Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 35
October 27, 2015
9. Joanna Russ & To Write Like A Woman [SF Women of the 20th Century]
Joanna Russ is a legendary figure of feminist science fiction, for her sharp and incisive commentary on the field as much as her angry, challenging fiction.
An academic as well as a critic, an author, an intense letter-writer and a lesbian, Russ is “best known” for her iconic novel The Female Man (1975), though these days her academic text How To Suppress Women’s Writing is probably the most widely influential of her works, because (horribly) it’s as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1983. My favourite of her fiction are the Alyx stories, published as The Adventures of Alyx (1976), which play on the traditional narratives of women and heroes in fantasy and science fiction, her quiet, unassuming female protagonist powering through all kinds of genred worlds.
After winning all kinds of awards during her active writing career, including multiple Hugos and Nebulas, Russ was also honoured with various lifetime achievement/retrospective awards including the SFWA Solstice Award, the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, the Pilgrim Award for lifetime contribution to SF & fantasy scholarship, two retrospective Tiptrees (for The Female Man & “When It Changed” and the Gaylactic Spectrum Hall of Fame.
It’s hard to pick one thing to represent an authors’ contribution to the genre when their work is so varied and important, but I decided on To Write Like a Woman, the 1995 collection of Russ’s essays in feminism and science fiction which won the non-fiction Hugo of its year; a text on my shelf to which I regularly return.
In the introduction to the book, her fellow feminist academic Sarah Lefanu says: “What Joanna Russ has to say is always sensible (although sometimes it is shocking); the way she says it is always elegant. Some literary criticism makes the reader feel excluded and therefore stupid. Such work is never sensible, nor is it elegant. Joanna Russ, by contrast, aims to include the reader. She aims to show the way into the books and stories she’s talking about. Reading, she believes, must be related to living; Russ invites her readers to read alongside her and, like her, to bring their own experiences to bear on what they read. Why else, indeed, would you wish to read?”
The topics of the essays, originally published across several decades, are wide and varied. Russ looks at ‘classic’ and ‘popular’ fiction with the same wit and cynicism, relishing any chance to provoke or surprise people with what she enjoys.
She also has a strong sense of responsibility as a critic of female authors – while Russ was known for being a ruthless reviewer, in her introduction to her essay about Mary Shelley, she talks about the dangers of criticism, and how a writer can be important/significant without actually being any good. Russ has passionate ideas about “canon,” and the way that some books are held up as worthy of classic status, while others (which might be better written) are dismissed. This applies to authors within and without (and tangential to) the genre of SF and fantasy. A great many of the sharp and mindblowing ideas from How To Suppress Women’s Writing are elaborated upon here: such as in her essay “The Yellow Wallpaper,” about Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sylvia Plath and how female authors are received/remembered in the history of literature. Russ often responds to reviews which have missed the mark (not of her own work, but that of other women), showing the difference between general literary scholarship, and feminist scholarship.
One of my favourite and most quoted essays in this book is Russ’s treatise on the Gothic novel trend of the 70’s (and the e1900’s): “Someone’s Trying To Kill Me (and I think it’s my husband.” She analyses this highly escapist genre (which often contains quite retrograde gender narratives) with an astounding sympathy for its readers, despite the populist and heterocentric nature of the texts. I’d love to have seen what she thought of Twilight and the popular criticism surrounding it as a social phenomenon (Russ was a huge fan of Buffy, for example).
In “SF and Technology as Mystification,” Russ is scathing about Star Wars as a cultural artefact as well as a phenomenon, suggesting it is indicative of addictive (rather than escapist) culture, and that it uses technology and spectacle to bedazzle the audience and distract from its conservative politics. By contrast, she loves Star Trek deeply and approves of its political message as well as the effect it has on viewers.
Russ is not merely playing ‘my show is better than your movie,’ but using her own personal reactions to these two different SF franchises to make a larger point about how we consume stories, and how often people only see/discuss the surface of science fiction – the technology and the gosh-whizxery – rather than the deeper economics, politics and governance of those imaginary worlds/futures/utopias.
Russ’s analysis of Lovecraft and his readers shifts from the personal (friends at a party, discussing their love for the Lovecraftian mythos) to Russ’s sharper, more epic musings on the speculative genre as a whole:
“You might be interested to know that at the party one very bright young woman described her adolescent reading of SF as a genuinely subversive force in her life, a real alternative to the fundamentalist community into which she had been born. This alternative had nothing to do with the cardboard heroes or heroines or the imperial/American engineering values which she had skipped right over. What got to her were the alien landscapes and the alien creatures. We scholars perhaps tend to forget how much subversive potential both SF and fantasy have, even at their crudest.”
