Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 130
October 6, 2011
Friday Links is a Feminist Country
I found this article about what a (mostly) feminist society that actually exists in the world today really inspiring. I have no idea how to get there from here but oh, I do hope Australia can be Iceland when it grows up! Their social attitudes to female politicians, childcare and the work/life balance make me ridiculously happy.
Meanwhile Bitch Magazine is doing a new blog series which looks at the portrayal of pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood/parenthood in TVland. I have Strong Opinions on this topic, so looking forward to reading what they have to say.
Tehani posted this link about which comic book superheroines deserve their own movies. Which is all very well, but let's face it, Hollywood has badly let down the female superhero (and not the other way around). I can't help thinking their stories would be better served by taking visuals out of the equation and going straight to the novel.
So if anyone wants to hire me to write a Huntress novel, I'm available! Or Wonder Woman, come to that…
Gail Simone tweeted this article which looks at two different kinds of representation of race in current DC Comics, comparing the Static Shock approach (he just happens to be black, yanno) with the Firestom approach (actual discussion of racial issues in the text). It's a thoughtful piece, and I think demonstrates that both approaches have value, and it's important to have both kinds of representation of race in stories – if all stories with characters of colour were about race, or all stories with characters of colour were NOT about race, we would have a real problem.
I do love it when people point out that these things are not either/or!
Jo Anderton, whose debut novel Debris (Angry Robot) I loved when she sent it to me for blurbage (it's about magical architects! and magical garbage collectors! And it has technology mixed in with magic, plus a professional heroine who is flawed and cranky and acquires a TEAM, and has sex without it having to be her true love!) has done an interview over at Rowena's blog.
The Indie Publishing (from pro perspective) posts are continuing in abundance at Tehani's blog. Shaun Tan is her latest guest, and I thoroughly recommend his love letter to the Australian SF small press, with some insights into how working for Aurealis and Eidolon led to his later, dazzling career.
Nisi Shawl talks about queer themes (and often the lack thereof) in steampunk, over at Tor.com with the brilliantly-titled article ''.
Some Tansy-specific links: Kylie Chan's recent reading including some lovely comments about Power & Majesty; Sean the Blogonaut did a great review of Love and Romanpunk as an e-book; you can find me guesting on the Book Nut podcast, talking about children's and YA fiction; and I am excited to be reading at the Reading Room exhibit at the Tas Museum in Hobart this Sunday.
Strange Horizons have found their fundraiser slowgoing this year, I think, possibly because the Kickstarter phenomenon means that many of us have reached donation fatigue. But it's the last week for donations, and such a good publication that many of us take for granted. If you like what they publish and you haven't donated yet, please head over there – or help out with passing the word. There are some wonderful prizes up for grabs, including my own trilogy and an entire subscription to the Twelve Planets. And bonus prize draws all this week!
The final of season 6 of Doctor Who screens tomorrow in Australia – and sure I've already seen it (romanpunk for the win!) and love it to bits, but I now get to watch it with Raeli and see if she can wrap her head around all the anachronisms and timey plot twists. I've enjoyed this season very much, and luckily for me I like River Song a lot, and have enjoyed getting to see a whole lot of different sides to her in the arc stories this year – I think how much you enjoyed the arc probably depended a lot on how pro-River you are.
This (spoily for the last ep!) post talks about River's actual timeline, as based on the last ep of Doctor Who Confidential – I think we need charts, people!
I've enjoyed Amy and Rory too – as companions they have got lost at times in this busy season but the final episode ties it all together and shows yet again that a journey doesn't make complete sense until you get to the end of it. I wanted to put up a vid that sums up how squeeful I was about them in the last ep, but decided not to risk spoiling people yet. So instead, here's the story so far of River & the Doctor [before The Wedding of River Song, spoilery for all her other eps]
DC Reboot Month 2! JLI #2, Hawk and Dove #2, Stormwatch #2, Huntress #1
So it's the second month of the DC Reboot, and I'm still reading comics. Not quite so many, though!
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."
Though… I would like to see some female characters for her to interact with, other than not-speaking-the-same-language ladies who are either prostitutes or being people smuggled. One of the aspects of Huntress I have found less than comforting is the way she is often written as being very aggressive and prickly (& tending towards being competitive/jealous) around other women – and I can't tell yet whether this is one of those versions. What with the language barrier.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.
October 5, 2011
Reading at the Reading Room!
I am taking part in an event at 2pm on Sunday afternoon at the Reading Room, a fabulous exhibit at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
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.
Night of the Living Tansylinks
Some delicious links for your consumption. It's all about me!
Strange Horizons are offering my complete Creature Court trilogy as a special prize – you must donate to their fundraising drive today (or have done so before today) to be in the special draw. And don't get too excited about the third book, which is still a few months away – the winner gets the first two now and a second parcel when the third book is printed.
Strange Horizons is a great publication that publishes some wonderful writing every week, and if it wasn't for winning one of their many many prizes the first year I donated, I might never have discovered the wonderful prose of Sarah Monette. So donating to them is something I associate with that happy blurred feeling of discovering a brilliant new writer. I recommend it!
