For every comic project that gets the green light, there's a hundred more that never make past the idea stage. Sadly, a lot of awesome projects are passed up and we never hear about them again no matter how much creativity or passion go into them.
Lois Lane, Girl Reporter follows the adventures of young Lois Lane. At eleven years old, Lois has discovered her calling: investigative journalism. She sets out to right wrongs and help out her friends. This series explores Lois’s character, reveals her surprising early influence on the future Man of Steel, and introduces fun new elements into this enduring character’s back story.
While Lois Lane is one of the most recognizable female characters in the DC Universe (Second ONLY to Batgirl, sorry Diana!) and the archetype for women reporters in comics (Don't think I haven't figured you out April O'Neil!), she is used primarily as a plot device for Supes. Most writers exploit her as the invulnerable man's only weakness, when in actuality she's a bad ass who can hold her own against Superman's rogues gallery. If I could write Action Comics, I would make Lois Lane the main protagonist for the first arc just because she's so under utilized compared to her potential. People think of Lois as the Michelle to Barack, DC's first lady, Superman's girlfriend, the end. I know better then that. Lois calls the shots in Metropolis.
For those reasons, the idea of Lois Lane, Girl Reporter SINGS to me. This was DC's opportunity to showcase a character that's been around for 80's years outside of the shadow of her boyfriend and do it in a way that would appeal to young girls who want to read comics.
Ok that's probably not true, but with Gail Simone's announcement that she's been bumped as series writer, one question remains. Who will be the next to write Bagirl?
Today Simone posted on Tumblr a message titled "I'M SO FRICKING FORTUNATE IT'S RIDICULOUS" confirming the Bleedingcool report that she was "fired by email."
"Okay, well, if you read the news on Bleeding Cool, I unfortunately have the sad duty to confirm that it’s true. As of Wednesday of last week, I was informed by an email from my new editor that I am no longer the writer of Batgirl. I cannot express my disappointment at this. I think everyone is aware how important Barbara Gordon is to me, and how important it is to me that her stories be told with respect and care, both for the character and the readers. We tried our very best to do that, and it was an honor to write Barbara for these many years."
Simone goes on to thank her fans and others in the Bat-offices for their support including various editors, artists, and Scott Snyder himself, calling him a friend.
Whoever takes over the title, has a lot of dots to connect as Batgirl #13 laid the foundation for an entire year's worth of stories that fans will be upset if left ignored.
As for Simone's future with DC, it's unclear. Earlier this week she asked her fans what characters from any publisher would they like to see her write. Responses varied, but Storm was a frequent answer.
Get ready for the angry fan battle cry. There's no bigger villain in comics to a Batgirl fan than DC Editorial.
I think this quote from Tyra Banks on an episode of America's Next Top Model sums up my feeling on DC's Worlds' Finest:
"Be quiet Tiffany, be quiet. What is wrong with you? Stop it! I have never in my life yelled at a girl like this! When my mother yells like this, it's because she loves me. I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you! How dare you! Learn something from this. When you go to bed at night, you lay there and take responsibility for yourself, cause nobodies gonna take responsibility for you! You rollin' your eyes, and actin' like this because you've heard it all before. You've heard it all before, you don't know where the hell I come from! You have no idea what I've been through! But I'm not a victim, I grew from it, and I learn! Take responsibility for yourself!"
You get the idea. Needless to say, I'm disappointed in the book. So much so, I dropped it a few issues ago. I'm tempted to pick it up again to see Helena's interaction with Damian, but I keep having these Tyra moments when I think about the series so far. Power Girl's disappearing wardrobe issues aside, the writing is weak compared to Earth 2, or Batgirl, or any of the other Bat-books.
I don't want the series to be canceled. The concept behind the book is brilliant. Both Helena and Peej have a fan base, and if the book were just better written that fan base could grow. I want to support female driven comics with my money, but I can't if that book is just all around bad. At this point though, I think the only way to save it would be to put Bryan Q. Miller or Gail Simone on it. Both writers have had critical success with female driven books. Bryan's scenes with Steph and Kara were some of the most compelling of his Batgirl series, so I know he could handle Power Girl and Huntress with the right amount of comedy, compassion, and lesbian subtext that these two characters deserve.
But if the inevitable does happen, and Tyra's standing there with one picture left in her hang and an angry smize on her face, I hope she says what we were ALL thinking from the first issue. "I was rooting for you, WORLDS' FINEST! We were all rooting for you! How dare you! Take responsibility for yourself!"
Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, a day when members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer communities share their coming out stories in order to let others who are dealing with sexual identity issues know that they are not alone. I know a thing or two about the coming out process because 12 years ago I did it.
Growing up gay in the South was like growing up as a superhero, except without all of the sexy superpowers. The moment I realized that I was different was the moment I was handed a secret identity. What made it worse was the fact that this realization hit when I was in 7th grade. At that age, all I wanted to be was normal. I tried to fight it. I tried to ignore it in the hopes that it... me, the other me, would just go away. When it got to be too much, I tried to pray it away. With tears running down my face, I sat in my room feeling like I was the last Son of Krypton. As far as I knew I was the ONLY gay kid in the entire state of Alabama, and I just wanted my feelings to go away.
Then, the words came out.
I'm GAY.
I had never said it to myself before. I knew I liked guys for years before that moment, but I hated myself so much for it that I refused to acknowledge that there was a word for it. Once I accepted it, it was inevitable that I would start the coming out process.
It would be two years before I was fully out. I started telling a friend here and there. Then a family member. Then my mom, and THAT was hard to do without superpowers. The worst part of the process was not knowing who to trust. Throughout my high school years, I lost a ton of friends who couldn't deal with the secret I was hiding. When I did eventually meet another "Kryptonian," dating in south Alabama felt dangerous. Mathew Shepard was ever present in the back of my mind. Years later, I just knew that a gay hating Legion of Doom was going to bomb the theater the day I went to see Brokeback Mountain, but I went anyway because being gay, just like being a superhero, means being brave.
Fast forward to today. I'm 26 now, and I just realized what I want to do with my life, what I need to do with my life. I need to write comics. I'm finding myself having to come out of a whole new closet because of it. I just told my mom and she was less than thrilled because of the lack of financial security, but she wants me to be happy. For me being happy means accepting that not only am I gay, but I'm also a comic book nerd. Luckily, the two aren't mutually exclusive.
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