Russ is always certain and thought-provoking, even if you disagree wildly with what she has to say. There are far worse ways to spend an afternoon than combing through her incisive, challenging essays on the genre, and arguing with her in your head. (I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d be terrified to argue with her in person. Though I kind of wish I’d got a chance to be her friend on Twitter) She’s also – and this is hugely important – funny. Too often, the trope of the angry feminist is held up as some kind of bogeywoman for the rest of us to be terrifed of (or terrified of becoming, if we are too outspoken ourselves). I have no doubt that Russ was scary, but she has plenty of humour and snark to go with it, which makes reading her essays such a pleasure.
For more Joanna Russ straight from the source, check out this interview she gave in 2007 (in her early 70’s) about slash fiction, pornography and women’s writing. I also love this post recording some of the anecdotes shared about Joanna Russ at the most recent Readercon, including the bit about how she wanted time travel in order to strangle Herman Melville.
SF WOMEN OF THE 20TH CENTURY is brought to you by Tansy’s supporters at Patreon.
Patrons of the blog can earn great rewards and help the campaign reach exciting milestones to unlock more content.
1. Raccoona Sheldon & “The Screwfly Solution”
2. Diane Marchant & Kirk/Spock
3. Connie Willis & To Say Nothing of the Dog
4. Clare Winger Harris & “The Fate of the Poseidonia”
5. Octavia E. Butler & Dawn
6. Wendy Froud & Yoda
7. C.L. Moore & “No Woman Born”
8. Robin Klein & Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
October 22, 2015
Friday Links is Coming Up Tansy
Because I’m lazy, this week’s links are all things I should have blogged about this week.
Crowdfunding now! And Then: The Great Big Book Of Awesome is at Indiegogo. I really want this book to go ahead (though it looks like it’s two books now!) because it has my dragon circus novelette in it, about (broken) reformed assassins and trapezes and found family. Here’s a snippet:
Cicero was light in the air – as if a puff of that dry, sand-laced city wind might carry him away. Cato was more solid, moving like a knife through silk. They tossed Inga from one perch to another with a practiced confidence, as if she was a silk ribbon or a painted hoop.
Inga picked up their moves and cues and then developed whole new moves of her own, forcing the Birds of Paradise to follow or be left in her dust.
This was it. Kurt had lost her to the circus. First there were dragons and now they’ve taught her to fly. No coming back from this. She’s found her retirement plan.
I also have an article up in the latest issue of Writing Queensland Online! The topic is ‘Put Some History in Your Worldbuilding.’
I’ll be at Genrecon next week and hope to see many of you there. So exciting!
My Mistress of the Empire re-read at Tor.com is coming to an end (only 2 posts to go!) but my Jessica Jones coverage is only just beginning. You can read the first of my Alias re-read essays here and they’ll be updated each Monday until the SHOW STARTS OMG and then I’ll be reviewing those episodes too. Join me over there to read & comment & chat!
Alias is a fantastic, groundbreaking comic which integrated artist style into the narrative in such interesting ways, as well as telling a story which defies genre and gender conventions. I’m so glad to be able to talk about Jessica and her adventures (and her angst and her deadpan face) over the next couple of months.
Oh and don’t forget to support my Patreon if you like the things I put on the blog and want to give me time to do more of the same – I’m only $27 a month away from writing Wonder Wednesday, a regular column of superhero & comic news, commentary and hijinks!
Finally, a project that has nothing to do with me except as an excited subscriber, check out this fabulous trailer for the upcoming Ellen Kushner (and team) serial, Tremontaine – I adore that it’s a trailer for the medium as much as the story.
October 20, 2015
8. Robin Klein & Halfway Around the Galaxy And Turn Left [SF Women of the 20th Century]
Robin Klein is one of those Australian children’s authors who is so important that you can’t just say she writes books – phrases like ‘institution’ and ‘living legend’ get thrown into the mix. I’ve been reading Robin Klein’s witty, thought-provoking books my whole life – from her classic mixed media Penny Pollard series (in which the story is told through diary entries and other found objects) and the Thing picture books illustrated by Alison Lester, all the way through to her middle grade and YA novels.
