Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 18

Galactic Suburbia Episode 160

In which the world is on fire but we’re still reading… New episode here.

WHAT’S NEW ON THE INTERNET

Teen Vogue as tool of the revolution – why we shouldn’t be surprised.

Problem Daughters: check out this fantastic crowdfunding project for intersectional feminist stories.

GUFF race (until 1 April)

DUFF race (until 10 March)

Help support these fan funds! Alisa & Alex are hoping to go to Helsinki this year, while friend of the podcast Paul Weimer is hoping to come to Melbourne.

CULTURE CONSUMED

Alisa: Nora Roberts (Bride Quartet); Fangirl Happy Hour; Please Like Me; Travelers; Frequency; Designated Survivor; Younger

Alex: Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, Fledgling, and Dawn, Octavia Butler; River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey; Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities, Bettany Hughes

Tansy: Acts of Kitchen; Wicked (local performance); Heroine Complex, Sarah Kuhn; Ladycastle, Deliah S Dawson (writing) & Ashley A Woods (art); Unstoppable Wasp; Hawkeye; Moana (film & soundtrack), Buffy rewatch check in.

Tansy’s new literary gift shop business: Alice & Austen

Also, Tansy has a story in the latest issue of Uncanny Magazine: Some Cupids Kill With Arrows.

Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on February 12, 2017 18:57

Alice & Austen

It’s officially the end of the summer here in Tasmania, because school starts tomorrow! (we still have at least a month of stunningly hot weather, but the holiday part is over) I’ve had a pretty good January, spending time with my daughters and managing their social lives. We’ve been to the theatre twice — a local production of Wicked which blew the roof off the Theatre Royal, and a very modern and fun take on Alice in Wonderland in the Botanical Gardens.

We’ve been making art and rollerskating and listening to the Moana soundtrack on high repeat. Idyllic childhood stuff, right? (I have not, it cannot be stressed enough, been rollerskating personally)

I’ve also been building a new business.

THE STORY SO FAR

50 years ago this week, Tasmania burned. Fires tore through our state, destroying houses and lives and communities. The ’67 fires are still remembered as the worst of our history. One day after the bushfires were at their worst, my mother Jilli arrived in Tasmania – a young English traveller on a working holiday, who found the mainland heat too much to bear. So she came here, to find Hobart in crisis mode, the bush around the city blackened and charred. She stayed.

30 or so years ago, my mother (then an art student, supporting us with her home typing business) took me on a drive to Nicholls Rivulet, a particularly bushy bit of country Tasmania, south of the city in the Huon Valley. We were on a visit to the Deepings Woodturner, a studio surrounded by gum-trees and orchards, where Adrian and Roslyn Hunt ran their business. Among the bowls and needle-cases and chopping boards were the Deepings Dolls, small wooden figurines painted in historical costume with an ACTUAL METAL NIB QUILL PEN, using sepia inks. They were looking for a new artist to paint the dolls, and they found what they wanted in Jilli. Over the years, they added many new artists to their line, exporting the Deepings Dolls all over the world, and the look of the dolls changed, moving away from the translucent inks to more solid paint, though my mother still uses pen more than paintbrush, because of the tiny miniature detail necessary.

10 years ago, Adrian and Roslyn retired, and sold the Deepings Dolls portion of their business to my and my mother. They liked the idea of the Deepings Dolls continuing. We didn’t have the beautiful studio (the property is now owned by Peregrine School, but I still regularly get emails from people wanting to visit it) – Adrian’s former apprentice, Christine Baker, now turns the doll shapes while my mother Jilli is now the sole artist painting the dolls. They both work from their homes in Cygnet. I got to learn how to run a business out of my own home, with a toddler on my lap.

Deepings Dolls celebrate literature and history — we sell them out of several local galleries, at Port Arthur and Salamanca Place, Richmond and Cygnet. Popular doll designs include Tasmanian and Australian historical figures like Sir John & Lady Jane Franklin, Mawson, Bligh and Cook, Matthew Flinders with his cat, Ned Kelly. Also: convicts, shearers, swagmen, suffragettes, flappers, World War I & II nurses, the list goes on and on… there are also plenty of Deepings Dolls representing English history too, such as our epic set of Henry VIII and his three wives, Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and… well, Jane Austen’s a pretty important one to our line.

