Tim Hanley's Blog, page 33

Wonder Woman #1 was a Top 10 Comic in June, Sold Over 100,000 Copies

DC Comics’ “Rebirth” line seems to be doing well for the publisher thus far. After months upon months of few of their titles hitting the top of the charts, DC had 7 of the 10 best selling comics in June, and 15 of the top 20. Marvel still had a considerably higher market share, but it will be interesting to see how things progress over the next couple of months as the new “Rebirth” line continues to unfold. With just a handful of new books in June, DC was able to take many of the top spots.

And two of those spots were held by Wonder Woman titles! She was right in the thick of things, reaching her highest sales totals in a decade. The special oneshot Wonder Woman Rebirth #1 came in at 15th place with 94,458 copies sold, while the debut issue of the ongoing series, Wonder Woman #1, landed at 9th place with 107,737 copies sold. I can’t even remember the last time a Wonder Woman title made the Top 10, but I can tell you that it’s been exactly ten years since Wonder Woman sold more than 100,000 copies; in June 2006, the Allan Heinberg/Terry and Rachel Dodson relaunch sold 132,568 copies.

This is a phenomenal debut for the new Wonder Woman. With the New 52 relaunch five years ago, the highest total Wonder Woman hit was 79,060, so these numbers blow that out of the water handily. Moreover, they’re a huge leap from May’s numbers when Wonder Woman #52 and Superman/Wonder Woman #29 sold 29,673 and 28,569 copies respectively. That is quite a jump. See what happens when you make comics that aren’t terrible? People will want to buy them.

Wonder Woman also did very well relative to DC’s other new books. Only Batman and Superman sold higher, as did DC’s big prestige series, The Dark Knight III. Wonder Woman topped The Flash, Green Lanterns, Detective Comics, Action Comics, Green Arrow, Titans, and Aquaman; for much of the New 52 era, Wonder Woman was fell behind many of those titles. Between Wonder Woman’s high profile with the DC Cinematic Universe and the 75th anniversary, along with the much hyped return of Greg Rucka, folks seem to be very interested in Wonder Woman again, for the first time in a long time.

Now, these numbers are going to drop next month, probably by a lot. Second month drops are always the worst, though it’ll be interesting to see how Wonder Woman #2 does since it’s a different storyline with a different artist; that might be steady. But Wonder Woman #3 will probably be down if it follows the usual industry trends. Nonetheless, this is a monster debut for the new series that will hopefully teach DC that it’s far more profitable for them to put out Wonder Woman comics that are actually good.

Wonder Woman’s October 2016 Covers and Solicits

There’s some cool stuff on the way for Wonder Woman this October, from her regular bi-monthly series to a fun special to some intriguing collections. Between Wonder Woman’s 75th anniversary and the upcoming film, the character’s profile is sky high and we’ve been getting a pretty nice selection of Wonder Woman products announced each month. It’s an exciting (and often expensive!) time to be a Wonder Woman fan.

So let’s see what Wonder Woman is up to in October, starting with her regular series:

WONDER WOMAN #8

Written by GREG RUCKA • Art and cover by NICOLA SCOTT • Variant covers by JENNY FRISON • “Year One” part four! The world is finally introduced to Wonder Woman, and adversaries—both ancient and new—take note.

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

WONDER WOMAN #9

Written by GREG RUCKA • Art and cover by LIAM SHARP • Variant covers by JENNY FRISON • “THE LIES” part five! Diana takes another step closer to discovering the truth…and the mysterious Godwatch responds!

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

As usual, we’re only getting one of the covers, and this month it’s the Sharp one. I don’t love it, to be honest. Is it just me, or does Steve sort of look like a creep here? He’s weirding me out a little.

But, in fun news, Frank Cho is no longer doing the variant covers, and in his place we’ve got Jenny Frison, which is a huge upgrade. Cho’s covers weren’t terrible, but Cho’s a twit who seems to love to stir up sexist anger among his followers, so I’m not sad to see him go. His brand wasn’t a good fit for the book. And Frison is an amazing cover artist, so this should be very cool!