Klein wrote Hating Alison Ashley, an iconic Australian classic about the complexities of female friendship. She wrote Junk Castle, an inspiring books about kid communities and recycling. She has won many awards, especially for her serious ‘for older readers’ books Came Back To Show You I Could Fly and People Might Hear You.
But the Robin Klein book which has stayed most firmly in my heart over the years is her science fiction comedy novel, Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left (1985).
This story of a kooky alien family hiding out from their government in the Australian suburbs has a lot in common with the 1996-2001 US TV series Third Rock From The Sun – much of the humour comes from the alien perspective of what seems like ordinary life and culture to the audience. Though in many ways, it also shares many themes with another popular 90’s sitcom, Absolutely Fabulous.
X, the main character of Klein’s book, is a serious and responsible 12 year old at the heart of a chaotic, artistic and utterly irresponsible family. Her parents are creative and criminal; her older sister is a beautiful artist, and her younger brother a genius.
Stuck in Earth suburbia in the hopes of keeping their Dad out of a detention centre for his crimes, X has to steer her family through their culture shock and keep them all together while still coping herself with the pressures of school, friendship, and her new life. But the stress really starts building when her family starts to thrive… and she begins to wonder if they even need her to hold their hands anymore.
Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left is a funny book – one of the best examples of SF comedy that isn’t actually written by Douglas Adams – but it also has the important theme of kids taking on responsibility, and being forced to grow up too soon. It’s also about identity – Zyrgonians strongly identify themselves by their powers and roles, and being away from their planet (with their powers diminishing) causes everyone in the family to rethink who they are, and who they want to be.
There was also a TV series! I don’t remember watching it, though I identify Sandy Gore closely with her role as Aunt Hecla, so I must have caught at least a few episodes.
X, earnest little thing that she is, was a character I strongly identified with as a child, and I think my 10-year-old daughter would love her too – sadly my strategy of leaving the book in pointed places around the house has not yet paid off!
SF WOMEN OF THE 20TH CENTURY is brought to you by Tansy’s supporters at Patreon. Patrons of the blog can earn great rewards and help the campaign reach exciting milestones to unlock more content.
1. Raccoona Sheldon & “The Screwfly Solution”
2. Diane Marchant & Kirk/Spock
3. Connie Willis & To Say Nothing of the Dog
4. Clare Winger Harris & “The Fate of the Poseidonia”
5. Octavia E. Butler & Dawn
6. Wendy Froud & Yoda
7. C.L. Moore & “No Woman Born”
October 16, 2015
Issue #1 – 50 Years of SHIELD: Agent Carter
Title: 50 Years of SHIELD: Agent Carter #1
Writer: Kathryn Immonen
Artist: Rich Ellis (Art), Rachel Rosenberg (Color)
The Buzz: SHIELD is 50 years old! To celebrate, Marvel have put out a series of one-shot comics in honour of five iconic SHIELD agents, combining mythos from the Agents of SHIELD & Agent Carter TV shows, and from the comics themselves. The characters in question are Mockingbird, Melinda May, Quake, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury – though there are also cameos and guest appearances from many others.
All You Need To Know: The same team who created the recent Agent Carter mini-series Operation: S.I.N. are back with an adventure showing an older Peggy Carter in the midst of Swinging Sixties SHIELD. She might be blonde, but this version of the character is definitely influenced by Hayley Atwell’s iconic performance across the MCU, most recently in her own awesome show, Agent Carter, which Australians still can’t buy within our own country, WTF!
Story: It’s 1966 and Peggy Carter is paired with Asgardian warrior goddess Sif for a secret mission – but is Peggy supposed to babysit/spy on Sif for SHIELD, or is it the other way around? This is a splendid buddy action story with a side order of friendship, betrayal and SHIELD-related paranoia. Really nice stuff
Art: I love this retro style artwork for Peggy’s adventures – it worked extremely well in Operation: S.I.N. – and I very much enjoyed Ellis’s take on the mighty Sif, who appears huge in contrast to the elegant figure of Peggy with her pearls and beret. The scene in which Sif commissions the mightiest sandwich in SHIELD cafeteria history is especially great.
But What Did I Miss?: There is a reference or two to the Original SIN mini-series, but you don’t need to have read it. Also if you’ve seen Sif, Dum-Dum or Peggy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe you may be either a) extra invested in them appearing here or b) weirded out by Peggy being blonde. I’m still not okay with it.
