Tim Hanley's Blog, page 37

Women In Comics Statistics: DC and Marvel, February 2016 In Review

My latest “Gendercrunching” column went up today on Bleeding Cool, and while I love all of my stats adventures, I think this one is particularly telling about the state of women in the superhero comic book industry today.

DC and Marvel’s numbers both slipped down from January, with DC falling further and landing at 13.6% female creators overall while Marvel ticked down slightly to 15.1%. Both are relatively decent totals for each publisher, though below their recent highs.

Then we look at who is writing what at DC and Marvel, and get some very striking numbers. Male writers at the Big Two are writing everyone: male characters, female characters, team books. What they write is roughly analogous to each publisher’s overall output, partly because male writers comprise the bulk of it and partly because they get to write all of the characters. Female writers, however, are mostly just writing women. It’s an odd bit of pigeonholing that’s actually gotten more pronounced over the past year. While it’s great to have women writing women, female writers are capable of writing all sorts of characters, just like men are, and I think the next big step in progress at DC and Marvel needs to be women writing everyone across the board.

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

It Looks Like Lois Lane Will be the New Superwoman in Upcoming Series by Jimenez and Lupacchino

First, Newsarama noticed that a picture file of the cover of DC’s recently announced Superwoman title, which is part of their upcoming “Rebirth” line, was titled “Lois Spread_Colors_Final.” That was a bit of a hint. And now that DC is releasing previews of their upcoming line, Bleeding Cool‘s got the inside scoop: Lois Lane is Superwoman. Here’s the official description of the new series:

Imbued with the powers of Superman, Lois Lane pledges to use her powers to protect Metropolis as the new Superwoman. The only problem is, Lois’ new powers are killing her, and neither she nor her friend and confidant Lana Lang know what to do about it. Will Lois even survive long enough to find out the deadly secret of ULTRA-WOMAN?

Superwoman debuts this August, and is written and drawn by Phil Jimenez, along with Emanuela Lupacchino, and it sounds like it could be an interesting series. Look away if you don’t want to see any potential spoilers, but it sounds like the New 52 Superman is going to die and have several different replacements. The pre-New 52 Superman who currently stars in Superman: Lois and Clark will take over as THE Superman, but there will also be Gene Luen Yang’s new Chinese Super-Man, Lex Luthor’s wearing a suit with a Superman logo on it, and Lois will take to the skies as Superwoman. It’s all very reminiscent of the original death of Superman in the 1990s, when he was replaced by Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Steel, and Superboy.

There are currently two Lois Lanes in the DC universe, the New 52 Lois and the pre-New 52 Lois, and the description doesn’t specify which Lois will be Superwoman. I’m guessing it’s the New 52 Lois, though, seeing as she’s got the closest connection to the Superman who seems to be not long for the world. I’m not sure if she’ll continue with her journalistic alter ego or if she’ll just be Superwoman and the pre-New 52 Lois will take over at the Daily Planet; the details are a little sparse right now.

I do like that there are two Loises, though. Having Lois be Superwoman and ditch journalism just wouldn’t feel right, but with a second Lois around to continue on the newspaper front, DC can have their cake and eat it too. We’ll have the classic Lois, chasing down scoops, along with a new take on the character in her Superwoman guise.

Lois has gotten superpowers occasionally in the past, but only momentarily. In one Silver Age story, both Lois and Lana Lang got powers and immediately used their new abilities to fight over who would be the better wife for Superman. It sounds like today’s Lois is going to use her powers for more altruistic means, and I’m very excited to hear that she’s teaming up with Lana! They were rivals for decades in the Silver and Bronze Ages, and then were never close in the post-Crisis era. Having them finally become friends is a very cool change and I’m looking forward to seeing them work together.

However, I do have a bit of trepidation about the superpowers slowly killing her, only because it sounds a lot like the current plot of The Mighty Thor. Jane Foster is Thor, but she has cancer in her civilian identity and turning into Thor negates the effects of her chemotherapy. Phil Jimenez is a great writer, though, and I’m hopeful that he’ll have a very different angle on things that will make Superwoman stand out from The Mighty Thor.

While the bulk of DC’s “Rebirth” line is set to ship bi-monthly, Superwoman will be a normal, monthly title and its first issue will premiere on August 10. I’m definitely going to check it out. Honestly, it’s not the sort of Lois Lane series I was hoping for; I think that Lois is long overdue for a series that focuses on her adventures as a journalist, tracking down scoops for the Daily Planet and taking down villains, corrupt institutions, and more. But this sounds fun too. I love Jimenez and Lupacchino, the book will be gorgeous for sure, and it could be an interesting new direction for the character. I’m looking forward to it.

