Tim Hanley's Blog, page 26

Wonder Woman #16 Review: A Calamitous Chimera Conflict

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The new “Godwatch” arc began in Wonder Woman #16 today, with Greg Rucka returning to write the book along with new artist Bilquis Evely (and some ink assists from Mark Morales, Andrew Hennessy, and Raul Fernandez). You’ll probably remember Evely from Wonder Woman #8, a special oneshot starring Barbara Ann Minerva that tied into “Year One.” It was a gorgeous book, and the news that she’d be taking over for Nicola Scott on the series’ even numbered issues has certainly lessened the blow of Scott’s departure somewhat. “Year One” will go down as one of the best Wonder Woman stories of all time, giving “Godwatch” a lot of live up to, but this debut issues suggests that we’ve got another enjoyable arc ahead of us. We’ll dive into it all, but first:

SPOILER ALERT!!

I’m about to reveal ALL OF THE THINGS from this issue!

Make sure you’ve read it first!

The main thing I was wondering about with “Godwatch” was when exactly it would take place. “The Lies” and “The Truth” are set in the present, while “Year One” was five years ago. With this first issue of “Godwatch,” it turns out the story starts six months after Wonder Woman left Themyscira, so shortly after “Year One” and well before “The Lies.” After this issue, I’m curious to see if we stay this deep in the past and slowly see how the Godwatch organization is formed, or if we jump ahead a bit. This first issue has certainly laid the groundwork for why Godwatch was created, and it’ll be interesting to see if Rucka goes for a slow build or not. Knowing Rucka, my money’s on slow build, but I wouldn’t be surprised by a time jump next month.

So the issue starts out with Veronica Cale being a semi-evil industrialist with a deep dislike of Wonder Woman, but she’s hardly a super-villain. But her path seems to change when Ares’ sons Phobos and Deimos steal her daughter and force her to use the technology she’s developing to fight Wonder Woman and try to find out the location of Themyscira. Things go sideways from there; Veronica’s chief scientist Adriana uses the dangerous Cyberwalk system to confront Wonder Woman, and gets defeated by both Wonder Woman’s chimera pal and the machine’s deadly imperfections. Cradling her seemingly deceased friend, Veronica promises, “You will all burn.”

This, we have to assume, is the beginning of Godwatch. As we saw back in “The Lies,” Veronica is still trying to figure out how to get to Themyscira, so I can see this going one of two ways. Either Phobos and Deimos still have Veronica’s daughter and she’s been working for years to free her OR they’ll be sorted in the next few issues but she’ll keep trying to find its location out of a hatred for Wonder Woman and anything divinely related in general. Either could be an interesting journey.

Also, I don’t know whether this is intentional or not, but a trapped daughter is classic Wonder Woman villain motivation. Back in the Golden Age, Paula von Gunther worked for the Nazis because they has her daughter as a hostage, and after Wonder Woman learned of this and freed her, they became friends and allies and worked together to fight the Nazis from then on. Maybe Rucka is going in a similar direction, or is playing on this story in some way.

We also know that Adriana is still alive since we saw her in “The Lies.” Only in electronic form, though. My guess is that whatever happened at the end of this issue trapped Adriana in some king of machine, and while her body might be “dead” her mind lives on in a computer as Dr. Cyber. And perhaps in some sort of android, like we saw in this issue but one better suited for battles for battles in mythical beasts, because that would make for much cooler fight scenes down the road, of course.

Now, this is an issue of Wonder Woman without a lot of Wonder Woman, which usually irks me. But I thought it worked here. It set up Veronica Cale and her motivations very nicely, plus the brief moments we got of Wonder Woman were very good. The montage at the beginning was fun and nicely put together, and the battle between her, the chimera, and Cyberwalk showcased the best of Wonder Woman. I loved her talking to the chimera, trying to get her to calm down by connecting with her and explaining that she was new to this world too and yes, it’s a very strange place. I also liked that she tried to save everyone, both the chimera and Cyberwalk, not wanting either of them to harm the other. That’s how Wonder Woman should roll.

The art was quite good for most of the issue, but some of the inking let down Evely’s excellent pencils at times. Four different inkers rarely offers a cohesive look for a book, and is usually a sign that things were a bit rushed. I don’t know who did which pages, but a few of them were much rougher and lacked the detail that characterized the best of what the book had to offer. Still, the layouts were great, and I’ve seen some of Evely’s pencils for the issue online and they’re spectacular. If they can figure out the inking situation, it should be a gorgeous arc. I was also glad to see that Romulo Fajardo Jr. is staying on as colorist, because that dude is ridiculously good at what he does. I so enjoy the texture, smoothness, lushness, and light touch he brings to his work. It really makes the linework shine.