Also I was delighted to be invited as a guest to Tehani's second episode of her Book Nut Podcast – of discussions about children's and YA fiction, and the teachability and librarianisation of said books. I was a little skeptical when she told me the planned length of the episode, and I think we both considered it a win that we managed to keep it under 50 minutes.
Tehani has done exhaustive show notes but we cover my love of classic children's books (E Nesbit, Edward Eager, Diana Wynne Jones), the inevitable (?) hypocrisy of parenthood when it comes to censoring books, Lewis Carroll and Enid Blyton, plus comics for kids, graphic novels for libraries (I am being invited back to discuss this at more length) with particular reference to Runaways and the Ultimate Spiderman, and a bunch of current YA favourites such as Karen Healey's the Shattering and Sarah Rees Brennan, and Holly Black, and… and… and…
Can you believe Tehani and I will be living in the same state soon? We will podcast ALL THE TIME. Or, you know, just chat to ourselves and not let anyone else listen. So listen to us while you have the chance!
And, while you're at it, don't forget the new episode of Galactic Suburbia, covering such topics as the feminism of Fringe, crimes against superheroines in the DC Universe, the companions of Doctor Who, and why e-books can break an indie publisher's brain.
October 4, 2011
Watching New Who: The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion – Season one Christmas Special
The Doctor – David Tennant
Rose Tyler – Billie Piper
TEHANI:
Quick, go watch the Children in Need special before you read this! (and resist the urge to click through the million other YouTube clips of cool Doctor Who stuff).
Right, you're back now? I hadn't seen this until Tansy pointed it out, and while it actually made the end of Season One a little less awesome for me (they KNOWINGLY left Jack to his own devices! After he was such a hero!), it is a great bridge for the new incarnation of the Doctor. Ah, David Tennant. Who I was DETERMINED not to love, because all the fangirls do, but have to admit, he does rock pretty hard.
DAVID:
I am glad I watched the CON special first, it was a great little bridge into the new Doctor and I was immediately impressed, despite the fact he seemed to be channeling Eric Idle for a little bit there! I am not sure what it was, but I warmed to him straight away … sorry, number Nine.
TANSY:
I always forget about how much I like David Tennant's Doctor. I like the rough edges of Eccleston, and I love what Matt Smith is doing with Eleven, but David Tennant is just plain adorable. I think part of me doesn't want to like him because he is the most popular Doctor of all time (and for other reasons that will come up in later stories)… and Ten won Raeli's heart away from Eleven, which is very impressive. But even though I don't always like the material he has to work with, and the things his Doctor does, I do enjoy his performance.
TEHANI:
Heh, I'm the same, Tansy. I didn't want to love him, simply because everybody ELSE does!
I really enjoyed this episode – it's actually fairly Doctor-lite, which I thought was interesting for the beginning of a new Doctor AND Christmas special combined. Rose, Jackie and Mickey do a pretty good job of carrying it though (though Mickey shows he still carries a torch for Rose, albeit in a bit more feisty way).
TANSY:
It is odd how little Doctor we get – whetting our appetite, I suppose and it's true that all "Doctor-lite" stories do tend to be more about the Doctor than any others, because of the whopping great hole left by his absence. I'm also not convinced that the Doctor we see here is actually the Doctor we're going to get in the season to come – but that could be because of the pyjamas.
TEHANI:
Maybe it's just me, but it sort of felt like there were two different stories with the remote controlled Santas and then the Sycorax. I know they gave it a good explanation, but it didn't really gel for me, even second time around.
DAVID:
I was expecting a pretty fluffy episode, being a Christmas episode, but I actually thought this was very strong. The dialogue was exceptional, lots of great banter and funny bits without becoming farcical, and the special effects were of a extremely high standard. There is something about the subversion of things that are meant to fun or heartwarming that always creeps me out, like clowns, so the Santas and the killer Christmas tree gave me the heebie jeebies. And, the Sycorax were suitably menacing villains, if a little melodramatic at times, and certainly not shy of killing people!
TANSY:
The robot Santas, killer Christmas trees and basically all the Christmas stuff feels very tacked on to me – it's all lead up to the big dramatic Sycorax scene on the ship and I agree that it could have been anything leading there. It feels to some extent that the Christmas alien bumpf is more for the previews than the episode itself. But there's enough heart and character story in between the silly bits that I'm prepared to forgive it, even if it's pretty much filler until we get more bits with the new Doctor in again.
TEHANI:
I was amused when Rose called Nine the "proper Doctor" – I could hear echoes of fans after each regeneration!
DAVID:
Rose's reaction was very telling, wasn't it? You could tell that she felt betrayed and abandoned by the Doctor and that she took him changing very personally indeed.
TANSY:
I think it's important that we saw that reaction – though as we'll see in the season to come, this is the only time we get that reaction, which I think is a shame really. It would have been nice to see a more complex relationship between them based on her not entirely trusting that "her" Doctor is inside this new charming stranger. I like that aspect of their relationship in this episode very much, but we never see it again.
