Carnival has PoC discussing being PoC and SF fans. It's a lot of Meta, a lot of thinking. And while it may no longer be filled with conversations you (general) knew nothing about - given that discussions on race and SF and fans seems to be happening more and more - it is a perspective that's internal and unique.

Go, read.

I'll be back later to update the archives.

[ Still looking for a HOST for March = Contact Me ]

Blog Carnival Site

Does the Blog Carnival website serve a purpose for anyone else running a Carnival? Because all it's ever done is harass me on when to publish, if I've lined up hosts yet, and send me a useless half assed pre-formatted bit of links.

And those links inevitably are all spam or pretty damn close to spam; irrelevant entries.

I just don't see the point in using it anymore. The Carnival has a blog of it's own and I can spend the time I use updating the Blog Carnival site and running its circles, keeping the blog up to date.

Am I missing some fundamental importance to the site?

I don't think so, but I'd like to know before I go figuring out how to pull the plug on it.

NOTE: PoC SF Carnival @ Ladyjax's journal on livejournal should be out by the end of Feb.

Me, My Issues + Marvel

Read Damage Control.

I need to peer at the front and see who the artist and colourist is because I adore the combined style.* There's detail, but it's not photo-realistic. I really enjoy the thicker lines and subtle curves to it.

I also adored the story so far. This is the type of tale that I enjoy a lot. The type of tales I always wanted to write; who comes in afterwards, who makes the armor, who helps the hero with his physical recovery, etc.

I'm also digging New Yorkers (the super heroes in this case) coming out in spades to help make things right.

And then the Gestapo arrive demanding that people show their papers.

Gestapo being a contraction of the german word for Secret State Police. Secret State Police are also known as Political Police.

I'm jonesing on this story and then The Death Squad arrive. Death Squad as in paramilitary group sanctioned by the current state who're involved in violent political suppression in totalitarian states.

And it hits me then that mentioning S.H.R.A and registration cards arn't grace notes. The Marvel Universe is fucked up. They've finally gotten what their fundamentalists wanted, except it's not genocidal super robots hunting down mutants. It's human beings or humanoids happily and cheerfully incarcerating the good guys for THE GOOD OF THE STATE. Those good guys being mutants, gods, demi-gods, people who gained powers from weird accidents or experiments etc...

The distaste that rolled up from my stomach - I can't even begin to describe it. The utter DISGUST.

I'm told there are interesting stories to be had here. And I can believe it. I remember being intrigued by a few.

I'm told that the side sagas, those not part of anything big and main often are quiet jewels. And I can believe it. I remember being intrigued by a few there too.

But I realize I'm reading a story about a fascist state, and that state is America, and I just want to walk to the other side of the room.

I have no idea why Political Police and such Squads bring up such utter revulsion in me, as a personal feeling of painful distaste vs just feeling disdain in abstract theory. But it does.

Someone tell me when this long saga of wrong is over in Marvel, ok?

I'm just going to hunt down things from before 2006. Maybe even before 2005.

*eyes DC*

I'm being promoted pretty hard on The Rainbow Corps. But if there's anything like this going on over there, I will seriously just read manga and manga only until all the insanity goes the eff away.

No this isn't me making a far, far belated hue and cry over CW. This is me realizing that I cannot stomach even the aftermath of it.

I wrote this post last night, just before bed to get my thoughts out and did not remember about it until now. * And I have now looked up the artist; Salva Espin and Guru EFx. I'm laughing to myself because before I looked up even the name of Guru EFx, I was saying to myself that I liked the use of pointillism and film grain effect to add depth to the colour and life to the characters; whatever it might be called professionally by people who do more than play skippy wee in Photoshop and similar programs. Also is Espin new? I can't find reference pre Damage Control. But I really did enjoy his art. Especially the fact that women had more than one facial expression (several in fact and realistic to the environment) and how solid he made everyone feel. His work seems almost mangaesque. I have an odd burning desire to see him sketch something from Bleach or Claymore (hmm Claymore).