As for the insides, Rucka sure does love vague solicits. Wonder Woman is set to meet the world for the first time in “Year One”, while in “The Lies” Wonder Woman is moving slightly closer to the truth. Not a lot of information, but the series has been solid so far so I’m looking forward to it all nonetheless.

Next up, the second issue of the gorgeous looking team up, Trinity:

TRINITY #2

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL • Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL • Variant cover by FRANK CHO

“BETTER TOGETHER” part two! Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman have uncovered a window into their very souls: and the power of temptation proves to be stronger than any villain they could battle! The bonds of friendship and trust between the most formidable heroes on the planet will be tested to their breaking point, with the lives of innocents hanging in the balance!

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

I mean, look at that cover! I am going to buy this book based on the cover alone; it’s just so pretty. And Manapul’s doing the insides too! It’s going to look so nice. The story sounds weird in ways that could be cool. I like that the book focuses on their friendship and testing them all together; it’s a premise I can get behind. I’m keen for this book to start.

Hilariously, Frank Cho seems to have landed here with a new variant cover gig. We can’t catch a dang break! But really, who’s going to want a Cho cover when they can get that Manapul cover? It’s just too good.

We’ve also got an exciting special:

WONDER WOMAN 75TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1

Story and art by various • Cover by JIM LEE • Variant cover by NICOLA SCOTT • Variant cover by LIAM SHARP

An immense special issue celebrating seventy-five years of the Amazing Amazon, through phenomenal new stories, art, and stand-alone illustrations! Featuring a roster of incredible creators—some who’ve laid down legendary runs with the character, and some who’ve never drawn her before—including Rafael Albuquerque, Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, Renae De Liz, Brenden Fletcher, Adam Hughes, Karl Kerschl, Gail Simone, and many, many more to be announced!

On sale OCTOBER 26 • 80 pg, FC, $7.99 US • RATED T

Eighty pages of Wonder Woman fun, by some killer creative teams! I’m particularly excited for Fletcher and Kerschl to do a Wonder Woman story, though more Renae De Liz is super awesome, and Adam Hughes always does a great Diana. Plus Cliff Chiang! I love Cliff Chiang so much. I’m curious to see who else gets announced; it’d be great to see some more women in the mix here. I think this book could be a blast, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Now to some collections, including a fancy absolute edition:

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN BY BRIAN AZZARELLO AND CLIFF CHIANG VOL. 1 HC

Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO

Art by CLIFF CHIANG, TONY AKINS, DAN GREEN and KANO

Cover by CLIFF CHIANG

In these tales from the start of DC—The New 52, Wonder Woman learns that Queen Hippolyta has kept a secret from her daughter all her life—and when Diana learns who her father is, her life will shatter like brittle clay. The only one more shocked than Diana by this revelation? Bloodthirsty Hera—so why is her sinister daughter, Strife, so eager for the truth to be told? This Absolute edition collects WONDER WOMAN #1-18 and #0.

On sale FEBRUARY 1 • 484 pg, FC, 8.25” x 12.5”, $125.00 US

I have mixed feelings on this. While the first six issues of this run are AMAZING, it does go downhill somewhat after that. I’d say that about 90% of my affection for this era of Wonder Woman is tied directly to Cliff Chiang’s spectacular art, and seeing it oversized like this would be so fun, but there were a lot of fill ins too that were often only just passable. I’m not sure whether I’ll pick this up or not, especially at such a steep price. But I might; I just love Chiang too much, you guys.

Finally, the collection we’ve all been waiting for:

THE LEGEND OF WONDER WOMAN HC

Written by RENAE DE LIZ

Art and cover by RENAE DE LIZ and RAY DILLON

The new WONDER WOMAN 9-issue miniseries written and pencilled by Renae De Liz is collected here! In the beginning there was only chaos. But Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, saw a better future—and eventually her daughter would be destined to bring that new world to life! Before her ultimate fate unfolds though, Diana of Themyscira must learn the important lessons of an Amazonian childhood!

On sale DECEMBER 7 • 288 pg, FC, $29.99 US

BEST OF WONDER WOMANS!! If for some reason you were crazy enough to not read this digitally and THEN not read this in single issues, pull yourself together and mark December 7, 2016, on your calendar because you need to get this book. It’s the best Wonder Woman story I’ve read in ages; it’s gorgeous and fun, and simultaneously classic and fresh. It’s just ridiculously good on every level. You’ve got to check it out, and if you’ve got the single issues already, get some of these for your friends. I mean, talk about a perfect holiday gift!

