So this year's ECCC was just epic. Just amazingly and I spent it with my lovely GF on all 3 days. Here's the quick and dirty on all of it:

Friday: We arrived and did a quick run around of the vending area. We also went to a panel on LGBT characters in comics.  I got to see Gail Simone (Secret Six, Batgirl, Birds of Prey) and gave her my Ragdoll Mask from my first Ragdoll Outfit (new one is in the works). Both her and her husband were really happy about it, and gave me a copy of her creator owned comic Killer Princesses.  I was kinda floored by it.  Really all I wanted was my Batgirl's and Secret Six #36 signed first.   It was really sweet.   My GF then went and got her picture taken with Christopher Judge (Stargate) and Jason Momoa (Stargate Atlantis, Conan) with her giant 3' Domo-Kun.   Then was a lot of spending.  I got some Super Stupor comics from Randy Millholland (Something Positive) and a sketch (as did my GF).  Then we bought a T-Shirt and poster from Jefbot (Jeff Schutze), and got trades of Axe Cop, Dr. McNinja, and Space Trawler.  My GF got the entire 4 volume of Little Dee, her laptop bag signed by Jhonen Vasquez (and signed copies of  I Feel Sick).  She also got several T-Shirts.  We then headed to the booth with Colleen Coover (Gingerbread Girl) and her husband Paul Tobin (Spider-Girl, Falling Skies) to get comics and also get some signatures.   It was quite nice because I got told he was going to announce a new book on the Dark Horse Panel the next day.   Then I dashed off to get signatures from Rick Remender (X-Force), The Dodsons (Uncanny X-Men), and a few others I can't remember at the moment.  After a lot of running around we headed home and just relaxed.   

Saturday: Saturday we didn't do much shopping.   We mostly went to some panels due to being really tired.  We picked up the pictures for D of Chris Judge and Jason Momoa, as well as snagging pics of the various cosplayers (to be loaded soon). D wanted to so some amount of cosplay, so she marked her arms up like Doctor Who in the The Silence Episodes.    I got a signature from Dan Slott on my Spider-Man comics.  We sat in on the Vertigo Comics: New Blood panel, then Dark Horse (which is quickly becoming a company I love), the Gail Simone Panel, and lastly Womanthology.   It a great panel.   I loved it.  D had one of the panelists compliment her hair and I got everyone to sign my copy of Womanthology.   After that the con closed and we headed home.

Sunday: Sunday we had only one panel we wanted to see.  Axe Cop.   So before then was lots of shopping.  OMG the shopping.  We picked up some ECCC Tote Bags, 2 copies of the Emerald City Crusaderette print by Alex Ross, and then a T-Shirt.   I snagged the 2nd Volume of Starman (*BOUNCEBOUNCEBOUNCE*), X-Men Legacy: Emplate, a Wolverine & Electra trade by Greg Rucha and Yoshitaka Amano, another Dr. McNinja Book, and a very very cool Dune illustration for a loved one.   D got lots the all 3 of the Axe Cop trades and some bumperstickers, and a very very cute Jack (The Nightmare Before Christmas) illustration.   Then was the Axe Cop panel.   First off for those not aware, Axe Cop is a comic drawn by a 32 year old artist and his 8 year old brother.  Yeah.  Written by an 8 year old.  Its a comic about a Cop that picks up a fireaxe and decides his name is Axe Cop and chops the heads off bad guys.  It gets more bizarre from there.  And yes the 8 year old had us all rolling with laughter.   His brother (and later rest of the family) kept him somewhat wrangled while the audience asked questions, then closed our eyes with the kid demanded we all close his eyes so he can be a magician.   It was to say the least...bizarre and hilarious.  Then was a bit more shopping, and getting Matt Wagner to sign my trade of Madame Xanadu.   

So many good memories of this weekend.   Lots of Proto-Geeks getting money from their parents while they made hard decisions on games and comics to buy.   Lots of fun costumes, and people around.  Most of all I got to spend a geek filled weekend with my girlfriend, D, and watch her have so much fun and geeking out with me.  It was a brilliantly fun weekend and now I'm exhausted and cleaning my room, organizing comics, and then a bit of relaxing before having to sleep and get up for work.  

Calhoun

On Wonder Woman and Dragon Tattoos

It is rare that I will go on a full tangent rant/musing about comic book stuff, but this week because of the current political climate and the fact that several of my friends have asked me to chime in on this matter both as a feminist and comic book fan. The Amazons of the new Wonder Woman series.

