What if there were superpowers in the world, but no superheroes?

Deborah Biancotti has a reputation in Australia for rich, complex prose and bleak stories about the quiet horrors that we all hope will never happen. The Book of Endings, her first collection, made a powerful statement about the kind of fiction she is known for – and Bad Power, her far more slender second collection, makes an entirely different statement about the writer she is going to be.

The stories in Bad Power have a clear, sharp narrative, and a more restrained approach to her prose. As with many of the Twelve Planets collections, the stories are connected and serve to build up a particular world, based on a single premise. In this case, it is the idea that some people have powers, what comics readers or TV/movie fans would immediately designate superpowers, and that there is something deeply sinister about those powers, and those people.

I tore through this book very quickly – it was such a fast-paced read, and so very enjoyable. Once it became clear that the order of the stories was important and that each fed something into the others, the mystery of how to fit all the pieces together added an extra layer of enjoyment. Each story has its own compelling protagonist, and distinct voice. My favourites were Detective Enora Palmer and Detective Max Ponti, just as my favourite stories were “Palming the Lady” and “Crossing the Bridge,” but this is one of those collections where the whole is far more than the sum of its parts.

BAD POWER, by Deborah Biancotti
Twelfth Planet Press
reviewed as part of the Australian Women Writers 2012 National Year of Reading Challenge

Tansy’s Australian Women Writer’s 2012 Reading Challenge.
1. Eona by Alison Goodman (fantasy)
2. Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood (contemporary crime)
3. Bad Power by Deborah Biancotti (spec fic, superhero)

The edition Tansy read

Agathon #6: The Secret of Chimneys [1925]
Anthony Cade, Superintendent Battle, Eileen “Bundle” Brent

TANSY SAYS:

Here we go again! This is another Agatha Christie novel that doesn’t fit my apparently-narrow previous idea about what an Agatha Christie novel was. Instead it’s another of these early – what do we call them? Not quite spy novels, more intrigue romps. Definitely not a murder mystery, though there is murder and mystery aplenty.

Having said that, the plot of this one is even more bonkers than I have come to expect from Christie’s early work, and the various threads of lost European royalty, con men, posh people with titles and dead bodies frankly bemused and befuddled me. Having said that, my heart was won very early on by the gorgeous and banterrific Virginia Revel – I paid attention pretty much for her, and everything that came out of her mouth.

Christie writes marvellous young women! I tend to find all her younger male characters quite bland, with only the older and more character-laden men being worth paying attention to (with the possible exception of Hastings) and in this book I did enjoy the gruff and intelligent Superintendent Battle. But the absolute stars of The Secret of Chimneys for me were Virginia and, to a slightly lesser degree, Eileen “Bundle” Brent (whom I see from our spreadsheet is going to make a comeback, hooray!)

Virginia feels very much like a British version of the kind of characters Katherine Hepburn used to play in the 30’s: she’s witty, beautiful, flirtatious, and utterly in touch with her own frivolity. She’s also very sexually confident, and enjoys half her male acquaintance being in love with her. I liked that she was originally brought into the conspiracy because the aristocratic blokes trying to deal with – all that complicated plot business which I won’t pretend I understand or remember – admired her charm and intelligence. Then of course, while they tried desperately to patronise her, she ran rings around them constantly. In another era, she would totally be alongside Patrick McNee in the Avengers. Is it too much to hope there was a movie version of this novel made in the 60’s starring Diana Rigg?

Bundle on the other hand is a quieter sort of female, more docile and domestic, and yet she is every bit the wit that Virginia is – snarkier and more understated in her remarks. I enjoyed their double act and would have liked to see many more scenes with them together.

[SPOILERS]

The reveal at the end about our con man protagonist (sort of) Anthony Cade being a secret prince and heir to the throne of Whereverslovakia was hilarious and awful in its bizarreness, even if it made a terrible kind of sense. And it was totally worth it for the scene in which he tells Virginia exactly who it is she married.

“How perfectly screaming!”

The TV adaption adds Miss Marple. changes the murderer (like that matters) and casts the awesome Dervla Kirwan as Bundle

KATHRYN SAYS:

This installment felt a bit soulless to me. My major trouble is with hero of the story, Anthony Cade. He’s FAR too perfect, and even when you think he’s down and out, you find out later he’s not (cos he’s perfect). And Christie keeps mentioning his bronzed face and lean body, which to be honest is a little unsettling! Perhaps what I found missing from this installment is a bit of grit and grime (which seems a little odd to say when there’s murder, and leaving-of-bodies-beside-the-road, but there you go), but everything seemed to sort itself put far too neatly.

