Welcome to October and the second month of DC’s New 52. It’s time to officially stop calling DC’s mishmash relaunch “new”; the bloom is off that rose, and the comics are just DC’s regular line now. And man, a whole ocean of words were written about DC’s newfound love for sex/nudity/Starfire last month — Laura Hudson over at Comic Alliance pretty much set the highwater mark for intelligent comic book criticism with her column on the issue — but there’s something on that same topic that still bothers me. And that something is Dejah Thoris.
Dejah Thoris 7 is the second chapter in the new Pirates of Mars story arc, and like the preceding six issues, this one balances exposition and action — and a whole lot of cheesecake. I would count myself a fan of all three of Dynamite’s Mars titles, but after reading Hudson’s impassioned and clearly-reasoned explanation of what’s wrong with the sexualization of women in comic books (bottom line: It exists at all, and it’s way too pervasive), I’m wondering if I should like this book so much. Hudson makes the point that much of the art in DC’s big offenders (Red Hood and Catwoman) is about pleasing the male viewer in a rather prurient fashion; it’s not about characterization or the character being a sex-positive woman or even story related. It’s just wish fulfillment for adolescent males. Dejah spends some tied up, and she still wears her double nickels and a hanky outfit, and there are some questionable poses in this.
However, her dinky outfit is more than what her creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs, envisioned her wearing, and on Barsoom what’s good for the goose is good for the gander: All the dudes are buff musclemen who wear Speedos and jewelry and that’s about it. More importantly, Dejah really is the hero of her own book, regularly saving men through her courage, intelligence and skill with a blade. I’d like to believe the clothing equality and Dejah’s own heroic nature makes this book not oppressive — but I don’t know that I’m the one to determine that. I think it’s a solid comic, always entertaining and true to the best parts of the original source material, and I don’t feel like a creep for reading it. I hope that’s the right answer.
Speaking of DC (we were, like 8.000 words ago), Static Shock 2 by Scott McDaniel and John Rozum builds greatly on the groundwork laid in the first issue. Static continues his fight against Virule (a sorta alien-looking assassin) and the Slate Gang (a bunch of teens on Tron’s LightCycles), he exhibits more of his trademark intelligence and problem solving and we discover that in his civilian life, he has a sister who has an exact duplicate of herself that lives with the family because no one can determine which one is the genuine article and which one is the copy. Honestly, I liked the action and Static’s whole super-smart internal monologue, but the bit with his sister hooked me in a huge way. I’m dying to find out more about that whole deal. I don’t want to jinx this, so let’s just say I’m starting to think Static is going to appear regularly in these reviews.
I’m totally throwing caution to the wind with OMAC, however; Keith Giffen and Dan Didio’s take on Jack Kirby’s classic sci-fi super soldier is one of the best new books of the year. Much of my enthusiasm is rooted in Giffen’s art, which is the Kirbyiest looking his work has ever been — I approve whole-heartedly. This issue sees Kevin Kho learning more about what OMAC is (a computer virus that allows him to transform into the super-powerful blue guy with mohawk also called OMAC), who Brother Eye is (a more-than-slightly-menacing AI that infected him with the OMAC and is now using him to further its own ends) and what OMAC stands for (One Machine Attack Construct). This things a thrill ride from start to finish, delving into conspiracy theory, having OMAC brawl with Amazing Man and delivering a surprise on the last page. This is exactly what I want from an OMAC comic. I’m shocked and thrilled that I like this so much.
Turok Son of Stone 4 is also a great comic, but nobody’s reading it. And after this month you can’t read it, because it’s been canceled like all of the other Gold Key revival books Dark Horse was publishing. Ah, well. It was fun while it lasted.
Fun and then some also describes Snarked 1, written and drawn by Roger Langridge. If you missed the 0 issue of this, don’t worry. Everything you need to know is contained within this book. The King is missing, his children Princess Scarlett and Prince Rusty are determined to find him, the King’s advisors are determined to steal power for themselves, and Wilberforce J. Walrus and his pal McDunk are bound and determined to just steal whatever gets them by. Langridge draws his inspiration from the works of Lewis Carrol (there’s a certain smiling cat who appears this month) as well as the great comedians of yore (W.J. Walrus bears more than a passing resemblance to W.C. Fields, and Dudley Moore & Peter Cook make a cameo as well). There’s more than a whiff of classic E.C. Segar to Langridge’s art; Langridge has a more cartoony style, but the resemblance is unmistakable. So to sum up, Snarked is a witty, funny, smart adventure story in the style of the Golden Age of Sunday funnies — I don’t know that it gets much better than that.
And yet, I find myself shocked to admit that OMAC is the best thing I read this week. It pays homage to Kirby’s original creation while charting its own course, and it really and truly is a fantastic superhero comic book — and no women are denigrated within its pages.
-Paul
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