Thurs: Feb 28th. Somehow this got saved as a draft? Damn I loathe LJ, but Blogger you are so not my friend.

Totally Not Comic Related

Ze Mighty Aphrodite Kali(921) occasionally graces the world with bits of culture. So why not me?

Actually, I was pointed to this link and am just spreading the joy.

A page full of Hallelujah. Or rather covers of the song.


I'm particularly fond of Rufus Wainright's and kd lang's.

Not to mention the quatro/banjo version in the sidebar player labeled (black session). It's peppy. It makes me think of 'The Sad Clown'. You laugh, he cries on the inside.

Yes, my mind is weird.

And yes Sad Clowns make me think of Kurt Busiek and Astro City. So there's a comic reference for those who may insist there should be some glimmer of connection.

Dear White America (or your comic blogging equivalent)

I only saw this quoted section:

"He's the breadwinner, the provider of the resources. He's also the final arbiter and the disciplinarian because women as a gender are too instinctually compassionate to be good disciplinarians. That's why the black ghetto which is composed almost entirely of single mother households is in the shape that it's in, in my opinion. If you insist on trying to change men into women as a prerequisite for domestic tranquility, you are basically driving your men away and then you have a worsening discipline problem that proceeds to worsen from generation to generation."

And I knew I couldn't even go there to read anything because my gaze fell on this.

That's why the black ghetto which is composed almost entirely of single mother households is in the shape that it's in, in my opinion.

White boy PLEASE. Stop embarassing yourself. Or at least, stop doing it in public where negroes can see you and laugh at you.

Yeah, I'm not even angry. It's so stupid, it's like...watching a man in an American home made movie, get hit in the crotch with a football.

Kicked by a 5 year old.

*presses rewind*

Oh yeah, my point. Yo, someone needs to take that idiot back to the clubhouse and get him started right on the relevant propaganda, cause...

*presses rewind again*

Yeah... white = stupid. Y'all might want to correct that. Or something.

*presses rewind yet again*

Ball. Crotch. 5yr old. Idiotic Honkey.

*wipes the tears of mirth* Priceless.

Things I've Said Before

I've a friend, a former roommate, who is all about reading. She loves stories. She loves good stories. She likes long stories. She likes stories that make her think.

But she is not a bibliophile. She doesn't look at hardcovers and note the gluing and touch the paper and ponder the quality. She doesn't contemplate how long the bindings will hold and miss the days of when books were sewn together AND glued AND bound.

Text books do not give her a thrill because of their solid nature and heft and durability.

She likes the stories, the text.

I on the other hand always considered myself a bibliophile until the possibility arose that I could get comics in digital format.

This should be an entry about how the cover art on the Cable & Deadpool, particularly the art at the beginning, absolutely turns me off. And if it weren't for a friend showing me scans again proving I'd like Deadpool, I wouldn't have looked twice at it.

That's what got me thinking.

But that led to going to Marvel.Com and that led to looking through some of their sample offerings (the free 4 pages). And that led to me thinking all over again about how excited I get at the prospect of non flimsy issues and non bulky trade paperbacks and how much I'd love to give Marvel my money for their digital offerings if they weren't such privacy invading bastards.

Is there a word yet for someone who loves digital media? Digitaphile? That seems awkward sounding.

I've posted recently about how much I don't like photorealistic art. But I also loathed the art of the late 80's and early 90's. And it's not all Rob Lifield.

**Eyes cross and tear pinkish liquid at the sight of his name**

I really love getting to zoom in and look at the art up close. I love the crispness of it.

I'd love even more if there were layered options and you could lift the speech and caption boxes off the art and just stare at those clean pages.

I love the colours.

I love seeing a good combination in styles of artist, inker, colourist.

And then, I love seeing a good story in the midst of it.

Comics led to Animation led to Comics.

Have I waxed rhapsodic about the wonder, love, uber-cool that is Starship Troopers: Roughneck Chronicles in this blog yet? If not, I should.