So October should be a lot of fun for single issues, and the collections that come out further down the road are looking cool too. Remember a few months back when all we got was the Finches on Wonder Woman and a terrible Superman/Wonder Woman series? We are living the high life now, gang!

Wonder Woman #2 Review: A New Yet Iconic Origin

Sometimes a comic book just feels right. It taps into what you love about a character and captures a sense of her and her world in a way that fits perfectly with your view of both. We’ve gotten lots of different versions of Wonder Woman over years in lots of different continuities and, like most fans, my vision of the character isn’t connected to any particular incarnation but is rather an amalgam of aspects of many of them; a little Marston, a little Perez, a hint of Simone and Jimenez. A bit of Lynda Carter and a bit of Susan Eisenberg. It all adds up in my mind to something that doesn’t exist in full form in the real world, yet is THE Wonder Woman in my head. Wonder Woman #2 captured a lot of that for me. This felt like Paradise Island, the women captured who I think the Amazons are, and Diana was who I always want her to be. It was a great start to this “Year One” story that I’ve been very much looking forward too, and we’ll discuss it all momentarily but first:

SPOILER ALERT!!

I am about to reveal many of the major plot elements in this comic book!

Look away if you haven’t read it yet!

And go buy it; it’s great!

This isn’t like the old days when Wonder Woman sucked and it was easier to just read a review than subject yourself to a crappy comic each month!

Go read it and enjoy it!

I liked Wonder Woman #1, but it was good not great for me. It got the ball rolling on a bunch of things, but it was a pretty laid back, spacious first issue. While Wonder Woman #2 isn’t particularly jam packed either, there’s a lot more going on even if it a lot of it might not be particularly plot based. What happened can be summed up pretty quickly: Diana’s a princess of the Amazons, she wants to see the outside world, and one night Steve Trevor crash lands on Paradise Island. It’s all fairly standard Wonder Woman origin stuff. But the world building and character building behind it all is what makes this comic great.

Let’s start with Steve Trevor, for a change. I always find it hard to give a hoot about Steve Trevor, but Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott make him an instantly likeable character with just a few pages that flash through moments in the years leading up to his arrival on Paradise Island. The scenes go through Steve’s military training and his friendship with a fellow soldier named Nick, who actually gets a fuller arc; we see him on his first date with his future wife, then his wedding, then the birth of his first child, then his tragic death in the plane crash that brings Steve to Diana. Through Nick’s story, we get a sense of the man Steve is, a good friend, a good soldier, and an all around good man. He’s still not the most exciting guy in the world; I don’t think he ever could be, really. The man is doomed to be overshadowed by Wonder Woman, after all. But the story establishes that Steve is a guy worth rooting for.

With Diana, Rucka and Scott establish several of the hallmarks of the character. She’s kind and funny, a great warrior, and a wonderful daughter. She also wants to get the hell out of paradise, though not in a petulant, brooding way. Her entire existence has been confined to this island, while all of her sisters have spent time in the outside world before the Amazons departed it. She’s curious, and while she clearly loves her home and her sisters, she wants more.

We also get canonical acknowledgement of same-sex relationships on Paradise Island, particularly some involving Diana herself. It seems that she’s had a variety of paramours over the years, and that many of her fellow Amazons are interested in her; she’s the cool girl that everyone has a crush on. We’ve seen same-sex relationships among the Amazons before, most recently in Wonder Woman: Earth One and The Legend of Wonder Woman, but it’s good to see Diana in the mix too. And in a way that comes off well. There’s not much in the way of jealousy and strife among her would-be suitors, just earnest longing. It stands in stark contrast to Wonder Woman: Earth One, in which her relationship with Mala was a rather toxic and uncaring.