Latest Image Expo has Lowest Percentage of Female Creators Since January 2014’s Expo

Before ECCC started in Seattle this weekend, Image Comics held another of its Image Expos, their roughly semi-annual presentation of new titles that will be debuting over the course of the coming year. There were a lot of intriguing titles in the mix, and I’m particularly looking forward to Motor Crush by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr, formerly of Batgirl, and Isola by Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl, formerly of Gotham Academy. It’s always fun to see my favourite superhero creators try something new.

The Expo also featured new books from notable creators like Brian Azzarello, Ed Brubaker, Leila del Duca, Jonathan Hickman, Jerome Opena, Sean Phillips, Jen Van Meter, and more. And, as always when given a list of names, I decided to count them up and see what the gender representation was at this Image Expo. The numbers weren’t great, comparitively. Here are all of the new books, with creator information courtesy of Image’s website:

AFAR by Leila del Duca & Kit Seaton
BLACK CLOUD by Jason Latour, Ivan Brandon, Greg Hinkle, Matt Wilson, Aditya Bidikar
THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS by Jonathan Hickman & Tomm Coker
THE DIVIDED STATES OF HYSTERIA by Howard Chaykin
GLITTERBOMB by Jim Zub & Djibril Morissette-Phan & K. Michael Russell & Marshall Dillon
HORIZON, by Brandon Thomas, Juan Gedeon & Frank Martin
THE HUNT by Colin Lorimer, Jim Campbell, and Joana Lafuente
ISOLA by Brenden Fletcher & Karl Kerschl
KILL OR BE KILLED by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Elizabeth Breitweiser
LAKE OF FIRE by Nathan Fairbairn & Matt Smith
MOONSHINE by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso
MOTOR CRUSH by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, & Babs Tarr
PRIMA by Jen Van Meter, Rick Burchett
PRINCE OF CATS by Ron Wimberly
ROCKSTARS by Joe Harris & Megan Hutchison
ROMULUS by Bryan Hill & Nelson Blake II
SEVEN TO ETERNITY by Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, & Matt Hollingsworth
SURGEON X by Sara Kenney & John Watkiss, James Devlin, & Jared K. Fletcher
VS by Ivan Brandon, Esad Ribić, Ive Svorcina, Aditya Bidikar
WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD by Steve Niles, Alison Sampson, Stephane Paitreau, & Clem Robins

All together, there were 40 different men and 9 different women across these 20 new titles, so women accounted for 18.4% of the creators announced at this year’s Image Expo. That’s a noticeable drop from the past three Expos, where women posted percentages of 25.9%, 26.4%, and 23.5%. This year’s total is the lowest since the January 2014 Image Expo, which only had 10.5% female creators.

In terms of representation per book, 8 of the 20 new titles have at least one female creator, another drop from the last Image Expo in July 2015 where there was a woman on more than half of the books (12 out of 23). The Image Expo before that was slightly better than this year, too; the January 2015 Expo had 10 women on 24 books, or 41.7% of the titles, while this year’s 8 of 20 is just a step behind at 40%.

So we’ve got a drop in the overall total and a drop in representation across the board. A double slide like this is rather disheartening, especially from a publisher who prides itself on being the anti-Big Two. While these numbers are somewhat better than Marvel’s recent relaunch or DC’s upcoming “Rebirth”, Image isn’t blowing anyone out of the water here. Fewer than 20% female creators is a decidedly average showing, and far below the bar that Image has set for itself in past Expos. Holding fairly steady around 25% for three shows instead of growing was a little bit disappointing, and now they have taken a step back. If Image was really as different and cutting edge as they seem to think they are, we’d be seeing an explosion of female creators. Yet we are not. Here’s hoping for a course correction with the next Image Expo.

The Legend of Wonder Woman #22 Review: The Holliday Girls’ Showstopper

With this week’s digital first installment of The Legend of Wonder Woman, we’re into the start of what will be the penultimate issue of the print series. Usually with a mini-series, that would mean a ramp up to the grand finale, with all of the pieces falling into place for the battle royale that’s about to unfold. But with The Legend of Wonder Woman, the penultimate issue means a big performance number from the Holliday Girls, along with their pal Diana.  And if you’re not delighted by that, then I just feel sorry for you. This book has been a joy from start to finish, and I love that it’s maintaining its sense of fun and frivolity right to the end.