(Can't entirely blame her, though, considering that it is David Tennant – shades of Steven Moffat's The Curse of Fatal Death, really, when Julia Sawahla loses "her" Doctor only for him to be replaced with Richard E. Grant. "RESULT.")
TEHANI:
Tansy, you keep telling me about more stuff I'd never heard of! Being a Doctor Who fan is really quite time consuming, isn't it?!
Yay for more Harriet Jones! I thought she was just fabulous in this, even at the end, which gives us a very good taste of where this particular Doctor stands on things like this. And which is interesting, given the end of the last episode, where Rose destroyed the Daleks and that was okay, but Harriet orders the Sycorax shot down and the Doctor destroys her career. I don't know how I felt about that bit actually, especially the WAY he did it – ironic comment on women in high-powered jobs, or something else?
DAVID:
This was actually very similar to a scene from Classic Who (Doctor Who and the Silurians) where the Doctor is seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict with the Silurians, only for the Brigadier to blow up their base due to his superiors seeing them as too much of a threat to humanity. This is despite the fact that the Doctor has tricked them into going back into hibernation and the immediate threat is ended. The Doctor's reaction is one of extreme anger, and in fact he is still disgusted with the Brigadier in later episodes.
While some incarnations have been less pacifistic, I think the Doctor has always seen violence as a last resort, when there is no other solution. So, the destruction of the Daleks would be acceptable by that logic, but destroying an enemy that has been defeated and is leaving, not so much.
TEHANI:
Hmmm. We'll talk more about this at the end of Season Four. 
DAVID:
I thought Harriet Jones was excellent in this episode, and I laughed at her ID card wielding ways, but that ending wasn't my favourite part of the episode. However, it is consistent with the way Doctor feels about humanity, he loves them but is quite often impatient and exasperated, even disgusted, with their (to him) primitive and violent ways.
TANSY:
I don't like the end at all, and I think it shows that this sweet, funny Doctor has a mean streak to him. It's a long time before we see it again, but it is there, and it is very interesting. But I resent that he felt the need to take down Harriet Jones (and as we'll see in season three, it was actually a catastrophic thing to do) and I think it's worrying that he's prepared to ditch the "golden age" that he crowed about. Messing with history because of his own ego?
TEHANI:
It's quite an interesting thing to do in our very first episode with him – like you say, we don't see it again for a while, but that's a lasting impression to take with us into Season Two. It bothered me more the second time, because I really LIKE Harriet, and to see her destroyed that way, regardless of the future effects, is really quite horrible.
TANSY:
The thing about Ten is that there are few people who are prepared to call him on it when he's wrong, and I am sad to see Harriet kicked in this way because she does do that, and it's terribly brave of her. The fact that he uses that weird sexist psychological thing against her is discomforting, too.
TEHANI:
We really needed some Donna in this episode I think! Oops, sorry David, no spoilers!
Is this the first time we see the sort of thing Torchwood might be?
TANSY:
References to Torchwood are a recurring theme throughout this season and I don't want to say too much about that yet, but this is the first mention of Torchwood (apart from a quiz question back on the Weakest Link) and the big gun zapping the aliens out of the sky is definitely… one side to what Torchwood is. But by no means the most interesting side!
TEHANI:
Really have to start watching Torchwood soon I guess. Now Season Six is dusted (*sniff*) I guess I need to fill the gap…
TANSY:
Oh I forgot to mention before, I think the Tenth Doctor's relationship with Jackie and Mickey is worth noting because it's such a contrast to Nine's attitude. Nine was rude and abrupt, refused to have anything to do with domesticity, and for the most part was antagonistic towards Rose's family. But Ten embraces them as his own, and for the most part he has a far more positive attitude towards humanity. It suggests that this Doctor is less emotionally scarred than the previous incarnation (though of course he's screwed up in whole new ways) and may be a step further away from the horrors of his past.
But there's also a popular fan theory that the Doctor subconsciously moulds his incarnations based on a perceived lack in the previous version… and that he designed this particular body and personality with Rose in mind. Thoughts? Is that romantic, or icky? Is it even plausible, given the surprise with which he always greets his new body?
TEHANI:
I think some fans have waaaaay too much time on their hands, coming up with theories like that! I'd be surprised if it's not conscious in the writers though, adding new dimensions and changes to appeal to a slightly difference audience range each time?
DAVID:
I think you've mentioned that idea before, Tansy, and I agree to a point. I certainly think that there is a compensation of sorts, which you can see in other Doctors. The sense of childlike wonder of the Second Doctor, after the slightly crotchety old manness of the First. Or the gentleness and quiet restraint of the Fifth Doctor, after the larger than life exuberance and extremely dominant personality of the Fourth. However, I am not sure I even want to think about the idea that he shaped his next regeneration to be more attractive to Rose, even subconsciously! Of course, that could just be my old fashioned nature. 
