a vintage year for scoundrels

Teen Titans: Team Building
The Story of the Stone Vol. 1: The Golden Days - Cao Xuequin
Black Lightning: Year One
Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed - Jim Al-Khalili
Heroines and Harridans - Sandi Toksvig
Hero - Perry Moore
Doctor Who: The Child of Time
A Brief History of Montmaray - Michelle Cooper
Swimming Home - Deborah Levy
A Web of Air - Philip Reeve
The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth
White Cat - Holly Black
Showcase Presents Teen Titans vol 2
Gladstone's School For World Conquerors (vol 1)
Batman: No Man's Land Vol 1
Zatanna: Shades of the Past
The New Brighton Archeological Society Book 1: The Castle of Galomar
Alias Ultimate Collection Vol 1

( many words )

Short version: this month I particularly recommend Heroines and Harridans, The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Alias: Ultimate Collection Vol. 1. Plus Philip Reeve in general.

Comment with your favorite color (or a color you really like, if you don't have a favorite) and I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better. Update your journal with the answers to the questions. Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions. (NB I am REALLY BAD at thinking of questions, so this may take a while, but I will get there!)

ladymercury_10 asked me:

( questions that I had long answers for )

In other news, I am still feeling very cheerful about the existence of Fearless Defenders! Obviously there's still plenty of time for it to go HORRIBLY WRONG, but if you're interested in fun comics about diverse women having adventures, this would probably be a good shout. (Not least because I fear it may not be that big a seller, and if it gets cancelled I will be sad, and you wouldn't want that, now, would you? ;D) I am also feeling v. fannish about it, but there doesn't seem to be any fic yet, not even the Warehouse 13 crossover that issue 1 was crying out for. CATER TO MY WHIMS PLEASE, FANDOM.

I finished my knitted Steph!Batgirl hoodie! I've been working on it for over a year but finally it is DONE. It's based on Hanie Mohd's Batgirl in a sweater: I was going to dress up and try and imitate the art, but I'm lazy and it's freezing, so I didn't bother. Also, the purple's not really the right shade, but it's all there was in that type of yarn (all the nice yarn in better colours was pretty expensive, alas. Or made of pure wool, which I can't be having with), and it matches some of the cover art, so :D?

( pictures! )

(I've typed up the pattern; it's a bit on the long side, so I've posted it in a backdated post here.)

Also relevant: Bryan Q. Miller is doing a Kickstarter for an all-ages sci fi graphic novel YES PLEASE. I enjoyed this interview with him, particularly for the comment that: "Kids will ALWAYS want to read something that's "for older kids/grown-ups". But the jump between Tiny Titans and Joker cutting his own face off is SEVERE", because... yes.

Justice League of America: Injustice League
JLA Classified: New Maps of Hell
X-23: Chaos Theory
Blue Beetle: Shellshocked
Blue Beetle: Road Trip
Batman: Heart of Hush
Global Frequency: Planet Ablaze
Dark Reign: Young Avengers
Teen Titans/Outsiders: Insiders
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Vol 1
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Vol 2
Bruce Wayne: Fugitive Vol 3
Green Arrow: Year One

Injustice League started off very nicely by making me laugh at Oliver Queen's bachelor party ("How could you possibly know that?"/"I'm Batman.") but descended into a fairly by the numbers punch-up. It also included a couple of one off issues, one of which introduced an alternate universe female Flash (yay!), who was sadly dressed like this. (Linked image possibly not safe for work. /o\) REALLY? *sigh* New Maps of Hell also started strongly, and made me really like Clark, who I can usually take or leave (Lois was great too! I always like her), and pretty much stayed good throughout. It also had a great role for Oracle, hurray! If only she still existed.

X-23's is a darker universe than I usually like, but I enjoyed Laura's characterisation and her relationships with the other characters, especially Jubilee. (HOWEVER. I picked this volume up when I was in the library, assuming that because it was marked as volume two, it would follow directly on from the one I've already read, which was volume one. Not so much! Also, as it turns out, the volume one I read wasn't the first volume one. That would be too easy. COMICS. *shakes fist*)

Blue Beetle = EPIC SPARKLY LOVE. I was overwhelmed with delight with these two trades, not least because they were HILARIOUS. Seriously, everyone who follows me on twitter should count themselves lucky that my laptop was switched off when I read it, because otherwise I would've tweeted basically every other line. ♥ ♥ ♥

Dark Reign: Young Avengers and Teen Titans/Outsiders: Insiders I think both suffered from being read in isolation - I am assuming that there was more build-up/context for both of them which I haven't read. While I quite enjoyed reading them, I was left feeling a bit "well... that happened" about them. I liked the fact that most of the powerhouses of the Titans AND the Outsiders were women: Wonder Girl, Starfire, Thunder, Grace etc. And I always enjoy a comic where Dick's motivations can be interpreted as "overwhelmed with feelings". (See also: Gotham Knights.) I still don't understand Raven, though.