The most intriguing part of the issue for me was the mysterious snake that bites Diana and renders her ill, seemingly for some time. The snake appears in a bizarre tree that Diana has never seen before, and has glowing red eyes. Its bite knocks Diana unconscious, and her recovery takes a while. The snake and the tree aren’t discussed much, but it’s clear that they’ll play a role moving forward. Perhaps this may be one of the connections to the story in the odd-numbered issues that Rucka has hinted at, some sort of link to the lies that plague Diana in the present day.

But back in the past, she’s just a curious gal who wants to see the world. It’s understandable, even though Scott has built a spectacularly gorgeous world around her. Her rendering of the island feels like the platonic ideal of Paradise Island to me; it’s classic but unique, with a beautiful city area and lush surroundings. It’s everything I think of when I imagine the home of the Amazons.

Scott also does a phenomenal job with the island’s residents. While Scott has drawn Wonder Woman before, and did an excellent job when she did, her work is even better now. She’s definitely grown as an artist over the years, and I think it shows most in the clear yet subtle emotion she brings to her characters. Diana’s interactions with her mother demonstrate this particularly well; even without the dialogue, you can see the warmth and love they have for each other as clear as day, and the characters are expressive but not overly so. It feels natural and real, something that’s tricky to achieve in artwork.

The colors enhance the beauty of the book as well, and I’m so glad to see Romulo Fajardo Jr. will be coloring this half of the series. His work on Wonder Woman ’77 was phenomenal, and often brought the book to live, even when he didn’t have the best art to work with. Paired with Scott’s fantastic linework, Fajardo’s colors make the book sing. It’s a gorgeous issue from start to finish, and while I very much wanted to devour it to see what happens next, the artwork drew my attention and kept me poring over each page.

All together, this first issue of “Year One” was a great start. It could perhaps be called slow or even “decompressed”, but it was so in a way that I think it needed to be to establish a new tone for Paradise Island and the Amazons. The New 52 run diminished both considerably, degrading them and turning this noble group of women into a bunch of hateful rapists and murderers. Rucka and Scott bring joy and peace and kindness back to the Amazons here, and establish a new status quo that overwrites the errors of the past. We still don’t have much insight into how Wonder Woman remembers two pasts or who is behind “The Lies” that are being pursued in the odd-numbered arc, but we do have the classic Amazons back and that’s what I was hoping for above all else in this run.

Wonder Woman #2 Preview: Year One Begins!

I. AM. SO. EXCITED. FOR. THIS.

I’ve been waiting for this book for years, ever since Greg Rucka revealed that he was originally tapped to write the Wonder Woman: Earth One graphic novel, with art by J.H. Williams III (DC changed their minds and gave it to Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette instead). He’s mentioned a few story details over the years, and they all sounded amazing; Diana looking out at the horizon instead of up in the sky in this preview was one of those scenes. And now Rucka’s telling his Wonder Woman origin story, with Nicola Scott on art, and I can’t wait to read it!

The A.V. Club has posted a preview of the story, which debuts in Wonder Woman #2 and will run in every other issue of the series for the next six months, so let’s take a look:

It delights me to no end to see happy Amazons. We’ve had a long run of cold, vicious, awful Amazons, so seeing love and warmth on Paradise Island is a lovely change of pace. The final page of the preview, with Diana and her mother, warms my heart immeasurably, doubly so since Hippolyta’s been dead for several years now since the New 52 reboot. But, as we learned with Wonder Woman #1, Diana’s New 52 family was all a lie, the details of which are slowly unfolding in the odd numbered issues of the new series.

I’m so excited to pick this issue up tomorrow! I should have a review up at some point, though I’m going to be on a train all afternoon and my wifi might be spotty. But I’ll do my best to have my thoughts up then. If not, it’ll be up on Thursday. Be sure to hit your local comic shop or Comixology tomorrow to get this issue!

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

My latest “Gendercrunching” column is up over at Bleeding Cool, and May 2016 was a pretty solid month for female creators across the board. Both DC and Marvel appear to have settled into a new status quo that’s noticeably above their previous typical range.

DC Comics ticked up slightly to 16.9% female creators overall, their highest percentage in a year. Marvel dropped a bit, but still came in at 17.4% overall; Marvel’s past three months have the highest continuous run we’ve seen from either Big Two publisher since this project began a few years back.

