Been There, Done That

Morning Glories #2

Written by Nick Spencer with art by Joe Eisma.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from “Morning Glories,” but the premise of a prep school mystery is certainly one that I’ve seen before: Morning Glory Academy isn’t what it seems.

The series kicks off with an escape attempt from the prep school, which involves blowing up part of the school. There’s no explanation for what’s going on and Spencer makes sure to keep the readers predominantly in the dark, only granting us with small details to this mystery.

So here’s what we know: The comic consists of six newly enrolled students at a new-age, highly successful prep school known as Morning Glory Academy. All of our protagonists share the same birthday, hinting at some revelation later on in the series. Their parents no longer remember who they are and, in the case of one student (Casey), her parents were murdered by the cliché, sadistic, librarian-esque teacher responsible for the children.

#2 opens with a sequence of panels detailing Casey’s torture at the hands of the dominatrix teacher. After refusing to answer her question, she’s thrown in detention, where she finds the other protagonists. I can honestly say that seeing all the characters at once is a bit disappointing. The guys are stereotypical, only chasing after barely-clad girls afterhours. The girls are even more disappointingly flat. Throughout the entire issue, the girls are subjected to an attempted murder, torture, and then almost drowned, all in the interest of the dominatrix establishing power and authority.

Spoiler: She wins by flooding the detention room. (Probably because the students are more interested in getting laid than getting out of a place that’s obviously not safe)

This issue is supposed to be about Casey, but she’s literally drowned out by the flashback stories of how the other students wound up in detention. And because the comic changes perspectives each issue, #3 will focus on Jade, a girl for whom I’ve already developed distaste,. But I’ll hold my judgments until then. It has potential if written well, but with the amount of female torture in these 26 pages, something tells me not to hold my breath.

And Now...

For the bad news:

X-Men #3

Written by Victor Gischler. Penciled by Paco Medina. Inked by Juan Vlasco. Colored by Marte Gracia.

We won't really focus on the plot the of this issue. In fact, the only background information you should know is that the X-Men are fighting a lot of vampires that Dracula's son is leading. And when I say the X-Men are fighting vampires, it's true. Not much fighting from the women. But I guess it doesn't really matter since the bulk of this issue is about Wolverine's search for Jubilee.

Jubilee used to be one of my favorite X-Men back when the TV series was airing. She was a Chinese-American girl, who lived in Beverly Hills with her wealthy immigrant parents, but then her parents were murdered. Later in life, she discovered her mutant ability and joined the X-Men family, but then she lost her power and went back to being a human. (Which, with the way mutants are treated in the Marvel universe, I was somewhat happy for her, but it did mean that she would probably only ever make cameo appearances from then on) But the torture didn't stop there, Jubilee went from being human to a hungry, sexy, dead thing.

And wow, did they make her sexy. She's not even recognizable to me. It really can't be the same girl so instead, we'll call her Boobilee:

And look at her legs! They're almost double the length of her torso and head. But more importantly, look at these two pictures:

Okay, okay. Now that you're over the shock that Boobilee bit Wolverine, let's actually take a look at how similar these two images are. The one on the right is a WWII propaganda poster. This particular poster shows a Japanese terrorist who's been likened to the vampire myth. Notice the fanged teeth, the obvious sex-and-death intent to a poor American victim, and the implication that if you don't invest in war bonds, it's like inviting this vampire into your home.

However, the image on the left is slightly different: The roles are reversed and now the Asian woman is depicted as the soulless vampire. Essentially, this image represents how our culture feels about women: They will kill you, even if you're the strongest, most masculine, and one of America's most favorite superheroes. (And if you know anything about comics, you know that Wolverine is that man) Also, this image represents how our culture feels about Asians. Yes, Jubilee is a Chinese-American woman, but she's also a stand-in for North Korea because she's one of the more popular characters with Asian heritage and Marvel doesn't have a North Korean comic book character.

To take things a step further, it's important to note that Boobilee wasn't turned into a vampire by being bitten. No, she was infected with a virus that Dracula's son created and released into a crowd of people. (Kinda like bio-terrorism) The sex metaphor is absent in her vamp story, but is certainly present in the image above with Wolverine. In this instance, Asian/woman rapes/kills man.

And that's all you really need to know about this story. It's sad to see one of my favorite superhero teams take such an awful turn. I don't plan to continue reading and I advise against anyone else picking it up.

Following in Daddy's Footsteps?

It’s time to review another X-Man comic and, despite my early reservations, this comic pleasantly surprised me.

X-23 #1

Written by Marjorie Liu. Art by Will Conrad and color art by John Rauch

X-23 is a mutant first introduced back in 2004. Her past is, not surprisingly, very similar to her father, Wolverine. (Marvel insists that she’s actually a genetic twin, but more about that later) I’m not a fan of Wolverine so I don’t expect X-23 to be much different. She was created in a lab and trained to kill like the femme fatale that every comic book nerd loves. Even in her origin story, the word used is “dehumanized.”

X-23 was supposed to be a clone of Wolverine, but the scientists were unable to reconstruct the Y chromosome and one of the scientists provided the X chromosome. (Hence, Wolverine is more of a father than a twin) So basically, women are an alternative to men in the comic book world, but what else is new.

When she eventually escaped the lab, Laura Kinney (the name her surrogate mother gave her) made her way to the X-Men. Although a teenager, her assassination skills instantly prompted Cyclops to recruit her into the X-Men’s black ops team.