TEHANI:
Heh, or your Classic Who-ness
======
Watching New Who – in conversation with David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely
David is coming to New Who for the first time, having loved Classic Who as a kid. Tehani is a recent convert, and ploughed through Seasons 1 to 6 (so far) in just a few weeks after becoming addicted thanks to Matt Smith – she's rewatching to keep up with David! Tansy is the expert in the team, with a history in Doctor Who fandom that goes WAY back, and a passion for Doctor Who that inspires us all (plus a six-year-old daughter who is finding her own Doctors for the first time). We're going to work our way through New Who, using season openers and closers, and Hugo shortlisted episodes, as our blogging points. Just for fun! We have already talked about:
"Rose", S01E01
"Dalek", S01E06
"Father's Day, S01E08
"The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances", S01E09/10
"Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways", S01E12/13
Season One Report Card – David, Tansy, Tehani
October 2, 2011
New 52: Final Verdict [DC Reboot Reviews]
So the overall result of the DC New 52 Reboot is… yes, I'm getting back into comics. Damn it!
I read 21 of the 52, not quite half, and the hit rate was about 50% enjoyable. So yay?
Ah but the question is, which of them will I be sticking with past issue 2? Tune in and find out!
Comics that made me happy this month:
Batwoman
Batgirl
Blue Beetle
Superboy
Wonder Woman
Comics I thought were quite good and/or promising:
Catwoman
Hawk and Dove
Justice League Dark
Justice League International
Static Shock
Stormwatch
Comics that made me go meh:
Action Comics
The Flash
Justice League
Nightwing
Supergirl
Teen Titans
Comics I didn't like due to my own (possibly unreasonable) personal hang ups:
Birds of Prey
Comics that made me SAD this month:
Detective Comics
Legion Lost
Red Hood and the Outlaws
And a bonus, comics that were awesome and in no way part of the DC Reboot:
Ultimate Spiderman #1 & #2
Thank you and goodnight!
Justice League Dark #1, Teen Titans #1, The Flash #1 [DC Reboot Reviews]
I realised early on that getting this involved with the DC Reboot might be a mistake. Not because of Catwoman's rack or Starfire's bizarre lobotomy, but because… I get addicted to stories. Easily. If I watch two episodes of a familiar soap opera in a row, I'm there for another five years. I have been known to follow comics far beyond the point where they not only jumped the shark, but sold the shark in exchange for some seriously unfunny jellyfish.
When I have to know what happens next, I HAVE TO KNOW. So getting myself back into the habit of buying single issue comics weekly (omg weekly!) thanks to the handy dandy DC app on the iPad was… really, not a good idea.
This suspicion was confirmed when I found myself, instead of casually picking up the iPad some time on Thursday afternoon, beginning to check in from Wednesday evening, waiting for the app to update. It didn't. Nor did it on Thursday morning. Finally around lunch time, the Comixology app updated, but not the DC one, which is where I had been keeping my comics. I didn't want to change the system! Finally, after someone told me it didn't matter which app I bought them in, I could shift them around, I cracked and bought the final issues I was interested in, of the New 52.
I only bought three. I meant to get at least five, but there weren't as many issues I was tempted by this time around, and after almost buying Aquaman several times (seriously, Aquaman?) I backed away from the device. Well, not entirely. I also picked up Issue #2 of the (Miles Morales) Ultimate Spiderman which is, along with #1, the best new comic I have read this month.
But we ARE NOT HERE TO DISCUSS how awesome Ultimate Spiderman is.
I was almost relieved that the last few of the DC New 52 I picked up this week weren't overly exciting. My to read next month is already as long as my arm. Still, carry on…
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
written by: Peter Milligan
pencils by: Mikel Janin
You know, I wasn't going to get this one. It looked a bit silly. But it has Zatanna in it, and despite the whole mindwiping Sue Dibny fiasco of recent years, I have loved Zatanna since her pre-Crisis top-hat-and-fishnets-and/or-alien-insect-on-head days, back when she and Barry Allen had a Thing Going On. So I checked it out.
It was… odd. Mostly made up of characters I don't know, from that other publisher, and there's a John Constantine with a dodgy fake Cockney accent, and Batman is there AGAIN (honestly, is there any comic this month he didn't randomly appear in, like the star of the original show popping into the spin off to prove it's legit?). But I liked the swirly magic stuff, and I am intrigued by Madam Xanadu, and Zatanna is still Zatanna even if they've changed so much about her over the years.
It wasn't bad. But, you know. It was no Ultimate Spiderman #2. Damn it. Has that comic spoiled me for all other comics?
VERDICT: I'm not sure if there was quite enough to sell me on the book, but I enjoyed what I read.