Not that the series can’t be serious, of course. The last issue got pretty heavy, what with Zeus trying to convince Wonder Woman to be his champion and allow the world to be destroyed and remade into something better. Diana refused to be part of such wanton death and destruction, and had her superpowers taken from her as a result; it was an ironic twist to have her lose her gifts at the moment she reached peak Wonder Woman with her valiant stance against violent patriarchal plans.

But rather than wallow in sadness or loss, Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon’s Diana embraces the change. Unlike other recent major superhero properties, this is not a story of glum, downcast heroes. Diana knows that she can still be useful to the world, even without her powers, and she also has developed a rich life outside of her superhero feats that is filled with friendship, romance, and meaning. So what does she do? She goes to a fancy party in Paris with Etta Candy and Steve Trevor, and tries to finagle some popcorn out of the snooty French chef.

The whole issue is similarly light. Etta’s feud with that hussy Pamela Smuthers continues to be an ongoing plotline; she really is the worst, trying to undercut Etta at every turn. Hopefully by the end of the run, Pamela will have learned that female rivalry is a fiendish tool of the patriarchy and come to appreciate the true value of sisterhood. But so far, not so much. She remains a total jerk.

We also get another cameo that hints at a wider superhero world beyond Wonder Woman, this time with Batman’s future butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Here he’s a nine year old scamp, looking for a shot in show business, and ends up playing a key role in the Holliday Girls’ performance. I really enjoy these little bits of world building, especially because it’s fun to figure out a potential timeline. With newly enlisted soldier Jonathan Kent a few issues back and now a child Alfred, it looks like we’re a good 30 or 40 years away from Batman or Superman, so it looks like De Liz will be going for a classic, All-American Comics Justice Society vibe for the book’s potential sequel (also, please go buy LOTS of this comic so we can get this sequel!).

Finally, we get a fantastic song from the Holliday Girls that shows the real heart of the story. It’s all about friendship, and how a woman doesn’t need a man when she’s got a best friend at her side. A man who wants a gal to be his “side objective” is just a “villain in disguise,” while “a true sister can help me along the path from danger to where I belong.” It’s a fun number, aided by Diana’s inadvertent entrance into the finale, and captures the core of the Holliday Girls and what they value beautifully.

The issue closes with trouble on the war front, as the Titan rears its ugly head and Steve runs off to fight it. I’m guessing that Diana will be close behind, regardless of her powers or lack thereof, and I’m excited to see how the finale will play out. Her lack of superpowers throws a real wrench into the works, one that adds some fun mystery to the upcoming conclusion. While I’m looking forward to watching the larger story with the gods play out, I also love that we got to pause for this fun moment with Diana and the Holliday girls. I’d read a book that was just those gals teaming up to have goofy, low stakes adventures, really. They’re all so much fun together.

Have A Comic Book Collection? Want To Help With Cool Research AND Win Prizes? Check This Out

Folks with comic book collections, I need your help. I’m working on a research project that looks at comic book letter columns, tabulating the names of the people who write into the columns in order to get a rough idea of the gender breakdown of the series’ audience. It’s a big project that starts in 1960 and runs through 1999 and covers both DC and Marvel, including several of their major ongoing series as well as a few shorter lived books. I’ve compiled data for thousands of issues already thanks to my own collection, the Grand Comics Database, and a few other sources, but I’ve got some holes in the data.

That’s where you all come in. At the end of the post, I’ve listed all of the books I don’t have letter column data for yet; it’s about 150 issues, across a variety of titles. I’m guessing that some of you out there have these comics, and if you can check the letter columns for me and send me the data, I’d not only be much obliged, you’ll get to be part of a fun contest.

So here’s how it’s going to work:

For every issue listed below that you send me the gender breakdown of the letter writers, you get ONE ENTRY in the contest.
For every issue listed below that you send me a list of all of the names in the letter column, you get TWO ENTRIES.
For every issue listed below that you send me a readable photo or a scan of the letter column, you get THREE ENTRIES.

These entries go into a raffle, the prizes for which are these:

GRAND PRIZE: $25 US

SECOND PRIZE: $15 US

THIRD PRIZE: $10 US (awarded to three winners!)

So five prizes are up for grabs, in various denominations, and I will give them to you in whatever format you’d like. Straight cash? Sure. Amazon gift card? No problem. Comixology credit? Can do. McDonald’s gift certificates? Okay. Is BitCoin still a thing? Because I’ll get you some. All in pennies? That would be super annoying, but I’ll do it.

