Wonder Woman: BLOOD (the new 52)

 

Wonder Woman.

Everyone knows Wonder Woman. She’s an icon as recognisable as Batman or Superman. And she’s been around for a while.

I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about Wonder Woman - I don’t. Her history is varied. I do now at one point she owned a mod boutique and was also made from clay. I know she had an invisible plane - which is always fun to imagine. And I know she has been an enduring symbol of feminism when she was released. In fact, I think that was the point of Wonder Woman. She did everything the superhero men did – but she did it while being in possession of a vagina.

 

 

I know she has been relaunched a few times, the most recent of which was the new 52 - which is what I’ve just got as a present from one of my friends.

And it’s good! Blood is a collection of the first six issues, and so far I like what i'm seeing.

You probably already know the basics about the relaunch - that she’s now being written as the bastard daughter of Zeus - and no longer birthed from a wish on clay. This is now just a cover story that Hippolyta used to protect her daughter from god-driven machinations.

Wonder Woman is a bit younger, a bit less all knowing, a bit more impulsive. She’s fierce, and can be a bit scary. She’s still well known – but her plans don’t always work – which is great!

There's a strong emphasis on mythology - and that's what really sucked me in. I love the greek gods, and these interpretations of them are fresh and interesting.

The story starts in media res, with an introduction of the antagonist (well, one of them) and then following a young girl - Zola - who suddenly finds out she is pregnant with another of Zeus’ bastards.

That god gets around.

 

The main conflict in the story is really about the gods’ affairs. Zeus disappears, leaving his brothers Poseidon and Hades trying to take his throne. Zeus’ unloved wife – Hera - spends the first six issues rampaging around in a peacock feather cloak, taking revenge on all Zeus bastards - including Zola. Hermes entangles Wonder Woman by asking her to take care of Zola - then she is further entwined by the revelation that Zeus is her father. Wonder Woman spends the first six issues trying to sort out the whole “who should be sitting on the god throne” thing - and also dealing with her mother’s lie, and the fact she suddenly has a family of gods and demigods. And is a demigod herself.

That’s a big change. Though events in the book, Wonder Woman must align herself with her “new” family - the gods, instead of the Amazons. I know she’s left the Amazons in other timelines - but still that changes her character in a big way. I can no longer think of her as an Amazon – and a major event in the book removes that option – I now think of her as Zeus daughter. Hercules’ half sister...

Weird. But weird doesn’t equal bad.

Another big change in character is the addition of male heritage to Wonder Woman - and Hippolyta - who had become a perfect feminist icon.

on the cover of Ms.

 

I’ve been reading a few forums where internet peeps are questioning this – implying that adding the father, in fact giving her any male relations, reduces the impact she has as the perfect Amazonian.

Let’s just think about that. It's a little misguided.

Wonder Woman didn’t become a feminist icon because she was made of clay and a wish – she became a feminist icon because she believed in good over evil – she fought for good, over evil – and was a woman.  

It shouldnt matter that she is somehow "tainted" by the seed of a man. Being an amazon or a demigod doesn't have to affect her core character. Because being a pure amazon isn't what made her act the way she acts.

She should be the same basic character with a few tweaks.

 

 

Give her a chance in this new relaunch, let her prove herself to be what you expect. If she falls short - she does. I mean it's not like she hasn't had a few stumbles over the years ...

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/03/the_6_worst_jobs_wonder_woman_ever_had.php

...but she remains a strong character. This new series is exciting because not only is Wonder Woman in the middle of an interesting story, she’s a strong character, who just happens to be a woman.

I love that.

TAKE MY MONEY, DC. I WANT THE NEXT ONE.

Borderlands stays out of the kitchen!

'Sup.

So, in relation to my last post... Borderlands 2 is one of the games that realises apparently half the gaming population is female. And what follows is a rambling review of gender-specific part of the game.

Unlike the first game, which I remember being pretty heavy on the sausage (and light on the story) this game has surparssed expectations and made a shooter that includes women. And I don't mean a token chick - an effort to reach a demographic - women are integrated into the fabulous world of Pandora. The roles for women aren't - for the most part - female specific, a lot of the roles seem genderless, and only include women because, well, half of us ARE female.

The producers of the game haven't targeted girl-gamers, it doesnt come off that way at least, they've just made a fully realized world. The whole production of the game seems pretty female-friendly... okay, apart from that casual misstep where one of the producers nicknamed one of the "hey you suck? well pick this" skill the girlfriend tree and got raked over the coals...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-13-borderlands-2-gearbox-reveals-the-mechromancers-girlfriend-mode

 

Just to clarify, I suck at critical hits. But that's because I didnt grow up with first person shooters - I grew up with Bloodrayne.

...the whole Borderlands 2 experience is welcoming for a woman. I'm not going to go into the "TITS OR GTFO" experiences some people have on the servers, I haven't played online so I don't know what the community is like - but the game itself is done the way it should be.