**sighs with love / sighs with love** So amazing for it's time in the history of cgi animation.

Anyway, back on topic, all this thinking about how much I love and would prefer digital product for comics (as an option, you flimsy lovers can have your cake too) led to me thinking about collectors. Would I understand the people who loath a thing, but buy it anyway so their collection isn't missing anything - if I liked the flimsies?

Cause the only time I want flimsies is when they don't bind all the stories, a and b and sometimes c plots all together in a trade. So it's not completest of me, it's me wanting to finish reading the damn story.

And yes, I can think various cover options are cool. But it would be easy of me to go with the one I liked the most (or just a little bit more). And yes, all the while I'd probably be thinking 'I wish this were on CD, with scratch art from the artist and maybe all the variation covers'.

Am I a product of an age?

Am I DVD spoiled? **hmmm DVD's... oh yeah, extras baby...**

Can anyone explain the completest collection comic fan to me? The comic book addiction? The people who loathe BND yet still buy it?

And while you're at it - could you explain the people who buy Rob Liefeld for the art?

Further From Karen El

I apologise.

You are right. I shouldn't have told you to choose your targets better. It just upsets me when I see people avoiding controversy by removing any diversity.

I was also upset by some of the things you said about girl-wonder, who have been very supportive to me, and that made my response more aggressive than it should have been.

Karen El:

I do not accept your apology. But I am putting it here in a separate post so that people may see your attempt and the exact words you used in said attempt.

They can judge for themselves.

I personally do not understand how anything you originally said to me supported GW or defended it.

I also don't see your comments as being upset about people 'avoiding controversy by removing diversity'.

What I do understand is that you feel bad right now.

What I do understand is that it's likely someone told you you were showing your ass and to put on a pair of pants.

What I do understand, given the words you chose, is that this is you saying 'awh shucks' and toeing the ground without having actually learnt anything.

---

***

Who else saw this coming a mile away? Raise your hand.

*raises hand*

While I don't agree with with everything I know / have heard regarding Alcoholics Anonymous, I do agree with STEP 9 and their meaning for it.

What the fuck is up with this picture?

Who is that behind Wonder Woman?

Is that Vixen?

The yellow jumpsuit looks like it belongs to Vixen, if slightly the wrong colour. As do the bangles on the wrist and the belt on the waist.

But last I checked, Vixen was not a white woman.

*Rechecks*

Vixen, Vixen, Vixen, Vixen.

Nope, not a white woman.

And while she obviously uses relaxer on her hair, I've never heard of the chemicals automatically bleaching skin. So no plot or reasoning will be coming from that direction.

Seriously, what the hell is up with that? You know there is no way that from writer to printing press Superman could suddenly show up in a series that's part of current continuity, sporting braids and a darker skin tone.

Because people would call you on that!

LOUDLY.

And in all honesty, as cool as the idea would be to randomly show the heroes as different ethnicities and cultural identities to show how universal they truly are;

Today Superman is Black.

Today Batman is Korean.

Today Wonder Woman is Latina

Today Flash is Indigenous Australian...

You aren't that cool, DC.

You just aren't that cool.

Instead it all comes across very much like:

"We've secretly switched the usual black superheroine, for a white chick. Let's see if anyone notices."

There are only a handful of minority characters, in your universe DC. And while yes, said characters totally kick ass, that is no excuse for you to be cavalier. There's no reason for this not to have been caught.

What? Were you all mesmerized by Wonder Ass and the Astounding FF Breasts that somehow managed not to droop?

Stop fucking things up DC.

Stop fucking things up.

And oh yes, caption box, it is indeed CRAZY.

[ETA: Edited Feb 2011 - Update lost images]

Legion of Superheroes Cartoon

Y'all bishes, all y'all bishes are fired. So fired.

Yeah sure Legion of Superheroes isn't really my thing. But why did no one tell me it was filled with the absolute adorable geeky love crush of Brainiac on Superboy/man. Which Supes seems to just fan the flames of, in all his earnest emoting.