So now we’re at now. I’ve been running the Deepings Dolls for a decade as a home business. My toddler has become a 12 year old high schooler. Much though we love the dolls, Jilli and I are both ready for some new challenges. So we just launched Alice & Austen: an online store specialising in historical and literary themed gifts. Our shop is all about art, gifts and merchandise celebrating the life and works of Jane Austen, as well as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Alice Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll. We’ll shortly be adding a Shakespeare range to the shop too, and then a History range. Drawing from a variety of different wholesalers, we have all kinds of fun goodies including plush toys, mugs, magnets, cushions, jewellery, and two of my all-time favourites: Jane Austen action figures, and Jane Austen temporary tattoos.

And yes, the Deepings Dolls are there as well! Our Jane Austen, Elizabeth & Darcy, Queen of Hearts and Alice dolls are all exclusive to Alice & Austen. We’ll continue to sell a select range of the dolls from the online shop, and to distribute our wider range through those bricks and mortar galleries we still have relationships with.

Meanwhile, Jilli is working on some entirely new art that will utilise her detailed knowledge of costume history and her quirky sense of humour in completely different ways. I’ve also been making art again, returning to my love of textiles and embroidery with a series of hand-stitched crazy quilt bookmarks, cushions and brooches.

Raeli and Jemima have got in on the family business, helping out with photography and parcel-wrapping. Expect some super cute parcels if you order with us! Raeli has also created some fabulous cartoon designs for us to use in the store — I can’t wait to share her first mug with you. My mother’s talent has clearly carried over to my daughter, who is as handy with a graphics tablet as Jilli is with a quill.

Come and check us out. Special offer for this week only — if you use the code DRINKME at checkout, you get 15% off your entire first order. All orders over $40 this month receive a free Alice & Austen canvas tote bag.

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on February 08, 2017 16:40

Dance Princes Dance Part 11: Kiss Chase

New episode of our new Castle Charming serial! Part 11: Kiss Chase

Some kissing-themed backstory for our heroes!

Previous episodes of Dance, Princes, Dance:

Part 1: Armour Up

Part 2: The ‘Team’ in Steam

Part 3: Look at My Shoes

Part 4: Satin and Roses

Part 5: Front Page Shoes

Part 6 – Let Nothing You Dismay

Part 7 – Old Soldiers

Part 8 – Bluebells & Clover

Part 9 – Calling Mr Foxglove

Part 10 – Dancing With the Stars

For more Castle Charming hijinks, check out the previous adventures of the Royals and the Hounds in Glass Slipper Scandal – podcast edition, or Glass Slipper Scandal – the ebook.

Claim your free copy of Fake Geek Girl here at Instafreebie!

Sheep Might Fly is a Patreon-supported project! Thanks to all my patrons who pledge between $1 and $20 a month to make this podcast happen. If you enjoy my work please consider pledging your support.

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on February 03, 2017 13:41

Galactic Suburbia Spoilerific: Class

New podcast episode to stream or download!

Alex and Tansy pull apart the recent school-set Doctor Who spin off TV show Class, with its YA tropes, diversity, squicky alien creatures and fascinating parent-kid dynamics. But mostly we rave about the awesomeness of Quill. Because she is the best.

Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on February 01, 2017 13:54

Justice League International #18: Where No League Has Gone Before! (October 1988)

THE CREATIVE TEAM: Keith Giffen (Plot & Breakdowns), J.M. DeMatteis (Script), Kevin Maguire (Pencils), Al Gordon (Inks), Gene D’Angelo (Colors), Andy Helfer (Editor)

THE PITCH: If you believe the cover, it’s Guy Gardner (soppy brain-damaged GG vs Lobo, with Lobo definitely winning. Cough, this issue is actually all about Barda, and a Lobo vs Barda cover would have looked awesome, just saying.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: In space — J’onn Jonzz the Martian Manhunter, Big Barda, Rocket Red (Dmitri) & Green Lantern (G’nort). On Earth — Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Oberon, Green Flame (Beatriz DaCosta), Ice Maiden (Tora Olafsdotter), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Booster Gold. Still on ice: a snoozing Mister Miracle (Scott Free). Not appearing in this comic: Maxwell Lord, Captain Atom, and does Batman even go to this school anymore?

GUEST STARS: Lord Manga/Manga Khan, L-Ron, Lobo

THE STORY: Big Barda has MacGuyvered her way across the universe with some of her super friends, using her Mega-Rod in the shuttle’s engines to bypass that pesky hyperspace business. They get to a completely empty patch of space, but Barda refuses to accept that they overshot their mark — she’s proved right when Lord Manga’s Cluster arrives a few minutes later.

