She's writing feminist fangrrl things! Quick, before you miss it!

[eumelia]

It's been a while since I wrote a real fangrrl commentary on something fannish. Real life has somewhat taken over, though I'm sure I haven't lost my touch.
I'm sure some of you are aware of this poster going around the Internet, not to mention New York Comic Con:


From left to right Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Barbara gordon (Oracle), Zatanna Zatara (Zatanna), Dinah Lance (Black Canary), Karen Starr (Power Girl), Diana (Wonder Woman), Kara Zor-El (Supergirl), Kate Kane (Batwoman), Mari Jiwe McCabe (Vixen), Pamela Isely (Poison Ivy) and Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn).

So what is it that we have here, other than a bunch of attractive women in formal wear?

Personally, there were a few there I couldn't tell the difference between until I really looked for the fine differential details between them all, like the two blonds; one standing next to Wonder Woman and the other standing next to Power Girl.
I mean, from the stance I recognized who Supergirl and who Black Canary were, that and Supergirl is wearing a mini-dress which I suppose alludes to her itty-bitty-titti costume, but I digress.
What is Black Canary's trademark look?

Someone? Anyone?

Friends, where are Ms. Lance's fishnets?
Zatanna, for example, has the hat and gloves, Posion Ivy has, well, ivy in her hair and on her dress and Harley has a Harlequin masque and small pom-poms on the edges of her dress (plus the gigantic smile, which appears diminished in the poster).
So the difference between two of the blonds who aren't really wearing formal wear which either alludes or is recognizable as their suits (mini skirt notwithstanding) is that the other woman in the poster are recognizable with one other exception which I will get to, not to worry.

I like that fact that the villainous/morally ambiguous women were put on the margins, also they are turned away from the other, it's as though Selina is saying "you don't think I'm a superhero, do you?" and she's in black, as though she'd be caught dead in white. Poison Ivy and Harley seem to be reminiscing the old days when they had their own little worrisome two-some that gave Batman a pain in the neck.

Diana is exactly where she should be, dead center looking straight ahead and looking like the goddess she is (while off duty and having cocktails at some UN event being all ambassadory). Diana looks how I would imagine her on Themyscera if she ever got the crown, contemporary and and Grecian style.
Who could mistake Power Girl for anyone else, the in/famous Boob Window... adds character it does.

Oddly, Vixen seems incongruous with the rest of the characters there, there's nothing distinct about her (like Supergirl and Black Canary, but they're standing next to two leading ladies), except her colour, which is an important distinction to make seeing as not too long ago there was a mighty big faux pas with her colour (certain artists made her look Caucasian... yeah), but surely there should be something more. Is that her talisman around her neck? Why not make it bigger an obvious (like the boob window, or the ivy, or the masque, etc.)
What? Did Adam Hughes not want to make Vixen look "Ethnic"? She's from an African Nation, her power is based on the power that a local god bequeathed, why is she so... not there in the poster?
I'm not looking to start a huge brouhaha, but women of colour, marginalised, I don't think I need to say more.

Now, I'm no artist, but I understand composition, when you have a character sitting, it's no good for them to be the only one sitting, especially when they are on the side and not in the middle. Barbara, being who she is, is sitting, in a mighty fine dress I might add, and though she looks like she's about to leap out, it's just a pose. The other elegant lady sitting is Kate Kane, Gotham Socialite, Batwoman and, c'mon you know it, that's right, Lesbian.
No, never would have guessed; the pant suit, the spread legs, it just screams Lezzie.
*sigh*
Pity that in canon she's in the closet (last I checked) and wears dresses to formal affairs.
Give the pant suit to Babs, it's so much more her style.
But then, then people would think she's a Lesbian!

There are two kinds of people who would buy this poster; those who know everything I've mentioned and those who don't care and just like pretty women.

Good poster, some things missing and a few aggravating details that should be fixed, but all in all, a very aesthetically pleasing poster of DC's most powerful women, I wouldn't mind seeing that hanging on my wall.
*HINT-HINT*

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

That's an homage to a famous Vanity Fair cover isn't it?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Very well could be, though you're looking at the wrong person to know which one.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

It's definitely ringing a bell from somewhere, but I can't place where.

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

To be entirely fair, I don't think I'd recognise a lot of the male characters out of costume, either! I liked the variety of body types (given that they're all young-ish and very fit) and facial expressions, especially Diana's. Vixen looks very much like she did on the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, but I would also have liked something more to be made of her iconic talisman. And Kate Kane - oh dear. I have really enjoyed the character in the Crime Bible mini as a partner/foil for the Question, but outside of that, she seems to only have one defining characteristic!

Question: is it progress that we've gone from "she's the girl" being enough characterisation for a female character to "she's the lesbian" being enough characterisation for a lesbian character? (Though I do like Rucka's characterisation of Kate and of Montoya, and he easily steers away from the one-note thing.)

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

I think they do one like this every year as a fold-out cover, thus (http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/02/04/vanity-fair-honors-the-rising-women-stars-of-2007/), often with all women, but sometimes a mix of men and women.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ah ha, yes, that's the sort of thing I'm thinking of. Well done.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Thing is, it's been a while now since there's been only one girl is teams, there are now all girl teams as we know.

I mean when I describe the physical characteristics of comic book characters when I'm talkning to a non-aficionado you do end up short, because despite the variety of body shapes in the posters you pretty much end at blond/brunette, lean/muscular, [costume description] and then you have to figure out how to get them to know the difference when they meet them in stories.
Barbara is the disabled one. Harley is the flaky one. Kate is the one-dimensional Lesbian one.
It's all very frustrating.

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

I'm really terrible with faces, and I think it would be awesome if everyone wore a costume or name badge IRL! It would make things so much easier.

I think that characters like Barbara, Harley and Dinah have got a lot more solid in their characterisation (quite a big slice of that is due to Gail Simone) over the last decade or so, but newer characters like Kate seem to be just thrown out there with a great big label attached. Still, once there's many female characters, there's a need to differentiate by more than hair colour and boobs. I'm hoping that once there's more lesbian characters (and DC has at least four that I can think of) the same thing will happen.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Gail Simone is Love!!!

I'm really terrible with faces, and I think it would be awesome if everyone wore a costume or name badge IRL! It would make things so much easier.
Making the secret identity thing moon ;) Can you imagine Bruce walking around with a domino mask! LOL

[morin.livejournal.com]

The two sitting characters are also both of the bat brand. Barbara is cool as the oracle, she was also cool as batgirl.

[bitter-moss.livejournal.com]

'tis pretty & makes me wish i had more time/money to read comics but it all seems so overwhelming...but the Batverse has been calling me for years. Although one of my besties literally has a library room just for comic stuff in her house so i should ask her for some borrowing rights & advice on where to start ^-^.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I have also had no time and money for new reading material, hence the not much writing and I never feel the urge to comment on the TeVi shows I watch... *shrug*

Yes, Batverse is the best imo, with a little bit of JLA thrown in for good measure :D

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Babs is the bomb in everything she does, no question.
If Bruce had any control over what she does she's have never become Oracle as he would have deemed her irrelevant. Lucky Batman has people who disobey him all the time ;)