Ellie - likes: cuddling, murder

It's little things - walking up to a NPC in town and hearing a female voice (alot of the random characters in the towns are androgynous looking), getting many questlines of female characters. You spend time with the vault hunters from the first game - and the character that's around the longest is Lilith. Surprising.

I have to note that the humanoid grunt-enemies you fight in the game are all male - you wont find any real female presence there apart from the occasional Queen Sandworm .

I can't assume it was to save costs when there are so many enemy types. I'm not sure what drove that choice when female presence and image was so easily achieved elsewhere in the game. Perhaps market studies show that people are just happier shooting virtual men? *shrug* for a different blog perhaps...

Before launch, there were four main characters, and it was the usual spread of three male/one female - but then they added Gaige, who I believe is a thirteen yr old robot-constructor. I was pleasantly surprised! Three to two isn't bad - especially when we're talking about a shooter, a usually male dominated genre.

But on TOP of the even character genders, they also show a full spectrum of female archtypes. From Tiny Tina - a tween explosives expert, to Moxxie - the oversexualised one,

Moxxie's favourite weapon - Miss Moxxie's Good Touch is a gun that vibrates your controller when you equip it.... Hmmm....

to Angel - the helpless madonna, to Gaige - the cute one, to Ellie - the one defying body image, to Captain Scarlett - the one that will definitely stab you in the back.

I friggen love the jovial, upper crust, hook-handed Scarlett.

These women aren't the usual bikini clad, big chested dolls that usually populate video games (despite what an internet search on the females in the game could lead you to believe, I swear there are a lot of great artists out there that want to do nothing but draw Maya performing favours on the rest of the main characters) - not every female character is a sexpot like Moxxie. And that's important to have - it's good that females aren't just represented by "sexy". There are more character options out there - and Gearbox understood that.

Wearing a blood-stained mask of a Psycho on her head...

I couldn't be happier seeing so many females populating Pandora. And the ability to play two different female characters - with female voices - it's just great. I'm invested in this game, and it is an amazing game besides all this, because I feel welcome to it.

 

Hopefully the big damn success of Borderlands 2 will encourage other production houses to look closely at what Gearbox Software does. Not only has it made an engaging game here, it’s made an involving game for all those gamers out there - not just half.

Girl gamers? Not such a minority anymore...

So I got the EB World email, along with 1 million other gamers. And I was surprised to see 42% of those gamers ... were female!

Say what?

I know. For a moment, I thought someone may have made a typo as well. But I'm going to go with it. In fact, the surprise was a happy one. All I ever hear about in regards to girl gamers is the gender disparity in the community - mostly represented by the question: "Wait - you play games? You?"

Yes I do. And apparently so do a lot of other women.

This what it must've been for all the gamers in 1986, victoriously finishing Metroid after hours only to find... *GASP* Samus Aran is a girl!

You crafty bitch! I couldn't see your swimsuit under all that power armor!

That might not seem like a big surprise but in 1986 - it was! Whahhh? A girl?
The creator actually put this reveal in to surprise the player - which to be surprising has to be unexpected. And it was, despite coming out early in the line up, Samus was surrounded by Contra, Super Mario Bros, a ton of male sprites in assorted sport games, Castlevania etc etc And Samus caused a stir. She even has a trope named after her...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SamusIsAGirl

Despite being created for shock value, Samus also created a female presence in games. While many people perceived her as hardly making any strides forward for female kind because under the power armor she could be anything - male, female, alien - that's not really the point. She just is a woman. The story isn't any different, she kicks butt like any other character would. She definitely isn't helpless. And she's a chick.

Why did I even mention Samus? Because she represents! I'm a woman and I don't mind playing male characters but that doesn't mean I *only* want to play male characters.
Portal's Chell is a modern version of Samus. She's a woman for the reason that... she is. There is no reason. It's not a big thing. She just has girl-parts instead of boy-parts. There should be more of this.

And I agree, we are getting much more! RPG games would have a female character choice as a standard now.
FPS usually have at least a 1 in 4 chance of a woman. Borderlands is the one I've been playing recently. Left 4 Dead is another.

But I want more. I want a female protag in a Bioshock type game. I want a Wonder Woman game as awesome as Batman: Arkham City!

Games are still mostly representing males, it's true. A quick view at Playstation's Coming Soon List confirmed my suspicions (along with a very high number of sequels?) I think all the titles in the next few months have male looking characters on the covers.

But hey, if 42% of gamers are apparently females... then we have a weighty presence. We BUY almost half your products. Want to sell more games to 42% of your market? I have a few ideas how...

Angel: Blood and Trenches by John Byrne

Set in WWI!

I picked this one up because of the artwork actually. Not just the cover (above), but the artwork is a bit different than what I usually see, and very cool. John Byrne is the writer and artist for this one, and the graphics are actually pencilly looking. There's no real ink work. No clean lines. No real colour for most of it! The pictures look like sketches.

I think that's awesome!