Manga is outraged that the JLI got there ahead of him, and is determined not to lose his prize commodity of Mister Miracle, as he hopes this is the leverage he needs to finally open trade with Apokolips. He sends intergalactic assassin Lobo to take out the JLI.

Barda puts her Mega-Rod back together ASAP, battles Lobo and finally takes him out via random teleportation.

She doesn’t care where he ends up — but the rest of the JLI do! They’re relaxing back at headquarters after their Bialya shenanigans, only for a projectile Lobo to crash through the building, inflicting yet another traumatic head injury on Nice Guy Gardner which resets his personality all over again. He’s baaaack…

THE CHARACTERS: Some great material for Big Barda here, showing her ingenuity, tenacity and fighting prowess. She is totally the protagonist of this issue. Lobo meanwhile comes across as a fun bad guy to throw at our heroes, largely because he is so nasty but is stuck in their universe where the worst that can happen to you is a bump on the head and some punnish retribution.

Manga Khan’s outrage at being lapped by the superheroes makes his character the most likeable he has been so far; ditto for the long-suffering L-Ron and his upgradeable chassis.

The re-nastying of Guy Gardner has been a long time coming — the creators have clearly been stumped at what to do with his nice guy version, as he’s been left out of nearly every major storyline since it happened (he appears on covers more often than inside the comics), and Captain Marvel has been gone long enough that all possible humour has been wrung out of the joke about Guy behaving like him.

Beetle, Booster and Green Flame get a bit of mileage out of a plan for a membership drive, but once again the writers have forgotten to give Tora anything to say and do, except for occasionally chiming in to whatever Bea is talking about. In particular, it’s Bea who stands up for the current Guy Gardner’s virtues (she and Tora joined the team after his nicening) which is a missed opportunity, since we will later find out that Tora’s first impressions of Nice Guy will have the most long-lasting consequences. I guess they hadn’t thought of that plot twist yet?

THE COMEDY: This is one of those issues I hunted in my great newsagent quest of the mid 90’s, when many Australian newsagents had double bagged late 80’s comics for cheap sale. I picked up stray JLIs in towns all around Tasmania, in random order. This particular issue and its sequel (with a corresponding cover, Guy Gardner getting the better of a snivelling Lobo instead of vice versa) really summed up this era for me, with its balance of action and comedy.

Lobo is great here — I would happily read more of this particular take on the character, rather than the aggro 90’s version that would come along very shortly. He, G’nort and Barda make a great trio. Everyone gets their comedy moments. It’s a good issue!

THE ART: Maguire draws Lobo’s space biking (and fishies!) on an epic scale. Ditto the Cluster. I love his Barda, and could look at her all day. I’m liking his drawing of Fire a lot better this issue, what with the focus on her face. Maybe some day, Ice will get a close up too!

THE KITCHEN SINK: It’s all starting to come together. This is a really great period of the JLI, and I’m looking forward to more space hijinks, plus relationship woes. Tora. Don’t date him. Please. It is such a terrible idea. Don’t do it.

BONUS CHARACTER HISTORY: Lobo

This wise-cracking, space-biker assassin had been introduced to the DC Universe in 1983, created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen for the Omega Men, a super team that debuted in the pages of Green Lantern, Action Comics and Teen Titans, and then received their own 38-issue run title. Omega Men storylines were mostly space opera — the characters were based around the Vega system, including planets such as Tamaran (where Starfire of the Teen Titans comes from).

Lobo was originally established as villainous mercenary whose entire race (the Velorpians) had been exterminated. After his appearance here in the JLI, rebooted as a snarky bounty hunter/assassin with a biker aesthetic, he went on to become one of the fanboy favourite characters of the 90’s — originally intended as a pastiche of Wolverine, Punisher and similar characters, he was instead unironically embraced by fans of super-violent anti-heroes during the era that turned Deadpool and Cable into superstars.

In his own title in 1990, Lobo’s entire backstory would be retconned, making him the perpetrator of his race’s genocide (he was now the last of the Czarnians, not the Velorpians).

There’s a joke in this issue, that the word “Lobo” which humans assume translates as “the wolf” actually translates from an obscure Khundish dialect as “he who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it.” This pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Lobo.

