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Batwoman #1 & #2

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

J H Williams III and W Haden Blackman
Dave Stewart
Todd Klein
DC $2.99

Review by Joe Palmer

The new Batwoman series picks up nearly where it left off at the conclusion of the Detective run. Kate has struck out on her own after being led to believe that the twisted Black Alice is her twin sister whom she’d been told had been killed in a terrorist incident. With Black Alice now presumably dead after a dramatic fight, Batwoman now operates without the aid of her father, the retired Colonel, though she’s putting cousin Bette, the formerly colorfully clad Flamebird,through  rigorous sidekick training.

A new threat has come to Gotham, La Llorona or the Weeping Woman. A tall, thin, and beautiful appearance hides her gruesome means of either abducting or drowning children. Detective Maggie Sawyer and the GCPD and Batwoman are on a collision course in their efforts to stop this new threat that is targeting only Latino children. After all, La Llorona is a real Latino legend told to children as a way to make them behave. Not only are Sawyer and Batwoman set to crash, Agent Cameron Chase from the Department of Extranormal Operations has been tasked to learn who Batwoman is and to bring her in. While Colonel Kane is implicated for his coverup of the incident surrounding Black Alice’s death, Chase suspects sawyer to be Gotham’s newest hero. Meanwhile, Kate and an off duty Maggie have their much anticipated first date. Chase and fellow DEO agents are already on the scene of a gruesome gang ambush involving were-creatures connected to a Religion of Crime sect when Sawyer arrives just to have  Chase get all jurisdictional on her. A top a roof, Batwoman observes and smiles at Sawyer, turns down Batman’s offer to join Batman Inc and follows a lead on La Llorona and unwittingly sets herself up for an ambush.

There’s your synopsis. Now for my belated thoughts that you’ve all been waiting to find out!

For a change of pace in comics storytelling, Williams and Blackman make all of the central story characters women: Batwoman/ Kate, Flamebird/ Bette, Sawyer, Chase, and La Llorona, are women. Commissioner Gordon, Batman, DEO Director Mr Bones, and now the Colonel are all secondary. All four women embody the hero, but they come to it from different viewpoints. Batwoman is the outsider as a vigilante who rejects working under Batman, as well as for her once media-hyped sexuality. Batwoman is also acting as a hard nosed mentor and trainer, transmitting her knowledge and military skills to cousin Bette. Whether in or out of costume, which is now quite the opposite of her red and yellow bright as a target palette, Bette is the negotiator and peacemaker. That is unless Kate successfully grinds the humor and empathy out of her or will Kate pay enough attention to Batman’s warning about the sidekick mortality rate to avoid figuratively killing Bette through her spirit? Sawyer upholds the straight and narrow path and the end justifies the means for hard as nails Chase. In the Greg Rucka penned arc in which Black Alice was featured Alice acted as a very twisted shadow self, whether she is indeed Kate’s lost twin or an unrelated woman is less relevant. As for La Llorona, the folktale sources I read indicated that she was a vain woman, spurned by a lover whom she married and sacrificed her own children in a fit of jealousy once she realized her philandering husband cared only for them. How Williams and Blackman interpret any of the folkloric elements into their version will be intriguing, that is, if they do. Hopefully they’ll not descend to obvious clichés about scorned women. After all, this is a book that has looked and should continue to look at things with a skewed eye.

Greg Rucka worked to establish the Religion of Crime and its holy book, the Crime Bible, as a central component to distinguish both Batwoman and former girlfriend Renée Montoya turned masked hero Question from the rest of the Batman related characters since the 52 series of five years ago now. As super hero comics go, they’re not the worst names, but they’ve always annoyed me. The crime sect seems to have taken a back seat for now with only the ambushed dead appearing as a means to to play off Sawyer and Chase. Iwon’t break into tears if the sect recedes more into the background while Williams and Blackman and the onboard Amy Reeder explore and establish other aspects of Kate/ Batwoman and a supporting cast.

Speaking of Renée, the character has survived into the post DCNu, but you knew that already. There is a panel in the first issue scene with Kate waiting to speak to Maggie at her precinct that shows Kate and the background in black and white while a photo of Renee in police uniform is in color. My initial reaction to this was that Renée had died, and merely seeing her photo had drained all color from Kate and the world at that moment. In another panel in issue two Renee as the Question appears with other Batman (presumably Batman Inc) associated characters as an artistic device. In my mind I’d love to see Renee make amends with former girlfriend Dee. Can you tell I have a soft spot for how the two were portrayed before Rucka started her on the anger and alcohol fueled deconstruction that led to the transformation into the Question? Yes, I do.