TEEN TITANS #1
Written by: Scott Lobdell
Pencils by: Brett Booth
I was intrigued by this one after the excellent Superboy, which seemed to tie into it, and then dreading it after the awful, awful Red Hood and the Outlaws. Both of which are by the same writer. MY BRAIN IT HURTS. I checked in, I saw some action and quite a bit of awww, Tim Drake's all grown up, and Cassie was sadly not as cool as she is in Tiny Titans, and all I know about her is that she doesn't like to be called Wonder Girl (so who are you, Cassie?) and then there was a bit of Superboy but not much which is good because Revelations Should Be In His Own Comic. Kid Flash was suitably brief and speedy in his appearance, but did not make it clear whether he was Wally or Bart. I am assuming Bart because otherwise there is some cross-generational stream crossing that is Just So Wrong.
Also the much heralded new gay character, Bunker, did not appear, nor any of the new characters. Though this wins bonus points over Justice League for a) having a cover that conveys both the overall shape of the future team, and that only half the characters will appear in the issue, and b) having one of the female teammembers appear in the first issue. Funny how much easier it is to do that when you have more than one girl.
Still, they get bonus points
VERDICT: It was actiony and fine and unobjectionable, but I did not love it.
THE FLASH #1
Written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul
Omg how dull was this comic? So very sad. I liked me a bit of Barry Allen back in the day (mostly the day when his wife was dead & he was off flirting with Zatanna) and I liked a bit of Iris Allen back in the day (when she turned out not to be dead but from the future and was chasing after Bart and Barry was dead) and I loved me some Flash (when Flash was Wally West and a bit of a screw up but lovable and one of the best things about Justice League Europe) but…
Yeah.
If you're going to bring back legacy heroes from the dead, and I know you are, because you are DC and this is what you do, is it too much to hope you do something interesting with them? Because it seemed to me that I could have just gone and read an old Barry Allen comic from the 70′s and it would have been not that different to this one. And if you're going to bring back the whole Barry-Iris romance in its early stages, can you do something to address the fact that the premise of Iris is basically the same as Lois Lane? Possibly by giving her more than a cameo appearance?
In short, bleh. Where is Wally West, one of the superheroes who had the most character development in the 90′s? Why is Barry so dull?
Should I have read Aquaman after all?
VERDICT: a blast from the past that should have stayed there. Can we have a Jesse Quick title instead next time please?
October 1, 2011
Matrons of Awesome Part XV – Saint Helena
I've been in this room! Check out the Flavian Lady in the background. Best room in the Musei Capitolini.
The end of the Severan dynasty pretty much concludes the period of Roman history that I know anything about. However, I promised 50, which means one more to go… and though there are many interesting women of the later Roman Empire, if you're only going to choose one, then it's fairly obvious whom that one should be.50. Helena
After the death of Alexander, Rome fell into a time of chaos brought about by very short imperial reigns, assassination, political plotting and civil strife. No emperor since the Severans had managed to found a stable dynasty, which meant that the role of women had been quite limited in the public political sphere.
Helena was the daughter of a tavern-keeper, which in social terms put her somewhere between freedwomen and prostitutes. As a teenager, she fell in love far above her station, with an ambitious young soldier called Constantius Chlorus, and she lived with him as a common law wife, though legal marriage was impossible because of the gulf in status between them both.
Twenty years later, the Emperor Diocletian, in the hopes of restoring stability to the troubled Roman Empire, divided the Empire into two halves, East and West, and gave the Western portion of the Empire to Maximianus Herculius. Each Emperor also named his heir and Caesar, and the man that Maximianus chose was Helena's lover Constantius.
Constantius promptly dumped Helena for a woman more suitable to be the wife of a Caesar. He had six children with his new aristocratic wife, but Constantius also ensured that his son by Helena, Constantine, was educated in a suitably imperial manner. Just in case.
A little more than a decade after Constantius became a Caesar, Diocletian and Maximianus both abdicated, letting their Caesars step up to take power. Fairly soon after, on campaign in Britain with his son, Constantius died and young Constantine persuaded the troops to name him Emperor.
After securing his position by marrying Maximianus' daughter Fausta, Constantine brought his mother to court. Helena, who had been considered too lowly to be an emperor's wife, now shone in public as the emperor's mother.
It is disputed as to whether it was Helena who fell in love with Christianity and influenced her son in that regard, or vice versa, but it is certainly true that she embraced the religion wholeheartedly, and supported Constantine in his campaign to make Rome a Christian Empire. In doing this, she further established herself as an integral member of the imperial household, and both she and her daughter-in-law Fausta were awarded the title Augusta.
In the midst of Constantine and Helena's work to bring Christianity to the Empire, Constantine suddenly (the reason is not recorded in history, though there are some salacious rumours) ordered the execution of his wife Fausta and his son from a previous marriage, Crispus. Around the same time (possibly because of this violent episode), Helena began a tour of holy sites in Palestine, on a journey now considered to be the inspirational model for the classic Christian pilgrimage.
Helena's pilgrimage was the stuff of legend – she performed acts of charity, founded churches, and collected holy relics by the bucketload. In doing so, she performed the dual purpose of publicising her son Constantine as a pious Christian, and publicising the Christian religion to those Romans who saw Helena as a figure of influence.