The only colour that appears that departs from graphite - is the colour red. I'd say it was Sin City-esque but Sin City is so clean and sleek - this isn't. This is rough. And it works.

The artwork is great - what about the story?

Basically, Angel is in New York, reading some news articles about the war, and (without spoiling you too much) he sees "something" that he believes might require his attention on the front line. *ahem* vampires.

That's not really a spoiler, it was a pretty high chance the antagonists in the story would be vampiric. Or demonic.

Anyway, Angel gets himself on a boat and starts investigating while working as an ambulance driver.

Sound interesting? It is! Actually this is only a few pages but that just sounds enthralling to me. I want to know MORE. I wanted to see more of his interactions with the other people. I wanted more build-up. I want MORE backstory, more character tension, more every-day situations and how hard they are for him at that time. But what I got was still great. I just wanted more...

Angel as an ambo in WWI.

This story is more of a character study about Angel, dealing with his nature. This is a lot closer to his Angelus days than we usually saw in the series. Which is great. I like exploring Angel's past. I always wished there was more of it in the show - and a graphic novel form is the perfect media.

Byrne writes Angel very well. He's very reserved in this era - and has a lot less control over himself and his actions than the Angel we're used to. He's still trying to come to terms with himself. He's not there yet.

The story is pretty simple, though told in a not-quite-linear fashion which stops it from going dry too quickly. I liked Angel's headspace in this one - he flees a lot, he's not strong, and he's not quite in control. It's a great look at a character I love.

I recommend it.

Why it’s important to have more “Brave” roles for women in movies

Brave is an important movie, perhaps more important than it thought it might be. Media attention aside for the moment. Revenue and profit aside too, for the moment.

Brave is a movie about women.

I’ve had people ask me why that point is important. It’s important because women honestly don’t feature in most movies. Actually, they don’t feature in most media.

That statement might send some people into scoffing disbelief, but pay close attention to it. I said feature. Women might exist in every movie or television show you’ve seen recently – but do they feature? Is there more than one woman in that movie? Do they progress the plot? And Bechdel’s infamous question: do they talk about anything other than a man?

For interest, I had a look at the top 50 most popular 2012 movies in IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=2012,2012&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

As of writing this blog, 6 of those 50 had female leads – and one of those was Twilight. Another 3 titles had split 50/50 male and female leads.

Considering women are half the population, those aren’t great odds.

This is important, and no, it’s not just because I’m menstruating.

Movies themselves are a microcosm of our current culture. Women being underrepresented in movies says something about our culture at large. While egalitarianism is no longer at the forefront of our minds – ‘cause women can work and buy their own tampons and shit – this phenomenon still shows our current culture clearly. This underuse shows that men – and their stories – are more important to our society.

Brave is Pixar’s thirteenth movie, and their first female protagonist. Why? It’s a money thing. There’s a secretive agreement we’ve all come to, in the boardrooms of the people who greenlight movies and in the isles of Target when you’re buying a movie to watch: men will watch movies about men, and women will watch movies about women AND men.

The movie houses get nervous about releasing things with female leads because they honestly think it can’t sustain a male audience and thus will lose out on 50% of the supposed earnings.

Which is why Brave is so important. Because Brave is a great movie, it’s an actioned packed, emotional movie about breaking social norms. About breaking free and taking charge of your own destiny.

And it’s driven by women. Strong women, who can lead and have their own stuff to deal with, and their own female-female relationships to nurture. And just like little girls could love Woody and Buzz – little boys could love Merida.

And no, I’m not saying you should never have a movie aimed at women, or a movie aimed at men. I’m just saying, that by the law of averages, we should be about 50/50 and we’re not – we’re nowhere near.

It's an anthropomorphic sausage party up in here

This issue is especially important in children’s movies, because children need role models. Most female roles in children’s movies are either princess (a ‘girls’ movie), a secondary character or some sort of token femme-ification of a male character.

How did that woman get in here?

Children are like little sponges, and if all little girls can take away from movies to look up to is a token female they’re going to learn their place in our society very well and very quickly. They’re going to learn that women aren’t equal. They’re going to learn that a story about a women is merely a secondary plot. They’re going to learn that a woman is just not as important as a man is.

It’s important for women to be represented in movies, and television and books. And our society can change its current standpoint. If it's Brave enough.

Review: Angel & Faith: Live Through This Volume 1 by Christos Gage

warning: yeah I'm probably going to nerd out on this one.

Angel & Faith #1-5, plus the Harmony one-shot.

I've always been a bit skeptical of Angel - at least in comic book form. Dark Horse published a few series while Angel the Series was still on air.

I likened these comics to the many AtS books that were released as a media tie-in - you know, where the writers were still writing about Doyle while the show was in series 2 and Doyle was long dead. Never minded this. While the books weren't canon, they were interesting stories about characters I loved and I collected them greedily. Only a few ever really captured the essence of the show though, honestly - at best, they were really really good fan fiction.