Also, this novel was quite uncomfortable to read from a race point of view – it starts off with a few derogatory remarks about Africans, and then moves on to some less than flattering mentions of Jews, and ‘dagos’ (which in this case seemed to mostly be referencing citizen of the fictitious European country Herzoslovakia). ‘The Secret of Chimneys’ was published in 1925. Obviously it’s a book of its time, but does that make it ok? Does this represent Christie’s own views or is she just writing what she sees?

The main positives of the book are Christie’s female characters. Virginia Revel is the kind of women I’d want to be in 1925 (most specifically independently wealthy and quite able to run her own life). I probably have a bigger a soft spot for Bundle, though, – so earnest and pragmatic and one of those young ladies of a certain age who gets lumped with an unusual nickname. I’d love to know if this was common at the time, or if it’s just a ‘Christie’ thing. I can think of several young ladies of Christie’s invention who have suffered an unusual nickname (Lettuce is one that comes to mind), indeed Bundle’s younger sisters have already given the monikers of Guggle and Winkle at 10 and 12! Also, I have to admit that the book does have some fairly charming chapter titles: Anthony Disposes of a Body, Mainly Political and Financial, Anthony Signs on for a New Job.

So in summary, some good lady characters (though I’m not sure it passes the Bechdel test), a motley assortment of uninspiring men, and a far too neat resolution. Not awful, but not great either.

TANSY COMES BACK TO SAY:

I know we don’t normally do right of reply, but I wanted to agree with your point about the casual racism in the book, something that’s very much of its time but also not going to become LESS of an issue with Agatha Christie as we go on.

I’m pretty sure that it does pass the Bechdel Test (we should check in with this for each book!) because of the bit where Virginia calls up Bundle and says she’s coming to Chimneys, nothing would keep her away, what ho, old girl.

The chapter where Anthony disposes of the body is pretty great, and the ramifications of this demonstrate that Christie’s sense of humour was pointed sharply inwards – she’s poking fun at the same genre conventions that her novels rely upon.

COMING NEXT:
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
[Hercule Poirot]
The Big Four (1927)
[Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, Chief Inspector Japp]
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
[Hercule Poirot]
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)
[Eileen “Bundle” Brent, Superintendent Battle]

By the way, someone other than me should TOTALLY put together a list of SF & Fantasy (or any genre really) books by female authors available on the Kindle in the Aus/NZ region – to encourage all those “I got a Kindle for Christmas” participants in the challenge. Let me know if you do this, and I will link to you!

I have started out this month well, I think, with three prose books under my belt already (two of which are by Australian women writers) and four books REMOVED from my to read shelf. All this reading all of a sudden may be causing excessive eye watering, but I’m willing to take that on the chin.

Eona by Alison Goodman was an enjoyable read, good old crash and bang fantasy, with the added bonus of some interrogation of gender, Asian characters and some very compelling women at the centre of it all. It suffered for me from my not having read the first book, which I hesitate to mention, because it is entirely my own fault for doing it this way, and there’s (almost) nothing I hate more than seeing someone review my Book 2 and start out with “I didn’t read the first one, so XXXXXX made little sense to me…” because you know, you’re not SUPPOSED to read them out of order. But I did. I’m quite intrigued to go back to Eon/Pearls of Wisdom though, because of the gender bending aspect, and because all the bits I liked most about Eona were basically the emotional ramifications of the book I didn’t read.

Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood is, on the other hand, one of my series staples. I first discovered Greenwood through her mythological women series (I wish I had a copy of her spectacular Medea novel) and then through Phryne Fisher, the Emma Peelesque flapper detective novels set in Melbourne. I recently introduced my Dad to those books, after a decade of assuming he knew about them, and it’s been great fun watching him turn into a total fanboy about them. (He introduced me to Sara Paretsky and Robert Parker in my teens, so it’s delicious to have got my own back with Janet Evanovich and Kerry Greenwood) The added bonus was that he knew exactly what to get me for Christmas…

Anyway, Cooking the Books is none of these, it’s the latest of the very enjoyable Corinna Chapman series, contemporary Melbourne-set whodunnits featuring a sexy, smart woman of size surrounded by a quirky community of misfits living in a replica Roman insula. She’s a baker and utterly obsessed with her craft, which is something I love about protagonists, she has a hot boyfriend who likes her just the way she is, and she has a pleasant, snarky tone which she applies to the world at large. The books have a tendency to slip into moments of preachiness, when the character voice pauses to observe something which feels more like an authorial interruption, but they are brief moments and easily ignored in the face of banter, bread dough and bitchiness. Also, it comes with recipes!