And that’s as good a segue as I can come up with to the date scene with Kate and Maggie. In the past five years we’ve had glimpses of Kate’s relationships that came after her and Reneé’s breakup. Was one woman named Mallory and another Anna? Rucka must have had reasons for thinking Kate and Maggie could make an interesting pair back when he wrote the pair flirting at one point in the Detective run. The idea of a relationship between the two struck me as full of possibilities though I read one critical comment that it wasn’t very creative to put Gotham’s two most prominent lesbians together when there must be plenty of other women in Gotham for either to date. It’s true, and introducing another woman into Kate’s life could make for interesting situations. However, Williams and Blackman seem to have lots to explore with the two. Kate seems attracted to strong women, and there’s little doubt about Maggie being a strong woman. Thankfully, drawing her smoking cigars (thank you, John Byrne) was abandoned long ago. Kate also seems silly and romantic with Maggie, whose own interest is piqued. Just how Maggie will react should she ever learn that Kate is Batwoman is the fertile ground I think and hope Williams and Blackman will cover.

What can be said about the art?  Williams first came to my attention when he drew the art for Milestone’s Death Wish mini series. His art wasn’t bad at the time though his layouts were very much tied to the conventional formats. Williams continues to challenge and raise the bar for himself with his compositions and he’s clearly having fun doing it. Each page is a visual delight and I’ve found myself looking at some pages over and over and being intrigued by the details each time. How many artists would take a minute to differentiate girl’s fingers by drawing stickers on each nail? That the girl is one of La Llorona’s victims makes this simple detail all the more poignant. The book would be stylish on its own with the art reproduced in black and white. Thankfully, Dave Stewart’s considerable talents and skills as a color artist complete the sublime visual feast. One minor note that I may be wrong about, and isn’t a detraction. In these two issues Kate’s skin tone seems to be as pale as when she is in uniform. I’ll have to look through the Detective stories to see if my perception of Kate not being colored as equally pale is accurate. If not, it may be simple stylistic change rather than some subtle clue about Kate’s mental and emotional states. It almost certainly isn’t a coloring mistake. Todd Klein brings his always consummate lettering expertise to finish the package. This trio are at the top of their respective games and even if the quality and creativity plateau here, it will be difficult for this reviewer not to be redundant in commenting. Will descriptives like inventive, striking, atmospheric, and gold standard become synonymous with Williams and Stewart?

Batwoman’s had a problematic history since her reimagination in 2006. Devin Grayson was given the character to research and flesh out and then indirectly dismissed from the project, and the character seemed abandoned till given to Greg Rucka who shepherded Kate through a run in Detective before leaving. Then the series promised for a February release was inexplicably pushed back to September. Now things seem to be off to a promising start again and I’ll be excitedly anticipating it every month.

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Erika Moen Speaks!

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Recently Erika Moen was the invited speaker on gender identity at Pacific University. Thankfully it was recorded and uploaded on Vimeo!

Erika Moen Speaks at Pacific University from Erika Moen on Vimeo.

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Gingerbread Girl

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Review by Joe Palmer

Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
$12.95
Top Shelf

Gingerbread Girl is a fun and quirky graphic novel about a woman named Annah Billips who smilingly informs us in a ”breaking of the the fourth wall way” that she is a tease. Yes, she is because she’s wearing only panties and a t-shirt. Annah also confides to us that she can’t decide if she’s straight or lesbian because though she generally goes for men,  “[she's] a puddle for a girl with an Afro.” While the “silly world” would define her as bisexual, she refuses the label  because of bad connotations people attach to it. Saucy Annah has also set up two dates for the same time: one with Jerry and another with Chili. Whoever shows up first will be who she goes out with. This kind of dynamic is in large part what drives the story. Got it? Good, because things get wackier and more interesting from here on.