Good PR and multi-tasking. Both essential skills when holding an Empire together.
Stories are divided as to how Helena died; whether she had returned home or was still abroad doing her good works. But she certainly lived into her eighties, and was buried with high ceremony in Rome.
Helena's lifetime saw many changes in Rome, only one of which was the religious landscape of the Empire. Her biography shows many parallels with the powerful imperial women of the early Empire, but also formed a model for the Mighty Byzantine Empresses who would follow her.
It is a point of mild shame to me that I know close to absolutely nothing about the Mighty Byzantine Empresses. Some day I shall rectify this, but that day is not today.
As so many imperial women from this series of posts have shown, while wives often had an integral role in the politics and public image of the emperors, it was usually as mothers that they exerted the greater influence. Sadly, none of them were ever allowed to do more than exert influence, and those who exerted "too much" were disapproved of, and had their reputations trashed for that hideous female crime: ambition.
Romans listened to their Mums, more than their wives. Romans were slightly less judgemental about Mums influencing Emperors, than wives. Possibly if *that* had been my thesis topic, it might not have taken me seven years to complete my PhD… but, you know. I got distracted. Mostly by becoming a Mum myself.
Thanks for hanging in here with me so long!
Hugs and kisses,
Dr Tansy
Mother of Two Future Rulers of the Universe
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The Matrons of Awesome series was originally posted on Livejournal (LJ user: cassiphone) in March 2006 for Women's History Month.
I'm reprinting the (reworked) series as part of my Rock The Romanpunk week in celebration of my short story collection, Love and Romanpunk, which was published by Twelfth Planet Press earlier this year and is now available globally as an e-book as well as a pretty imperial purple print edition. Thanks to Wizard's Tower Bookstore you can also now purchase it for the Kindle.
Matrons of Awesome Part XIV – A Surfeit of Julias
So those who have read the lead story in Love and Romanpunk know that the book has a fixation on the name 'Julia.' It's not just because that name was attached to so many women of the first, Julio-Claudian era, or because, thanks to the various Caesars, it had a great many sacred and significant connotations in its own right.
There was another dynasty which cemented the importance of the name Julia, and it marked a huge change in the image that Roman imperial families showed to the world.
41. Julia Domna
When ambitious African-born Roman general Septimius Severus heard of a horoscope for a young woman named Julia that predicted she would marry a king, he hurried across country to court her. Julia Domna was the Syrian daughter (of Arab descent) of the high priest of a sun god. She not only married Septimius but also bore him two sons, Caracalla and Geta. She was a highly intelligent, educated woman who served as a valued advisor to her husband.
Some time later, Septimius brought the horoscope to fruition by using his military and political skills to make himself emperor of Rome. Which is… one way to do it. Ah, Romans. We say they were supersitious, but really they just used the supernatural as a 'how to' guide.
Like other imperial wives such as Sabina and Faustina Minor, Julia travelled with her husband on campaign. At other times, when he travelled abroad without her, she administered the Empire in his absence.
She acquired a reputation as a patron of the arts, promoting such artists, writers and philosophers as Cassius Dio, Galen and Philostratus.
Modern historians see Julia as "the foreign empress" even more than they see Septimius as "the foreign emperor." Septimius' public image was very much that of the quintessential Roman man, while Julia's appearance in public art reflected the more "exotic" fashions that she brought to court: jewellery, elaborate hair pieces and embroidered clothing.
(there aren't enough inverted commas in the world to put around a word like "exotic" but it's used so often in relation to this particular woman, presumably as a way of not mentioning explicitly that she wasn't white, that it's hard to escape. I will try.)
Julia Domna unapologetically brought her own fashions to the Roman court. She wore jewellery and fancy frocks. The imperial family was finally getting over that whole Octavian vs. Cleopatra thing, embracing the other cultural influences of the empire instead of insisting that the women of the family go around in plain wool robes and pretend they weren't the richest and most privileged ladies in the city.
At least, that's the accepted wisdom from the various 20th century historians who liked to get terribly excited about how "exotic" Julia Domna was. In truth most of her statues look a lot like Faustina Minor's, and there are only a few examples of public art that show a hint of bling.
Still, from this point onwards, the fashion was far more towards conspicuous luxury, even on the statues and portraits. Rome was heading directly for what we associate with its Byzantine era, and everything was about to get just a little bit more sparkly fabulous.
More so than any other imperial woman, Julia Domna's image is associated with that of her husband and sons in group portraiture. This nuclear family appears on coins, relief sculpture and even painted portraits, in much greater quantity than had ever been seen before in the imperial family.
When Septimius died, Julia's two sons inherited the Empire jointly, but it wasn't long before Geta was murdered, an event most likely organised by his brother Caracalla. Caracalla then employed a systematic destruction of all images and inscriptional references to his brother, evidence of which can be seen on many surviving artworks and public monuments today.
Geta died in Julia Domna's arms, and yet she stayed firmly supportive of Caracalla's rule. As imperial mother, she again ruled Rome in the emperor's name when he was absent from the city. Unlike Agrippina, Julia Domna's public status was much the same during the reigns of her husband, and her son.