I enjoyed the Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive (I read Murderer a while ago) arc very much, despite not really caring overmuch about Bruce. (The few longueurs definitely coincided for me with the bits where I was supposed to be v. interested in his pain.) There was a lot of focus on the importance of his family, which I loved - seeing everyone's shocked faces in Vol 2 when he started talking about his feelings was worth the price of admission - and I loved that it specifically called out the "'Bruce Wayne' is just a mask" attitude as wrong and unhealthy. The "day in the life" issue I liked a lot, partially for the same reason - it shows Bruce doing good as Bruce, as well as as Batman. I was of course not happy that Vesper had to die to provoke this feelings crisis, but I liked that at one point Bruce actually acknowledges that she's the victim and that that's getting lost. Since I loved Checkmate it was great to see some more of Sasha, though I didn't love how the Batfamily more or less forgot about her. (Apart from Alfred. ALFRED IS THE ACTUAL BEST.) Oh, and one little thing: I was pleased to see Spoiler listed as a member of the Batfamily in the "previously..." blurbs at the beginning of each volume, even the ones she didn't actually appear in. ♥

I was and remain completely neutral on Oliver Queen, but a few niggles notwithstanding I thoroughly enjoyed Green Arrow: Year One. Very well written with great art - not something I'm usually good at noticing, but it was particularly good here.

In other comics news, operationbatgirlinc is having a Cass month! REBLOG ALL THE THINGS.

A lot of this has come out a bit grumpy. I didn't mean it to but I suppose it's easier to talk about not liking things. Skip to the Batgirl section at the bottom for sheer love!

Young Avengers Presents... I really liked the first volume of Young Avengers, but from then on it's been suffering from the same issue as I have with Teen Titans: on paper, it looks like something I would love, and I like the characters, and I really WANT to love it, but somehow I just don't. There's something not quite there about them and I can't put my finger on what it is. Bah. (These scans really make me interested in reading the new Young Avengers book, though.)

Heroes for Hire: Civil War Positives first: I really love how diverse this team is, and the writing was mostly pretty great. Misty Knight's voice came through very strongly in the opening pages, and I particularly loved the scene where she and Colleen are discussing the Registration Act with Iron Man, Spider-Man and Reed Richards: though they're broadly pro it as the best practical compromise in a bad situation, they're very aware of the potential dangers in a way that the three white men they're talking too aren't. Negatives: THE ART. It was bad in pretty standard ways, sure, all ridiculous postures, boobs akimbo, visible bellybuttons etc, but I find that sort of thing particularly annoying in otherwise woman-friendly books: it implies, basically, that women aren't really the target audience for these books, or even if they are, it's still vital that they appeal to (straight) men. Blergh. To be fair to the artist, he probably didn't design the ridiculous outfits most of the women were stuck with, but still. (I can blame him for the woman in the form fitting, split to the waist prison jumpsuit, though, right?) Of course, since it was written by Gray and Palmiotti, I kept thinking about how I would have liked it more with Amanda Conner's art: she can draw sexy women in ridiculous costumes but make it seem fun and playful, not leery.

Batman RIP ...eh. I think it's time for me to accept that I just don't like Grant Morrison's writing. Actually, it's not really the writing, it's the genre (ETA and the fact that I don't really care about Bruce Wayne at all most of the time probably doesn't help): I don't have much time for the whole "nightmarish landscape, all dialogue is Freighted With Meaning, no sense of humour, everything is Important and all the women are femmes fatales (or victims)" thing. (Beryl Hutchinson was the shining exception to that last, but she was only there for about a page and a half altogether.) The bits I did like (apart from the Beryl panels) were mostly the bits where Dick or Damian turned up and made me laugh. And I was made somewhat grumpy by the potted history of Batman which missed out Steph (SHE WAS A ROBIN) and Cass, and only included one panel of Babs - her getting shot, of course. SIGH. (Also, brief moment of silence please for the recently-retconned origin stories of the first three Robins.) I was fairly interested in Batman Incorporated, because the concept appeals to me, but now I know that Morrison isn't allowed to use Cass or Steph, I probably won't bother with it.