We also continued our tour around smaller publishers and saw impressive totals from Dark Horse, Dynamite, and Titan, as well as somewhat less than impressive numbers from Valiant. All together, over the past two months, the seven smaller publishers we visited posted some pretty solid numbers.

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

Women at Marvel Comics Watch – September 2016 Solicits, 33 Women on 23 Books

When Marvel posted 34 different female creators in their August 2016 solicits, I thought that the number would be hard to match when next month’s batch dropped. Turns out, I was right, but in the best way; Marvel didn’t quite hit 34 different female creators again, but they did hit 33 and that’s pretty impressive. These are two of the highest months we’ve ever seen from Marvel or DC, and Marvel’s hit them back to back. Let’s take a look at who will be doing what at Marvel in September 2016:

Alison Sampson: Civil War II: Choosing Sides #6 (interior art)
Alti Firmansyah: X-Men ’92 #7 (interior art)
Amy Reeder: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #11 (co-writer, cover)
Annie Wu: Deadpool #18 (variant cover)
Becky Cloonan: The Punisher #5 (writer)
Brittney L. Williams: Civil War II: X-Men #4 (variant cover), Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! #10 (interior art, cover)
Chelsea Cain: Civil War II: Choosing Sides #6 (co-writer), Mockingbird #7 (writer)
Christina Strain: Civil War II: Choosing Sides #6 (co-writer)
Elizabeth Torque: Uncanny Inhumans #14 (variant cover)
Erica Henderson: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #12 (interior art, cover)
G. Willow Wilson: Ms. Marvel #11 (writer)
Gurihiru: Gwenpool #6 (interior art)
Helen Chen: Silk #12 (cover)
Jody Houser: Max Ride: Final Flight #1 (writer)
Joelle Jones: Mockingbird #7 (cover)
Kate Leth: Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat! #10 (writer)
Kate Niemczyk: Mockingbird #7 (interior art)
Kathryn Immonen: Doctor Strange Annual #1 (co-writer)
Kei Zama: Scarlet Witch #10 (interior art)
Kelly Thompson: A-Force #9 (writer)
Kirbi Fagan: Star Wars: Han Solo #4 (variant cover)
Marjorie Liu: Star Wars: Han Solo #4 (writer)
Natacha Bustos: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #11 (interior art)
Rosi Kampe: Extraordinary X-Men Annual #1 (interior art)
Ruth Gage: Captain Marvel #9 (co-writer)
Sana Takeda: Civil War II: Choosing Sides #6 (interior art)
Sara Pichelli: Spider-Man #8 (cover)
Siya Oum: Max Ride: Final Flight #1 (variant cover), The Astonishing Ant-Man #12 (variant cover)
Stacey Lee: Gwenpool #6 (cover)
Stephanie Hans: Star Wars: Han Solo #4 (variant cover), The Totally Awesome Hulk #11 (variant cover)
Tana Ford: Silk #12 (interior art)
Tula Lotay: Civil War II: Choosing Sides #6 (variant cover)

All together, there are 33 different female creators scheduled to work on 23 different comic books at Marvel this September, one fewer creator than August though five fewer books. Despite these drops, this is a ridiculously good showing relative to every other set of numbers we’ve seen from Marvel. Moreover, they all but sustained their record setting total from August, even though the August numbers were heavily inflated by variant covers, i.e. onetime gigs that don’t carry over into the following month. Marvel’s on quite a run right now.

They’re doing so by regularly adding a couple of new women to the ranks each month. I believe that Alison Sampson is making her Marvel debut in September, as is Kei Zama, both of them doing interior art. The jobs look to be one time gigs again, but it’s good to see Marvel giving creators a shot at interiors; that could easily lead to future work. There are also a lot of returning names who we haven’t seen in a while. As Marvel continues to hire more and more women, their rolodex gets deeper and deeper and thus more women are likely to show up each month. Conceivably, anyway. If we’ve learned anything in these years of tracking women working at the Big Two, it’s that the numbers can drop precipitously at any time for no good reason.

There’s not much in the way of new books with female characters again, just because there aren’t any new books. We’ll start to see a slew of new titles as the fall continues and Marvel does yet another round of relaunches, but for September they’re finishing up Civil War II.