While Annah is getting dressed, Chili fills us in more about her date. There’s another side to Annah besides her free spiritdness. It involves something called the Penfield Homunculus, which I thought was either fictitious or an esoteric concept. Turns out it’s real and was discovered by Wilder Penfield, who was a hottie in his day (in the second pic!!). This homunculus is part of our brains and is associated with our sense of touch. Chili informs us that Annah believes her father had somehow separated Annah’s from her brain and was able to create a sister named Ginger for Annah. Ginger was the one who had sensory feelings. After some time they were separated and Annah has been searching using some fairly odd methods for her sister ever since. How odd? Well, you’ll have to read the book if you want to know everything.The behaviors Annah created regarding her alleged sister is just one part of the charm of the story. Tobin’s dialog is snappy, and reflects the individualities of each character, not just his main two. There were a number of times that I found myself re-reading bits of dialog simply for enjoyment. The use of various narrators, including a talking pigeon (yes and why not?), a woman chasing Lothario, fake fortune teller Dr. Alphonse Spectra, Leanna the clerk with eyes like ripe apples, and an English bulldog likewise gifted with talking, provides an unusual and enjoyable method  to move the story along as Annah and Chili roam on their date. Tobin doesn’t forget about Jerry, Annah’s other date whom she stood up because Chili arrived first. He’s disapointed but still  determined, and finally gets through to Annah on her phone, much to Chili’s annoyance. But fromthis frustration we get a sense of her deep affection for Annah but also her very realistic attitude to live in the moment and appreciate every little thing in a relationship. To quote Chili while she’s feeding a small flock of pigeons: “Crumbs of a mystique are just right. A loaf of explanation is too much.”
 
Coover’s art is a joy as it always been since she first came to my attention years ago when either the Advocate or Out featured her Small Favors. The women she draws could all be the girl next door. They have personalities and she makes them look fun and sexy without a bit of pandering. Her skillful layouts and composition create a believable space for a pair of women affected by a rather fantastic story in which to live, play and love and warm sepia washes complete the package. The setting is Portland where Coover and Tobin live and there is a real sense of the city coming through for added visual interest.

Based on Gingerbread Girl’s solicitation copy I wasn’t certain what to expect from a storytelling aspect. I wasn’t quite  so prepared to like it, no, make that love, Gingerbread Girl as much as I do, but I knew with Annah’s happy declaration of being a tease that I’d fallen for the quirky charm of Tobin and Coover’s story.

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Moondragon

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

By Mike McDermott

[Note: this profile dates from its original appearance on this site and does not reflect any info or events from the Annihilation mini series or Guardians of the Galaxy comic.]

When she was three years old, Heather Douglass and her parents were driving back to L.A. after a short vacation. They saw in the sky a scout ship belonging to the mad Titan named Thanos. In order to prevent them from telling anyone what they saw, he attacked their car, forcing it off the road, and killing both of Heather’s parents. Heather was the only survivor of the crash. She was rescued by Mentor, ruler of Titan, and Thanos’ father who opposed his son’s violent activities. Mentor took Heather back to Titan, where she was placed in the Shao-Lom monastery. She was raised by the monks, and taught their extensive physical and mental disciplines, as well as helping her develop her latent psionic abilities. She grew up to become an accomplished athlete, martial artist and geneticist.

Upon reaching adulthood, she took the name Moondragon, and joined in the fight against Thanos. This fight brought her into the company of the Avengers, whom she briefly joined. Being raised apart from humanity, and having attained physical and mental perfection, Moondragon considered herself a goddess, and superior to most of her teammates. Her somewhat arrogant attitude prevented her from fully fitting in with the team, and she stayed with them only a short time, although she remains an ally.

During her time with the Avengers, Moondragon learned she had her physical and mental training had been part of preparing her for the role of the Celestial Madonna. The Celestial Madonna was to be a perfect human woman who would mate with the perfect plant-being and become the mother to the Celestial Messiah, who would herald in a new golden age for the universe. Moondragon was one of two women who were groomed for this role. The other was the Avenger known as Mantis. Although the two of them possessed equal training and skill, Moondragon was found to be lacking in humanity, so Mantis was chosen instead.

Moondragon’s had a tumultuous career as a superhero, and was even briefly a villain, when she was corrupted into imposing her will on others “for the greater good”. She even enslaved the entire population of an alien world, but was defeated by the Avengers. She was eventually freed from the corrupting influence, and has since made every effort to atone for her past mistakes.