The comics from that era were the same, though I wasn't as interested in collecting those. More often they missed the target, either in storytelling, or in art direction.

Then, as AtS began to reach the end of it's televised life, IDW Publishing picked up the rights for Angel, and released some one-shots leading up to and after the final season. These were considered non-canonical, BUT IDW were in charge of Angel: After the Fall which IS considered the canonical season six.

Now, I tried to read this season six. And I hated it. I found it confusing, and infuriating. The characters, to me, just didnt ring true, and I pretty much rage-quit the whole thing and vowed not pick it up again.

I think the comics in general - from what i've read! -  seem to push the character building into the background, bringing the plot in as all important. This is not for me - though I appreciate some people would enjoy that.

Now Joss backs the season six, validating it for being able to do things that a television budget would never allow. I think this is one of the things Ive always had issue with in media-tie ins. I'm USED to those constraints. I know that's a funny thing to say, but the universe has been layed out in the show. It's been constructed keeping visual budgets in mind. So to break those and bring in grand-scale ideas is often jarring.

Not saying that's a good or a bad thing - but for instance, one of the one-shots from IDW Publishing (Auld Lang Syne) have Angel and Spike spending time in a hell dimension that, while interesting and quite awesomely designed with skulls and demon dominatrixes, is not something you'd see on the show. So it feels out of left field.

Uh... not used to this.

I was never really that interested in Buffy so never really followed her television series after s3, let alone the comics. I know there was something about Dawn being a centaur and Twilight - the big bad of the season - turned out to be a (possessed?) Angel. Which I only heard about because it caused a bit of a stir amongst the combined Buffy/Angel fanbase asit knocked Angel's season six out of whack.

Well, Angel & Faith picks up after that development.

Dark Horse is taking back the reins to the franchise, and have released this comic as a spin off to Buffy's canonical season nine.

We start off in London, and for those of us that missed the Buffy season eight (i.e. me) we get  surprisingly swift and skilled exposition of that arc, and how it relates to the story and our two titular characters.

Basically, the world is without magic, there are still slayers, and Angel is dealing with the fact he killed Giles while possessed by Twilight. Faith is pretty much looking after a catatonic Angel after the Twilight episode.

The plotline from that is refreshingly simple: Angel wants to use the macguffin to bring Giles back.

That's it.

Faith, the perfect sarcastic foil for the straight of Angel's character.

What the writers realised, is that these characters are pretty interesting. The plot isn't what you read this particular comic for. It's a character study.

From Angel's side, you see him trying to adapt to life after another set of bad decisions that led to blood on his hands. You see him adopt Giles' mannerisms as he tries to find a way to undo one of the worst things he's done - in a creepy bit that I believe shows just how close he is to cracking.

Faith is Faith. In the series, she evolved from an unwanted rebel, to a caretaker. She's in a caretaker role in this story too. Not only is she looking after Angel, she's looking out for a group of slayers who seem to keep getting themselves in trouble. She's looking out for Angel because he looked out for her.

Faith in the grown-up role.

Though Faith continually, and silently, questions Angel's motivations and the morality of bringing Giles back from the dead - she plays along with it, knowing that Angel is close to the edge and his revival of Giles is what's keeping him going.

On a more superficial note, I've scanned so many sections because the art in this is amazing. This is the best I've ever seen the characters look in drawn-form. Especially Faith - which is great because this, at the moment, is more her story and a lot of it relies on her expressions in any given scene. Beyond the text, you can see what Faith's thinking, which is something that is missing with lesser artists.

It's really worth a read. I always thought Angel always related so well to Faith and that the relationship wasn't properly explored in the show. Also the combination of Faith's sarcasm and sexuality with Angel's repression and depression always worked so well.

This one more than makes up for for the lack of it in the television show. I was quietly hoping I would like this comic because of the two characters... and it exceeded expectations.

More please.

You can get it from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Faith-Volume-Live-Through/dp/1595828877/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

Review: X-Factor Issues #1 - 17 by Peter David and others.

Vol 1

Okay, so I'm going to start off honestly here - I am not up to date on the X-Men mythos. I'm sure I'm not alone. I've tried. I've really tried! But trying to wrap my head around all the information is like trying to cram a McGangBang into my mouth.

I mean, not only do you have over 50 years of storylines to get through, you've got characters dying, reappearing... having babies, flying in from different worlds... you've got people like damn Jean Gray having two characters in the series - and she's not the only one!
No matter which story I read, the characters are always referencing other plots that I know nothing about.

For an outsider, this universe of outsiders is damn hard to get into.


Cue: X-Factor.

As per the above, I wouldn't usually read an X-Men title because, simply, I never know what's going on. But, my friend brought up X-Factor in a discussion about the marketing hype of DC's new 52 relaunch (and the teaser of a gay character) and I thought it sounded alright and that I'd give it a go.

I'm glad I did.

