#9 & #10: Marvel vs. DC
Mar. 2nd, 2015 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareila posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
kareila_booksI read two graphic novels recently that each centered around a young woman inheriting the legacy of an older superhero, but I liked one of them much better than the other.
In Batgirl Rising by Bryan Q. Miller, Stephanie Brown is already a career crime fighter who is apparently starting on her third or fourth superhero identity when we see her deciding to suit up as Batgirl. Unfortunately for my emotional investment, it's never made at all clear to the reader what motivates her to constantly sneak out of her mom's house at night, seek out bad guys and beat the snot out of them. The story arc focuses more on Oracle, who thankfully I already knew was the first Batgirl because the book didn't explain that either. Oracle tries to discourage Stephanie from being Batgirl but is eventually won over and decides to mentor Stephanie, because she is awesome at... disobeying orders and not getting killed? Also somehow Bruce Wayne is dead and one of the old Robins is the new Batman and he has a new Robin who is an obnoxious ten year old kid and Stephanie also used to be Robin maybe? SO MUCH UNWRITTEN BACKSTORY.
Thankfully, I also read Ms. Marvel #1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson, which demonstrates the right way to reboot a character, by requiring no knowledge of your universe's history to appreciate the story. I don't know the difference between Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, but Kamala Khan is easy to understand. She's a Muslim teenager who feels stifled by her heritage and unsure of her path in life. When she says she wants to be Ms. Marvel and is inexplicably granted her wish, she quickly realizes that what she wants is not to be someone else (not even a white, blonde, superpowered someone else), but to be the most awesome version of herself. She doesn't seek out justice for the sake of justice, but instead is motivated to protect her friends and family. I want to keep reading this series to see how she grows as a person, and what the author has to say about how identity is informed by the way others perceive us.
In Batgirl Rising by Bryan Q. Miller, Stephanie Brown is already a career crime fighter who is apparently starting on her third or fourth superhero identity when we see her deciding to suit up as Batgirl. Unfortunately for my emotional investment, it's never made at all clear to the reader what motivates her to constantly sneak out of her mom's house at night, seek out bad guys and beat the snot out of them. The story arc focuses more on Oracle, who thankfully I already knew was the first Batgirl because the book didn't explain that either. Oracle tries to discourage Stephanie from being Batgirl but is eventually won over and decides to mentor Stephanie, because she is awesome at... disobeying orders and not getting killed? Also somehow Bruce Wayne is dead and one of the old Robins is the new Batman and he has a new Robin who is an obnoxious ten year old kid and Stephanie also used to be Robin maybe? SO MUCH UNWRITTEN BACKSTORY.
Thankfully, I also read Ms. Marvel #1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson, which demonstrates the right way to reboot a character, by requiring no knowledge of your universe's history to appreciate the story. I don't know the difference between Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, but Kamala Khan is easy to understand. She's a Muslim teenager who feels stifled by her heritage and unsure of her path in life. When she says she wants to be Ms. Marvel and is inexplicably granted her wish, she quickly realizes that what she wants is not to be someone else (not even a white, blonde, superpowered someone else), but to be the most awesome version of herself. She doesn't seek out justice for the sake of justice, but instead is motivated to protect her friends and family. I want to keep reading this series to see how she grows as a person, and what the author has to say about how identity is informed by the way others perceive us.
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Date: 2015-03-04 07:20 am (UTC)Did the story explain how the new Robin is the natural son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al'Ghul, daughter of the worldwide terrorist, Rais al'Ghul? So Robin has been raised and trained by the League of Assassins, but chose to stay (recently) with his father, Bruce. Of course, this was before Batman/Bruce Wayne was sent backwards and forwards in time by Darkseid and --- stop, too silly, cannot even relate the plot.
But Batman having a child out of wedlock with the daughter of one of his greatest enemies, and then not only have the child drop by, but demand to learn to do what Batman does? (Minus the killing. mostly). That's a good plot and a good orignal character.
But with Batgirl, I just liked Stephanie having adventures! Joi de vi (or however you say joy for life in French). Poor, lower-class, her father was a crook, so she decides to imitate the city's vigilantes. I really enjoyed her stories by any writer.
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Date: 2015-03-04 12:45 pm (UTC)