Posted on 05/28/2006 3:33:03 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Hinted and teased about for months, Sunday’s New York Times (already being delivered in the New York area) confirms that DC is brining back a staple of its Silver Age: Batwoman.
The article, entitled "Straight (and Not) Out of the Comics: At DC and Marvel Comics, new heroes are gay, black, Asian and Hispanic. Get used to it," is a full- page feature on page 25 of the Sunday Arts & Leisure section on Marvel and DC’s emphasis on increasing the diversity of their respective character libraries over the past months to year-plus. NYT writer George Gene Gustines covers, among others, the attention being placed on the upcoming Black Panther/Storm wedding at Marvel and Luke Cage's key role in New Avengers, and the new Blue Beetle - a Hispanic teen - as well as Batwoman, Kathy Kane, who, according to the article: “…is a wealthy (socialite), buxom lipstick lesbian who has a history with Renee Montoya, an ex-police detective who has a starring role in 52."
According to the article, Batwoman will "appear in costume for the first time in a July issue of 52"
Eagle-eyed DC fans caught a first look at Batwoman in Infinite Crisis #7’s splash page showing a swath of new characters – wearing a costume apparently inspired by the original, Silver Age Batwoman, as well as a nod to the color scheme of Batman Beyond. According to the NYT, the costume was designed by Alex Ross. Of course, her name, an obvious homage to the Silver Age “Kathy Kane”.
Also mentioned is “the Great Ten”, a Chinese-government controlled/sponsored superhero team making their debut next month in 52. According to the article, the team includes, "the Celestial Archer, with ties to Chinese mythology; Mother of Champions, who can give birth to a litter of 25 super-soldiers about every three days; and Seven Deadly Brothers, a martial arts expert who can divide into many."
The Times piece recaps the sometimes bumpy roads comic books have taken towards diversity - including DC's 1998 series The New Guardians, the mid-90's Milestone imprint, and 2000's "Planet DC" initiative - but according to Gustines, this new emphasis/push is intended to be a "sustained one,” taking place in an alternate world that nevertheless reflects American society in general and comics readers in particular, in much the same way that they multicultural casts of televisions shows like ABC's Lost and Grey's Anatomy mirror their audiences."
"I'm glad we're at the point when they're being rolled out without flourish - not 'Minority Heroes Attack!,' " DC writer Judd Winick tells Gustines. "It's important to see them as characters and not a story line about race."
The piece is also not without some examination of the online comic book community and their reaction to change. Citing the death of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle, which paved the way for the new Mexican-American Jaime Reyes version, Gustine writes, "Fans of the old Blue Beetle posted online messages decrying his death and griping about DC's new, generally more somber direction. But comics devotees are notorious for buying titles out of loyalty, whether from completist compulsion or from a need to be able to complain about what they don't like, and DC knows it".
"It's hard to introduce any new hero," DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio tells Gustines, adding that using familiar names like (like Blue Beetle and Batwoman), "gives us a leg up so they're more readily accepted, I think that's the way to go."
Look for a link to the Times piece when it appears online, and an interview with DiDio on the new Batwoman and DC's drive to diversity Sunday, here at Newsarama.com.
The New Universe is back, as you might know.
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Shameless excuse to post a picture of Julie Newmar: |
Linda Carter is often a regular at Sacramento Kings games (why? that's another thread) but she still looks *great*.
From wiki:
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Warren Ellis and Salvador Larocca will work on a single-title reboot of the New Universe, with the first issue to be released in the summer of 2006 with the working title of newuniversal. Very few details have been revealed, but Ellis promises to build a vastly different New Universe experience by completely forgoing the continuity of the original and writing his own world. The series was equated to Ellis' creation of the Authority from Wildstorm's Stormwatch. newuniversal is predicted to come with a T+ rating.
In March, 2006 several one-shots were released as a lead-in to newuniversal. These were all set in the original continuity, and took place in a pre-pitt timeframe. They all had the name Untold Tales of the New Universe and included Star Brand, Nightmask, Justice, Psi-Force, and D.P.7. In the same month there were also backup stories in regular Marvel Universe books featuring Mark Hazzard: Merc, Spitfire and the Troubleshooters, and Kickers, Inc.
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As goofy as that NFL Superpro outfit is, when you think about it, the costume isn't all that more outrageous than some others. We're just all used to the idea that Superman wears red jockeys with blue tights, and that Captain America lugs that shield around all the time. Don't even get me started on Silver Surfer.
Batwoman and Batgirl are two very different characters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4167032.stm
Gallery told to drop 'gay' Batman
DC Comics has ordered a New York gallery to remove pictures which show Batman and Robin kissing and embracing. The Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts gallery was told it would face legal action unless it removed watercolours of the superhero by artist Mark Chamberlain. "DC Comics wants me to hand over all unsold work," said Ms Cullen. Arts website Artnet was also told to remove the series of semi-naked images of Batman and Robin from its website. DC Comics was unavailable to comment.
I like it!! :)
Sounds to me as if they have done ther market research and found out that the only people buying their comics are adult, and I use the term loosely, males.
May also be a movie in the offering.
Obviously. And does that make the cover shown any less funny...? :)
LOL Yeah, I guess I can see that.
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