All together, this was a strong beginning to “Godwatch” and I’m excited to see where things go from here. It’d be nice to have more Wonder Woman in the future, but for this first issue the focus on the villains made a lot of sense and it set up a lot to deal with for our Amazon heroine. Wonder Woman‘s got a really nice one-two punch going right now, with intriguing new plotlines in both the odd and even numbered issues, and that makes for some fun reading.

Two Mattel Wonder Woman Movie Figures Revealed, Plus a Spoiler for the Film

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I love action figures. When I am a fan of something, I buy every associated action figure I can because they are just so much fun. Young Tim had a slew of Star Trek figures, somewhat less young Tim got nearly all of the Lord of the Rings movie figures, and now my current self has been saving money specifically to go nuts on all of the upcoming Wonder Woman movie figures and merchandise. I. AM. PSYCHED.

And now, we’ve got a sneak peek at two of the figures in Mattel’s upcoming line from the movie, courtesy of Twitter user @ablouzada. The pictures aren’t great, but they do the job. Let’s start with Gal Gadot’s Diana:

[image error]This one’s called “Diana of Themyscira” and it gives us Diana in the golden Amazon outfit we’ve seen her sporting in the trailer. It looks like it comes with a sword and her lasso; while I’m not thrilled with her sword being so front and center in her DCEU incarnation, I’m glad the lasso has remained a big part of the character too. This looks like a decent figure, and one I’ll definitely be picking up (obviously). I assume we’re going to get Diana in her Wonder Woman outfit as well, which is rad because it’s rare to get two takes on Wonder Woman in an action figure line. We may even get three! I wouldn’t be surprised to see a “Diana Prince” figure with her in her 1910s England outfit.

Next up is Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor:

[image error]First let me just say, as an action figure enthusiast, that outfit is weak sauce. Add some texture and some different colours, Mattel! Having collected Lord of the Rings movie figures, my standards are high; those things are epic with texture and colour. This Steve Trevor feels a little dull and plasticky. I know he literally is plastic, but still.

Anyway, he’s got a rifle and maybe something else? Perhaps a bag of some sort? I can’t tell if the item in the upper right goes with him or the larger figure you can assemble. It might be the head that goes with that torso. Back to Steve, this isn’t the best picture, but all in all this one seems a little underwhelming. Hopefully it’s nicer in person.

And now, the spoiler you may have noticed already: Each figure comes with a piece of a larger figure that you can connect and build, and the resulting giant figure is Ares. I can’t remember if Ares’ role in Wonder Woman has been officially confirmed or not, but it’s been leaked and expected for a while. And now we know for sure.

So, what else might we expect in this line? It’ll probably consist of five or six figures, and we’ve only got two of them. I’m hoping for an Etta Candy, but I’m not holding my breath. And a Dr. Poison or a Hippolyta would be awesome. Knowing how toy companies work, we’ll probably end up getting more dudes, perhaps whoever Danny Huston is playing along with someone from Steve’s gang. Time will tell. Toy Fair is in a couple of weeks, and I’m guessing that the full line will make their debut then. I’m excited to find out who we’ll get! And then to go broke buying them all.

Women in Comics Statistics: DC and Marvel, November 2016 in Review

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My latest “Gendercrunching” column went up at Bleeding Cool a week or so ago, and November 2016 saw DC posting a high percentage of female creators again as Marvel continued to slide.

DC had 19.4% female creators overall, a slight drop from October but still their second best total of the year. Marvel slipped down to 15.6% female creators, and while that wasn’t a big decline from October, it was the publisher’s third straight month of drops.

We also checked in on several smaller publishers. Boom! posted a whopping 40.9% female creators overall, the highest number we’ve ever seen from any publisher. Titan ticked down since our last visit but still came in at a very solid 22.1%. Dynamite fell more than half, posting only 9.1% female creators. Finally, Valiant ticked up slightly to 10.1%.

Head on over to Bleeding Cool for all of the stats and analysis!

Wonder Woman #15 Review: “The Truth” Is Out There

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Today marks the beginning of “The Truth,” a new arc of Wonder Woman that picks up where “The Lies” left off and finds all of our heroes in various sorts of predicaments. Between the revelation that Diana’s memories of Paradise Island were false and Godwatch’s attack on the Picket, everything’s a mess for everyone right now. Add in the fact that Godwatch is a league of some of Wonder Woman’s most fearsome adversaries, and yeah, things are bad. Wonder Woman #15 sets the table for what Wonder Woman and her friends will be facing going forward, and it looks like it’s going to be quite the adventure. Let’s dig into it all, but first:

SPOILER ALERT!!