This has probably been the most rookie-friendly title I've read from this universe. Yes - this is from the House of M universe, which is not the regular universe, but still...it feels like the start for me. A massive event happened in House of M - which I can summarise (hopefully correctly) as this:

A mutant (and witch) was working with the Avengers. She started using her

powers in new ways and her magic made her a bit cray cray. She attacked the avengers,

was defeated, lasped into a coma,

 and then was looked after by Magneto and her brother Quicksilver.

Quicksilver convinced her to alter reality. She did, making a reality where humans are the minority and mutants are ruled by Magneto.

Heroes find out. Heroes stop her.

She reverses the reality which in turn brings the mutant population from thousands to hundreds.

So this massive event has sort of hit the reset button in a way, because while the characters have previous storylines, they're still battling to understand the new world order. Which is great. Cause it means I can follow the story.

The series itself is led by protagonist Jamie Madrox - the recognisable Multiple Man. Jamie is running a detective agency in New York's Mutant Town - where the ex-mutants and few mutants left are holed up.

Alongside him are Guido (Strong Guy), brash Theresa Cassidy (Siryn, and Banshee's daughter) Rahne, snobby Monet St. Croix, a young girl named Layla Miller who knows stuff, and a ex-mutant named Rictor who opens the story by contemplating killing himself.

We quickly learn the world is in a state of unrest to put it nicely. There is division between mutants and ex-mutants, there is a division between humans and ex-mutants and of course, between humans and mutants.

Jamie is an interesting choice for a leader of this group, seeing as he is intensely indecisive - something highlighted by the fact his power is to create duplicates or "dupes" of himself upon any type of jarring physical contact, each dupe personifying a part of himself - and the situations that call for a steadfast course of action showcase his personal issues.

Jamie himself is both incredibly sad throughout the arc so far and subversely humourous at times. Peter David has really brought a depth to this character that surprised me.

Characters I thought I wouldn't enjoy spending time with grew on me surprisingly fast - Monet St Croix who is written as snobbily as Cordelia Chase in season one of Buffy became one of my favourites towards the end of the third collection, showing some heart and an ability to kick ass when the situation calls for it. (Hmmm actually, Cordelia Chase became my favourite in SEASON three... perhaps I like my bitchy characters in threes...)

Monet St Croix

The main antagonist of the story is the Singularity Investigations. By the end of the seventeenth issue I still have no idea who they are or why I should be against anything they do ... apart from the fact the characters are drawn more evilly and try to kill X-Factor employees.

There honestly isn't a big story arc in this series so far. Only hints. A lot of the time we are dealing with the effects of small plots; Siryn being kidnapped and beaten, trying to help the ex-mutants of Mutant Town or just Jaime getting drunk, accidently duping himself and sleeping with both M and Siryn ...

Jamie Madrox and Rictor discussing water levels

The main plot motion is created in the form of the young Layla Miller, who acts as a sort of soothsayer for the team.

And I don't mind. This really seems to be a character piece so far. Some poignant issues are raised, whether its Guido dealing with the fact he killed someone under hypnosis, or Jamie tracking down the dupes he sent into the world to learn (so he could absorb the knowledge when they returned) and unexpectedly finding one who had a family. Even though it's only a short storyline, it's handled really well and is thought provoking.

Siryn and M ... hugging shopping it out

As it is, I'd definitely read further and possibly back to the beginnings of the House of M story!



...Definitely one for the rookies.






Buy Vol 1 here:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/X-Factor-Longest-Night-v-1-Peter-David/9780785118176

Review: Canongate Myth Series, Books #1 - #3

Note: I'm not reviewing the content of any of The Myths today, just the external packaging.

The Myths is a long-term global publishing project where some of the world's most respected authors re-tell myths in a manner of their own choosing.

I was very excited when I first heard about this project from Scottish publishing house Canongate. Classic myths being retold in a contemporary way. Easily recognisable stories being handed to some of the best authors out there, so they can polish the meaning, breath new life into these ancient archtypes and make them accessible to modern audiences.

Awesome. And epic. This series only just started and it's planning to get to a century.

So of course I bought the hardcover box set, featured below. This set has the first three books; A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, Weight by Jeanette Winterson and also a small inclusion by Philip Pullman A Word or Two About Myth.

A Short History of Myth is more of an overview of myth in general, and what the myths we know today meant to different periods of our human history.

The Penelopiad Homer's Odyssey told from his wife's perspective

Weight The overlapping story of Atlas and Heracles, and a poignant take on the way Heracles tricked Atlas into taking back the world

The Myths!

So first we have the box, which is patterned with cave drawings, appropriately enough. There's also gold writing on the back, detailing the books, and the little Canongate Myths Symbol also in gold.
The box itself is made of thick board - not flimsy at all, I could probably rest my monitor on it.

The hardcovers each have decorative jackets. They look all the same inside the jackets.

I'm not sure if you can see the text, but the chapters are printed in a deep red. Some of the words in the foreward are also printed in the same deep red and the contents pages have the same theme... very pretty.



I bought the boxset and I'm more than pleased with it. The editions are of a high quality, some of the best editions i've seen in a while.