Overall, September looks to be yet another strong month for women making comics at Marvel. There’s still a bit of grouping and a tendency to have female creators working primarily on female characters, but hopefully that will start to change. It will require keeping these numbers up, though, so we’ll keep an eye on how that goes in the months ahead.

Pennsylvania Pals, Come See Me At BookFestPA on Saturday, July 16!

America, I’m coming back to visit you soon! I’ve been invited to BookFestPA, which is part of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College and Penn State, and I’ll be there for the full day of BookFestPA on Saturday, July 16. The theme for this year’s BookFestPA is comic books, and I’ll be there to chat about the history of superheroes. I’m really looking forward to the trip; it sounds like a great festival, and everyone involved has been wonderful to work with. I think it’s going to be a blast.

I’ll be there in the main tent, with copies of Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World’s Most Famous Heroine and Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet’s Ace Reporter for sale. I’ll also have lots of free things to give away, including bookmarks and fun Investigating Lois Lane notebooks. There will be lots of other great people in the tent, too, including comic book creators like Alitha Martinez (Batgirl) and Robert Hack (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

I’ll also be giving a talk in the Downsbrough Community Room at the Schlow Centre Region Library at 11am on Saturday; it’s right next to BookFestPA’s main tent. My talk is on “The History of Women in Comics,” and I’ll chat about Wonder Woman and Lois Lane, of course, as well as several other great female superheroes as I discuss the evolution of women in superhero comics over the best eight decades. The presentation is going to be jam packed with all of your favourite heroines and villainesses. I’m putting the PowerPoint together now, and it’s absolutely loaded with so many fantastic female characters. Catwoman? For sure. Supergirl? Of course. Black Widow? Yep. Ms. Marvel? We’ve got both of them. Batgirl? ALL OF THEM. Gwen Stacy? Like ten different versions. Patsy Walker? I’m going to have to force myself to stay on track so I can get to everyone else because I could talk about Patsy Walker ALL DAY. It’s going to be so much fun!

So if you’re in the ballpark of central Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 16, come say hi! You can hear me chat about awesome comic book ladies, check out books from a variety of awesome folks, and I’ll even give you free stuff. Plus there’s going to be a costume contest! You can dress up! It’s going to be a great day, and I think a good time will be had by all. Check out the BookFestPA page for more information, and I hope to see you there!

Remembering Noel Neill, The First Live Action Lois Lane

Noel Neill passed away last Sunday at the age of 95, having lived a long and fascinating life. She wore a number of hats during her time in show business; she was a model, a singer, and an actress in both film and television, but she was best known as Lois Lane. Neill was the first live action Lois, playing the character alongside Kirk Alyn’s Man of Steel in the 1948 serial film Superman and reprising the role in its 1950 sequel, Atom Man vs. Superman. After Phyllis Coates left the Adventures of Superman television series after one season in 1952, the producers immediately reached out to the original Lois, and Neill played Lois next to George Reeves’ Superman for the next five seasons of the program until it ended in 1958.

Neill was Lois Lane during the bulk of the run of the Adventures of Superman, making her the person that an entire generation of fans associated with the character. The show was a hit in its initial run, and remained popular in syndication for a long time as well. Until Margot Kidder took over the role in Superman: The Movie in 1978, Noel Neill WAS Lois Lane.

Neill’s Lois was pleasant and kind-hearted, a stark contrast to the no nonsense brashness that Coates and later Kidder imbued in the character. Neill brought a warmth and friendliness to the role, which fit the part; the program was aimed primarily at children from its second season on, and Neill’s Lois was a good match for its fun, sometimes silly tone. She often found herself in goofy adventures alongside Jimmy Olsen, caught up in a zany plan that required Superman to come save them.

But Neill’s Lois wasn’t all damsel in distress hijinks; in one notable episode, she wrote an editorial that encouraged women to come out and vote in order to get rid of a corrupt politician, leveraging her position at the Daily Planet to try to make a difference. Moreover, she was a constant presence at the newspaper, always chasing down leads and trying to land front page scoops. She was a respected career woman at a time when most of the women on television were homemakers, serving as a role model for young girls in the 1950s and offering them an alternative future to aspire to.