Two down, eight to go!

Tansy’s Australian Women Writer’s 2012 Reading Challenge.
1. Eona by Alison Goodman (fantasy)
2. Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood (contemporary crime)

The only thing in my life that I really need to change is that shelf. The dread To Read Shelf of Doom, the one that I refer to with such exasperation quite regularly on Galactic Suburbia. It’s not just reaching the point of health and safety risk, but it’s actively stressing me out.

It started out as such a nice, organised space, somewhere for me to put, well quite obviously, the books I hadn’t read yet. I set it up not long after we moved here (nearly seven years ago!) and it made me happy.

But flat surfaces. I have a bad, bad relationship with flat surfaces. I put things on them. And then I put things on the things. And somewhere along the way… well, yes.

The worst part is that nearly every book teetering in piles on that top shelf is one that I actually desperately wanted to read when I acquired it. Most of them, I still do. I bought them or acquired them by other means because I couldn’t WAIT to read them. And yet, there they are. And they’ve been entering the house way too fast.

It seemed quite obvious to me a year or two ago that my reading speed and numbers had dropped, and that my book acquisitions were outstripping them too fast. But after a year of actively trying to restrain purchases, limiting myself to an online shopping budget and so on… the tower grows higher.

Even when I don’t buy books, and try not to request books for review unless I REALLY think I can read them in the next month (ha!) and keep my books for award judging in an entirely different part of the house, they just stack up and stack up and you know, I’ve been to houses which are basically held together by teetering towers of books, and much though I love having many books in a house, this is really not sustainable right now.

Then there’s the ‘archived’, much neater shelf below, which for the most part is books which I have acquired but not read over the first five of the last seven years, and have not successfully culled despite much earnest staring at the shelves because, you know, I still want to read them.

Sure, there are some romances and chick lit books in there and I haven’t been in a mood to read either type of books for several years, but when I am in that mood, I want THOSE books to be waiting for me! Ditto for the books about historical female authors, and the ones that were actually quite hard to find, and wouldn’t be a snap to replace if I do want to read them, in two years or so.

Aaargh I say, aargh. I love my books, but they are freaking me out.

So my main goal this year is to get this thing under control. It has to happen. I am not going to let this shelf beat me. And um, I manage not to think about the storage issue of reading the books and then having to find room for them on other shelves, LET ME HAVE MY DENIAL PLEASE.

Plan #1 is that I am only allowed to buy one book for every 3 I read, with the coda that two of those three have to be books from the physical To Read Shelf. This should slow me down a bit because my Tiptree books have priority and are elsewhere in the house (though I don’t have a lot of those left to read now), and there are others elsewhere like my Agatha Christie Bag. And a few others in sneaky locations.

I don’t think the 3-1 ratio is going to make the shelf shift fast enough to get it properly under control within the year, but it’s a start. I also need to do regular ruthless culls of those books that have been sitting around for years and years, and to be firm about returning books lent to me by others. The extra obstacle of course is that reaching the books lower down in the teetering stacks is tricky.

I’ve put some thought into properly shelving some books, especially non fiction works, without reading them. But let’s not go nuts here. Last resort, people!

Also, full size graphic novels and download-only audio books are excluded from either the purchasing ban or counting towards my tally, because I consume them sensibly, and because they are stored elsewhere. I’m worried, though, about the way that, well, books do rather flock to me even when I take spending money out of the equation.

I’m going to be checking back on this project throughout the year. It’s going to work. It is! I will adapt it as I go if it’s not working fast enough. No one write any good books this year, ok? I’m not going to be keeping up with new releases as well as I have in recent years. And I can’t help thinking that really that wall isn’t being used for anything else and maybe my reward should be to build more shelves…

Ahem.

Let the reading COMMENCE!