OMG the adorable. I have to watch in 30 second installments cause it's just. too. much.

SO cute.

SO DAMN CUTE.

Brainiac's Sneaky Cheerleader Conniving Anime Blush Playing Innocent Smirk Smile.

GOLDEN!!!

Just GOLDEN.

The Machiavellian manuvering for personal ego stroking. OMG.

Nothing I love more than a brainy mad scientist with an obsession with Kal-El. Hell yeah, I'm including Batman as Brainy and Mad (passion baby).

Also the whole 'No one understands what I'm trying to do / accomplish /  with him-about him'

I. Must. WATCH.

And y'all are all still fired.

How not to confront your own privilege - by Karen El

1. So your complaint is that there is not nearly enough visual information in the simply drawn characters to immediately convey their ethnicity, except for when there is an element, but that is far too stereotyped so you don't like it.

I am all over greater cultural diversity in comics, and it's something I struggle with, myself. But if I introduced a character with a different ethnic background from my own and immediately got shouted at for not making it obvious enough without including stereotyped traits, or thinking through every aspect of their background, you know what? I might end up doing what most everyone else does, and avoid all the grief by making everyone white.

I agree, the Asian and Latina Janes weren't obvious to me, either. But their backgrounds weren't as relevent to the story as, say, The Re-Gifters.

It would be wonderful if I had people of differing ethnic background that I could call on to help me give depth to characters. You know where I could find anyone like that?

2. Is it over-simplistic of me to suggest that you go after the writers and artists that are making no effort towards cultural diversity, rather than advocating dogpiling on those that try, but don't succeed as well as you'd like?


3. Willow, yes. I agree it could have been better. In fact I think I already said that.

I'm not defending the author's comments. I don't speak for her.

And I totally knew you were going to throw white privilege at me. Of course anyone who actually gives a damn about being more culturally diverse in their work, but admits she doesn't have the experience to do a good job on her own must be absolutely brimming with white privilege, so let's make sarky comments and shoot her down for even daring to ask for help.

My mistake. I thought you were about promoting cultural diversity. You're quite good at the opposite.

I just want you to know that if you ever see some of my work that includes culturally diverse characters, it will be despite you, rather than because of you.

4. Well I can see where it's more satisfying to sneer at me than explain what I am missing.

Congratulations. You have achieved the irony of shutting out someone in a thread where you write about how bad someone else was for shutting you out.

---

***

Don't anyone ever tell me I should give GirlWonder* the Organization the Boards a pass or more understanding or any shit like that ever again. Because as you can plainly see, with this brimming example of one of their own - they want someone to hand feed them Racism 101.

And I quite plainly am not having conversations anymore with people who aren't at least at Racism 205.

I am not your magical negro. If I take the time to point out to you that you still need work to do re: your inner institutional racism, that's me being kind.

We cannot have a conversation when I'm working on a level you (the racist you) is not. Because I am fed up and refuse to spoon feed strangers the work, definitions and self-examination of Racism 101. I am fed up with having to point out your strawman arguments and twisted thinking. I am not your mammy or your maid. And I am not obligated to explain shit to you, politely and nicely. That's your privilege right there. Along with the bullshit "Well I'm going to be culturally diverse despite you not holding my hand, you mean black woman!"

To which my response is: [Redacted] take your [redacted] white [redacted] out of my blog and don't ever bring yourself or your friends around here again until you pull your collective [redacted] out of your [redacted].

ETA: And my other response is now at the top of my sidebar with an official graphic.

ETA: * Correction made between the GW boards and those who use their domain and the GW Organization (spokes people, chairperson and other members of the board). As much as I might want to throw them all together, it is not factual or accurate and Karen El does not have the power to represent them, only to besmirch them by association.

** Also I know and am friends with Karen Healy - she who writes Girls Read Comics & They're Pissed and who is also President of the GW Organization. And whom despite some prior cluelessness is someone I hope others will also call an ally.