QUOTE: "A ton of guys who do super violent, adult books complaining about no books are made for kids. Odd trend. Me? I just go make a book for kids."

I don't know if he's referring to Darwyn specifically but it's an interesting point, I think.

Only really interesting if those guys were producing super-violent superhero comic books. And monthlies at that.

Robert Kirkman does it, with INVINCIBLE, but he has never written that book for kids, or made the pretense of caring about "reaching" children or teenagers by allowing the slathering of the Superman or Spider-Man logo on clothing for kids, school supplies, lunchboxes, whatever. Then producing horrifically-told superhero comics with wall-to-wall violence and adult themes.

As far as it goes, concerning the lesbian thing, the Big Two either turn the character gay or they switch genders. It's the writers saying they haven't a clue how to make the characters interesting, since they're mostly failed Hollywood hacks who think they're writing vehicles for mid-1970s Robert DeNiro to star in. If the Big Two can't outright kill a character, perhaps due to entropy among the fan base, they pull the gay card or the gender card.

Ed Brubaker just busted out a new female Beetle villain character in CAPTAIN AMERICA. I love the Beetle, who became Mach-1 in the original THUNDERBOLTS. But again, you could argue at least that Brubaker feels like his Bucky-Cap needs his "own" villains, and is trying to balance nostalgia with the "demands" of his audience. He brought back Iron Hand Hauptmann, by the way, which was fantastic.

But frankly turning the Beetle into a woman made the character visually wrong. The Beetle, as a man, was at least somewhat visually "understood" as the creature he's named after. You can see the influence of a beetle-design in the costume, even the coolest one But the Beetle as a female, designed by Butch Guice, went with a sleek form-fitting deal, sexy and so on, with little thin flying wings and such. It looks like an armored Wasp character, not the Beetle. Love Guice, love the attempt, but the immediate reaction I had was surprise, because I didn't see a "beetle", I saw a sexy woman with wasp wings and stinger-blasts, which evoked another character.

I agree with Cooke. It's a shame when someone talks about super-heroes being for kids of all ages they get bashed. How about caring enough for the genre that you want it to thrive for future generations of children of all ages?

Saying that Frank Miller's All Star Batman and Robin was inteded as satire is like Tommy Wiseau saying his film THE ROOM was intentionally funny. I call B to the S.

The newest attempt by DC Comics to cash in on the "next generation" ie the sons/daughters of the 1990s generation. All the lazy tropes are here: heat vision vampire eyes, hip jacket, shirt untucked, no glasses, defused iconic presence, bland art and coloring. A veritible smorgasbord of Wrong for the flagship character of a publishing company AND one of the five most recognizable symbols in the world.

Shane Davis put a big ass crack right in the middle of the Super Symbol. That's all I can say about his art, right now.

**

And he'd be right - real kids, and kids at heart - those
that can just let go and embrace the genre and it's
conventions.

Again that cover's not good, but in general Shane Davis is a pretty good artist. Plus what's the saying about a judging books? ;)

Oh god, I can almost hear the Smallville TV theme playing in the background.

In an interview, he said how he had pitched a Wonder Woman title that would be for a more general audience, and geared towards reaching young girls. He said how the DC management could not care less about that project.

Now that would be something I would encourage my daughters to read (and me too!).

Did anyone catch Ben Caldwell's Wonder Woman strip in last summer's Wednesday Comics? That was an enjoyable series that my girls really liked!