Others were mostly made up of words, hoorah! I don’t want this to be the neglected younger sister of the graphic novels post, but I’m really not going to write reviews of these at length. Consider it a list of the best, absolute bestiest prose novels I consumed this year. Chances are, if you want to hear more about why I liked them, you can find me raving on a Galactic Suburbia podcast. Or you could just ask in the comments! I have been rather lazy about written reviews this year, but you can’t do everything.

Here we go…

YA and Children’s
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
The Vulture of Somerset, Stephen M Giles
Careful What You Wish For, Maureen McCarthy
Across the Universe, by Beth Revis
Burn Bright, Marianne De Pierres
The Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Claire
The Shattering, Karen Healey
Thyla, Kate Gordon
I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett
The Demon’s Surrender, Sarah Rees Brennan
Huntress, Malinda Lo
Only Ever Always, Penni Russon
Red Glove, Holly Black
Bumped, Megan McCafferty
Matched, Ally Condie
Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor
The Freedom Maze, Delia Sherman
Beauty Queens, Libba Bray

Gatherings of Short Stories
The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club, Kim Newman
The Wilful Eye – Tales from the Tower Vol 1, edited by Isobelle Carmody & Nan McNab
Nightsiders, Sue Isle
Love Songs of the Shy and Cynical, Rob Shearman
Thief of Lives, Lucy Sussex
Eclipse 4, edited by Jonathan Strahan

Fantasy & Science Fiction
Debris, Jo Anderton
The Last Stormlord, Glenda Larke
Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke
Stormlord’s Exile, Glenda Larke
The Female Man, Joanna Russ
Deathless, Catherynne Valente
Among Others, Jo Walton
Alcestis, Katherine Beutner
The Business of Death, Trent Jamieson
The Courier’s New Bicycle, Kim Westwood
Zoo City, Lauren Beukes
All Men of Genius, Lev A.C. Rosen
God’s War, Kameron Hurley
Snuff, Terry Pratchett

Non-Fiction AKA the Doctor Who tie in category
Running Through Corridors Vol. 1, Rob Shearman & Toby Hadoke
The Big Finish Companion Vol. 1, Richard Dinnick

Audio Books
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, read by Celia Imrie
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs
Thud by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs

Favourite Books I read with my 6 year old
Five Go On A Hike Together, Enid Blyton
The Naughtiest Girl in School, Enid Blyton
Alice Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

In September, it looked unlikely that I’d even hit 100 books read this year, let alone equal the 120 books I read in 2010. But then I took an interest in the DC Reboot, and one of my best friends rediscovered comics and started raving about the Ultimate Spiderman, and one thing led to another, and my house spontaneously filled with graphic novels.

So, yes. My total books read for the year is 143. Of which 61 are graphic novels/manga, all but one of which were consumed in the last three months. YEAH BABY.

Let’s talk about those first. I’ll do a separate post about the actual prose books, for those people (cough, Alisa) who aren’t interested in comic books.

My stand out graphic novels/trade paperbacks for the year were:

Justice League: Generation Lost #1 & #2, by Keith Giffen & Judd Winick with art by Kevin Maguire, Aaron Loprecki & others. This was a just and fitting coda to the glorious Justice League International that was retrospectively ripped up and spat on by a variety of DC creators. It doesn’t make up for the death of Ted Kord but it’s still a fine, powerful story that shows that the real value of Justice League International wasn’t (just) the bwa-ha-ha humour, but the characters of that era. I particularly liked the way Fire and Ice have been re-imagined over the years to become stronger characters, though I did find the girlie-body-in-armour pages hilarious.

speaking of which…

Justice League International #1-4, by Keith Giffen, J.M. Matteis & various artists. When I first heard these were trades now, I was dismissive, because I have a filing cabinet full of single issues. But then I remembered that I have GAPS, damn it, and I couldn’t resist. Re-reading these, with my occasional missing issue gloriously present, has been a great joy of the last few months. I’ll be ordering more!

Power Girl: A New Beginning & Power Girl: Aliens and Apes, by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, with art by Amanda Conner. Thanks again to Grant for recommending these, it’s a lovely run that sums up the character I enjoyed in the 90′s and manages to balance so many important elements of her character and backstory into a dignified whole. The sense of humour and the feminism in the writing and the art is fantastic and I’m only sad they didn’t stay on the book longer. It feels like a complete piece over the 2 volumes, though.