I am about to discuss key plot points from this issue!

Look away if you haven’t read it yet!

Also, go read it! It’s good!

So this issue starts with Wonder Woman out of commission, housed in an asylum in England after the revelations about her memory shattered her psyche. Steve, Etta, and Barbara are on the lam after Picket was compromised and destroyed by Godwatch. No one’s in a good spot, and things go from bad to worse over the course of this issue, which was an interesting read that has me excited about where things are going moving forward.

There are dangers in so many areas right now. First, there’s a clear supernatural component going on. Diana’s mental fragility appears to be tied to her snake bite from way back in Wonder Woman #2, as underlined by both her vision/hallucination of a snake coming out of her arm and talking to her and the reappearance of the ominous tree that housed the snake on Themyscira. Something especially sinister is at work, as Hippolyta’s reaction to the tree shows. She was so alarmed that it had me wondering if she knew more about the tree and the snake then she’s letting on. It might just be that it’s the tree that nearly killed her daughter and so she’s being extra cautious, but Hippolyta’s been around for a long time, she knows a lot of things, and she’s been through a lot of stuff. There might be something deeper at play here, perhaps connected to the history of the Amazons.

Back home in America, Godwatch is after Steve, Etta, and Barbara. I love that the story is picking up on the romance between Etta and Barbara that we saw in “Year One” now that Barbara has left the Cheetah behind. They are super cute together. But that fun didn’t last for long. Barbara revealed a past link to Godwatch, and gave herself up to its soldiers to be taken in. She did so in order to allow Steve and Etta to escape and also presumably to get inside the organization and learn what she can about their plans. Etta trusts her, but Steve clearly doesn’t. We don’t yet know her connection to Godwatch, and after years of villainy he seems to be unwilling to put his faith in her yet. But I’m with Etta. Etta’s a good judge of character, and if she thinks Barbara’s on the up and up then I’ll have faith as well.

Speaking of Godwatch, it seems to not just be a team of Wonder Woman’s greatest foes, but a team of Wonder Woman’s greatest female foes. We’ve got Veronica Cale, Colonel Maru and Poison, Dr. Cyber, and hints that the Cheetah and Circe (I assume that’s who they meant when they mentioned “the witch”) are or have been a part of the group. It’s so much fun. I mean, not fun for Wonder Woman. She’s having a terrible time of it. But as a reader, Wonder Woman facing off against her most fearsome female foes is going to be a blast.

Adding even more fun to the book, the last page of the issue appears to be show the return of an old friend, Ferdinand. He’s a minotaur who worked at the Themysciran embassy during Rucka’s first run on Wonder Woman; he was the chef, and quickly became a fan favourite character, but he’s been benched since Rucka left. If it truly is Ferdinand, he’s either fallen on hard times or is laying low intentionally. Either way, there’s a story to be told here, and it’s going to be advantageous to the team to have a minotaur on board. There’s really no situation not improved by having a minotaur on your side, unless perhaps you have to maneuver through a tightly packed china shop.

Greg Rucka pulls together a lot of the strings he introduced in “The Lies” and “Year One” in this issue, picking up on plot points from each and uniting the two arcs into this new story moving forward. Liam Sharp returns after his work on “The Lies,” and his use of different styles mirrors this unification. On Themyscira, he’s clearly aiming for a Nicola Scott vibe, and while his art isn’t quite as lush and gorgeous as Nicola Scott’s, it’s a decent facsimile. With Diana, he continues his style from “The Lies,” and largely does the same with the villains, though there’s a harshness and lack of detail in those pages that makes it the weakest section of the book, visually. With Steve, Etta, and Barbara on the lam, Sharp goes grittier, with a scratchy feel and heavier shadows that creates a moody atmosphere. Laura Martin colors these distinct looks well, adapting her palette and the texture of her colors to fit each situation. The different styles work well and make for a more interesting read, which each reflecting its setting well.

Overall, this was a very solid first issue. “The Lies” was ultimately only okay for, a bit dragged out and underwhelming compared to the spectacular “Year One.” Here, “The Truth” is off to a roaring start with several balls in the air from the get-go, all of them entertaining and exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing where it all goes, and I’m extremely curious to find out how the dual arcs are going to work moving forward. We’ll find out in two weeks when Bilquis Evely joins the team for “Godwatch;” should be fun!

