Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Supergals & Bob Haney

Self-Promotion Dept. - I was a fan of the great American art of the comic book before I could even read the books myself (and I could read before most kids my age could even identify all of their letters). Frustrated by a string of setbacks with my movie projects--the story of my life--I've launched a pair of comic-related Facebook groups in the last few days.

Prolific and pulpy, unapologetically eccentric, wildly imaginative and, frequently, gloriously mad is the work of Bob Haney, writer of comic books. In a career that spanned over 50 years, Haney wrote an astonishing array of tales in nearly every genre, their quality ranging from madcap masterpieces to hacked-out-for-pay mush. He put in a very long run on "The Brave & The Bold," including the bulk of its particularly fine incarnation as a team-up-with-the-Batman book, when it was a key work in returning the Caped Crusader to his darker crime-fighter roots. He's a co-creator of the Teen Titans, Metamorpho the Element Man and many others. His work touched nearly every major DC Comics character. And he is spectacularly underappreciated for all of this. So I've set up "Haneyverse: The Brave & Bold Worlds of Bob Haney," something of an effort to give the Haney his due.

Last week, Marvel launched AGENT CARTER, their first female-led screen adaptation. In the midst of the current boom in comic book movies, I've frequently griped about the sparcity of superheroines who have made the leap from page to screen (including here), and parallel with the new show, I launched "Supergals: Heroines & Villainesses of Page & Screen." Not just those who go from page to screen, by any means. Besides just being a great, rich subject and a place people can use to rave about it, I have some more personal reasons for starting it--nieces, cousins, girls and women in general and others in particular.

If either interest you, come by and join in. The more the merrier.

--j.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to see you back and talk about something you enjoy. I don't think I could be able to join your group, but I like seeing that you like talking about female-led superheroes. I'd like to mention Molly Hayes and Squirrel Girl, two young and hilarious Marvel female superheroes. Molly Hayes is a Runaway that is immature, innocent and lively that can more than carry her own in fighting against Punisher and standing up to Wolverine. Squirrel Girl recently earned her own comic book line ("The UNBEATABLE Squirrel Girl") due to her immense popularity. She practically represents the joy of comics' earlier days; her squirrel-like abilities have made her singlehandedly defeat Wolverine, Deadpool, (maybe) Thanos, MODOK, and, in her debut, Doctor Doom.

    (I have to admit most of my knowledge of female Marvel heroes come from the facebook game Marvel Avengers Alliance. Tigra and Shanna are playable characters there. Please don't judge me haha)

    Speaking of Agent Carter I liked the first two episodes in the premiere. It's retro and cool, so it's refreshing for me. It's pretty safe though, although I don't really mind as long as it's working. I haven't seen episode 3, but from the reviews I've read I heard it's not bad but it's not as good as the premiere.

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