Ultimate Spiderman Vol. One (Peter Parker) #1-#10, written by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils by Mark Bagley. Damn, this is a good comic. This one was pushed on me by my friend Iz, who read them all through the library and is now acquiring the GNs at a rate of knots. I love it to bits. This Peter Parker is basically the male version of Buffy, and it’s interesting to me that it was written concurrently to that show, and reflects so many of the same themes and issues. The women in the ensemble are fantastic, crunchy characters and I have a particular attachment to the Ultimate Gwen Stacy, who is an amazing, well-rounded character. Also this has to be the best version of Aunt May ever. This is the comic that got me reading Marvel, and the Marvel Ultimates universe in particular.

Questionable Content #2, written & drawn by Jeph Jacques – My only complaint is that they’re not putting out the trades of this great webcomic faster! One a year is not quite enough for me. Having reread the series at least twice before, I am very much enjoying re-reading it again in this format, with commentary, and this is certainly a key era for the Questionable Content gang, especially Faye, my favourite character. Probably my favourite. I do like that basically this is the story of a skinny indie boy who doesn’t get it together with his best friend, and while not getting together with her, slowly gathers a huge group of amazing, interesting female friends, very few of whom he wants to sleep with. It had a few uneven moments in the early days (a couple of rape jokes, for example) but has grown into a splendid, female-friendly soap opera about people who sell coffee (of doom) and people who drink coffee (equally doomed).

Runaways (Vol 1, the entire first run of 18 issues), written by Brian K Vaughn, art by Adrian Alphona – what a cool comic series! The premise is great, about a diverse, misfit gang of teenagers who discover that their parents are super villains, and run away so as not to be part of their schemes, but the characterisation and the writing (and the gorgeous art) rises to become a memorable and powerful book that shows how good graphic storytelling can be. I especially liked the feminist & anti-sexist touches, and the portrayal of the female characters in particular. From what I’ve heard, some things happen in the later volumes of this book that make me less keen to continue, as this had a perfect ending in any case, but I might suck it up at some point and pursue the later storylines just because… I love these characters so much!

She-Hulk #4, Rules of Attraction, written by Dan Slott – this clever story of a female lawyer at a firm that deals with superhero cases (who happens to sometimes turn green and super-muscled) completely sold me on Jennifer/She-Hulk and I’m now busily tracking down more of this particular run of She-Hulk, and other recommended runs with this character. She’s marvellous – powerful and intelligent, and I like that her version of the Hulk powers is so much less destructive, to the point where she is almost willing to spend her whole life in the She-Hulk body. As long as she gets to carry her brief case too. I love her!

Powers #1: Who Killed Retro Girl? by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils by Michael Avon Oeming, a film noir style police procedural about how the cops deal with superhero crime. I liked the central characters of this very much, especially the spunky Deena Pilgrim, and the world is detailed and interesting enough to make me want to check out other books in this series.

The Ultimates & Ultimates 2, written by Mark Millar, art by Bryan Hitch – this is the series that, finally, made me care about the Avengers. A gritty, intelligent take on a militarised super team which doesn’t pull punches about the fact that Iron Man is an alcoholic, the Wasp and Giant/Ant-Man have serious marital issues, Bruce Banner is a selfish arsehole (regardless of whether he is the Hulk or not), Captain America is basically your grandpa in the body of an underwear model, Thor is (possibly) crazy, Betty Ross has… issues, and don’t get me started about Black Widow! All this, threaded through with a snarky sense of humour, and Nick Fury is Samuel L Jackson long before he actually was played by Samuel L Jackson.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four, written by Mark Millar & Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis & others, art by Adam Kubert and Stuart Immonen – I’ve never been remotely interested in the Fantastic Four, and the fact that they are awesome and crunchy and strange in the Ultimate universe just goes to show what a great universe it is. I really like the teen SFnal aspect of this and the bright, mostly blue artwork.

Batgirl (vol. 3, Stephanie Brown) – Batgirl Rising & Batgirl: the Flood, by Bryan Q Miller – okay I’ve already used up my ‘it’s like Buffy’ card, but it’s hard not to love an action adventure series about a snarky blonde who fights crime and goes to college and has a hardworking single Mom. I’ve missed Steph’s various runs as Robin and Spoiler but oh, I love her as Batgirl. Also as a Birds of Prey fan of old, I really like this portrayal of Oracle as Steph’s mentor. The big surprise was Damien Wayne, a character I was determined to loathe, who turns out to be psychopathically adorable. Like if Angelus was Buffy’s 10 year old adopted brother instead of the evil side of her immortal boyfriend! Yeah, that. Hanging out for the rest of this run.