Moreover, because of the nature of the contest, you could win more than one prize! If you’ve got a big comic collection and send me tons of data and I can close this thing down tomorrow, guess what? You’re probably going to get ALL of the prizes. Conversely, if you’ve only got a few of these books, you’re still in the mix if you send the data along!

Also, you get to be a part of cool comic research, win or lose, and that’s pretty rad. All of the data I’ve put together so far is offering a fascinating portrait of comic book audiences, and you’ll be helping make that data as complete as possible. Getting to help out with the history of a genre we all love is its own reward!

Figuring out the data is pretty simple. Here are a few rules to keep in mind when you’re reading a letter column:

The gender of each writer is pretty obvious from their name. Richard is probably a guy and Rebecca is probably a girl. Stick with what’s obvious.
There are some ambiguous names, like a Pat or a Sandy or some such. If you’re not sure of a name, don’t count it but let me know the name.
Do the same with initials or letter writers who use weird pseudonyms or titles.
With some ambiguous names, the text of their letter may reveal their gender, so it never hurts to read the letter if you aren’t sure.
Some issues won’t have letter columns. That’s fine, and important information that will get you a contest entry. Just say there’s no column in the issue.
If you have any other questions or aren’t sure about something, just let me know the name(s) and I’ll figure it out!

Here’s a rough idea of what I’m looking for with each issue:

Batman #452 – 6 men, 2 women, unknown = Sandy Jones, T.K. Smith

And that’s it! You can add more information or send pictures for more entries, but this is the core of what I’m looking for.

To participate in the contest, send the information to:

comicletters@gmail.com

As entries come in, I’ll cross out the books on the list until, ideally, everything is done. Then I’ll get in touch with the contest winners and send out your prizes in whatever form you choose.

Thanks so much to everyone for helping! Any information you have, even if it’s just an issue or two, will be HUGELY appreciated, and be a massive help in my research on the evolution of comic book audiences. Check your longboxes, tell your friends, and hopefully we can get the full list completed!

Here are the comics, in alphabetical order:

Amazing Spider-Man #419 (1997)
Amazing Spider-Man #421 (1997)


Avengers #380 (1994)


Avengers #19 (1999)


Batman #366 (1983)
Batman #369 (1984)
Batman #373 (1984)
Batman #375 (1984)
Batman #376 (1984)
Batman #416 (1988)
Batman #418 (1988)
Batman #442 (1990)
Batman #460 (1991)
Batman #461 (1991)
Batman #462 (1991)
Batman #464 (1991)
Batman #465 (1991)
Batman #466 (1991)
Batman #469 (1991)
Batman #473 (1992)
Batman #474 (1992)
Batman #475 (1992)
Batman #522 (1995)
Batman #561 (1999)
Batman #562 (1999)
Batman #563 (1999)
Batman #564 (1999)
Batman #566 (1999)
Batman #569 (1999)
Batman #570 (1999)
Batman #572 (1999)


Catwoman #82 (1999)
Catwoman #83 (1999)
Catwoman #84 (1999)
Catwoman #85 (1999)
Catwoman #86 (1999)
Catwoman #87 (1999)


Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #8 (1983)
Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #9 (1983)


Dazzler #9 (1981)
Dazzler #10 (1981)
Dazzler #11 (1982)
Dazzler #25 (1983)
Dazzler #30 (1984)
Dazzler #33 (1984)
Dazzler #35 (1985)
Dazzler #41 (1986)
Dazzler #42 (1986)


Elektra #3 (1997)
Elektra #4 (1997)
Elektra #5 (1997)
Elektra #6 (1997)
Elektra #8 (1997)
Elektra #17 (1998)


Fantastic Four #322 (1989)
Fantastic Four #323 (1989)
Fantastic Four #324 (1989)


JLA #14 (1998)
JLA #15 (1998)
JLA #25 (1999)
JLA #26 (1999)
JLA #28 (1999)
JLA #29 (1999)
JLA #30 (1999)
JLA #31 (1999)
JLA #32 (1999)
JLA #33 (1999)
JLA #34 (1999)


Justice League #147 (1977)
Justice League #162 (1979)
Justice League #200 (1982)
Justice League #206 (1982)
Justice League #245 (1985)