After the Adventures of Superman ended, Neill remained closely associated with Lois Lane and the Superman franchise. She cameoed as Lois’ mother in an early scene in Superman: The Movie, appeared in the Superboy TV show in 1991, and had a small role in Superman Returns in 2006. Neill was also a regular presence at comic book conventions over the decades, representing the show alongside Jack Larson long after most of the original cast had passed. By all accounts, she was delightful, kind, and encouraging to everyone she encountered at conventions, and was a wonderful ambassador for Lois Lane.

I was so sad to hear about her passing yesterday, but wow, what a life. She got to be Lois Lane, TWICE, and seemed to love every minute of it. As a young girl growing up in Minnesota, her father ran a newspaper and she dreamed of being a reporter; she even wrote some articles for Women’s Wear Daily before turning to show business. Then as Lois, she got to live her dream on the big screen and the small screen, and wholeheartedly embraced her association with the character from then on. She will be remembered and missed by legions of fans, young and old.

Finally, here’s a bio of Noel Neill that first appeared in Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #7 in February 1959. When Lois’ new series began, many of the letters from young fans asked about Neill and wanted to know more about her, so DC put together this piece for them. Fans continued to ask about her even after the article ran, so DC reprinted it a few more times throughout the 1960s:

Women At DC Comics Watch – September 2016 Solicits, 28 Women on 21 Books

DC’s not had the best run with female creators over the course of their past few rounds of solicits. Since their “Rebirth” relaunch began in June, the numbers have been well below their usual level, and far off from their previous highs. It looks like September might mark the end of this skid, but I’m not entirely sure that this increase in female creators is going to last. We’ll discuss more, after we look at who’s doing what at DC Comics in September 2016:

Amanda Conner: Harley Quinn #3 (co-writer, cover), Harley Quinn #4 (co-writer, cover), Harley Quinn and her Gang of Harleys #6 (cover)
Amanda Deibert: Wonder Woman ’77 Special #4 (co-writer)
Amy Chu: Wonder Woman ’77 Special #4 (co-writer)
Babs Tarr: Doom Patrol #1 (variant cover)
Becky Cloonan: Gotham Academy: Second Semester #1 (co-writer)
Bilquis Evely: The Flintstones #3 (variant cover)
Carmen Carnero: Astro City #39 (interior art)
Cat Staggs: Wonder Woman ’77 Special #4 (cover)
Claire Roe: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #2 (interior art)
Emanuela Lupacchino: Green Lanterns #6 (variant cover), Green Lanterns #7 (variant cover)
Fiona Staples: Gotham Academy: Second Semester #1 (variant cover)
Gail Simone: Clean Room #12 (writer)
Holly Black: Lucifer #10 (writer)
Hope Larson: Batgirl #3 (writer)
Jenny Frison: Clean Room #12 (cover)
Joelle Jones: American Vampire Anthology #2 (interior art)
Julie Benson: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #2 (co-writer)
Kamome Shirahama: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #2 (variant cover)
Marguerite Bennett: American Vampire Anthology #2 (writer), DC Comics Bombshells #17 (writer)
Meghan Hetrick: Red Thorn #11 (interior art)
Mirka Andolfo: DC Comics Bombshells #17 (interior art)
Nicola Scott: Wonder Woman #6 (interior art)
Rachel Dodson: Superwoman #2 (variant cover)
Sandra Hope: Cyborg: Rebirth #1 (inker), Gotham Academy: Second Semester #1 (inker)
Shawna Benson: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #2 (co-writer)
Tess Fowler: Wonder Woman ’77 Special #4 (interior art)
Trina Robbins: Wonder Woman ’77 Special #4 (co-writer)
Tula Lotay: Everafter: From the Pages of Fables #1 (cover)

All  together, there are 28 different female creators set to work on 21 different comic books, an impressive gain from August’s 20 and 21, respectively. September also marks DC’s best total since March, quite a lull for the publisher, though as I mentioned at the top, the numbers are still far from their past highs.

And also probably fleeting. Between a couple of anthology books (Wonder Woman ’77 Special #4 and the resolicited American Vampire Anthology #2) and variant covers, at least a third of the gigs listed above are unlikely to be back in October; they’re one-shot jobs. It’s great that these books are loaded with female creators and that so many women are getting cool variant cover gigs, but it’s not a stable position like writing or interior art tends to be. Next month could drop off quite a bit.