Wonder Woman’s April 2017 Covers and Solicits

DC’s solicits were a little bit late this month, but when they finally arrived yesterday they brought a bevy of new Wonder Woman comic books for us to look forward to this April. So let’s take a look at what Wonder Woman will be up to in a few months’ time, starting with her own series:

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WONDER WOMAN #20

Written by GREG RUCKA • Art and cover by BILQUIS EVELY • Variant cover by JENNY FRISON

“Godwatch” part three! Cale launches a desperate gambit to take control of Godwatch, but her plan hinges on two factors she cannot control: the witch Circe, and Wonder Woman!

On sale APRIL 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

WONDER WOMAN #21

Written by GREG RUCKA • Art and cover by LIAM SHARP • Variant cover by JENNY FRISON

“The Truth” part four! As the reality of Themyscira is revealed, Wonder Woman is forced to make a decision: defy the will of the gods or betray her Amazon sisters to Godwatch!

On sale APRIL 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The dual narrative continues this April, with Wonder Woman facing off against Godwatch in the even numbered issues and learning the truth about Themyscira in the odd books. Circe’s going to be in Wonder Woman #20, which should be a lot of fun. After her poor portrayal in Superman/Wonder Woman a couple of years back, I’m looking forward to what can only be a better spin on her from Rucka and Evely.

Now onto Trinity:

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TRINITY #8

Written by CULLEN BUNN • Art by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO and RAY McCARTHY • Cover by CLAY MANN • Variant cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ

A “Superman: Reborn Aftermath” tie-in! In this essential chapter of the “Superman Reborn Aftermath” epic, Kal-El reveals to Batman and Wonder Woman what had happened to him—and how they all may be in danger!

On sale APRIL 19 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T

I’ve been enjoying Trinity, but honestly I’m picking it up for the amazing Francis Manapul art and there just hasn’t been much of it. Now eight issues in, it looks like he’ll have drawn half of them at most, and we’re getting a tie-in issue with a Superman event? Not what I’m looking for. Hopefully Manapul is back in full force in May, because otherwise I might be ready to move on, especially with the $1 price hike.

Next up, some Amazon fun:

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THE ODYSSEY OF THE AMAZONS #4

Written by KEVIN GREVIOUX

Art by RYAN BENJAMIN and RICHARD FRIEND

Cover by RYAN BENJAMIN

The Amazons are taken to Valhalla, heavenly home of warriors who have fallen in combat. Hessia learns where the Amazons originated and why their numbers have come to be spread throughout the world. But she’s also determined to find a way back to Earth, to rescue her comrades who have been taken by the Storm Giants. As for the Giants, they are getting ready to go to war.

On sale APRIL 19 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED T+

This series starts TOMORROW, so we’ll know pretty soon if this is going to be worth picking up in April. While the buzz for it seems to be minimal/non-existent, a lot of great titles fly under the radar so we’ll see what happens. It still just sounds like a Thor book to me, but I’m curious to see what Grievoux, Benjamin, and Friend do. I’ll be checking out the first issue tomorrow and will report back if I have anything interesting to say about it.

Now some classic TV fun:

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BATMAN ’66 MEETS WONDER WOMAN ’77 #4

Written by MARC ANDREYKO and JEFF PARKER • Art by DAVID HAHN and KARL KESEL • Cover by MICHAEL ALLRED

Ra’s al Ghul has discovered the Amazons’ Elysian Well…better known to Man’s World as a Lazarus Pit! Wonder Woman takes Batman and Robin (and Catwoman!) to confront him, but strange creatures live in the same maze, which the Amazons have used for centuries as a prison!

On sale APRIL 26 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 6, $3.99 US • RATED E • DIGITAL FIRST

I’m so down for Catwoman on Paradise Island. You had me there, and you don’t have to sell me on anything else, DC. I’m super on board.

We’ve also got a few Wonder Woman collections announced. They include:

WONDER WOMAN VOL. 2: YEAR ONE TP: Collects WONDER WOMAN #2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14. On sale MAY 3 • 168 pg, FC, $16.99 US. If you didn’t read this in single issues, BUY THIS. It’s phenomenal. Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott hit this one out of the park.
WONDER WOMAN BY JOHN BYRNE BOOK ONE HC: Collects WONDER WOMAN #101-114. On sale MAY 24 • 328 pg, FC, $39.99 US. A nice big collection of Byrne’s work on Wonder Woman, which I found moderately enjoyable when I read it. It’s Byrne before he went full on Internet wacko, which is usually worth checking out.
WONDER WOMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC: Collects COMIC CAVALCADE #6-13, SENSATION COMICS #25-48 and WONDER WOMAN #8-15. On sale JULY 5 • 768 pg, FC, $75.00 US. Early Marston/Peter Wonder Woman comics are always a good choice, and this HUGE new collection comes with a gorgeous Darwyn Cooke cover.