Let me catch you up with the short and sweet. The current Wonder Woman series from DC Comics, is having the heroine explore her mythological roots. The first big upset to her "origin" is that she wasn't made from clay, as in the past, but she was the daughter of Zeus, which has started a really good story that has done more justice to fusing comics and mythology than Thor has done in its entire run (with the exception of the current House of Mystery series involving a young Loki). In the most recent issue, Wonder Woman is faced with a brutal truth about her Amazonian sisters. They answer the question of "what happens to the male children?" and where do new Amazons come from?.

The Answer? The Amazons will slip aboard random ships, seduce/rape (implied) men, and then kill them. Then when a male child is born, they were sold to Haephastus, the Greek God of the Forge, as slaves. So basically...they were Vikings. That's the easy way to put it. Rape/Pillage/Use the Weak as Slaves. So basically the current writer has cast a very dark and controversial shadow on the ONLY strong iconic female hero. QUestions have been all over the place for fans and many new readers.

How did Wonder Woman never notice this before? Aren't these women supposed to be the paragons of a Matriarch Society, and the source of values that Wonder Woman is carying over into the Human/Male-Driven world? How can the writer write this kind of plot when every conservative religious group on the planet seems to have its hate-on for everything with a Vagina? And so forth...

So of course I am asked by various friends my feelings on it. Not only as a feminist, and comic fan but also as a rape victim. Yeah so of course my first reaction would be outrage, and shock right? Or maybe bitter cynicism that the Big 2 in comics have still yet to produce a strong female character that isn't stuffed inside some fridge after she's done being badass for a few issues. Wrong. My reaction has been one of a more detached and confused nature.

Not confused and detached because of the sheer stupid behind this currentl re-write to the character's history but because of how this will further the over all story being told. Also because of the mixed signals that this has caused me from my friends and comic book peers.

Now before I go further let me explain. Yes I was raped. It was horrible. I moved past it and have a happy sexual life and have for years. However much like anyone who has suffered a trauma, I'm not really keen to relive or even consume media that will trigger me reliving those feelings again. This has meant that I have missed out on some REALLY good movies and books, and if it hadn't been for some clever writing by Charles DeLint, his book, Widdershins would have sent me spiralling back into the paranoid and broken mess I was after my assault. Basically if you warn me that there is rape involved in a story, then I will go out of my way to avoid it. Hell there is an unedited version of a Battlestar Galactica episode that i haven't watched because the threat of rape is heavily implied to have happened to a character I really liked, while the Aired version of it, had a heroic save at the last minute. There have been some really good movies and books I've read that had sexual assault in them, that I still love and cherish to death, because the writers put it in the book and no one warned me of the fact. So I had to live through and push through those hard memories and feelings and put myself in the character's place hoping they would find solace as I had.

So now that I've laid down the ground work for the topic of Rape in Media and my consumption of, let me put this Wonder Woman thing in perspective for you all. At least through my eyes.

See about a year ago, my friends and several other people were on this kick reading a book / watching this movie called The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I love me some murder/mystery and it came highly recommended. Of course this also came with the warning that it contained a very brutal, very realistic rape scene. Of course this immediately meant that I was not interested in reading/watching this little gem, but several people would try to win my interest back by explaining that the character gets revenge, or that for the purpose of the plot that the rape/abuse was important to the story and while horrible it made sense. To date I still have not read the books or seen the movies based on this fact. But I'm getting away from my topic.

Now was a student of the media, I know that shock tactics are sometimes needed to build a good story. War, rape, murder of children, graphic violence. In almost every medium, these horrible horrible acts can serve to enrich the story and bring the consumer deeper into the character. We are experiencing these horrible things happening to the characters and with them when they are at their emotional bottom. So when they emerge from that hole and recover or extract delicious revenge, we have grown/healed with them and come back from that dark place as well. So do I think rape is horrible? Yes. As a culture do we need to seriously change the blame and reaction we have to such a crime? Hell Yes. Enough of the victim being confused and hurt and unsure. And for the most part, the media we consume emphasizes this. We are with the character as the injured party. We are outraged and hurt and we KNOW "we" did no wrong. It was the antagonist/rapist/muderer/etc. In this way the use and portrayal of rape can serve as a startlingly powerful wake-up call for a drastic need in perspective change.

So from a literary, and academic point of view I get it. I also don't like it and will still avoid consumption of that media.