After a brief time with the black ops team, Wolverine dismisses her, saying that it’s time she made her own decisions instead of always following orders. That’s where X-23 #1 picks up.

Besides the cliché character, X-23 is often described as feral (in fact, she can’t even control her actions sometimes) and incapable of doing anything without being ordered. She’s also been a prostitute, is commonly depicted cutting her wrists, and her origin story screams sexism.

With all that being said, I don’t have any complaints about this issue. Sure, Laura is messed up, but what child of Wolverine wouldn’t have problems or Daddy issues? What’s most striking about this comic is the potential it has for real character development.

The advertisement leading up to this issue was for a crossover event involving Wolverine, X-23, and Dark Wolverine. The headline reads, “Wolverine goes to Hell! And everyone must pay for his sins!”

Clearly, Laura’s got some tough times ahead of her, but it seems that this new series will give her the opportunity to grow and escape her father’s shadow, hopefully with less merciless killing involved. She has potential.

Blood-Sucking Feature

I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone how crazy the vampire trend is right now. I've never understood people's obsession with sexy dead things--or the fact that people actually wish they could be one of those sexy dead things.

Vampire imagery is becoming more and more common in pop culture. And just as more and more vampire fiction or vampire TV shows are written, you can bet that comic books are doing the same thing.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #36

Written by Joss Whedon with pencils by Georges Jeanty. Inks by Andy Owens, colors by Michelle Madsen, and letters by Richard Starkings.

I think I've mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer several times in this blog, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I've been reading the season eight comic books which, sadly, is almost over. This this is the first of the final five-issue story arc before fans are going to say goodbye to Buffy... Again!

So let me start off by saying that this issue is okay. It's certainly not the best Buffy comic I've read, but it is nice to read Whedon's work. It's his connection to the comics that really makes the translation from TV actually work. But for the story-telling this time, I wasn't uber-impressed.

The comics have recently reintroduced Angel (as the initial masked villain, Twilight) and Spike (as his usual self, but traveling with giant bug things). Whom can Buffy trust, if either? It's a scenario I was hoping Whedon would avoid because now Buffy's all weird and superwoman-like, and she created a higher plane of existence, and the Buffyverse as we know it is falling apart.

I was a bit disappointed that the majority of this issue is focused on the men even though it's Buffy's comic. However, it does serve to finally explain Angel's mysterious history and connection to the entire story line. It also gives the backstory to Spike's sudden arrival in the previous issue. Also, I love the jabs that Whedon makes at other vampire narratives: Angel's villain name is Twilight (I don't have to tell you the obvious reference), but yet the world supports him and rallies for vampire rights, similar to True Blood.

So while it's not exactly a woman-motivated issue, I recommend the entire series. Even the four issues still to come. Yes, I'm biased, but Buffy's a good role-model and she's a badass vampire slayer.

Batgirl's Comeback

Batgirl #12

Written by Bryan Q. Miller with Lee Garbett, Pere Perez, and Walden Wong on pencils and inks.

So I've always been a Batgirl fan. Well actually, a Barbara Gordon fan. If you grew up in the 90s or have family that grew up in the 90s, you might recognize her from Batman: The Animated Series. And even as an old lady, Babs was pretty awesome. But the comic books are where she really shined. Alicia Silverstone's portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin? Not so much. But then, the Joker shot her severing her spinal chord and rendering her paralyzed.

Needless to say, I was very upset with Alan Moore, but he later apologized to the fans of one of America's favorite comic book characters.

But that wasn't the worst of it. They introduced Cassandra Cain. She's you're typical femme-fatale ninja assassin. But no need to talk Ms. Cain, we don't want to listen to you. Yes, they created an abused and conflicted ninja assassin who can't talk.

Needless to say, I stopped reading.

Until I came across the new Batgirl cover in the comic book store. And guess what? She's blonde!

I had to do a bit of homework since I left Batgirl a while ago and apparently this is Stephanie Brown. Cassandra Cain passed the role to Brown when Batman supposedly bit the big one. Stephanie even used to be one of the dark knight's [girl]-wonders, Robin. So naturally it was time for a promotion.

Right from the beginning, I was captured by everything. The art is fantastic, but the storyline really manages to pull you in almost immediately (even for a guy who was jumping in at the end of the story). Basically, Barbara Gordon became The Oracle of Gotham City, a genius hacker who heads the Birds of Prey. Well she's been captured by her one of her nemeses, the Calculator and it's Batgirl's job to save her mentor and save the day.

But don't think Oracle is your standard damsel in distress. The Calculator is holding her captive inside a kind of mind-link between them. Babs is so smart, she learned how to fight back and his hol

ding her own until Batgirl comes to help her out.

What I found most appealing about this story is Batgirl's quirkiness. This is still a training period for her, even with her experience as two previous superhero identities. She makes mistakes, and Miller depicts them comically. She reminds me of my favorite super heroine, Buffy Summers (Of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). Her inexperience will also provide readers with the opportunity of actually seeing her develop as a character.

On Oracle's side of the fight, we get a bit more gritty as Barbara delves deeper into the twisted mind of the Calculator and we discover the reason for his insanity; I'm a bit disappointed that it's pinned on women, but it's only a minor detail in the shining roles the Batgirl and the Oracle play.

Overall, I really enjoyed the comic. It was a good mixture of comedy and drama and it kept me interested and invested in all of the characters. My only recommendation is to watch for the text boxes. They're so oddly placed in certain panels that it's easy to skip one and get lost.

But other than that, I would recommend Batgirl #12 to anyone.