It may not be obvious yet, but this first meeting with Guy Gardner is a start of a beautiful friendship.

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 31, 2017 19:48

Sheep Might Fly: Dance, Princes, Dance Part 10 – Dancing With The Stars

New episode of our new Castle Charming serial! Listen to it here.

Just because it’s a fairy nightclub doesn’t mean it has a VIP area.

Previous episodes of Dance, Princes, Dance:

Part 1: Armour Up

Part 2: The ‘Team’ in Steam

Part 3: Look at My Shoes

Part 4: Satin and Roses

Part 5: Front Page Shoes

Part 6 – Let Nothing You Dismay

Part 7 – Old Soldiers

Part 8 – Bluebells & Clover

Part 9 – Calling Mr Foxglove

For more Castle Charming hijinks, check out the previous adventures of the Royals and the Hounds in Glass Slipper Scandal – podcast edition, or Glass Slipper Scandal – the ebook.

Claim your free copy of Fake Geek Girl here at Instafreebie!

Sheep Might Fly is a Patreon-supported project! Thanks to all my patrons who pledge between $1 and $20 a month to make this podcast happen. If you enjoy my work consider pledging your support to earn rewards, occasional glitter and my eternal gratitude.

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 25, 2017 02:41

Justice League International #17: Only the Dead Know Bialya (September 1988)

THE CREATIVE TEAM: Keith Giffen (Plot & Breakdowns), J.M. DeMatteis (Script), Kevin Maguire (Pencils), Al Gordon (Inks), Gene D’Angelo (Colors), Andy Helfer (Editor)

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: J’onn Jonzz the Martian Manhunter, Big Barda, Rocket Red (Dmitri) & Green Lantern (G’nort). Captain Atom & Oberon, Green Flame, Batman, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Not appearing in this comic: Ice Maiden, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner) and Mister Miracle.

GUEST STARS: Lord Manga Khan, L-Ron, Jack O’Lantern, Queen Bee, Wandjina.

THE STORY: The news about the coup in Bialya and Queen Bee’s new position as leader has reached the US; Captain Atom is ropeable because no one included him on their dangerous missions, while Oberon is busy worrying about Scott, kidnapped in outer space.

Batman, now disguised as Maxwell Lord instead of Bruce Wayne (how, exactly?) stages a solo mission, leaving Green Flame to shower herself unbrunette.

Meanwhile, Booster and Beetle escape on their own, thanks to a remarkably clever bit of chicanery by Booster and his Legion Flight Ring. They bump into Batman on the way out, and then Green Flame literally falls out of the ceiling in her underwear to warn them there are armed and dangerous men on their trail.

Wandjina tracks them down, and they only escape because a bored and frustrated Captain Atom decided to crash the party. After a massive explosion, they finally confront Queen Bee, who is smugly confident in the love that her people have for her. Given her popular support, there isn’t much the Justice League can do but go home with their tails between their legs, which is the usual result for them when meddling in foreign politics…

In space, Barda hooks up her Mega-Rod to the Boom-Tube (you kinda had to be there) in order to give their little craft a fighting chance to make hyperspace/warp speed and catch up to Barda’s kidnapped husband.

Lord Manga informs L-Ron that he wants to be called by his full name, Manga Khan, from now on. It’s not a Jewish joke he insists, it’s a Star Trek joke. I… hope that’s true?

THE CHARACTERS: Booster finally makes himself useful, and in a way that references his costume/equipment, which is great because we haven’t been at all introduced to his background in this comic at all. This is the first mention of his Legion flight ring, I’m pretty sure…

Beatriz is pretty much huffy and screamy and wearing underwear in this comic — yes, those are her main character notes. Where is my Fire? I’m looking forward to the creators of the comic getting the hang of her character because I really didn’t expect her to drop her personality the second she got her boobs out. To be honest, the art makes her look more vapid than the dialogue would — she sounds good and sarcastic, but the effect is ruined because of all the pouting and bending over.

I am quite excited that in the confrontation scene with Queen Bee, Beatriz actually appeals to Jack, because it’s amazing how often it will be forgotten in later plotlines that she and Ice Maiden were actually Global Guardians, and have a history with these people. (He brushes her off, but at least it’s acknowledged)

Batman is at his most useful, leadershipwise, while pretending to be Maxwell Lord. I’m… not sure what this says about any of them. Captain Atom, meanwhile, shows his true colours by being shouty, resentful, boastful and only really useful when something big has to be beaten up.