More recently, she returned to Los Angeles to help train the new Captain Marvel, to properly control his cosmic awareness. During her training of Captain Marvel, she also got to know his friend Marlo Chandler Jones. When it was revealed that Marlo had developed a potentially dangerous ability known as the “death wish”, Heather began training Marlo to safely control this new ability. Heather and Marlo became close during this process, and even shared a passionate kiss, which came as a shock to both women. Although Moondragon had past relationships with men, they were lacking any real emotion and were mostly a means to an end for her. Marlo was the first person whom Heather really made an emotional connection with. Marlo explained the situation to her husband, and she and Moondragon began to explore their new relationship.

They spent a few happy months together, but eventually Marlo decided she wanted to return to her husband. Moondragon understood, and they agreed to remain friends always.

At this time, Marlo and Moondragon were targeted by the Magus, an evil sorcerer who is an enemy of Captain Marvel. Marvel’s younger sister, Phyla, was sent to bodyguard Marlo while he went into the future to deal with the Magus’ schemes elsewhere. Moondragon was gravely injured fighting the Magus, and he saved her life, to make her indebted to him so that he could continue to manipulate and control her in the future. During his time travelling, Captain Marvel saw a distant future where Moondragon was a faithful servant of the Magus.

In the present day, after the Magus was defeated for now, Moondragon moved out of the apartment once her relationship with Marlo ended. She also told Marlo and Rick that Marlo’s attraction to her was the result of the Magus’ manipulations; that he had been stimulating emotional responses out of her to make her easier to manipulate, and that due to her telepathic powers, that spilled over and affected Marlo as well.

However, this was simply a story Moondragon came up with in order to allow Marlo to find happiness again with Rick, without their brief affair complicating matters. Phyla overheard the story, and told Moondragon that she knew it was a lie–and that she found that noble sacrifice to be very attractive. She apparently became attracted to Moondragon while helping protect Marlo, and now that Moondragon was single, wanted to pursue a relationship with her. Moondragon was interested, and they were lasted seen heading off together into a spatial portal into an unknown adventure.

Moondragon has had a number of past involvements with men, but they all were lacking any emotional connection. She once unsuccessfully pursued Quasar as her “perfect mate”. That was more about conceiving a child rather than any kind of relationship.

Moondragon’s recently revealed lesbianism possibly puts her mentoring of Patsy Walker, the Avenger known as Hellcat, in a new light. Like Marlo, Patsy was an attractive, brave red head. When Moondragon first left the Avengers, she took Patsy with her and trained her. While it has never been suggested that there was any kind of romantic relationship between the two, the physical similarities between Patsy and Marlo does raise a few questions.

As a very powerful psionic Moondragon is very capable of projecting her thoughts to others, reading other people’s thoughts and even taking control of their minds. She also has telekinetic abilities, allowing herself to fly, and move objects with her mind. She can also project bursts of pure mental force, or create a Her body is trained to ultimate human perfection, and she is a master of martial arts.

Moondragon has served as a priestess, and as a superhero she has been affiliated with the Avengers, Defenders, Infinity Watch and most recently the Guardians of the Galaxy. On Earth she was based in Los Angeles, New York, and Colorado. Off Earth she as was located on Titan and the Knowhere, a space station situated in the head of a dead Celestial.

Her first appearance is in Iron Man #54 (vol 1) and her sexuality is shown in Captain Marvel #32 (vol 3).

See the entries for Phyal-Vell and Quasar.

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Phyla-Vell

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

By Mike McDermott

Phyla-Vell is a heroine who has taken on various identities during her adventuring career, frequently trying to live up to the legacies of others.  She is the daughter of the original Captain Mar-Vell, and trained all her life in combat in order to follow in her father’s and brother’s footsteps as a hero.  She eventually got her chance when her brother Genis, who was carrying the “Captain Marvel” legacy at the time, went insane from his Cosmic Awareness.  Phyla adopted the Captain Marvel name and uniform and fought to subdue Genis and help restore him to sanity.  Phyla fought alongside the recovered Genis for a time, along with his ally Moondragon (Heather Douglas).  The two women soon become involved, and left to explore the universe together.  After Genis’ death, Phyla realized she was not yet ready to carry on the “Captain Marvel” legacy, and willingly gave up the title.

Phyla was one of the many intergalactic heroes who joined forces to fight the Annihilation Wave invasion of our universe.  During the final battle against Annihilus, Phyla gained possession of the quantum bands of the fallen hero Quasar (Wendell Vaughn).  Feeling that the bands had chosen her, Phyla decided to become the new Quasar.  She and Moondragon also helped battle the Phalanx invasion of the Kree Empire, but Moondragon was killed in action.