Secret Six: Six Degrees of Devastation, by Gail Simone – this one’s just weird. It’s a very dark, very twisted take on the superhero team, featuring characters that are so far into anti-hero that they’re out the other side. And I love it. There are lesbians (actual lesbians!) and crazy people and all manner of villainous comrades, but most of all, there is banter. Simone is the queen of dark-edged banter, and this book is a great vessel for her talents. It’s WEIRD.

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, adapted from the C.S. Lewis original by Robin Lawrie – I hesitate to recommend this one, because it’s going to be all but impossible for anyone to get their hands on, as it’s from the 90′s and barely makes a dent in Google. It’s a wonderful, faithful adaption with packed information on every page, an old fashioned illustrative style, and a whole lot of verbatim quotes from the novel. I read this one with Raeli over about 7 bedtime stories and it was a marvellous experience for us both.

Thor: the Mighty Avenger Vol 1: The God Who Fell To Earth, written by Roger Langridge, art by Chris Samnee – this is just lovely. It’s a lot like the movie but the lack of half naked Chris Hemsworth in the mud is made up for by a Jane who makes sense! She’s a lovely character, a historian running a museum, and this is basically a slightly mad romantic comedy about the Norse God who crashes into her life.

Catwoman: Crooked Little Town, by Ed Brubaker – I like this version of Catwoman a lot, with her gritty noir world, her leather catsuit and her independent style. I’m not overly keen on Catwoman as a vigilante (shades of Helena Wayne!) as I do prefer classic catburglar Catwoman, but as vigilante Catwomans go, this one is pretty awesome.

UPDATE: I realised going through my book list that I forgot to include two graphic novels I read far earlier in the year: the extraordinary Fun Home & The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, written and drawn by Alison Bechdel, which are the best non-fantastical comics that I think I will ever read. Brilliant stuff.

In single issues, I especially enjoyed the new DC 52 versions of Batgirl, Batwoman, JLI, Blue Beetle, Superboy and the Huntress mini-series, as well as some older issues of Zatanna. At Marvel I liked the first few issues of the Miles Morales Ultimate Spiderman. With my six-year old daughter, I have been delighted with individual issues of Tiny Titans, Teen Titans Go! and the Cosmic Adventures of Supergirl, all on the iPad.

Now, other books. There were some!

Which reminded me that I have forgotten to update reviews on the other #2s I have read in the last two weeks.  Ooops!

So last week I picked up Wonder Woman #2, Nightwing #2 and Blue Beetle #2.  I did NOT pick up Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Justice League, Catwoman or Red Hood and the Outlaws.  The only two I am now feeling regretful hmms about at Catwoman and Birds of Prey – BoP continues to not be about Oracle and apparently I can’t get over that, which is a shame because it’s a fine if not spectacularly interesting team book; I’ve since read some far better Catwoman graphic novels than the new series thanks to Wolverina, but ComicbookGRRRL reminded me of what I liked about this Catwoman.  So I may pick either of both of those up at another date.  Supergirl #1 was bland so until I see a cover in which the teenage girl is not wearing a skeevy outfit, I will pass.  Justice League continues to not have Wonder Woman in it for a second issue, apparently.  (no girls for you!)  And while I was glad to hear Flash was quite good in it, apparently I still have issues about Barry Allen not being Wally West, because his solo title put me to sleep.

Red Hood & the Outlaws with its sarcastic amnesia, or whatever, can bite me.

Some spoilers for the comics I have actually read, Wonder Woman #2, Nightwing #2 and Blue Beetle #2, beneath. I’ll follow up talking about today’s haul later in the week.

I continue to be surprised that I quite like Nightwing, despite the meh beginning.  It’s still not brilliant, and how are we talking about female characters not being relatable enough when Dick has access to Daddy’s jet any time he wants?  But I’m quite liking the development about the circus, and the mystery aspect, and not bored yet.  Meanwhile, Blue Beetle continues to have funny, actiony goodness as he bonds with his scary suit.  I am pleased to see the development of the girls who are his friends.  I know so little about Hispanic culture and am enjoying the extra dimension that Jaime’s community brings to the comic.