Justice League America #37 (1990)
Justice League America #62 (1992)
Justice League America #63 (1992)
Justice League America #64 (1992)
Justice League America #65 (1992)
Justice League America #67 (1992)
Justice League America #68 (1992)
Justice League America #74 (1993)
Justice League America #75 (1993)
Justice League America #76 (1993)
Justice League America #77 (1993)
Justice League America #78 (1993)
Justice League America #79 (1993)
Justice League America #80 (1993)
Justice League America #82 (1993)
Justice League America #84 (1994)
Justice League America #88 (1994)
Justice League America #89 (1994)
Justice League America #90 (1994)
Justice League America #95 (1995)
Justice League America #96 (1995)
Justice League America #107 (1996)
Justice League America #110 (1996)


Justice League International #8 (1987)
Justice League International #10 (1988)
Justice League International #11 (1988)
Justice League International #14 (1988)
Justice League International #15 (1988)
Justice League International #16 (1988)
Justice League International #22 (1988)


Sensational She-Hulk #2 (1989)
Sensational She-Hulk #5 (1989)
Sensational She-Hulk #14 (1990)
Sensational She-Hulk #15 (1990)
Sensational She-Hulk #16 (1990)
Sensational She-Hulk #17 (1990)
Sensational She-Hulk #19 (1990)
Sensational She-Hulk #21 (1990)
Sensational She-Hulk #25 (1991)
Sensational She-Hulk #31 (1991)
Sensational She-Hulk #32 (1991)
Sensational She-Hulk #35 (1992)
Sensational She-Hulk #37 (1992)
Sensational She-Hulk #42 (1992)
Sensational She-Hulk #43 (1992)
Sensational She-Hulk #44 (1992)
Sensational She-Hulk #48 (1993)
Sensational She-Hulk #53 (1993)
Sensational She-Hulk #54 (1993)
Sensational She-Hulk #58 (1993)
Sensational She-Hulk #60 (1994)


Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #1 (1992)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #2 (1992)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #3 (1992)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #4 (1992)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #8 (1993)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #10 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #11 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #12 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #14 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #16 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #18 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #19 (1994)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #20 (1995)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #21 (1995)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #22 (1995)


Superman #330 (1978)
Superman #338 (1979)
Superman #369 (1982)


Superman #37 (1989)
Superman #73 (1992)
Superman #82 (1993)
Superman #141 (1999)
Superman #148 (1999)


Wonder Woman #220 (1976)
Wonder Woman #286 (1982)
Wonder Woman #294 (1983)
Wonder Woman #300 (1984)

New Details on Greg Rucka’s Upcoming Wonder Woman Run, Via Word Balloon Podcast

Last Friday, John Siuntres posted a new episode of his Word Balloon podcast in which he spoke to Greg Rucka, the once and future writer of Wonder Woman whose return to the series as part of DC’s “Rebirth” line was recently announced. It’s a great episode, and I recommend giving it a listen; Word Balloon is a fantastic podcast, and it’s always enjoyable to get Rucka’s insights into Wonder Woman and his work in general. But in case you haven’t got the time to dive in for their hour and a half long chat, here are some new details about Rucka’s upcoming Wonder Woman run that he revealed. He was pretty cagey about the plot, but there was a lot of good information in the mix.

1) The artists are super keen on the book: Rucka enthused about his artists, Nicola Scott and Liam Sharp, throughout the show. For Rucka and Scott, their “Year One” storyline, which will run in the even-numbered issues, was a dream project for the both of them. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that they had to take, even though it meant putting their creator owned book, Black Magick, on the shelf for a while. This is a story they’ve wanted to do together for ages, and Rucka said Scott is hitting it out of the park.

Sharp, who will drawn the odd-numbered issues, is similarly excited. After a long break from mainstream comics, it sounds like he’s fixing to come back with a vengeance and is so excited to be on Wonder Woman. Rucka said that Sharp would draw every single issue if he could, an impossible feat given the bi-monthly schedule but an indicator of his zeal for the project. Rucka’s gotten in a few pages already, and apparently they’re gorgeous.

2) This new run is not a continuation of Rucka’s past run: A decade ago, after setting up one of Wonder Woman’s biggest storylines in some time, her killing of Max Lord after he mind-controlled Superman, Rucka was removed from the book for its “One Year Later” relaunch and didn’t get to finish the rest of his story. This will not be that. It’s a new universe with a new history, and those threads are gone.  Rucka’s telling a different story here, though he did mention that Wonder Woman might run into Max Lord at some point, since he is alive and part of this new universe.

3) The story builds on Wonder Woman’s New 52 tales thus far: This is not a reboot, basically. Everything that happened in Azzarello and Chiang’s run and then the Finches’ tenure is part of Wonder Woman’s history, and Rucka will go from there. The tone will be different and it sounds like he might be fixing to make some course corrections, but the past hasn’t been erased. Rucka did talk about the Amazons at length, however, and I anticipate that their current raping/murdering/genocidal ways will either fall by the wayside or be undone. He’s firmly in the camp of the Amazons being a utopian, loving, supportive group, which has not been their New 52 depiction thus far at all.