When Caracalla himself was murdered, Julia Domna killed herself. Dio suggests that she considered the possibility of taking over Rome in her own name, but that she was ill (possibly with breast cancer) and/or griefstricken, and that the thought of going on alone was just too much for her.
All of which is credible, but I prefer to think that she felt her life's work was just done, at that point, and that she disliked the idea of anyone else making choices on her behalf.
42. Plautilla
Plautilla, wife of Caracalla, had a brief imperial career. She was married to Caracalla during his father's reign, in a marriage brought about because of her father Plautianus' strong friendship with Septimius Severus.
The period in which Plautianus was at the height of his influence on the emperor was also the one period in which Julia Domna's influence on her husband temporarily waned, though she was returned to Septimius' confidence once Plautianus was revealed as a traitor, and executed.
Caracalla used this excuse to rid himself of Plautilla, whom he reputedly hated so much that they had been living in separate palaces during their marriage. As was by now traditional for unpopular wives in the imperial family, Plautilla was banished to an island and then executed.
43. Julia Maesa
Julia Maesa was the sister of Julia Domna. When Caracalla died and Julia Domna committed suicide, it seemed as though the Severan dynasty was over. Julia Maesa, however, had other ideas. She promoted a rumour that her daughter Julia Soaemias had given birth to the illegitimate son of Caracalla, and set off a civil war between that son, Elagabalus (born Avitus, he renamed himself after a Syrian god, and didn't that go well?), and the new Emperor Macrinus, who had murdered Caracalla.
It came as a surprise to Elagabalus to discover he was illegitimate, as he had up until this point had a far more conventional personal history. But let's not let that get in the way of a good story…
There was war and bloodshed, with Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias pushing teenage Elagabalus every step of the way. When he became emperor, Mum and Grandma basically did all the ruling on his behalf while he got on with the less bureaucratic concerns of the Empire: cross dressing, marrying Vestal Virgins, acting all foreign (the word 'exotic' got bandied about with him too), and living a life so debauched that he went down in history as the ickiest emperor ever
44. Julia Soaemias
Julia Soaemias, mother of the eccentric Elagabalus, went along with her mother's schemes and basically ended up ruling Rome on his behalf. Along with her mother Julia Maesa, Julia Soaemias became one of the first women to actually be included in the Senate, the male ruling body that had been such a conservative centre of Roman bureaucracy since the beginning of the Republic.
Elagabalus was a very unpopular emperor what with all that anti-Roman and anti-religious behaviour, as well as publicly subverting expectations of gender and sexuality, and Julia Soaemias and her son were eventually murdered by the Praetorian guard, the very people who were supposed to protect them.
45. Julia Paula
Julia Paula was one of the three women Elagabalus took as wives during his very short reign. All three of them were given the title Augusta and put on the coinage, despite their husband's obvious lack of regard for them. Which tells us that Elagabalus was slightly more thoughtful about these husbandly duties than Caligula, but only slightly.
46. Aquilia Severa
Aquilia Severa is perhaps the most interesting of Elagabalus' three wives because she was a Vestal Virgin when he seduced her and married her. Traditionally, the punishment for breaking a Vestal's 30 year vow of chastity was death – on behalf of the Vestal, anyway, who would be buried alive, though the man usually got off lightly by being scourged and exiled. Elagabalus, however, thought it would be okay because he had arranged a proxy marriage between the god he named himself after, and Vesta.
So he not only violated the chastity of a Vestal Virgin, but also that of her equally virginal goddess. Nice work.
Because of the controversy, this marriage was declared invalid and Elagabalus married again, though he later returned to Aquilia Severa, claiming their marriage had never been dissolved.
47. Annia Faustina
Annia Faustina, who was actually a great-granddaughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Minor, was considered a far more appropriate wife for Elagabalus. Obviously he couldn't stand that, so he divorced her and went back to the marriage that had earned him more scandalous looks in the Forum.
48. Julia Mamaea
After the murder of Julia Soaemias and the emperor Elagabalus, good old Grandma Julia Maesa decided that what had worked once might work again. So she brought forward her other daughter Julia Mamaea, who also had a teenage son, Alexander. Can you guess where this is heading?
Maesa had already talked Elagabalus into adopting his younger cousin and naming him Caesar (ie. heir), but she now spread one of those rumours she was so good at, suggesting that Julia Mamaea had also had an affair with her cousin Caracalla, and that Alexander was, like Elagabalus, his illegitimate son.
Julia Maesa was getting on a bit by now, so it was up to Julia Mamaea to help her son manage a sensible reign. She did her best, and was actually pretty good at it, though neither Julia Mamaea nor Alexander were strong enough military figures to keep the armies in check. Julia ensured her son had many wise counsellors, and Alexander certainly had a much greater reputation for wisdom, sensibleness and patronage of the arts than his predecessor Elagabalus.
Mind you, that wouldn't be hard.