Just one last note: these books are more novellas, they do not take long to read, but they are worth it! Really recommend these, pick your favourite author up to see how they teach old dogs to play pianos.



Find out more about the myths series here:
http://www.themyths.co.uk/

Review: American Vampire #1 - #5 by Scott Snyder and Stephen King

"Another vampire story? Aren't there enough?" you groan.
"Never!" I respond.

The thing about vampire stories, good vampire stories that is, is that they can be told over and over, as long as you keep the blood fresh.

King's foreword in the graphic novel American Vampire reveals that he jumped onboard this train because he was lured by the prospect of Snyder's SCARY vampires. Not to say this hasn't been done before, but at the moment it's not exactly a secret that the media is leaning towards one specific type of vampire: the sexy vampire.

Somewhere along the line we lost the idea that vampire's are alluring to humanity because they represent a taboo. There are dark and despicable things that humans often succumb to and vampires are a realisation of that. Recently, we have this trend that vampires are hot because they are physically attractive, and they are simply so desired because they get to be young and hot forever, not because they represent a dark part of our humanity.

Snyder's bringing scary back. And I, for one, welcome it. Not because I don't enjoy sexy vampires, I do, but because I so sorely miss vampires with a ...ahem... point.

Scott Snyder's American Vampire follows Pearl Jones, a young ingénue in 1920's Los Angeles, as she struggles to realise her Hollywood hopes and dreams. Needless to say, these dreams are brutally dashed when she's unwittingly served up as an all you can drink buffet to some elitist European vamps.

Pearl Jones - our heroine

Stephen King's part to play in all this is that he's penning the story of Skinner Sweet, a heartless murderer and theif in the 1880's who wronged the wrong unpeople, as he discovers what he's become: a vampire with no sensitivity to sunlight, silver or the usual vampire hoodoo. What the book calls an American vampire.

The stories merge with Skinner changing Pearl (she's still breathing after the attack, and Skinner finds her still dying in the ditch where they've left her) into an American vampire, and sets her on the path of revenge, against the same that carries the rest of part one.

Skinner Sweet...

I'm not going to lie, these ideas are things we've seen before (Blade, for instance, featured "daywalkers"). But the characterisation, and the non-attempts to make Skinner at all sympathetic rather than selfish - or invalidate Pearl's revenge plot - are refreshing. Skinner is a badass. There's no apology for that. But even though he is villainous, Skinner isn't the main antagonist in this story either. It's great. He's no woobie, and he received no karmic payback either.

I'd definitely recommend it, the writing is sharp and though-provoking. Also, the art by Rafael Albuquerque (and colourist Dave McCaig) is both at times beautifully sweet and eerily freaky. Combo of both great story and art is rare for me in graphic novels - I usually like one and not the other.

Let's see if the magic continues into part 2...

Review: Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy

Ariel Levy's examination of expectations of modern day female sexuality (at least in Western terms) is intriguing and her opinions mostly justified.



Levy's book is about the 'hot' ideal. The playboy-as-teen-icon ideal, the porn star as the ultimate in female liberation. The blonde and large-breasted ideal. The exhibitionist woman who is ready to play, ready for sex, 'that' woman that we see everywhere in our society - that ideal is fast becoming the only outlet of female sexuality.

Raunch culture is Levy's term, the definition of which is the rise of sexuality in our media, and it's perversion of sexuality into a type of commodity.

While Levy has no issue with stripping, or porn, or people gaining a sexual thrill from those things, what she examines is how easily a variety of women conform to that one idea of sexuality. She followed a Girls Gone Wild crew for this book, and the facts she lays out about this experience are all at once expected and frustrating. She examines how many people believe this raunch culture to be the epitome of female liberation - instead of a backwards slide.

Levy makes the point that if women continue to shoe-horn themselves into a one-size-fits-all model, if we deem only 'that' woman as a sexual being, then we are only playing a part in order to attain attention and a sort of misguided self worth. This in essence, shows how far behind our understanding of woman's sexuality really is. The current raunch culture strong-arms women to play a part, in order to satisfy a man and, indeed, other women.

She examines the Sex and the City culture of feminity, where sex acts as a commodity. Where sex is pursued as a hobby rather than a desire-fuelled sexual encounter. Where sex is pursued to attain the veneer of a sexy, free-willed and empowered woman. And that with that veneer, comes self-worth and even status in society.

Another supporting facet of the book is the examination of women who 'act like men', in order to be 'cool', who visit strip clubs and watch porn not to experience any sexual desire, but rather to assume the facade of a woman who enjoys this. To 'be one of the boys', to be the woman who 'gets it' is becoming part of our culture. Shying away from the prim girly girl and focusing on the cool man. Levy examines how this mannification of women, of women wanting to act and be like men, is equal to saying that being a woman is somehow inferior - and I agree with her.