For the third part of my outlook on this I want to introduce the concept of how our culture (comics and tv mostly) rely on cliff-hangers and suspense. Its key to the book. Hell the only comics that do not have excitment and dramatic build up is biography comics and any kid will glare at you with contempt if you give him a comic book about some politician or movie star's actual life. So as a comic fan I am quite numb to the idea that my favorite heroes will be rocked left and right. Especially as a marvel Fan. There's never a moment where a Marvel book has a "status quo" for more than say 7 issues and then its "A World Shattering Event" that threatens to change everythign about our hero/heronine. Including their outlook on the world or percieved history. Spider-Man fans know this cycle quite quite well. Of course it gets tiresome if every issue it ends with "knuckle-biting" suspense. Cause we know that Spidey will do the right thing. Batman will outsmart his foe. The X-Men will beat back the bigots. EVery time. So writers have to get clever to keep us engaged. That often means attacking some of the core elements of the character we have always known. Captain America one day realizes that taking the Super-Soldier serum was no better than drug abuse and so began an arc where he stops taking it. The 2nd Batgirl (The Mute One), has her mind rewritten by a psychic so she can now speak but loses her martial arts edge in the process. So now she has to relearn everything. These plots bring us deeper into the heroe's world, beyond external threats. Why is the Witchblade acting up so much on Sara Pazzini? Is it because maybe she is still shaken up by her recent suspension and is now on a vigilante kick? We are now growing with our beloved characters when their worlds are shaken apart and have to make sense of this new chaos around them. And again speaking as a Spider-Man fan, plotlines that completely rewrite family histories, marriages, and percieved world outlooks make up a majority of the book. Goddamn One More Day plot. Anyways. Often the darker and more ambigious the moral grounds of the book, the more clever the writers have to be with these paradigm upsets in the character's world. Often just hinting and slowing bringing their effects to boil over the course of several issues or story arcs (See recent X-Force series). These are effective but do leave readers who only read one or two issues in the dark. Yes that was a HUGE upset, but look at how it played out nicely 5 issues down the line when the whole story was told. And at the end of those stories there is usually a return to the status quo in the character's outlook on the world or their world itself will reset back to its old ways.

Now for my point. And yes I took the long way around on this....

I am not quite understanding why this whole Amazonian-Viking behavior in Wonder Woman is being met with so much anger and venom, and any opion other than "how dare they!" is being shot down. Now let me put this out there in my 3 different outlooks. In the corresponding order.

1. Its involving the rape/assault of men, severe gender imblance, and slavery. I'm out. Not reading it.

2. Could this be the first hint at a larger plot arc where maybe once she's done fighting with the gods, Wonder Woman goes back to her people and starts a fight to reverse their cruel ways. Thus paving the way for her to be the bridge between the World of Men and the Amazons like she is supposed to be? Maybe. But it was a badly timed plot device, should have been introduced with a bit more flair and subtlety, and been its own story arc. Not just a throw off "factoid" in a larger unrelated storyline.

3. Why are my friends/peers who encouraged me to give the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which has (from what I'm told) a very Graphic and realistic rape/abuse scene, suddenly shocked about this plot development in a comic book which hasn't fully had a chance to explore and expand on the ideas the writer has laid out. I mean seriously. *weighs hands*.

This is what i'm hearing right now:
"Hey! Just because its got a graphic rape in it, doesn't mean its a bad book/movie. Give it a chance. It makes sense when you read the whole thing/watch whole movie AND she gets revenge"

"ZOMG, ONE ISSUE OF A COMIC BOOK JUST UNDERCUT THE ENTIRE CULTURAL ORIGIN OF A BELOVED CHARACTER! HOW DARE THEY! I REFUSE TO READ THIS STORY FURTHER!"

Are you seeing what i'm seeing here?

I've been personally told not to dismiss a media property based on ONE incident that occurs in ONE of the books and that while a horrible act, it is vital event that ultimately leads to an act of total empowerment for the character, and then seeing fans of that media propery, throw their hands up in anger over ONE thing a writer has introduced to help flesh out this new world he has had to build around a controversial iconic character.

So my take on it.

I don't care. Mostly because my peers/friends on this one have presented a mixed message that has made me not really care either way on it. As a Feminist, as a former rape victim, as a comic book geek, as a lover of cleverly written media.