4) The alternate storylines will subtly tie together: A contemporary story, called “The Lies”, will run in the odd-numbered issues while “Year One” runs in the even-numbered issues, a clever way to make the double shipping schedule of “Rebirth” more manageable for the artists. But that doesn’t mean the storylines will be completely separate. Aspects of one will tie into the other, and Rucka is hoping that keen-eyed fans will read closely to see the connections. Given that the contemporary story is called “The Lies”, it sounds like the modern Wonder Woman may be learning some new truths about her past experiences.

5) Wonder Woman’s new costume is inspired by her movie look, but that’s the only connection: For reasons of synergy and branding, DC wants Wonder Woman to wear a costume that resembles her look in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but the comics are the comics and aren’t beholden to any other part of the cinematic world. They only care about visual consistency, and Rucka mentioned that if he had to follow the film universe’s characterization and stories, he would have been much less likely to take on the gig.

6) Rucka believes in “Rebirth” as a whole: Rucka’s departure from DC seven years ago was acrimonious and seemed final, but Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio have convinced him that they are committed to letting him tell his own story with Wonder Woman, and that this line-wide relaunch initiative is part of a larger commitment to return to the core of what makes DC Comics great. I can’t imagine a harder sell on this than Greg Rucka, who got screwed over by DC on multiple levels, multiple times, so hearing that he thinks DC is genuinely trying to do better by their characters was very encouraging.

7) Mark Doyle is editing Wonder Woman, along with Rachel Taylor and Chris Conroy: Rucka had some conditions for returning to DC, and I’m guessing that one of them was picking his editor because while Wonder Woman has been part of the Superman editorial family, Bat-editor Mark Doyle will be at the helm here. This is excellent news; the Superman editorial team is problematic for a number of reasons, including their poor treatment of Wonder Woman over the past few years. Meanwhile, Mark Doyle is one of the best editors in comics, having revitalized the grim New 52 Bat-books with a more tonally diverse and enjoyable line-up of series in recent years.  I’m so glad he’s landed Wonder Woman now.

8) Wonder Woman’s relationship with Superman is over: Speaking of the Superman editorial team treating Wonder Woman poorly, the romantic relationship that put her in a second fiddle position is done with now. However, while Superman isn’t a part of Wonder Woman for Rucka’s first 12 issues at least, he has talked to Action Comics writer Dan Jurgens about a potential meet up with Superman down the road.

9) Potential guest stars: The only side characters that Rucka would confirm are in the book are Steve Trevor and Etta Candy, who I assume will play a role in the “Year One” arc. He’d like to bring back Ferdinand the minotaur from his original Wonder Woman run, but only if it fits organically; Rucka doesn’t want to just shoehorn in old references. The Wonder Girls Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark might make an appearance later in his run, but there are no definitive plans yet. Also, Rucka would love to work in his old Gotham gals Renee Montoya and Batwoman if he can, but again it would have to come about organically.

10) Hamilton references are inevitable: While he doesn’t seem to be planning any direct Hamilton references, Rucka concedes that his life is so permeated with the musical right now and he is Ham Trash to such a degree that something will probably get into the book subconsciously. I can understand that; as Ham Trash myself, I inadvertently work in Hamilton references all the time now.

So there you have it! Slim on story details, but some insights into the behind the scenes of the upcoming Wonder Woman relaunch and Rucka’s plan for the characters. Again, I strongly encourage you to listen to his episode of Word Balloon; there are lots of details I’ve skimmed over or probably missed, and Rucka’s enthusiasm about returning to Wonder Woman is a great way to get even more excited for “Rebirth” this June.

The Legend of Wonder Woman #21 Review: The Wrath of Zeus

The Legend of Wonder Woman is a mini-series, and one that is in the back stretch of its run. It’s scheduled to go for 27 digital installments, and we’re at 21 now, so things are coming to a close pretty soon. I’ve read enough comic book mini-series to know that at this point the story is usually on cruise control; everything’s been established, the twists and surprises are out of the way, and everything is escalating to the final conflict with the big bad in which the hero will emerge triumphant. There’s usually a formula to these things, and while there’s often a final twist or shock at some point, a mini-series this far into the game has it’s ending semi-telegraphed just by virtue of being so far into the story.