So we’ve got a nice selection of books to choose from this April, and some fine collections on the way as well. Should be fun!

Take an Online Course on How to Publish a Non-Fiction Book with Me and my Agent, Dawn Frederick

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I’m trying something new this winter by co-teaching an online class with my wonderful agent, Dawn Frederick of Red Sofa Literary, about how to develop a non-fiction book and get it published. The six-week course is called “Agent & Author: Publishing Non-Fiction” and we’re doing it via the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, but everything is online so you can take the course from anywhere. Dawn’s done several courses with them before so she’s a pro, while this is my first outing, and I’m excited to share my experiences with a crop of new writers.

These experiences will form the backbone of the course; we’re going to run through every step of the process of getting Wonder Woman Unbound published. It was my first book, and we’ll look closely at everything involved in going from an idea to writing a book to getting an agent to finding a publisher. The classes will break down like so:

Week 1: We’ll talk about your book ideas, and how to go from an idea to a book. I’ll share my process with Wonder Woman Unbound, and we’ll all get to know each other and what sort of books we’re looking to write.

Week 2: This one’s all about how to get an agent. We’ll discuss how to write a query letter to send to an agent, and I’ll post the query letters I wrote so you can learn what to do and what not to do. Dawn will have great insights since she’s received thousands of query letters over the years.

Week 3: We’ll dig into book proposals with this one. Selling a non-fiction book requires crafting a detailed book proposal, and we’ll run you through all of the steps and what you need to cover. Again, you’ll see various drafts of my proposals, and Dawn’s sold lots of books so she knows what works and what doesn’t when it comes to proposals.

Week 4: This week digs into the relationship between author and agent, and how to navigate all of the steps of getting a book published together. We’ll also chat about edits and rewrites, and I’ll share several drafts of a chapter of Wonder Woman Unbound so you can get a sense of that process.

Week 5: It’s time for book contracts! Dawn will really shine in this one, since she deals with book contracts all the time while I mostly just sign them, and she’ll run through what you need to know, expect, and look out for when it comes to signing with a publisher.

Week 6: We’ll chat about what happens once your book sells, both in terms of working with your publisher and all of the steps therein as well as in terms of what you can do on your own to promote your book.

All together, it will be a thorough rundown of how to see your book from idea to publication, with lots of great tips and templates to help you through the process. If you’re thinking about writing a non-fiction book or have one that you’re looking to get published, this will be an ideal course for you.

The course starts on February 8, and it will involve online activities along with weekly video chats with the group. You can find out all about it by following this link. It costs $234 to take the course, but if you are in a low-income situation you can look into getting a scholarship through the Loft Literary Center that could help defray those costs somewhat. I hope to see you there, in electronic form! It’s going to be a lot of fun.

RIP Pete Marston, the Son of Wonder Woman Creator William Moulton Marston

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Moulton “Pete” Marston, the son of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston, passed away on Tuesday. He was 88 years old. Aside from his parental connection to Wonder Woman, in recent years Pete had become well known in the fan community for his Wonder Woman Museum, comprised of a massive collection of memorabilia. Some items were old treasures from Pete’s own collection, but he was an avid collector as well and assembled a wide array of new material. Currently, there are nearly 4,000 items housed in the Wonder Woman Museum at his home in Bethel, Connecticut.

Outside of his impressive Wonder Woman collection, Pete spent most of his working years as a realtor, and he also built and renovated homes and worked in a variety of construction trades. He spent time in the merchant marine as well. Pete is survived by his wife, Olive Louise Marston, two siblings, three children, and five grandchildren.

A note from Pete’s brother Byrne in his official obituary offers an inside peek at Pete’s role in early Wonder Woman comics:

My brother Pete was always a man of enormous imagination. As a kid, he was a dreamer. When we were teenagers our dad, who was often under pressure to produce scripts for his Wonder Woman superheroine, offered $100 to anyone writing a usable scenario for a Wonder Woman episode. Though $100 was a fortune at that time, Pete was the only one of us who could dream them up.

Pete seemed to have had a good relationship with his father. On top of pitching plots for Wonder Woman, Pete also left Harvard in the mid-1940s to return home and help care for his father. William Moulton Marston had polio and cancer, and passed away in 1947. It’s lovely that Pete created such a testament to his father’s creation with his Wonder Woman Museum. The museum is also a testament to the women who raised him; Pete’s mother, Elizabeth, gave Marston the idea to create a female superhero, and the Marstons lived in a polyamorous relationship with Olive Byrne, who raised the kids (Marston had two with each woman) and also inspired key elements of Wonder Woman’s look and personality.