The new Wonder Woman continues to be good.  Like, really good.  I’m enjoying the storyline about the girl that Zeus has impregnated and damn it, I can see where the “he’s your father” theme fits so beautifully into the story. Though I choose to believe it’s a massive hoax that Discord is playing on Diana.  And in turn, us.  Which would actually be awesome.  The girl whose name I can’t remember is sharp and funny and I love the whole ‘what form did Zeus take to seduce you’ ‘A Truck Driver’ riff.

I am liking the portrayals of Hera and Discord very much, and I have to say that if the ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ storyline means that a fabulous Hera gets to be Diana’s nemesis, then I’m feeling a bit better about it.  Even if it does pull us more closely into  Hercules the Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess territory.  Hera’s sweep of peacock feathers is glorious.  And SPEAKING OF XENA, there is a stick fighting scene that comes straight out of a very specific Season 2 Amazon episode.  Not that I mind.  There are actually a lot of comparisons between Xena and this comic, in a good way.

This run won’t last, because there are Plans Afoot and that guy who took over my broken Justice League in the 90′s and made it so that Wonder Woman got to be the Only Girl in the Treehouse after a decade of a more gender-balanced team is apparently taking over next year and making her sexy again.  You may know him as Grant Morrison.

I’m sarcastic and skeptical about this because come on, it’s a comic book creator talking about how to make Wonder Woman sexual, and making the obligatory mention of William Marston Moulton’s bondage fetish into the bargain (so OVER people acting like that’s the only thing of note in her fun, feisty early years as a character).  And, you know, the only comics of his I’ve read have been boring boy’s clubs.  But he does get bonus points for actually researching feminism to prepare for the job (though to be honest checking out half a dozen feminist comics blogs would possibly be more helpful in this than Simone De Beauvoir) and I think he has a very valid point that Wonder Woman has basically been treated like a nun in recent decades.  A nun that dresses like a stripper, sure, but I think he is absolutely right that there has been a discomfort with writers (and fans?) about allowing Diana to have any kind of sexual life or attitude.

On the other hand… there’s a reason why feminist comics fans tend to freak out a bit when people suggest that a character needs a bit more sex.  There really is.  And it doesn’t matter how good the writing is (though it helps) the art is a major factor, too.  And I can’t help thinking that adding sexuality to her storylines would be a lot less problematic if she was allowed to wear a few more items of clothing.  Or bra-straps.  I am enjoying the current art, and I like very much that what she is doing is prioritised over her prettiness, especially on the covers.  Hopefully we get to keep the artist longer than the writer?

And more besides, because the current graphic novel fetish has taken hold and I have been binge-ordering at my local library, as well as borrowing and buying a bunch of titles. Then there’s the fact that this is Get It Read month For Last Short Story, and there’s Tiptree reading, and stuff for Galactic Suburbia, and books to review for ASif and you know, other books I want to read!

I walked into a bookshop today to look for someone (who wasn’t working that day) and walked out with Marianne de Pierres’ Angel Arias, and the new Merridy Eastman. Honestly I want to just download them directly into my head.

I’m halfway through reading Trent Jamieson’s Roil, and a Catwoman trade, and Gwyneth Jones’ new collection, because one book at a time is just not enough.

Oh, and I recently posted reviews at Last Short Story of Eclipse 4, and Subterranean’s Spring and Fall Issues.

And over at Deborah Biancotti’s blog, I contribute to a great series of (super short) guest posts about creative burnout, how to avoid it, and how to deal with it when it hits you smack in the face. I recommend checking out the whole series!

I’m still reading Justice League International hopefully. I like the art, and there’s potential here, but it feels like the writer is pulling his punches. There are quips aplenty, but not enough character stuff, and in particular neither Fire nor Ice are being given enough to do, still. Vixen is also criminally under used, and after hearing much discussion about how Batwing is set in ‘Africa’ as if that was a country, not a continent, it felt very jarring to have Mari refer to ‘my native Africa’ as if she was not aware of any more specific geographic borders.

On the whole, it has to be said, most of the international elements of this comic are being handled in a very clumsy, steretypical ‘duhhh this is what Americans think the world looks like’ kind of way – so our Russian and Chinese superheroes get to snark at each other like they’re fans of rival football teams, Godiva gets to say those British swear words that Joss Whedon loved so much (it’s funnier if you pretend she has Dick Van Dyke’s accent and indeed dresses up as a chimney sweep on her days off) and so on. Of course, this was always the case with JLI and JLE (do we remember the Beefeater, whose alter ego was John Cleese? Do we remember France???) but at least they made it funny by recognising the silliness, and it helped that they had Wally West there, always willing to send himself up as the worst example of a loud-mouthed tourist.