But it turns out that The Legend of Wonder Woman isn’t following this formula, and I am loving it. Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon, with two print issues still ahead of them, have thrown a massive wrench into things, leaving me totally unsure of how the story will wrap up. It could go any number of ways now, and I’ve got to assume we’ll end up with a triumphant heroine when the story is done, but how we get there? I’ve got no idea. It’s so much fun.

So last week’s issue ended with the Duke of Deception getting the best of Wonder Woman in a one-on-one battle. We pick up there for a couple of pages, with Wonder Woman using her visions of the young boy connected to the Duke’s past life to try to dissuade him from his villainous ways. He’s not having it, but then WHOOSH Wonder Woman is whisked away to some other realm where Alcippe is waiting, along with Zeus! Zeus delivers a lengthy spiel about the Titan (which is an alien!) and the gods splitting, with Ares and Hades teaming up to release the Titan, destroy the world, and remake their own. Zeus wants Wonder Woman to be his champion to challenge their evil plan, so cool right? Nope. He wants to destroy and then remake the world too, into something better, but now that Diana has seen the world, she refused to be part of its destruction. Cut to: Diana wakes up in her bed, her divine accessories now rendered powerless, with a very different life as a normal human potentially ahead of her.

I love the boldness of this move. First off, I am always on board for Zeus as a bad guy. One of the very few reservations I’ve had about the book is the Amazons’ devotion to Zeus and other male deities rather than just the female deities, as is their usual way. Zeus is always a questionable character to me. And it turns out, he still is. Moreover, Diana is wise enough to recognize this and to not be part of his genocidal plan. There’s nothing better than Wonder Woman staring down a god, and this time it’s extra powerful given that she’s been raised to respect Zeus above all of the gods. De Liz drawing Diana as a child at times during their conversation is a wonderful touch, and her switching back to being a grown woman as she defies Zeus is such a cool way to illustrate her personal growth.

Second, The Legend of Wonder Woman has been a distillation of Wonder Woman’s history in many ways, and now it seems like we might be getting a taste of what’s usually called her “mod era” from 1968-1972, in which she gave up her superpowers and became a normal human woman. This wasn’t a great time for Wonder Woman, but I’m fully confident that De Liz and Dillon will do something cool and interesting with it. Plus, the mod era was followed by Wonder Woman’s return to her powers and her emergence as a feminist icon, so if De Liz and Dillon follow that path then the ending should be amazing.

So the game has been changed, and with only six digital issues left we’re nearing the end of the series, but what will this ending be? I don’t have a clue. I see so many different ways it could go, but with Diana’s new status quo there’s no obvious path to any particular grand finale right now. I have a bunch of theories, and I can’t wait until next week to see where De Liz and Dillon are taking things!

Wonder Woman Unbound Audio Book Now Available on Audible

Reading is fun and all, but sometimes you just want to listen to a book. And if you’re the sort of person who likes listening to books, have I got news for you! My first book, Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World’s Most Famous Heroine, is now available in audio book form on Audible! The book has been out in paper and ebook versions for almost two years, and now we’re expanding into the world of audio with this unabridged recording. Read by Colby Elliott, you’ll get the complete Wonder Woman Unbound experience with over seven hours of historical fun.

So yeah, this is the coolest! Having two print books out is all sorts of awesome, but this is my first audio book and I’m really excited about it. Everyone involved has done a great job with it, and I’m so glad that they’re presenting the book in its entirety.

The book is available for $20.99 US on Audible, unless you have an Audible account. I’m not super sure how Audible works; presumably you pay a monthly fee and can go to town with audio books or some such? I do know that if you sign up for Audible, you get a free trial month before you have to pay anything, so that sounds like a swell deal.

Anyway, now you can listen to Wonder Woman Unbound! How rad is that? Go give it a listen and let me know what you think!

Women in Comics Statistics – DC’s Rebirth and the Decline of Female Creators

After DC Comics announced the creators behind their new Rebirth relaunch this weekend at WonderCon, I wrote a special edition of “Gendercrunching” that went up on Bleeding Cool yesterday. It breaks down the Rebirth creators by gender, and compares the numbers to DC’s last two similar relaunch initiatives, the New 52 relaunch in 2011 and last year’s #DCYou mini-relaunch.

The comparison isn’t great. While the Rebirth numbers are better than the New 52, that’s not a hard thing to pull off; there were only two women in the mix back then. The #DCYou mini-relaunch posted a significant increase overall, from 1.7% female creators to 14.7%, but Rebirth is poised to be a big step down, with only 8% female creators in the mix. It’s a disheartening decline after DC showed steady progress with female creators after the fiasco that was the New 52 relaunch. It’ll be interesting to see how the full stats shake down this June when the new line premieres, but these early indications aren’t great.