Though there are some new, more stable gigs in the mix. Gotham Academy: Second Semester returns with regular jobs for co-writer Becky Cloonan and inker Sandra Hope, while the new Everafter: From the Pages of Fables could prove to be a consistent cover position for Tula Lotay. Three more regulars is good news.

In terms of female characters, Supergirl is officially launching her new title in September, the return of Gotham Academy means more fun adventures for Olive and Maps, and there’s also a Raven mini-series. In new team books, Wonder Woman will be a key player in Trinity, while Raven and Starfire will be part of the new Teen Titans. So it’s a pretty solid month across the board for fictional women too, and a great month if you happen to be a Raven enthusiast.

Overall, September looks to be a strong month for women at DC, but I’m not sure that it will last. Gerard Way’s Doom Patrol is set to premiere then, though, which may mean that the rest of his line is rolling out soon; that would be good news, because several female characters have been attached to those projects. It’ll take several new books to keep these numbers up in October, and we’ll find out in a month or so if DC is up to the task.

Go Support “Sequential Crush Presents How to Go Steady” On Kickstarter!

I don’t post about a lot of comic book Kickstarter projects here because there’s always a billion of them going on, many of which look fun or intriguing for one reason or another. But every so often there’s a project that I think everyone should get behind, and today that project is Sequential Crush Presents How to Go Steady by Jacque Nodell, with art by Jenny Cimino. The book is a how-to guide for love and dating based on romance comic books from the 1960s and 1970s, and it looks fantastic.

Romance comics are often overlooked by comic fans these days. When we think of the history of the medium, we often just focus on superheroes, or the brief crime/horror surge of the early 1950s, but romance comics were a big deal for a long time. They first debuted in the mid-1940s and became increasingly popular; by the 1960s, practically every comic book publisher had at least one romance book, if not several. It was a massively popular genre, and one of the very few corners of the comic book world marketed directly at female readers.

Reading old romance comics today is always entertaining because they were very much of their time, and often behind the times a bit since they tended to embody the values of the old white men who published them rather than the trendy young girls who read them. But they definitely did evolve as American society did, even resulting in some distinctly feminist tales by the 1970s. The genre offers a fascinating perspective on how young women were viewed in this era, as well as the dominant values of the period and how they changed.

Nothing better captured these dominant values than the advice columns that appeared in almost every romance comic series. Young girls would write in to ask advice on everything related to romance, from kissing to dating to fashion to jealousy to break ups, and the advice columnists would try to steer them in the proper direction. Jacque Nodell has pored over innumerable stories and advice columns to put together this book that explores the “timeless dating advice, wisdom, and lessons from vintage romance comics.”

And she’s certainly the best woman for the job! Her website, Sequential Crush, is arguably the best online resource for classic romance comics, a veritable treasure trove of old stories, advice columns, and quizzes, along with thoughtful and illuminating commentary on them all. In a landscape where the history of romance comics is too often ignored, Jacque Nodell has continually shone a light on the genre.

Jacque was actually a huge help in my own research, too. While putting together Investigating Lois Lane, I was stumped by a blatantly anti-feminist letter column that ran during Lois Lane’s women’s lib era when editor Dorothy Woolfolk revitalized her series; I couldn’t find information about it anywhere, and had no idea how to tackle it in the book. Then I found out about a similar column from a romance comic that was also edited by Woolfolk on Sequential Crush, and all the pieces fell into place. You’ll have to read my book to find out how, but my chapter on the subject owes a huge debt to Jacque!

Sequential Crush Presents How to Go Steady also features original art by Jenny Cimino which looks gorgeous; she’s totally capturing the classic romance comic vibe with her work here. The project as a whole should be a great, interesting read, and will be of particular interest to comic book fans, romance fans, and history buffs alike. You should definitely go take a look at it and considering backing the project; it’s almost a third of the way there now, and I’m very much hoping to see it make its funding goal and even more because this is definitely a book I want to have. Comics! History! Romance! What more could you want?