Would Read Issue 2?: 1960’s lady spy team up book? Hell yes.
Read it if you Like: Operation: S.I.N., Journey into Mystery (Sif), Agent Carter, Thor & Thor: The Dark World (movies), Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries only with flying cars.
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
50 Years of SHIELD: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Quake #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Fury #1
October 13, 2015
Issue #1 – 50 Years of SHIELD: Fury
Title: Fury: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1
Writer: David F Walker
Artist: Lee Ferguson
The Buzz: SHIELD is 50 years old! To celebrate, Marvel have put out a series of one-shot comics in honour of five iconic SHIELD agents, combining mythos from the Agents of SHIELD & Agent Carter TV shows, and from the comics themselves. The characters in question are Mockingbird, Melinda May, Quake, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury – though there are also cameos and guest appearances from many others.
David F Walker is an African American comics writer best known for his acclaimed run on Dynamite’s Shaft comics, and more recently on DC’s Cyborg. Walker has been interviewed here about his opinions on the blaxploitation genre, treating characters of colour with respect, and the way in which he likes to incorporate social issues and real history into his stories about superheroes.
All You Need To Know: Nick Fury Sr (a grizzled white man with an eyepatch) has been around Marvel comics forever, in all manner of military and spy comics along with the Howling Commandoes and SHIELD – he is best known as the angry, secretive Director of SHIELD. His character was then redesigned as a black man in Marvel’s Ultimate universe, based on Samuel L Jackson (anecdotally, Jackson gave his permission in exchange for being cast in the movies). Since then, Ultimate Nick Fury has become the iconic media default, the character appearing as a black man in nearly every Marvel cartoon, and played by Samuel L Jackson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a series of cameo appearances and supporting roles. Jackson is so strongly identified with the character that it’s weird to pick up a Marvel comic and remember that he used to be a white guy. In recent years, the main Marvel universe introduced the idea that Nick Fury Sr had a biracial son, marine Marcus Johnson, who took his father’s name and joined SHIELD as Nick Fury Jr after finding out his real identity. Fury Sr has vanished into to the narrative background of the Marvel Universe because sekrit spy bizness, so the two of them still barely know each other.
Well that sounds like some solid story material to work from right htere!
Story: The first few pages are set up to tell two stories in different eras, with half the layout following Fury Sr in 1965 with Gabe Jones and Dum-Dum Dugan as his offsiders, and Fury Jr in 2015 with Director Maria Hill. Both storylines address racial issues – Gabe Jones (the best known black Howling Commando – unlike real American units in WW2, the Howling Commandoes were not racially segregated) discusses his torn loyalties over the race riots in the streets of 1965, while in 2015 Fury Jr is pursuing a racist supervillain who calls himself Hate-Monger. As noted, his superpower is not subtlety.
Then bam! Fury Jr ends up back in time, facing down his surprisingly baby-faced Dad, 50 years ago. After that it’s a pretty straightforward caper with a solid serving of racial commentary. The emotional bonus here is that Fury & Fury have to communicate without spilling too many secrets (Fury Jr is firmly following established time travel protocols, while Fury Sr is only just starting to realise why SHIELD might need such protocols) and Dad is a lot less of a dick in the 60’s. I found the “twist” about the identity of the kid that Hate-Monger was trying to Terminator out of existence a bit cheesy, largely because I had to look up the name before I figured out who he was (hey, I’m Australian, okay). Still, this goes down as one of the least annoying military comics I’ve ever read, because the focus is always on character over action. Huzzah!
Too often, a time travel story is used to show how things were so much worse in the olden days, with oldey-timey racism or sexism being played as ‘they’d never do that now!’ jokes and we get to feel superior about our social progress. I appreciated that this never did that – we have jarring moments like Fury being called ‘boy’ in 1965, but the overall message is that America still has serious problems with race, authority and violence – that things may in fact be worse in many ways. It’s significant that the violence in the story is instigated by a villain from now, rather than then.
Art: I really liked the layout and use of colour to denote different time zones in the first few pages, which sold the comic’s concept in powerful scenes – it was almost disappointing that this wasn’t kept as the style for the whole issue. I also liked the character designs. On the whole, though this issue features a stark, simple art style that felt generic in places. For a time travel story there was very little 1960’s flavour in the costume or backgrounds, so it looked like that it could have been set anywhere at all – likewise, the use of Hawaii as a setting was underplayed visually.