As Quasar, Phyla was one of the founding members of Star-Lord’s team of interstellar heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy.  While on leave from the team, Phyla and Drax the Destroyer (Moondragon’s father) rescued Moondragon from the realm of the dead and restored her to life.  In exchange for Heather’s resurrection, Phyla made a deal with Oblivion to become the new avatar of Death, replacing the late avatar, Thanos.  Phyla kept this deal secret from her teammates and took on the new identity of Martyr, relinguishing the Quasar identity and quantum bands back to a newly-resurrected Wendell Vaughn.

Becoming Martyr seemed to affect more than just her powers; Phyla was more aggressive and violent, bringing her into conflict with team leader Star-Lord when she became insubordinate.  To fulfill her agreement with Oblivion, Martyr attempted to assassinate her fellow Guardian, Adam Warlock.  However, Warlock survived the attempt–but transformed into his own dark reflection, the Magus.  The Magus captured Phyla and several other Guardians, tricking their teammates into believing that they were killed.  However, Phyla’s psychic bond with Moondragon allowed Heather to learn that Phyla was still alive.  Martyr and the others managed to escape, but Phyla was killed by Thanos when he was resurrected and resumed his role as Avatar of Death.  Whether or not Phyla will manage to cheat death yet again remains to be seen.

Phyla’s powers varied from identity to identity.  Her natural-born powers as a Kree/Titanian hybrid include flight and superhuman strength.  As both Captain Marvel and Quasar she was able to absorb and project large amounts of energy.  As Captain Marvel she possessed cosmic awareness (a form of psychic link with the universe itself), but that ability faded away for unrevealed reasons.  As Quasar she was able to create constructs out of quantum energy, limited only by her imagination–anything she could visualize, she could create.  She frequently used a sword constructed out of quantum energy–a weapon she that continued to use after she became Martyr.  If she had gained any new powers as Martyr, they were unrevealed at the time of her death.

Read a more in-depth profile of Phyla at this page. Please also read the Moondragon profile.

© and ® Marvel Comics. All rights reserved.

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Reteaching Gender & Sexuality

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

The following video featuring young adults talking about gender and sexuality came to my attention quite serendipitously – or perhaps as a result of synchronicity. In any case, I find it very interesting, and hope you’ll take a few moments to watch it and reflect on any thoughts that may come up for you.

 

Reteaching Gender and Sexuality from PUT THIS ON THE MAP on Vimeo.

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Regarding A Cisgender Slur

Friday, May 20th, 2011

By Joe Palmer

Cisgender. Trans ally. Entitled. Privileged. Ableist. CAFAB. CAMAB. FAAB. MAAB. These and other words and phrases were brought to the forefront for me recently when a person contacted me to express their dismay and anger regarding Glamazonia, the use of the word “tranny” in the title, and the positive review I gave the work. From this person’s point of view there was a choice of one of three options for me to do. One was to remove the review. Another was for me to give it a negative rating, and the last was to include a trigger warning.

Neither of these options were ones that I could act on. The first was censorship, which I don’t believe in. The second required that I lie about my opinion of Hall’s work. And I don’t believe in the use of trigger warnings. As an alternative, I offered the idea to this person of writing an opinion piece in response to the character and Hall’s use of the word in question to which the review would link. I also offered, which I did, to make Hall aware of this person’s thoughts and comments. As best I can tell, my suggestion was ignored in the subsequent reply which also contained a link for Hall to a blog post in which the author discussed the hurt and damage of “cisgender intent”. As I passed that along to him I began to wonder if this was a situation in which I’d be stuck in the middle, which reminded me of the dysfunctional way my parents and family members have long communicated. In turn I informed this person that I couldn’t comply with any of their suggestions and their reply was to inform all the people they know of this.

Should I have engaged in emails more with this person? Perhaps. Should I have been less terse? Yes, though I believe no amount of word dress up would alter their opinion, which wasn’t a goal on my part. Do I believe for this person that the word in question creates or reminds of some traumatic experience? I do and I also know that to say hurting anyone was and is not my intent will be considered by this person and possibly you reading this now as an example of cisgender intent and privilege. I am sorry they were hurt, hurt by the word, by the meaning and ugliness and violence attached to it by meanspirited people in the cis world aimed at them and others.  And to clarify, my references to this person in gender/ name unspecific terms is not an attempt to dehumanize them. I simply do not know how they identify and present themselves.