MOVING ON. I reread Batgirl: Kicking Assassins as a palate cleanser and quickly became overcome with feelings. Cass does things to my heart. She's so beautifully serious, but not in an "everything is grim" way, she just takes things seriously. She's careful and thoughtful in everything she does, and especially in everything she says. (There's a lovely panel where she's telling two police officers about something the Penguin's up to, and her thought caption thingy - do they have a proper name? I feel like they must - reads "I practiced saying that". CASS.) And she's consciously trying to learn, all the time: training with Onyx (sidenote: what happened to Onyx? Was it something terrible, or did she just disappear?), thinking about what Batman would do, picking up tips from Alien, watching tapes of other heroes fighting an opponent similar to the one she has to fight. All the bits about her moving into her new neighbourhood are lovely, especially how kind Alfred is with her, and the bit where she goes to her first party and really gets into the dancing. Also, this is the volume where she almost drowns and sees a vision of Steph, who helps her to fight her way to the surface again. HEARTS.

Read "Bruce Wayne: The Road Home" last night! ...I don't think I was fully prepared for the reality of a book based around a recently back from the dead being lost-in-time Bruce Wayne lurking creepily around Gotham judging all his friends. D: (To quote an old children's radio play: "you've been back from the dead for five minutes and already I'm fed up with you.") But I was mostly reading it for the Batgirl bit and that was a DELIGHT, so. Quality Oracle and Steph snark! Setting up those brilliant pages from Batgirl #15 where Steph explains the Batfamily! And of course the glorious moment where Steph finds out what Bruce is up to, and slaps him in the face. YES. And then panics and runs away, but I can't really blame her for that. Especially since she then comes BACK and tells him off for how he treated her when she was Spoiler and Robin, and tells him that she's not going to let him take being Batgirl away from her. YESSSSSS. I kind of hate the bit on the next page, though, where Bruce explains that Steph being Batgirl was ~his plan all along~, ugh. I'm torn between being glad she didn't hear that, and wishing she had, so she could hit him again. And then call Cass, because their friendship is the BEST and I miss it. I've read quite a few of the Cass!Batgirl issues with Spoiler in them recently, and I love them SO MUCH. Especially when they hang out with Oracle. Babs-Cass-Steph team ups forever, please. TEAM BATGIRL.

Speaking of Steph, I am ridiculously upset about her being dropped from the Smallville comics. Not least because it's really dented my love for them. :( I was really looking forward to the Detective arc, and now I don't think I'm going to bother with it. (Not boycotting Smallville altogether! Just skipping that arc, because I don't want to spend money on stuff that will make me unhappy.)

In other comics related news, very disappointed that none of Marvel's recently announced films are about Black Widow. Or Monica Rambeau. Or any of the other Marvel women. SIGH. The worst part is, I'm not really surprised, either.

Well. This post got grumpier than I expected. Non-grumpily, ds9_rewatch have got to season four, which is where my own rewatch had got to, so I have jumped back in! I'm pretty bad at actually saying much in the chats, due to my general failings, but they're still really fun. Next up is "Little Green Men", I believe!

IMPORTANT NEWS: SOME PEOPLE ARE MAKING A STEPH!BATGIRL WEBSERIES. AND BATWOMAN AND THE QUESTION ARE IN THE TRAILER. WAAAAAANT. *makes grabby hands*

I went to visit The Parents last weekend, due to an unfortunate lack of electricity in my flat (better than an overabundance of electricity in my flat, I suppose). This turned out to be an excellent choice; I went round to cheltenhamjess's to watch Eurovision (not nearly ridiculous enough this year, I feel, despite sterling efforts by the Russian grannies and the men who turned into a boat) with her and Vanky, and spent most of the rest of the weekend sitting in the garden reading. I also paid a visit to the bargain bookshop with all the cheap Marvel comics, and picked up a few more things:

• Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. I almost didn't buy this, because it was a lot more expensive than the others, but I am so glad I did, because I loved it. It was sharp and funny, with awesomely stylish covers, and some great characters. Monica Rambeau in particular I loved, and I am most definitely on Team Put Her In The Next Avengers Film Please. I really liked Elsa too, possibly because I have a weakness for English creators putting England/English characters in their comics. (See also: Paul Cornell's Knight and Squire. Have I flailed about that yet? Because I should've: four issues of silly, joyous hijinks, followed by two issues of punching me in the heart. Er, in a good way.) In conclusion: my robot brain needs beer.