But What Did I Miss?: The entire Nick & Nick relationship, I guess? But I think the comic conveys that without you needing prep. If, like me, you don’t know the current US President’s mother’s maiden name, there might be another aspect of the story that you totally missed. Or maybe that was just me. *Sidles away*
Would Read Issue 2?: Depends on the set up, but I did shell out for the comics that explained Nick Jr’s backstory and friendship with Coulson, so odds on I would be interested in a Fury ongoing title written by Walker. Actually, why isn’t that a thing? I’d be hoping for more dynamic art, though, and my disinterest in old Nick Fury is remains critically high – Fury Jr in a buddy comedy with Maria Hill and/or Black Widow is much more my sort of thing.
Read it if you Like: Battle Scars, Secret Avengers, Samuel L Jackson’s grumpydorable face
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
50 Years of SHIELD: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Quake #1
October 12, 2015
Galactic Suburbia Episode 130 Show Notes
New episode can be downloaded or streamed here or via iTunes!
In Which We Have High Expectations Of What Lies Beyond Equality, but in the meantime there’s Party Down.
We apologise for the sound quality of this episode, which had a few glitches that even the Silent Producer could not magic away, notably Alisa’s emergency phone call which the mike occasionally picks up. (Everything’s fine now)
What’s New on the Internet
7 Jewish Authors Get Personal About Anti-Semitism (Alisa finds 7 new authors to read)
SF Editors Picks – Recommendations on great new SF/F/H stories by top editors.
Twitter @SFEditorsPicks
Facebook SFEditorsPicks
Mind Meld w/ Tansy & Tehani – Books That Made Me Love SFF
What Culture Have we Consumed?
Alisa: Scandal S1 and S2; Party Down S1 and S2; Coode St Podcast Ep 251: Kristine Kathryn Rusch and women in SF; The Serial Dynasty podcast
Tansy: House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard; Alias by Brian Michael Bendis (Tor.com reread leading up to the show on Nov 20), SHIELD 50th Anniversary comics – Mockingbird [woo since we recorded this they announced it was going to series with the same writer!], [Don’t call her] The Cavalry, Agent Carter, Fury, Quake
Alex: Aurora: Beyond Equality; Up the Walls of the World, James Tiptree Jr; Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, Samuel Delany
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!
October 10, 2015
Issue #1 – 50 Years of SHIELD: Quake
Title: Quake: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1
Writers: Patrick Kindlon & Matthew Rosenberg
Artists: Daniel Warren Johnson, Jason Keith (color), David Nakayama (cover)
The Buzz: SHIELD is 50 years old! To celebrate, Marvel have put out a series of one-shot comics in honour of five iconic SHIELD agents, combining mythos from the Agents of SHIELD & Agent Carter TV shows, and from the comics themselves. The characters in question are Mockingbird, Melinda May, Quake, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury – though there are also cameos and guest appearances from many others.
All You Need To Know: In the comics, Daisy Johnson (Quake) is the daughter of a super-villain, and one of (old, original) Nick Fury’s protegees. She is a top-level SHIELD agent who, despite her young age, took over from Fury as Director of SHIELD. In the TV series Agents of SHIELD, cheerful hacker Skye (no last name) appeared to be an original character with no ties to Marvel continuity until the middle of Season 2, in which her exposure to alien technology gave her earthquake-like powers, marking her as an Inhuman, and her long-lost supervillain father revealed that her real name was Daisy…
Story: This one-shot doesn’t do quite as good a job as the Cavalry and Mockingbird titles in combining the elements of the TV show with established Marvel canon – the Daisy here shows little of the wit and personality of Chloe Bennet’s Skye. What we get is a generic origin story of a young SHIELD agent who is unexpectedly flung into the field with the Avengers with little to no prep, because Captain America Believes In Her. For fans of the show, it’s cute to see a different interpretation of Jianying as a maternal figure to Inhumans, but the rest of the story is very heavy handed.
No one is written especially well – Hawkeye and Storm display no recognisable personality at all, Iron Man is a complete dick (not out of character, but lazy writing) and Captain America is smug and irresponsible. His supportive speech at the end about how he wanted Daisy on the team to be the token human and provide a ‘conscience’ for the superpowered group is both cheesy and selfish, in no way making up for the fact that he deliberately sent her into the field without any parameters for what she was supposed to achieve. For a comic called Quake, it was a disappointing that we barely saw Johnson use her powers, and the only times she did, they were fuck-ups. Though, it has to be said, that thing where she accidentally made the monster vomit on Captain America was slightly awesome.