Regrettably, I never got the chance to interact with Pete directly, though his daughter Christie was a great help when I was researching Wonder Woman Unbound and I know that Pete had a big hand in the materials that she sent me and the recollections that she was able to share. By all accounts, he was a kind and warm man; everyone who visited the museum (a guest list that included Lynda Carter herself!) seemed to come away with an appreciation and affection not just for its myriad wonderful items but also for the man who assembled it all.

My deepest condolences to the Marston family during this sad time, and I hope that their grief is tempered somewhat by the knowledge that Pete lived a long and interesting life and that he’s remembered so fondly by Wonder Woman fans the world over. In lieu of flowers, Pete would like to have donations in his memory sent to the Bethel Police Benevolent Association (PBA), P.O. Box 169, Bethel CT 06801.

Women at Marvel Comics Watch, March 2017 Solicits: 37 Women on 33 Books, A New Record

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Marvel’s on quite a run with female creators rights now. March will mark the publisher’s eighth straight month with more than 30 different female creators in the mix, and Marvel is set to best their record number for combined female creators and books that they set in December. It’s really quite an impressive streak, all around. So let’s see who’s doing what at Marvel in March 2017:

Afua Richardson: Black Panther: World of Wakanda #5 (cover)
Alitha E. Martinez: Black Panther: World of Wakanda #5 (interior art)
Amy Reeder: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #17 (co-writer, cover)
Becky Cloonan: The Punisher #10 (writer)
Brittney L. Williams: Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! #16 (interior art, cover)
Elizabeth Torque: Black Panther #12 (variant cover), Captain America: Steve Rogers #14 (cover), Captain Marvel #13 (cover), Elektra #2 (cover), Inhumans Prime #1 (variant cover), X-Men Prime #1 (variant cover)
Elsa Charretier: The Unstoppable Wasp #3 (interior art, cover)
Emanuela Lupacchino: Guardians of the Galaxy #1.MU (variant cover), Hulk #4 (variant cover)
Erica Henderson: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #18 (interior art, cover)
G. Willow Wilson: Ms. Marvel #16 (writer)
Gabby Rivera: America #1 (writer)
Gisele Lagace: Gwenpool, the Unbelievable #13 (cover)
Gurihiru: Gwenpool, the Unbelievable #13 (interior art)
Hannah Blumenreich: Amazing Spider-Man #25 (co-writer, interior art)
Helen Chen: Silk #18 (cover)
Jen Bartel: Black Panther: World of Wakanda #5 (variant cover)
Jordie Bellaire: Uncanny Inhumans #20 (variant cover)
Joyce Chin: Deadpool the Duck #5 (variant cover)
Kamome Shirahama: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #5 (cover)
Kate Leth: Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! #16 (writer), The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #18 (variant cover)
Kelly Thompson: Hawkeye #4 (writer)
Leah Williams: The Totally Awesome Hulk #1.MU (co-writer)
Margaret Stohl: Captain Marvel #13 (writer)
Mariko Tamaki: Hulk #4 (writer)
Natacha Bustos: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #17 (interior art), Power Man and Iron Fist #14 (variant cover)
Nicole Perlman: Gamora #4 (writer)
Nik Virella: All-New Wolverine #18 (interior art)
Paulina Ganucheau: The Unstoppable Wasp #3 (variant cover)
Roxane Gay: Black Panther: World of Wakanda #5 (writer)
Sara Pichelli: Monsters Unleashed #5 (variant cover), Spider-Man #14 (interior art, cover)
Sophie Campbell: Spider-Gwen #18 (variant cover)
Stephanie Hans: Gamora #4 (variant cover), Man-Thing #1 (variant cover)
Tana Ford: Silk #18 (interior art)
Tess Fowler: Doctor Strange #18 (variant cover)
Veronica Fish: Spider-Woman #17 (interior art)
Yasmine Putri: Gwenpool, the Unbelievable #13 (variant cover)

All together, there are 37 different female creators set to work on 33 different books in March, 6 more women than in February and 10 more books. And while 37 different women ties Marvel’s December record, they were only working on 25 books then; in March there will be just as many ladies in the mix as that record setting month, distributed even more thoroughly through Marvel’s lineup. These are very good numbers. Writing this post each month used to take me ten minutes or so, since there were only ever a handful of women in the mix, like 4 or 5. Now there’s dozens! It’s a lot more work for me, but it’s the good kind.