Barda gets a nice scene in the space adventure, showing her practicality as well as her laser focus on getting her husband back. Barda and J’onn making plans is one of my favourite things. More of this.

Queen Bee wins the issue with her diabolic villainous plot of appealing to her own populace, who are quite happy she assassinated a dictator. Queen Bee being smug is one of my other favourite things.

THE COMEDY: Despite Bea’s underwear-wearing cheesecakery, there’s some great slapstick action in the chase scenes, which feel very JLI. And I do love that her falling out of the sky into Booster’s arms is never actually explained. Plus Booster and Beetle are starting to properly gel as a double act.

THE ART: Very disappointed in Maguire’s drawing of Beatriz with her boobs and butt on display in scenes where she has more useful things to do. Like, you can run away from villains in your underwear without bending over and/or arching your back.

There are some great visual jokes here, though, especially the graffiti on the wall of Beetle & Booster’s prison cell. And as ever, no one draws smug Queen Bee as well as Kevin Maguire. She, at least, gets to keep her clothes on.

THE KITCHEN SINK: It’s so weird having a story featuring Beatriz so prominently that doesn’t also include Tora. Whose existence has not been mentioned for 2 issues. Please let her not be hanging out with brain damaged Guy Gardner.

It’s super cute how the comic is pretending that the Queen Bee + Bialya storyline is now finished. Hahahaha. Though it is kind of disturbing that no mention is made of Wandjina after the explosion which Captain Atom survives — is he still in one piece or not? Did he make it or did Captain Atom just flat out murder him? Enquiring minds wish to know…

PREVIOUSLY ON THE ONE TRUE JUSTICE LEAGUE:

Justice League The Story So Far

Justice League #1 (May 1987)

Justice League #2 (June 1987)

Justice League #3 (July 1987)

Justice League #4 (August 1987)

Justice League Annual #1 (1987)

Justice League #5 (September 1987)

Justice League #6 (October 1987)

Justice League International #7 (November 1987)

Justice League International #8 (December 1987)

Justice League International #9 (January 1988)

Justice League International #10 (February 1988)

Justice League International 11 (March 1988)

Justice League International 12 (April 1988)

Justice League International 13 & Suicide Squad 13 (May 1988)

Justice League International 14 (June 1988)

Justice League International 15 (July 1988)

Justice League International 16 (August 1988)

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 24, 2017 13:30

Justice League International #16: Bialya, My Bialya (August 1988)

THE PACKAGING: Vol 3 of the JLI trade series

THE CREATIVE TEAM: Keith Giffen (Plot & Breakdowns), J.M. DeMatteis (Script), Kevin Maguire (Pencils), Al Gordon (Inks), Gene D’Angelo (Colors), Andy Helfer (Editor)

JUSTICE LEAGUE ROLL CALL: In the blue corner, zooming through space: J’onn Jonzz the Martian Manhunter, Big Barda, Rocket Red (Dmitri) & Green Lantern (G’nort). In the red corner, undercover in Bialya: Maxwell Lord, Green Flame, Batman Bruce Wayne, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Abducted and unconscious: Mister Miracle. Mysteriously absent: Captain Atom, Ice Maiden, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner). Left behind just as he likes it: Oberon.

GUEST STARS: Lord Manga/Manga Khan, L-Ron, Rumaan Harjavti, Jack O’Lantern, Queen Freaking Bee. Oh and Wandjina, remember him?

THE STORY: Wow, this one’s a doozy.

In space, Lord Manga of the Cluster has accidentally abducted a superhero, and hasn’t the faintest idea what to do with him.

A bickering crew consisting of J’onn, Barda, G’nort and Rocket Red entirely fail to catch up to the far superior speed of the Cluster, which utilises the physics of Star Trek and/or Star Wars. Going, going, gone.

Meanwhile a spy drama is unfolding in our favourite mysterious, troublesome and entirely fictional European/Slavic country, Bialya. Max Lord convinces Batman to return to the JLI in order to go undercover (in disguise as Bruce Wayne) and investigate the shenanigans in Bialya.

Batman takes this to assume he is back in charge, and promptly returns to his old ways of being terrible at leadership, losing half his team in the process. (Oh, Beetle. Oh, Beetle)

Meanwhile, the sinister Queen Bee has been quietly recruiting disaffected former Global Guardians, ostensibly to serve Harjavti’s agenda, but this issue turns all that on its head. In the first big reveal, Harjavti announces to an audience that the dimension-hopping, tragic anti-nuclear superhero Wandjina is still alive and in his service.