Art: I liked the cover version of Quake more than the internals, which are quite dark and uninteresting in their layouts. I liked that Daisy is drawn as a character rather than a girrrrrl, all practical military business rather than glamour poses. On the other hand, Captain America’s face is weirdly goofy.
But What Did I Miss?: As a flashback story, this doesn’t require any prep, and is a perfectly good standalone issue in that regard. On the other hand, it has none of the crossover appeal of Mockingbird or the Cavalry, and regardless whether the point of this project is to draw comics readers to Agents of SHIELD, or to draw Agents of SHIELD fans to reading comics, I think the mark has been well and truly missed with this one.
Would Read Issue 2?: Not with any enthusiasm.
Read it if you Like: old-fashioned interpretations of the Avengers, military comics I guess.
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
50 Years of SHIELD: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry #1
Issue #1 – Quake: SHIELD 50th Anniversary
Title: Quake: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1
Writers: Patrick Kindlon & Matthew Rosenberg
Artists: Daniel Warren Johnson, Jason Keith (color), David Nakayama (cover)
The Buzz: SHIELD is 50 years old! To celebrate, Marvel have put out a series of one-shot comics in honour of five iconic SHIELD agents, combining mythos from the Agents of SHIELD & Agent Carter TV shows, and from the comics themselves. The characters in question are Mockingbird, Melinda May, Quake, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury – though there are also cameos and guest appearances from many others.
All You Need To Know: In the comics, Daisy Johnson (Quake) is the daughter of a super-villain, and one of (old, original) Nick Fury’s protegees. She is a top-level SHIELD agent who, despite her young age, took over from Fury as Director of SHIELD. In the TV series Agents of SHIELD, cheerful hacker Skye (no last name) appeared to be an original character with no ties to Marvel continuity until the middle of Season 2, in which her exposure to alien technology gave her earthquake-like powers, marking her as an Inhuman, and her long-lost supervillain father revealed that her real name was Daisy…
Story: This one-shot doesn’t do quite as good a job as the Cavalry and Mockingbird titles in combining the elements of the TV show with established Marvel canon – the Daisy here shows little of the wit and personality of Chloe Bennet’s Skye. What we get is a generic origin story of a young SHIELD agent who is unexpectedly flung into the field with the Avengers with little to no prep, because Captain America Believes In Her. For fans of the show, it’s cute to see a different interpretation of Jianying as a maternal figure to Inhumans, but the rest of the story is very heavy handed.
No one is written especially well – Hawkeye and Storm display no recognisable personality at all, Iron Man is a complete dick (not out of character, but lazy writing) and Captain America is smug and irresponsible. His supportive speech at the end about how he wanted Daisy on the team to be the token human and provide a ‘conscience’ for the superpowered group is both cheesy and selfish, in no way making up for the fact that he deliberately sent her into the field without any parameters for what she was supposed to achieve. For a comic called Quake, it was a disappointing that we barely saw Johnson use her powers, and the only times she did, they were fuck-ups. Though, it has to be said, that thing where she accidentally made the monster vomit on Captain America was slightly awesome.
Art: I liked the cover version of Quake more than the internals, which are quite dark and uninteresting in their layouts. I liked that Daisy is drawn as a character rather than a girrrrrl, all practical military business rather than glamour poses. On the other hand, Captain America’s face is weirdly goofy.
But What Did I Miss?: As a flashback story, this doesn’t require any prep, and is a perfectly good standalone issue in that regard. On the other hand, it has none of the crossover appeal of Mockingbird or the Cavalry, and regardless whether the point of this project is to draw comics readers to Agents of SHIELD, or to draw Agents of SHIELD fans to reading comics, I think the mark has been well and truly missed with this one.
Would Read Issue 2?: Not with any enthusiasm.
Read it if you Like: old-fashioned interpretations of the Avengers, military comics I guess.
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
50 Years of SHIELD: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry #1
October 9, 2015
Issue #1 – 50 Years of SHIELD: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry
Title: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Luke Ross (art), Rachelle Rosenberg (color)
The Buzz: SHIELD is 50 years old! To celebrate, Marvel have put out a series of lovely one-shot comics in honour of five iconic SHIELD agents, combining mythos from the Agents of SHIELD TV show and from the comics themselves. The characters in question are Mockingbird, Melinda May, Quake, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury – though there are also cameos and guest appearances from many others. The writer of this one, Jody Houser, is making her Marvel debut – after appearing in indie projects such as Womanthology, she has been writing the Orphan Black comic for IDW since early this year.