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

Greg Rucka to Write a Young, Scrappy, Hungry Wonder Woman for DC’s Rebirth; Nicola Scott and Liam Sharp on Art

News of Wonder Woman, and several other DC titles, relaunching and moving to a twice a month schedule broke several weeks ago, and this weekend at WonderCon, DC finally unveiled who would be working on the books. After initially revealing that artist Liam Sharp would be drawing Wonder Woman, Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, and Geoff Johns brought out Greg Rucka, sporting a Hamilton hoodie, as the book’s writer. The crowd, and big portions of the internet, went bananas.

Rucka’s return to DC is a pretty big deal. After several years of animosity following some broken promises and behind the scenes shenanigans, DC decided that it might be nice to have Greg Rucka on their side. Few comic book writers are more acclaimed than Rucka, and many of his runs on DC properties are considered classics, including his tenure on Wonder Woman more than a decade ago. After being away at Marvel, Image, and other publishers for so long, Greg Rucka is coming home.

He’ll be joined by a pair of artists in an alternating structure. The odd-numbered books will be drawn by Liam Sharp, and artist who’s been out of mainstream comics for a bit but who seemed very excited to be back and especially to be drawing Wonder Woman. Here’s a look at a cover by Sharp:

Their story is called “The Lies”, and begins when “Diana discovers that some of the facts she’s taken as truth are… brittle under closer examination. She sets off to separate the lies from the truth.” I’m curious to see what these lies are, and I’m hoping it will involve a rehabilitation of the Amazons and their violent, unpleasant New 52 history, including both their raping and murdering male sailors and Diana’s new origin with Zeus as her father. The classic origins for Wonder Woman and the Amazons have been wholly lost, and it would be cool to see Rucka and Sharp bring them back.

The even-numbered issues will be drawn by Nicola Scott, who’s returning to the book after doing great work on Earth 2 and later the Image series Black Magick, also written by Rucka. Here’s Scott’s first cover:

The story is a “Year One” look at Wonder Woman’s origins set ten years in the past, and while Rucka has been short on the details, he’s promising that Diana will be smiling, “because she does that,” a clear contrast to her more violent, dour New 52 incarnation.

Both artists are interesting choices for Wonder Woman, and I’m looking forward to each of them. Sharp is known for his highly detailed renderings, and I was surprised when he was announced, but that first image looks great and has me very curious to see him on the book. Scott’s a pro at Wonder Woman from her many issues on the series, but her art is even better now than it was years ago and I can’t wait to see her take on Wonder Woman again, especially in a story that focuses on her origins.

I’m also excited for Rucka to return, though I will admit I was hoping that someone else would be at the helm. Early rumours suggested that Marguerite Bennett would be writing Wonder Woman, and I thought that she was a great fit on multiple levels. First, her work is great, and she writes a fantastic Wonder Woman right now in DC Comics Bombshells. Second, I think Wonder Woman needs a new, different voice, someone with a strong point of view who can take the character in a direction that’s not steeped in what came before. We need a new Wonder Woman with someone with a new perspective behind her, and I thought that Bennett would be ideal for that. However, if DC wants to bring back someone from the old guard, than Rucka is the guy to choose. I would have preferred that Bennett get to take a shot, but Rucka is a fantastic alternative.

The new direction for Wonder Woman will debut in early June with Wonder Woman Rebirth #1, written by Rucka with art by Phil Winslade. The regular series will kick off later in the month with Wonder Woman #1, by Rucka and Sharp. Both storylines will alternate for at least the next six months, and Rucka has plans for at least 24 issues, so we should have a year of him for sure, and potentially more after that. The Rebirth books will be $2.99 US each, a drop from DC’s current $3.99 rates but an increase in cost per month given that there’ll be two issues a month; the cover cost will go down, but it’s going to cost an extra two bucks a month to keep up with the series.

I’m curious to see what Rucka, Sharp, and Scott do with Wonder Woman. After Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s mixed bag, a gorgeous run with cool moments that also featured the denigration of the Amazons, was followed by Meredith and David Finch’s awkward, often terrible tenure, there’s really nowhere to go but up with the series. Even without that low bar, this is a solid creative team who could do something interesting and fun with the character. I’m looking forward to looking forward to the series for a change; it’s been a long time since I’ve been excited to buy Wonder Woman.