Levy is quick to acknowledge the woman who feels her most sexual with a hair free vagina, who gets a thrill out of exhibitionism - but is trying to make the point that not every woman is that woman, and the more our society and our media only acknowledge this woman as sexual in the spectrum of sexual women, the more women at large are forced to be like that woman and deny their own sexuality.

SEXUAL!

This is an opinion piece, backed by interviews and some data. There is a chapter in which Levy attempts to delve into the trans community, and makes some oddly sweeping implications that women opting for trans surgery are somehow indulging in the mannification of women. I think she missed the point in this area, but it doesn't invalidate the rest of the book.

Also, I know this is a book based on WOMEN and the rise of raunch culture, but I think Levy could have taken a moment to acknowledge that - to a less grievous extent - men have a predetermined role to play in raunch culture as well.

All in all, it's a thought-provoking read with some stunning statistics in regards to things like vaginoplasty and teen pregnancies in it. I really enjoyed it, and I'd look for more from Levy in the future.

Battle Royale (Koushun Takami) vs The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

I know they're not the book covers, shut up they look cool

I recently read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and while I was entertained, it bugged me on a few levels. I have had to think on this a long while, but I want to really understand why I've got a bug up my butt, because this story has had such an impact on our media culture that I am sure it’s going to influence stories to come.

So, I used Battle Royale as a yardstick.

To quickly recap, The Hunger Games is a dystopian YA novel. (Note the YA in that – young adult. This is a book that has to conform to certain rules of its genre.) The titular Hunger Games are an annual tournament in a country called Panem, where a girl and boy from each of the twelve slave districts are selected by chance to compete in a televised battle to the death. The book is told from the perspective of Katness Everdeen who competes for her district in lieu of her younger sister. This is all very interesting.

So I like the premise.

But the execution of this idea was lacking (for me) and there are many reasons for that, but one is obvious. The Hunger Games is a dystopian YA novel. YA. Young Adult.

Now, I’m not saying that you can’t have a dystopian novel written for young adults, and I’m definitely not saying you can’t have a good dystopian novel written for young adults, I’m saying that in this particular case, the YA – that rating – handcuffed this story and prevented it from reaching its full potential. YA meant this particular story couldnt go into the dark where it NEEDED to go.

There are plenty of YA novels that manage to incorporate heavy themes into a book geared towards teenaged readers – Harry Potter springs to mind, and Tomorrow When the War Began. But Collins wants to tell you a story about children battling to the death… without any gore.

Gore is typically not a YA theme, at least not in this medium. But how can you tell a story about what it means to battle to the death without gore? How can you write about the horror of murder, about a totalitarian government that forces a gladiator charade and then skip out on the yukky part? How do you make death a character, while at the same time covering your eyes when he appears and refusing to react to anything he does? This is what I mean, the YA rating slapped on this handcuffed it from really creating a clear message, from really exploring the themes that Collins hints at.

Apart from the overaching "death battle" theme, Collins touches on themes of government control and slavery, love, a society desensitised to violence, class distinction, how much of an impact television has on our lives … but never really focuses her story on any of them. I think this is because she didn’t want to delve too deep and confuse her younger target market, but the result is more blurred messages.

Government control is shown but never actually explored. We see the people are starving, but the only one who really seems outraged at what this means to the people is Katniss’ friend Gale, and he's hardly a major player. We know Katniss believes the games to be unfair, but doesn’t really seem to care if they continue after her exit from them.

Love is hinted at; a lot of Peeta Mellark’s (the other contender from Katniss’district) actions seem to be driven by his love for Katniss, but Katniss seems remarkable unaware, or maybe just unmoved, by this.

And I’m sure Collins wants us to be aghast at the idea of a bloodthirsty crowd watching the teens in their death throes … but she never gives us a chance to be shocked. She can’t shock us with what would be gory death descriptions because of the target audience, so I would expect Katniss to really explain either the deaths or how the deaths affect her. But she doesn’t. Katniss takes the whole thing extremely well; she only really balks at one death of a young tribute.

Class distinction is probably the most explored theme throughout the novel, as the distinction between the Capitol dandies and the starving district where Katniss lives is well done and interesting.

The whole television angle is I’m sure the main theme, that we are slaves to the box which is reflected by the Capitol making the games mandatory viewing. But this message is skewed by the whole interviewing segment where Katniss is suddenly amazingly beautiful from her makeover (of course!) and changes her personality in order to get sponsors. It’s not subversive at all. Katniss knows she must play by the pre-determined rules… and she does.  This is like saying the Bachelor is an awful show… and then signing up to be on it. (especially jarring as Katniss seems to have an almost aspergers-like level of not understanding human interaction/expectations/social signals for the rest of the story)

So if the story is not making a political point, it must be character driven, right? But it’s not. Katniss’ love for her sister is plain to see, and it’s what drives her to take her sister’s place in the games... but Katniss is the same person at the start of the book as she is at the end. She is cold, and she is only in it to survive. Katniss doesn’t seem at all changed by the events of what is supposedly her story – even though she participates in a post-apocalyptic gladiator battle…

Okay… so why have I called this blog Battle Royale vs Hunger Games? It's not really fair to compare the two, because one book is for adults and one is for young adults.