In the second big reveal, we learn that Wandjina is actually working for Queen Bee, when he burns Harjavti’s face off at her behest, handing over control of Bialya to her.

THE CHARACTERS: Hey, where’s Guy Gardner? Didn’t he set up this plot? Also, where’s Ice Maiden? You guys, we have to keep an eye on those two or terrible things happen (like, ugh, dating)

This is our first time seeing Beatriz in action — and it’s interesting, balancing out her history as a secret agent (which we’re really not hearing much about right now) with her general ditz-like personality. Here, it’s worth noting that she considers her “bimbo” outfit a disguise and more skimpy than she would usually wear (HEAR THAT, COMICS ARTISTS) and while she flirts her tail off at Batman, she’s also quite sensible and thinks quick on her feet.

Also she partners with Batman without wanting to murder him, so.

Beetle and Booster are still in the same comedy routine they’ve been pulling out for issues and issues; it’s pretty dull, from Booster’s vomiting tendencies to them both spending yet another mission sitting around cracking wise because the big kids don’t trust them to be involved in the real action. I do love that they have such overt and pointless disguises (they could just not go in superhero costume and they’d be fine) especially Ted’s overly elaborate It’s a Wonderful Life reference, but I’m not sure why putting the blond American Booster in some kind of sheik outfit is remotely helpful.

I love Blue Beetle/Ted Kord, he’s my favourite and my best, so it’s actually been pretty frustrating reading these early issues because I have found so little to like. Then again he’s going to be pushed through the angst wringer soon enough, and I do like my heroes broken and angsty, so…

THE COMEDY: If there’s been one thing I have been noting since the beginning of this comic, it’s that JLI isn’t actually all that funny. It’s not failed comedy; far from it. It’s actually at its cleverest and most entertaining when the humour and snark is balanced out by some very deep, dark material.

Wandjina was a signpost of that from the start: a refugee from a world destroyed by nuclear war, he died once after being used as a pawn in someone else’s political game. Here, he’s clearly a weapon but not necessarily a person any more, controlled utterly by Queen Bee.

And it’s all so nasty, not just the violence (undercut by the snarky line about it all being a bit Cronenberg) but the clear sign that people’s minds are no longer their own. (Oh, Beetle.)

On a lighter side, while there isn’t much to love about the space chase scenes (Barda is basically shouty and loudly in love with her husband which is lazy writing of her), Manga Khan’s humour is becoming refined to a series of in-jokes about science fiction tropes (warp speed vs hyperspace!) and about comic book villains. You guys, he just wants to be alone in his room so he can talk to himself in peace.

The spy hijinks are fun until they turn dark — Batman completely getting away with pretending he is wearing some kind of Bruce Wayne rubber suit is pretty hilarious, as is him assuring Green Flame that he’s super ugly underneath it, to make her stop hitting on him.

The balance of darkness to banter is pretty much perfect in this issue. But, oh. Beetle.

THE ART: Yeah the other dude was good and all but having Kevin Maguire back is never a bad thing. I love how he draws Beatriz in this comic — it’s weirdly surreal to see her with brown hair, but otherwise completely herself.

Her body language is interesting too — I’m always fascinated by how men (almost always men) draw Green Flame/Fire. At one point she’s literally draped over Ted, even though they don’t really like each other yet and are mostly communicating via snipe. She’s constantly posing as if for a camera. And yet, Maguire draws her in a chunky, mostly realistic style which is a far cry from the porn star poses/outfits we’ll see from her in future years. I think the main thing is she’s being presented as 80’s sexual object, which looks so innocently cheesecakey compared to how the 90’s will redefine the whole idea of Portrayal of Ladyparts In Comics.

But what’s with that cover, Kevin Maguire? Sure, I get the Bond reference with Bruce and Bea, but is that supposed to be Queen Bee next to them? She looks like she’s in disguise as a character from Midsomer Murders Does Cabaret.

Meanwhile, the dress she actually wears in the comic while standing on stage next to Wandjina’s murder show is spectacular.

THE KITCHEN SINK: This is one of the issue I read late, after having read a lot of the material that comes after. So I’ve never read it without thinking, oh, Beetle. Bad stuff is coming. Batman’s cavalier “oh Booster and Beetle will be fine” attitude is infuriating. Queen Bee’s takeover of Bialya is chilling. I love this storyline, but it makes me want to hold my children close.