• Runaways, books 4-7 Lots to love in these (I laughed a lot at Captain America falling on his face. Mine is a sophisticated sense of humour), but also one major development that I'm not sure how I feel about. ( major spoilers )


• X-Factor: Happenings in Vegas I picked up the previous volume, Second Coming, from the same shop over Christmas, but didn't really get on with it, because I had no idea who anyone was or what was going on. This one I clicked with a lot more, though, and really enjoyed, hurray, especially the Rictor/Shatterstar bits. ♥ I am a little worried about where they're going with ( spoilers )
  , but I shall wait and see what happens. (I also bought Hard Labor, and have reserved the volume in between from the library, so hopefully shouldn't have to wait too long!)

MEANWHILE, I have seen Avengers twice! I don't feel the need to post anything about it beyond "it was great, Black Widow is amazing, where is her film?", basically because everyone else has already said all the things. But as a result I have seen a lot of trailers for things and I have opinions on them! The Prometheus trailer was cool, if rather undermined by the mini making-of featurette shown before it. /o\ (Incidentally, "Doctor Elizabeth Shaw", totally a Doctor Who reference, right? So I am assuming unless it is explicitly contradicted.) The 3D Hobbit trailer made me happy in my heart, though I do have this problem whereby whenever I hear Gollum my first assumption is that it's the_smut_fairy doing her Gollum impression, and then I get all confused when she's not there. I also saw a trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, which I still can't decide if I'm going to see or not. On the one hand, CATWOMAN, and also it would be good to be able to grumble about it from a position of knowledge; on the other hand, I expect I will be grumpy about it, and also I nearly fell asleep in the last one. Decisions, decisions. Finally Spiderman, which would've been a good trailer if I wasn't so grumpy about how we're getting more Spiderman ALREADY and still no sign of any superheroine films. I did laugh at the "you've found my weakness! Really small knives!" bit, though.

This concludes the "usuallyhats witters on about superheroes" portion of your flists. FOR NOW.

Here is a selection of things I have done since last I posted.

- Read a lovely Two and Jamie story by Helen Raynor ("All of Beyond", from Short Trips: Snapshots). It was sweet and kind, funny, hopeful and a little sad, just as a Second Doctor story should be. ♥

- Watched ALL the Warehouse 13 (well, except last night's episode). I don't know why it's taken me so long to get round to it, really, since if it were any further up my street it would be moving in with me. A lovely team who spend their time having steampunk adventures, caring about each other and making silly faces? DON'T MIND IF I DO. Now to get some icons...

- Been to London, twice, and seen many lovely people. ♥

- Read many many comics. Such as:

• Batwoman: Elegy. SO GOOD. I was a little worried that the actual story wouldn't be my sort of thing, but I was completely sucked in by it. And the art is wonderful.


• The first three Gotham Central collected editions: again, on the surface not really my thing, but still very enjoyable. Really well told stories with very dynamic art.


• Batgirl Rising and The Flood: YES PLEASE ALL OF THIS. Absolutely adored both of these on pretty much every level: great characters, lovely development for Steph, really funny, and fundamentally optimistic.


• Gail Simone's Wonder Woman run, up to Warkiller: I just love Wonder Woman's integrity, the way she will make her decisions and try to do what's right, and accept the consequences, whatever they are. Also, her team-up with Black Canary was just awesome.

- Almost finished knitting my Little Red Riding Hoodie (which is blue)! I am working on the attached i-cord edging and it is taking forever. I JUST WANT IT TO BE FINISHED. I have two other things I want to get on with, and I have also come down with a case of sock envy after seeing the pretty ones amicu made. WHY AREN'T YOU FINISHED YET, CARDIGAN?

- Watched lots more Voyager, and got rather squeeful at the end of "Blood Fever", both on its own merits and because it means ( spoilers )

I have also done/watched/read various other things which I do not feel moved to post about at this time.

(see this post for pictures)

( here we go )