Words and symbols which have horrible, painful meanings can be reclaimed, though the effort is not always successful. The pink triangle, part of a whole coding system for undesirables, was a symbol to mark homosexuals in Nazi Germany and occupied countries. It was taken back. There was a time when the word fag was used by some gay men to describe themselves. Howard Cruse put the word in his characters’ mouths in his Wendel comic strip in the 1980s. The word is widely considered to be a slur now and is off limits. Is a cisgendered person allowed to help reclaim this word from being a slur? The answer will depend on your point of view and perhaps the person, and in this instance, the work in question.

So this feels like a rock and a hard place situation in which, on one hand, I think Hall’s work is good and understand that he’s had interactions and relationships with variously self-identifying people in the San Francisco Trans community — two out trans creators contributed their work to this book — and alienating and hurting one person in particular and likely others. And even this smacks of ableism, entitlement, and cisgender intent.

Below is a verbatim copy of an afterward by Hall from his book. Would this have made any differnce to have originally included it my review?

“About the word ‘tranny…’

The word is a tricky one.

From the mouths of bigots and assholes, it’s undeniably a hate word. Even coming from well-meanin folk, it can be clumsy and insensitiv. And yet, as with the word ‘queer’,it’s been reclaimed by many as a term of empowerment and humor.

Where I come from, the queer underground of San Francisco, ‘tranny’ is used by everyone from trans women and trans men to third genders, cross-dressers, drag queens, drag kings, faux queens, and other gender queers and gender radicals. The Uncanny Super-Tranny is meant to stand alongside such creations as the Tranny Film Fest, Tranny Road Show, Tranny Fag Health Project and Trannyshack.

Glamazonia the Uncanny Super-Tranny is intended as a work of (at times sarcastic) humor, and ultimately a celebration of the compokex, wondeful, and fascinating mosiac of queer identities and expressions.”

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The Complete Wendel

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

The Complete Wendel
Howard Cruse
288 Pages
$24.95
Universe Publishing

May you live in interesting times.

So goes the saying, incorrectly attributed as a Chinese curse.

Economic incentives for the rich; ultra conservatives whipping up fear against the LGBT community with charges that our goal is to legalize perversions, while at the same time we’re working for civil rights; AIDS crises; a blonde pop star with provocative sexuality and messages.Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But I’m not thinking of America in 2011, but America in the 1980s when many Americans were in thrall to the veneered charm of the so called great communicator, Ronald Reagan. Today it’s the Glenn Beck, the Tea Party and the mysterious Koch Brothers working to dupe Americans.

Everything old seems new again, eh?

Thankfully Howard Cruse was there the first time around to capture the zeitgeist of the times. Cruse spent much of the previous decade defining his aspirations and honing his skills with work in the underground comix world, in which he came out in 1976, and then went on to become the original editor of Gay Comix in 1980. As important as the anthology was, Cruse moved on to a more ambitious project, which brings me to this new edition of The Complete Wendel, published by Universe Press.

Wendel was, simplistically put, a comic strip. Yet it was so much more than the average comic strip. It had gay people! Still, comic strips with gay characters and content weren’t new. The Advocate magazine, which published Wendel, had run two gay strips previously, and a smattering appeared in other venues, as well as gay and lesbian stories in a few pioneering underground comix. According to Cruse, the Advocate initially offered no long term commitment, ordering strips one at a time. Other cartoonists might let that kind of uncertainty affect their narrative, but Cruse happily busied himself with lovable red-headed Wendel and fleshing out his world first with supportive friends, first with supportive parents, best friend Deb, and boyfriend Ollie, who — surprise! — had a young son named Farley (AKA Branman when he was in his superhero disguise), Farley’s mom Carol whose off panel high maintenance presence threw barbs, and Ollie’s oddly named friend Sterno whoinadvertently changed Wendel and Ollie’s relationship. What makes them feel alive and memorable is that Wendel, Ollie, Deb, Tina and the rest of the ensemble cast members were just everyday people trying their best to live life while dealing with everyday problems. You might have a friend like one of them or you might be facing a similar problem (ever have a friend overstay their welcome or lose a job?), and if neither were true for you, you could appreciate the humor and hijinx (either wacky or romantic/ sexual or both) that Cruse infused in their lives.They were human and that was their charm and appeal. The significance of this may seem lost today but take into account that at the time conservatives labeled us sexual perverts much louder than today and with dire consequences (legislation and funds for AIDS was stingy) while simultaneously there was the widespread mystique of sexual freedom and reveling in being a sexual outlaw, sodomy being illegal in many states, let alone the reality of same sex marriage.