Meanwhile, in gender issues, oh look, Tora got hurt as an excuse to bring Guy Gardner winging back! Sadly, it seems, their actual relationship has been mostly demolished by the new reboot, which is disappointing because I’m pretty sure this version of reality will not handle them with the same bizarre, Betty-and-Archie-on-acid comic riffs as we got originally. Also, Tora is still acting like she is an ordinary, sassy girl and not Tora. And Bea has not yet set anyone on fire. I AM SAD ABOUT THIS.

Also, is anyone else a bit concerned that Booster, when faced with a flirtatious Godiva, does not seem to know what to do about it? He was practically blushing. He’s not secretly Ted Kord in a blond wig, is he? (oh, that would be quite awesome, actually)

Of course the main problem is that I read the first half of the BRILLIANT Justice League: Generation Lost mini-series, which is just so good in its balance of humour, characterisation and action, and this one is so, so pale in comparison. I’m hanging in there, though. Just in case.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the hell out of Hawk and Dove. The retro artwork makes me stupidly happy, and the story is fast-paced and dynamic – unlike most of the current DC 52 it feels like I’m getting a whole comic instead of a few beautiful splash pages and half a conversation – and I actually like the character interactions. But then I always had a soft spot for Hank and Dawn. It’s cheesy goodness, but I can’t help noticing that the ‘could have been written in a different era’ thing that made me impatient and irritable with the Flash is something I genuinely like here.

Stormwatch is an odd duck. I don’t have the faintest idea what is going on, or who all these people are, and there are quite a few clunky ‘as you know, your power’ bits, and basically it feels like I’ve walked into the middle of a story and any attempts to explain what’s going on make me more confused.

But… I like it. I want to know what is going on, because the people are intriguing and the story is batshit weird, and it’s not like any of the other comics. I think it’s probably one of those where you get more out of it by reading a trade, but I will persevere for now. I suspect once it all clicks, I will be going back to re-read.

Again, worth noting perhaps that Stormwatch suffers from many of the same faults as Legion Lost, which I have to say is one of the technically worst comics I read in the New 52. The difference? I have no idea. But even in the first two issues, I can see that there is a story here in Stormwatch, and it’s something crunchy and worth hanging in for. I think. I hope.

Meanwhile, the Huntress mini-series has launched! A lot of people are comparing it (favourably) to Catwoman, and rightfully so. This is how to write a tough, amoral female superhero without your readers feeling the need to chant ‘chukka chukka boww wowww’ as background music. I like Helena a lot, and can even forgive her for (still) not being Helena Wayne.

Embracing the Bertinelli heritage by setting the story in Italy is pretty awesome, and as with Hawk and Dove this is a comic that actually seems to fill the pages with enough stuff happening to be worth my $3. The art is nice, and Helena *does lots of stuff* with minimal flashing of her bosoms. Also her costume does not bare the midriff, which is an improvement on her 90′s look. I’ve heard a lot of people saying that ‘see, this is what Catwoman should have been’ and as far as the tasteful, action-oriented art goes, and the plotty writing, I’m willing to go along with that.

"My old outfit... I never did figure out where the draft was coming from."

But it’s a 6 issue mini series, so I’ll be reading the whole thing and am generally quite pleased and confident that it will be worth my time. Glad to see her getting to play in this shiny new DC Universe too.

Even if she doesn’t get to be Catwoman’s daughter.

A bunch of local writers will each be reading very short (a couple of minute) excerpts from their books.

I’ve been wanting to attend this exhibit since I first heard about it, and this is pretty much my last chance as it is ending on the 16th October.

Oh, and I’ll be reading the bit from Power & Majesty where the naked men fall out of the sky.

THE READING ROOM is an immersive, interactive environment about the magic world of books and reading. The gallery walls are painted red and are lined with thousands and thousands of books. There are comfy chairs and couches so you can sit back and listen to over 60 people from all walks of life in Tasmania reading a passage from one of their favourite books, or you can pick up a book and start reading yourself! There is also an ancient, Hermetic phrase on the walls of the gallery, hovering above the books. It is spelled out with convex mirrors and says ‘AS IT IS BELOW, SO IT IS ABOVE’.