Alexander was killed by his own troops while at war, and his mother who had travelled alongside him for so long was killed in the same manner: messily.
Meanwhile, the head troublemaker of them all, Julia Maesa had quietly passed away in her sleep, which goes to show that there's just no justice in the world.
49. Orbiana
Alexander did have a wife for a part of his reign: Gneaea Seia Herennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana. She appears on many of his coins, and he was reportedly completely in love with her.
But Julia Mamaea became jealous of Orbiana's influence over her son. When Orbiana's father was found to be involved in a plot against Alexander (these Romans, always plotting against someone!), Mamaea saw her chance and insisted that the marriage be dissolved. Orbiana's dad was executed, and Orbiana herself was exiled to Libya.
Which, considering the history of imperial women, means she got off pretty lightly, all things considered.
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The Matrons of Awesome series was originally posted on Livejournal (LJ user: cassiphone) in March 2006 for Women's History Month.
I'm reprinting the (reworked) series as part of my Rock The Romanpunk week in celebration of my short story collection, Love and Romanpunk, which was published by Twelfth Planet Press earlier this year and is now available globally as an e-book as well as a pretty imperial purple print edition. Thanks to Wizard's Tower Bookstore you can also now purchase it for the Kindle.
Sneak Peeks: Love and Romanpunk
Thanks to everyone who has been tweeting or emailing me to say how much you have been enjoying the Matrons of Awesome series, and the Rock the Romanpunk posts generally. Normal service of the blog will be resumed as of Monday.
I didn't end up doing any Films Romana posts (where I do in-depth reviews of the portrayal of Ancient Rome in old Hollywood films) because reworking the Matrons of Awesome posts took way more time this week than I expected. So tried to make up for that with a bunch of YouTube vids. There is much Romanpunk rocking in the world right now!
I'm only sad that I haven't yet watched enough of Spartacus: Blood and Sand & Gods of the Arena, because I'm sure the fanvids for that are *awesome*.
Oh and cheers to Sean the Blogonaut, who reviewed the e-book version of Love and Romanpunk only a couple of hours ago. It's also excellent timing that the books has been reviewed in Locus for a second time in the issue that came out today – this time, by Rich Horton. Hooray! It's awesome to see this little book getting attention.
For those of you on the fence about whether Love and Romanpunk is a book that is for you, I thought I'd post some brief excerpts of the four stories. It should give you a sense for what you will be in for – I tried to pick bits that aren't too spoilery, and used it as an excuse to scroll through my lovely new e-version on the Kindle, to find some of my favourite lines from the stories.
JULIA AGRIPPINA'S SECRET FAMILY BESTIARY:
We were draped with jewels and precious metals, but these were weapons too. Everything we owned had an edge to it. Which was important, because from the moment he became Emperor, people were trying to kill our brother…
I and my sisters fought bears, chimaera, sphynxes, dragons and all manner of beasts sent against my brother by foreign powers, or priests who would prefer to rule the Senate without a Caesar in command.
No Emperor has ever had an honour guard as magnificent or glorious as Caligula's sisters.
LAMIA VICTORIANA
"You are not one of them," the man gasps, holding his sleeve to the wound. "Do not let the lamia take your will and your life from you, Frances Wolstonecraft."
I shiver that he knows my name. Or perhaps it is that other word – lamia. I do not know what it means.
"Come near us again," says the poet's sister, "and my brother will kill you."
THE PATRICIAN:
When the last gargoyle was destroyed, Clea and Julius stretched out in the shade of the aqueduct, on the flat roof of the temple of Saturn. It was too hot to climb back down to ground level.
"Do you want to kiss me?" she asked.
He looked surprised. "No thank you."
"Are you gay?" she asked next. Apparently she was going with personal questions this time around.
"No," said Julius, still polite and friendly about the whole thing. No hint of embarrassment. "I'm just terribly old."
"Clea lifted herself on her elbows, staring at him. "Did you really kill werewolves in the nineteenth century?"
"Among other things."
LAST OF THE ROMANPUNKS
I let my head fall back against the dense wood of the door. "Typical. I had to fall for a girl who liked romanpunk. I couldn't have gotten entangled with a cultist, or a part time assassin, or a meth addict. No, I had to go for the pretty girl in the sandals who had a thing about Virgil and roast dormice and becoming the queen of the immortal snake women."
The door snapped open, and I fell backwards into the storeroom. The waitress immediately shut the door behind me, wedging a long shelf along it for extra security.
"How did you know I wasn't one of them?" I said, looking up at her.
She made a face and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "You're just so pathetic."
and:
"Oh. Our family kind of has a tradition that women with the name Julia are – kind of superheroes. Warriors, soldiers, hunters… basically, they're mighty."
Love and Romanpunk is now available globally as an e-book as well as a pretty imperial purple print edition. Thanks to Wizard's Tower Bookstore you can also now purchase it for the Kindle.
CAUTION: THIS BOOK CONTAINS MANTICORES
[It's also a really good present to buy for any women you know called Julia]