I don't care. What I think will happen? The book will lose readership, as it rightly should based on fan response. The creative team will change. The book's current plot threads would be drastically re-woven to erase the offending event (yes DC has done this before), and fans will bitch that once more the comic is not easy to get into because of the sudden shift in creative handling.

I know I'm gonna spark some feelings on this one. I know that some people may read this and think "Oh hey, that was directed at me". It is and it isn't. I have a lot of female friends. Very smart educated ones that have a damn good right to be angry about the world right now. I also have a lot of intelligent and saavy creative types in my life that can pin down a dream and make it into reality and even explain the subtle details in that dream to make it all the more rich.

I love them all, and I'm not gonna call any one person out. But as a whole to the Geeky-Feminist community...I have to ask. If this Wonder Woman thing pissed you off, then ummmm where the hell was that rage when you ran across that scene in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Where was that anger during the opening credits to Red Sonja (a character who's origin involves Rape). Where was that criticism, when they never clearly explained what happened to the Male Children earlier in the Wonder Woman Series. Or when there were brutal depictions of Amazons in other titles such as some of the Vertigo titles.

So on that note.....quit recommending Girl with a Dragon Tattoo to me. Seriously. Stop it.

Recording of my Dark Mother Media Set for 03/23/2012.

http://www.mixcloud.com/kantrip/dj-kantrip-dance-mix-for-dark-mother-radio-air-date-03232012/

Here is the recording for Darkbohemia on Radio Blacklight for 03/22/2012. Featuring songs from Pixelpussy, Darker Days Tomorrow, Caustic, Monica Richards and more!! Please share!

http://www.mixcloud.com/kantrip/darkbohemia-for-radio-blacklight-air-date-03222012/

Tune in tonight from 8pm to 10pm PST for Darkbohemia on Radio Blacklight. Tonight's show is all about Synthpop, EBM, and Noize. Featuring new tracks from Everything Goes Cold, Pixelpussy, The Portal 2 Soundtrack, MiXE1, and The Jesus Cleaver. Also songs from Haujobb, Binary Park, Lords of Acid, Faderhead, The Break Up, Oh So, Caustic and much much more.

So tune in with your Host DJ Kantrip from 8pm to 10pm tonight!! Only on Radio Blacklight.

http://www.radioblacklight.com

Tonight on Dark Bohemia on Radio Blacklight with your Host DJ Kantrip.

New songs from Cyferdyne, Haujobb, The Exploding Boy, and Goteki. Also Tracks from Pixelpussy, The Exploding Boy, Hopeful Machines, Winter Severity Index and Ego Likeness.

Tune into Radio Blacklight from 8pm to 10pm PST.

http://www.radioblacklight.com

Setlist for 10/16/11 for Dark Bohemia on Radio Blacklight with DJ Kantrip

Unwoman "Careless WHispers" - Uncovered
Diary of Dreams "Colours of Grey" - IF
A Covenant of Thorns "Only a Priest" - A Covenant of Thorns

You Shriek "No Heroes" Somwhere Between Heaven and Sorrow
Wolfsheim "Heroin, She Said" Spectators
Anguisette "Reset" The Creation CHamber

Aiboforcen "Dedale" - Dedale
Haujobb "Dead Market" - Dead Market
The Alacrity "Floor" - Resolve

Binary Park "Into the Deep" THe Deviated
Bow Ever Down "Carry On" - Risen
Miss FD "Moment of Fade" - Love Never Dies

Straftanz "weltzeitvernichter" Mainstream Sellout Overgroud
XUBERX "Blackened" (Remixed by Project Nemisis) - Intelligence Revised
Panzer AG "Bereit" THis is My Battlefield - Request

Tribal Snake "The Prophecy" In Praise of the Fallen
Qntal "Levis" Qntal V - Silver Swan
Reas Obsession "Mesmerism" - Carnival WIthin

Lotus Feed - Roome with a View - A Different Place
Christine Plays Viola - Permutations - Innocent Awareness
Oh So "Lust" - All I Ever Wanted

Lords of Acid "Little Might Rabbit" - Little Mighty Rabbit
Aesthetic Perfection "Spit it Out" - A Violent Emotion
Caustic "White Knuckle Head Fuck" - Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit

AADF - Break Your Heart - Unreleased
Beborn Beton - Life is a Distance - Tales From Another World
New Order - Regret - INternational

Ohgr "Tragek" - Undeveloped.

As always if you have questions, requests, or suggestions please email me at kantrip AT gmail DOT com