All You Need To Know: Melinda May is one of the best things about the Agents of SHIELD TV show – a sharp, competent pilot and kickass lethal weapon of an action hero, played by 50+ actor Ming-Na Wen. She has recently been included in the Marvel comics universe via the ongoing SHIELD anthology series.
Story: This one-shot is a wonderful introduction to May, with a focus on some of the most important aspects of her character in the TV show without spoiling the character development and reveals about her backstory. In particular, it looks at the legendary status she has among young SHIELD recruits, and the way that Agent Coulson (her oldest friend) encourages that reputation because she herself will never speak of her past accomplishments as an agent. Ming-Na’s voice comes across very clearly in this comics version, and seeing May traumatise a group of baby-faced recruits while teaching them (not to mention dealing with cyberwolves) makes for a great single issue.
Art: Luke Ross has done good job here of honouring the central character – his depictions of both May and Coulson are very TV-accurate without being distracting. I really liked Rosenberg’s use of colouring, particularly the emphasis on blues and oranges during the action scenes, and the wash-out effect during flashbacks. The women are drawn respectfully & fully dressed, which is more common these days in comics, but I feel is still worth noting. A nice visual aspect (not sure if this is a writing or art choice) is that the team of recruits are gender balanced and include two people of colour – which means, with the addition of Coulson and May, that the six members of the ensemble are 50-50 male/female and 50-50 white/not-white. This is a very rare thing in action comics!
But What Did I Miss?: You don’t need to have followed May in Agents of SHIELD to enjoy her character in this comic at all – it’s nicely self contained and works as a standalone companion to the TV series.
Would Read Issue 2?: Once again, if this was an ongoing series I would so read it!
Read it if you Like: Agents of SHIELD (TV), SHIELD (2014-), Secret Avengers.
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
Issue #1 – (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry: SHIELD 50th Anniversary
Title: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Luke Ross (art), Rachelle Rosenberg (color)
The Buzz: SHIELD is 50 years old! To celebrate, Marvel have put out a series of lovely one-shot comics in honour of five iconic SHIELD agents, combining mythos from the Agents of SHIELD TV show and from the comics themselves. The characters in question are Mockingbird, Melinda May, Quake, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury – though there are also cameos and guest appearances from many others. The writer of this one, Jody Houser, is making her Marvel debut – after appearing in indie projects such as Womanthology, she has been writing the Orphan Black comic for IDW since early this year.
All You Need To Know: Melinda May is one of the best things about the Agents of SHIELD TV show – a sharp, competent pilot and kickass lethal weapon of an action hero, played by 50+ actor Ming-Na Wen. She has recently been included in the Marvel comics universe via the ongoing SHIELD anthology series.
Story: This one-shot is a wonderful introduction to May, with a focus on some of the most important aspects of her character in the TV show without spoiling the character development and reveals about her backstory. In particular, it looks at the legendary status she has among young SHIELD recruits, and the way that Agent Coulson (her oldest friend) encourages that reputation because she herself will never speak of her past accomplishments as an agent. Ming-Na’s voice comes across very clearly in this comics version, and seeing May traumatise a group of baby-faced recruits while teaching them (not to mention dealing with cyberwolves) makes for a great single issue.
Art: Luke Ross has done good job here of honouring the central character – his depictions of both May and Coulson are very TV-accurate without being distracting. I really liked Rosenberg’s use of colouring, particularly the emphasis on blues and oranges during the action scenes, and the wash-out effect during flashbacks. The women are drawn respectfully & fully dressed, which is more common these days in comics, but I feel is still worth noting. A nice visual aspect (not sure if this is a writing or art choice) is that the team of recruits are gender balanced and include two people of colour – which means, with the addition of Coulson and May, that the six members of the ensemble are 50-50 male/female and 50-50 white/not-white. This is a very rare thing in action comics!
But What Did I Miss?: You don’t need to have followed May in Agents of SHIELD to enjoy her character in this comic at all – it’s nicely self contained and works as a standalone companion to the TV series.
Would Read Issue 2?: Once again, if this was an ongoing series I would so read it!
Read it if you Like: Agents of SHIELD (TV), SHIELD (2014-), Secret Avengers.
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