BONUS CHARACTER HISTORY: All the Queen Bees & Bialya

Okay, there have been a few of them. It’s a good name, I guess? Lissa Raven of Earth Two was a Mr America (??) villainess who used Queen Bee criminal alias in the 1940’s after her psychologist father erased her conscience during a scientific experiment. In 1951, the Blackhawks (then part of the Quality universe but later integrated with DC) fought a glamorous swim-suited villainess called Queen Bee who led the Golden Swarm, a troop of henchgirls who were eventually defeated thanks to their fear of mice. Marcia Monroe was a Batman love interest/sidekick/villain in 1966 who also used Queen Bee as her alias.

The main original Justice League Queen Bee was a literal bee-woman, Zazzala of the hiveworld Korll: this alien queen was one of those recurring villains who turned up in the pages of JLofA in the 60’s and 70’s. She was later brought back to the DC Universe in the late 90’s in all her buzzing glory.

Then there’s our Queen Bee of Bialya, who was introduced right here in Issue 16. A former member of the harem, she Milady-and-the-Cardinals her way into Harjavti’s trust, murders him and steals his job. We never learn her real name, or much about her past at all including whether or not she is a born citizen of the country she takes over. But she’s good at mind control and hypnosis, as seen here and in the story to come…

Both of these main Queen Bees have sisters who took on their title in the late 90s/early 2000s. Zazzala’s sister Tazzala appeared in the Creature Commandos series, attempting to conquer Earth.

Our Queen Bee’s sister is confusingly named Beatriz (I am assuming no relation to our Beatriz, AKA Green Flame), and she later takes over the rulership of Bialya according to issue #6 of Incarnations, an odd little mini-series which provides one-shots of different eras of the Justice League in post-Crisis continuity. I have no idea why the creators would think giving Queen Bee’s sister/successor the same name as Fire wasn’t going to be totally confusing, but okay. I have to read that one now to see if it’s full of Bee/Bea puns.

In an interesting side-note, Bialya existed in the DC Universe before JM DeMatteis got his hands on it. Indeed, original Blue Beetle Dan Garrett found his mystical Scarab while unearthing a Pharoah’s tomb in Bialya.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE ONE TRUE JUSTICE LEAGUE:

Justice League The Story So Far

Justice League #1 (May 1987)

Justice League #2 (June 1987)

Justice League #3 (July 1987)

Justice League #4 (August 1987)

Justice League Annual #1 (1987)

Justice League #5 (September 1987)

Justice League #6 (October 1987)

Justice League International #7 (November 1987)

Justice League International #8 (December 1987)

Justice League International #9 (January 1988)

Justice League International #10 (February 1988)

Justice League International 11 (March 1988)

Justice League International 12 (April 1988)

Justice League International 13 & Suicide Squad 13 (May 1988)

Justice League International 14 (June 1988)

Justice League International 15 (July 1988)

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 17, 2017 14:59

Sheep Might Fly: Dance, Princes, Dance Part 9: Calling Mr Foxglove

New episode of our new Castle Charming serial! Part 9: Calling Mr Foxglove

Finally some tragic backstory as the gang gathers around a fallen prince to share their stories and try to figure out what the fairy hell is going on around here.

Previous episodes of Dance, Princes, Dance:

Part 1: Armour Up

Part 2: The ‘Team’ in Steam

Part 3: Look at My Shoes

Part 4: Satin and Roses

Part 5: Front Page Shoes

Part 6 – Let Nothing You Dismay

Part 7 – Old Soldiers

Part 8 – Bluebells & Clover

For more Castle Charming hijinks, check out the previous adventures of the Royals and the Hounds in Glass Slipper Scandal – podcast edition, or Glass Slipper Scandal – the ebook.

Thanks for listening to Sheep Might Fly. You can follow me on Twitter @tansyrr and @sheepmightfly, and Tumblr: tansyrr and sheepmightfly. Like my page on Facebook at TansyRRBooks.

Sheep Might Fly is a Patreon-supported project! Thanks to all my patrons who pledge between $1 and $20 a month to make this podcast happen. If you enjoy my work consider pledging your support to earn rewards, occasional glitter and my eternal gratitude.

View more on Tansy Rayner Roberts's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 17, 2017 14:46