In terms of new names at Marvel, we’ve got scores of returning favourites this month but also some debut and returning creators. Gabby Rivera is coming on board to write the new America series, Hannah Blumenreich is doing her first official Marvel work (finally!), I don’t think I’ve seen Jen Bartel at Marvel before, I think Leah Williams is a new name as well, and this might be Paulina Ganucheau’s premiere at Marvel as well. And maybe Tess Fowler too? I know she’s done some stuff at DC. So yeah, a busy month for new creators!

March is typically “Women of Marvel” month, where they put out a bunch of variant covers by female artists, and while Marvel doesn’t seem to be doing that explicitly this month, there are scores of variant covers in the list above, far more than usual. Several of them are part of a themed “Venomized” variant program, so it looks like Marvel might be continuing the spirit of “Women of Marvel” without the specific fanfare. Or they’re just hiring a lot of women to do covers because they know a lot of rad female artists. Either way, there are a lot of variants in the mix this month.

Not a lot of new books, though. We’ve got a few oneshots for the IvX event and a new Iron Fist series, but the only new book with a female lead is America. And it looks FANTASTIC. A queer WOC headlining her own series is a huge step for Marvel; they haven’t been great on the LGBTQ+ front as of late, with little rep and a lot of shying away from the rep they did have. This is a big deal for them, and hopefully something we’ll see more of moving forward.

Overall, March looks to be a great month for women at Marvel, all across the board. The publisher’s on an excellent streak, female creator representation is the highest it’s ever been, and America Chavez finally has a comic book! Things are swell.

Wonder Woman Co-Creator H.G. Peter To Be Inducted Into Eisner Hall of Fame

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The Eisner Awards are the comic book industry’s highest honours, and the judges for his year’s awards announced yesterday that H.G. Peter, the co-creator and original artist of Wonder Woman, will be inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. Peter is joined by cartoonist Milt Gross, creator of Spy vs. Spy Antontio Prohias, and underground cartoonist Dori Seda. All four will be automatically inducted, while four more will be chosen by voters based on a list compiled by this year’s judging panel.

William Moulton Marston typically gets most of the credit for the creation of Wonder Woman. Tellingly, he was inducted into the same Hall of Fame in 2006, well before Peter. Between his unique feminist theories, his fascinating personal life, and his boisterous personality, Marston left a lot for folks to talk about while Peter mostly stayed in the background. But while it’s true that Marston’s vision defined the character, Peter played a huge part in Wonder Woman’s creation.

Peter was Marston’s hand-picked artist for his new character, and a very unique choice. In the early 1940s, the new superhero genre was a young man’s game; most of the artists drawing superheroes were in their twenties, while Peter was 61 when Wonder Woman debuted in All Star Comics #8. Superheroes were a new game for Peter, who’d largely done political cartoons and editorial work throughout his career. Many of his political cartoons from the 1910s supported women’s rights and suffrage, and Peter’s feminist leanings may have been why Marston thought he would be a good fit for his new female superhero.

Once hired by Marston, Peter threw himself into his work wholeheartedly. After working with Marston to establish Wonder Woman’s iconic look, Peter was soon drawing stories for three different series: the monthly Sensation Comics, the bi-monthly Wonder Woman, and the quarterly Comic Cavalcade. He also drew a daily Wonder Woman newspaper comic strip from 1943-1944. Peter had an entire team around him at his New York studio to help with inking, lettering, and backgrounds, but the vast majority of the myriad stories featuring Wonder Woman in the 1940s were drawn by him.

Peter’s style was distinctive, and ensured that Wonder Woman’s outings stood out from all of the other superhero comic books on the newsstand. Many artists at the time brought a somewhat realistic approach to their work while often emphasizing the sexuality of their female characters. Peter was a cartoonist at heart, and he gave Wonder Woman and her world a cohesively stylized look. His Wonder Woman was strong and powerful, a solidly built heroine rather than a wasp-waisted waif. The sexuality of the stories was indirect; Wonder Woman’s own attributes were never emphasized, but Peter ended up drawing innumerable bondage scenarios owing to Marston’s fascination therein. Peter’s work was lush and creative, and a quick glance at any Golden Age issue of Wonder Woman clearly shows the enthusiasm and creativity he put into every page. Marston came up with some outlandish storylines over his years, and Peter hit them out of the park each time.

Marston died in 1947 and the tone of Wonder Woman began to change under new writer Robert Kanigher, but Peter stayed with the series for another decade until he passed away in 1958. His work helped establish the most famous female superhero of all time, and his design for the character has stood the test of time; Wonder Woman’s outfit is regularly tweaked, but each incarnation of the character is simply building on what Peter established. Moreover, the spirit that Peter imbued in Wonder Woman continues as well. He always captured the joy of the character, along with the fun she had on her adventures and the goodness at her core. At a time when other superheroes were grim and violent, Wonder Woman loved being a superhero and helping those who needed it, and Peter’s art communicated that feeling in spades.