Looking back, Wendel seems to be a natural progression for Cruse on another front. A few years before Cruse began to inject social and political commentary in his work, notably the underground Headrack comix. Nor was he the lone wolf in the underground comix world, but that’s another discussion. The Advocate presented a special opportunity though. A bi-weekly publication afforded the chance to incorporate real world events and topics when inspiration struck, lending the aura that Wendel’s world existed in real time. This was a dramatic uptick in exposure from the underground comix world with infrequent publication and often problematic distribution. That was the price of thumbing a collective nose at the Comics Code Authority and artistic integrity. Nationwide distribution was a dream come true. Lest I forget, rest assured that there isn’t any heavy handed preaching in these topical instances. It just isn’t Cruse’s nature to be dogmatic.

There is one point that could potentially be misinterpreted by some readers. Cruse occasionally put the word fag or faggot into the mouths of his characters as a non-derogatory descriptor. Back then the words were re-appropriated and used by some gays to defuse the negative connotations in the same fashion as some African Americans’ use the N word. Take this as evidence that attitudes are neither universal or unchanging.

Readers may know about a previous collection, Wendel All Together, published a decade ago by Olmsted Press. Both are printed in oversized format and contain the full run, however, Universe’s edition is an extra 16 pages. Olmsted went out of business though copies of its volume occasionally surface on the secondary market. Now there’s no need to search and wait for it, unless you’re an avid collector of all things Cruse.

Time and time again while sitting with this book I was reminded of why Cruse belongs to the class of storyteller. Comparisons can be inaccurate or find disfavor with the reviewed, but it occurred to me that Wendel (and Stuck Rubber Baby) would appeal to readers of Armisted Maupin’s Tales of the City books.

Universe Publishing is an imprint of Italian publishing house and bookseller Rizzoli, whose former Chicago  store I had a mad love for in my Windy City days. The imprint has published other books of gay interest such as David Leddick’s Male Nude Now and Paul Cadmus The Male Nude by Justin Spring, which have sat proudly in my bookshelves for a few years.

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Every part Of You Is Familiar To Me

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Kris Dresen
108 pages
$12

Kris Dresen’s “Every Part of You Is Familiar to Me” is a collection of work in which the artist accomplishes a difficult feat: to reveal the joys and magic of everyday encounters and a rich interior monologue. Whether in single paged or short sequences, Dresen celebrates the beauty of the human body, women’s bodies for certain, and the subtleties of the human condition. There is a familiarity about the situations chosen here. You have been here. In my own way I have been here on an occasion or two. As has Dresen as every inner thought of these women seem at once laid open and intimate. What elevates this book is Dresen’s keen sense of observation with which she employs to evoke states of grace, desire, and sensuality with allusions to the ineffable. Dialog and narrative text are banished as they would only detract from the experience. This emphasis on the image creates the mood of being a witness, a voyeur if you like, without the unsavory component, rather than simply being a reader.

This image is one page from what may be my favorite section, Travail de Nuit.

Dresen’s art style is all about the line and a love of making marks with pen and ink or pencil. Dresen surely enjoyed every moment exploring the gentle, curving lines that give her women life, how the upturn of a mouth teases the hand to touch the hip and breast. There’s a desire for drawing decorative patterns and playful textures, especially with hair, either luxurious spills of curls or short spikes, downswept curves, or wavy masses that have rhythmic beat of their own. And her trees which must be both fascination and signature.

To heap on more words in reviewing this book is a disservice I think. A bit like trying to explain “sky” and only having a blue crayon. It was a serendipitous find at Prism’s table at C2E2 this past March, and very much a pleasure to take part in later that night. My only regret was not having a glass of wine at hand. Find yourself a good bottle or something else enjoyable to relax with and sit back with this book.

Every part Of You Is Familiar To Me and several others are available for ordering. Please visit Kris Dresen’s shop, where as of this posting the book may be purchased for $9.97 plus shipping.

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Hello From The Batman Family

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Are you feeling a little verklempt about the second delay with the ongoing Batwoman title as I am? Here’s a charming (and that can be taken in a couple senses) little gem showing Batwoman, Bat-Girl, and the other important Batman family members from the summer of 1964.  Please forgive the scan quality.

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