I know that. In fact, I don't care that they use the same premise... alot of people get hung up on that, but that isnt important. What's important here is that Battle Royale goes where the Hunger Games doesn’t. Or can’t.

Battle Royale (by Koushun Takami) is another story about a totalitarian government forcing teenagers to fight in a death match – this time a military research event called ‘The Program’. The Program is just as inescapable as the Hunger Games, except it takes place on an island, and the children are wearing bomb collars around their necks.

There are a few big differences in the book, most notably the gore level is high in BR, such as what I tend to call headhopping - switching character POVs during the story -  and a bigger focus on the political message. 

We've got Katniss...

...and Shuya...

Unlike Katniss, whose actions are motivated by survival and wanting to return to her sister, the main protagonist of Battle Royale, Shuya, is motivated by love, rebellion, and hope.

One of the main differences in the two stories is that the participants in Battle Royale are all people Shuya goes to school with. Katniss interacts with people she has never seen before (apart from Peeta) and this lessens the intimacy – and the shock value – of the death match.

Katniss’ drive to save her fellow participants is almost non-existent; Katniss mainly wants to stay away from them … because she doesn’t know them, and she wants to survive. Understandable. Shuya wants to survive as well, but he wants to gather his fellow classmates and escape as he feels a connection to them, and that’s why the story is all the more devastating when some of the classmates are more interested in killing by the rules than banding together.

Battle Royale explores numerous reactions to The Program, some people decide to kill, some decide to hide, some are leaders, some are protectors, some are hopeless, and some go completely crazy. It shows very well that dire circumstances will bring out different reactions in people. Takami lets you into the characters heads, makes an effort to portray them as real people with real motivations, before they are brutally done away with. This is what makes the story so awful.

Compare to Hunger Games, when most of the characters are killed in the first few minutes of the games, and it is impersonal and mashed together. Then, the other characters are sectioned into good and bad, so there are no moral dilemmas for the audience to really deal with.

Battle Royale is horrific… but is not horror that glorifies the murder; it is horror that makes an attempt to personify the corpses. The very fact the corpses of Shuya’s classmates are left around, dead on the ground for the duration of The Program, bringing home the stinking, fly-blown reality that they were people, and they do not disappear after they are murdered. Shuya and friends wander around the island and see them there. It's very disturbing. This is in striking contrast to Hunger Games efficient removal of the bodies (and also, the magic salve that removes injuries…)

Battle Royale raises the point that maybe you can’t trust anyone, and adversely, how sometimes you just have to trust, and I’m sure Takami was using this theme to describe life in general.

Battle Royale is about humanity, about politics and rebellion, and about endurance. It, like Lord of the Flies, is about the sheen of civility over barbarism. It’s about moral ambiguity, whether good people can do evil things and vice versa. It doesn’t blink in the face of its characters deaths – in fact, Takami makes you “watch” every single one, he makes you experience them, no matter how uncomfortable it is. Because he’s trying to tell you something clearly. Battle Royale, and The Program itself, is a microcosm of the brutality of life which you can’t always close your eyes to.

But Takami balances students trying to kill and rape one another with the naivety of things only important to teenagers, like who has a crush on who (and how much this matters to kids on their first loves), and who’s the best at baseball in the class. He counteracts the shadow of the totalitarian government, with some truly rebellious characters who want bloody revenge. The result is a story that has a well defined point.

Battle Royale is not without its flaws, some of the translation from its native Japanese is clunky and there is random head hopping. Most of the characters are nothing new, mostly like archetypes, with only a few surprises. Some of the characters are downright Gary-stus. Some of the backstories are meandering intrusions, and trying to keep track of 40+ students with similar names (to Westerners) is a right pain at the start.

And adversely, Hunger Games is not without its achievements, I actually like Collins writing style, and though her descriptions and hand holding through developments were often anvilicious, I chalked this up to the YA genre. I like that we actually have a female main character, and one who is so cold and unfriendly (not often you see that and it’s not a bad thing) so I really liked Katniss apart from her lack of growth.

I just think Battle Royale, with its flaws, was a clearer story. If Katniss was allowed to explore moral ambiguity, if she was allowed to lust after Peeta, if she was allowed to react to the rotting stinking corpse of a fellow participant, if she was allowed to rebel and kill the big bad... I think the messages would be there. But she's not allowed to do any of that, because she has to be YA friendly.

The Hunger Games is not a bad story. It is not a book you SHOULD NOT read; in fact it is an entertaining story. But it is a story that confuses its message. It wants to tell you glorifying television is bad while at the same time relishing how beautiful Katniss is as she is led to slaughter. It wants you to know that government control is bad, without bothering to have characters that care about it.

And I don’t know how much of that is toning down the (pretty hardcore) ideas to suit a younger audience.