Recently we’ve seen more appreciation for Golden Age Wonder Woman stories, with a variety of collections and several books addressing the era (including my own), and it’s lovely to see H.G. Peter finally getting his due. His induction into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame is well-deserved, and perfectly timed given that his heroine will soon be hitting the big screen in her first solo film. Peter is key to everything we love about Wonder Woman, and I’m very glad that his fantastic work is being recognized.

Women at DC Comics Watch – March 2017 Solicits, 24 Women on 27 Books

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After closing out 2016 with some of their highest months ever, DC’s female representation has been coming in a bit lower in their solicits since then, and their March listings mark the lowest number of different female creators since August. It’s not a disastrous drop; the mid-20s is a fairly average range for DC these days, but it’s noticeably below where they were just a few months ago and a disappointing step back for a publisher whose numbers were trending upward. Let’s take a look at who’s doing what at DC in March 2017:

Afua Richardson: The Wild Storm #2 (variant cover)
Amanda Conner: Booster Gold/The Flintstones Annual #1 (co-writer), Harley Quinn #15 (co-writer, cover), Harley Quinn #16 (co-writer, cover), The Kamandi Challenge #3 (interior art, cover)
Becky Cloonan: Gotham Academy: Second Semester #7 (co-writer, cover), Shade, the Changing Girl #6 (cover)
Bilquis Evely: Wonder Woman #18 (cover, interior art)
Cecil Castellucci: Shade, the Changing Girl #6 (writer)
Eleanora Carlini: Green Arrow #18 (interior art), Green Arrow #19 (interior art)
Elena Casagrande: Vigilante: Southland #6 (interior art)
Emanuela Lupacchino: Green Lanterns #18 (variant cover), Green Lanterns #19 (variant cover), Supergirl #7 (cover), Superwoman #8 (interior art)
Gail Simone: Clean Room #17 (writer)
Hope Larson: Batgirl #9 (writer), Batgirl Annual #1 (writer)
Jenny Frison: Clean Room #17 (cover), Wonder Woman #18 (variant cover), Wonder Woman #19 (variant cover)
Jody Houser: Mother Panic #5 (writer)
Julie Benson: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #8 (co-writer)
Kamome Shirahama: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #8 (variant cover)
Laura Braga: DC Comics Bombshells #23 (interior art), DC Comics Bombshells #24 (interior art)
Marguerite Bennett: Batwoman #1 (co-writer), DC Comics Bombshells #23 (writer), DC Comics Bombshells #24 (writer)
Marguerite Sauvage: DC Comics Bombshells #23 (cover), The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom #3 (cover)
Marley Zarcone: Shade, the Changing Girl #6 (interior art, cover)
Mirka Andolfo: DC Comics Bombshells #23 (interior art)
Msassyk: Gotham Academy: Second Semester #7 (interior art)
Sandra Hope: Gotham Academy: Second Semester #7 (inker)
Shawna Benson: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #8 (co-writer)
Tula Lotay: Everafter: From the Pages of Fables #7 (cover)
Yasmine Putri: Superwoman #8 (cover), The Hellblazer #8 (variant cover)

All together, there are 24 different women set to work on 27 different books at DC this March, 3 fewer women than last month though 6 more books. The increase in the number of books is an encouraging sign; while there are fewer women in the mix, the ones who are there are getting more work. Still, DC’s proven they’re capable of hiring 30+ female creators in a month and they currently aren’t doing so, and are thus failing to meet the standard that they set for themselves.

In terms of new names at DC, while I believe I’ve seen Eleanora Carlini’s name in the credits of Green Arrow lately, I think that she was a late addition and this might be the first time she’s in the solicits. She’ll be doing interior art there. We’ve also got a variant cover from Afua Richardson, who typically does work at Marvel. To the best of my knowledge, this is her first work at DC.

March looks to be a quiet month for new books. Batwoman #1 officially debuts after the “Rebirth” special last month, and I’m very much looking forward to that one. It’s got a great character and a stellar creative team, plus it’s spinning out of Detective Comics, which has been one of the highlights of the “Rebirth” line for me. The only other new book in the mix is a Vertigo series with a bunch of dudes in the mix, real and fictional.

Overall, the March numbers aren’t a terrible tumble by any means, but it’s the lowest that DC’s female representation has been in a while. These numbers always go up and down, of course, and this may just be a low ebb. DC’s capable of better regardless, and hopefully they’ll reach their potential and things will start to swing up again soon.