The Squeaky Wheel

A Visit From Batman

2012-11-25T15:49:06Z

A Visit From Batman

By: Kyrax2

With apologies to Clement C. Moore

'Twas Thanksgiving Night, and throughout Gotham City

All the villains were scheming, which was really a pity

Good citizens of Gotham trembled under their beds

As nightmares of mayhem tripped through their heads

[Read More]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

The Write Stuff

2012-03-29T18:37:01Z

At SDCC this year, a young man asked Dan DiDio why the ratio of female creators on DC's staff had fallen from 12% prior to the introduction of the New 52 to only 1%. As many people later pointed out, the man's numbers were wrong. The 12% included editors and other listed female staff, while the 1% figure only included writers, pencillers and inkers.

To me, the scandal was not that a well-meaning man made an honest mistake. To me, the scandal was that DC's percentage of female creators hadn't been anywhere near 12% to begin with!

[Read more at original article.]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

Oh Yes They Did: DC, Amy Reeder and Bruce Wayne

2012-03-28T20:59:37Z

As I mentioned in an earlier column, I wasn't able to attend New York Comic Con this year. San Diego Comic Con was fun, but it was not cheap, and the combination of plane ticket, hotel room and registration for NYCC was beyond my means. It was therefore only second-hand that I read about DC's exclusion of Amy Reeder from their All Access: Batman panel. I really wish I could have been there, because I have a question I would have asked. It's a pretty simple question, just three words.

"Are you high?"

[Read More at original article]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

A Tale of Three Comic Shops

2012-03-28T20:57:31Z

Before I got into comic books, I knew the location of exactly one comic shop. It was a bit out of our way-- a tiny, poorly-lit, grubby place with boxes and boxes of back issues. I knew about it because my husband used to go there to fill in the gaps in his bronze-age Marvel collection. Sometimes I went with him. Eventually he got tired of it. When I asked him why he'd stopped going there and starting searching out the comics online, he shrugged and said, "The owner was a jerk. I got sick of his attitude."

[Read More at original article]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

Geeking Out at Geek Girl Con, Part 2

2012-03-19T17:34:06Z

Note: This article was posted several months ago, but I never promoted it here. Over the next few days I'll be posting links to more articles I've written and want to share. Please feel free to comment on them here or at the original article.

Sunday, 10 a.m., and it was my turn behind the table. Now I was
answering, not asking questions. Comics Superstar Gail Simone and little
ol’ me co-hosted the panel appropriately dubbed “Batgirls.” An early
panel, it was not as heavily attended as some of the others, but the
crowd we had was fantastic. I was nervous at first, but that wore off
quickly. It was like being in a room of my best friends. [Read More]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

Geeking Out at Geek Girl Con, Part 1

2012-03-19T17:33:24Z

Note: This article was posted several months ago, but I never
promoted it here. Over the next few days I'll be posting links to more
articles I've written and want to share. Please feel free to comment on
them here or at the original article.

At Geek Girl Con, women and men came together on an equal playing field.
Geeks of all stripes were in attendance. I saw Trekkies and Twihards,
Star Wars fans and Harry Potter enthusiasts, coders and gamers and
mathletes and science geeks and otaku and yes, even comics geeks.
Everyone was welcome. Everyone was treated with respect, regardless of
age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental
ability, weight, height, or any other factor. [Read More]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

WonderCon!

2012-03-16T15:25:03Z

I’ll be at WonderCon today! If you see me, feel free to say, ‘Hi’! I’ll be dressed as Batgirl again. :)

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

What's Love Got to Do With It? : Starfire in the New 52

2012-03-08T15:10:24Z

Note: This article was posted several months ago, but I never promoted it here. Over the next few days I'll be posting links to more articles I've written and want to share. Please feel free to comment on them here or at the original article.

I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to write about Starfire. After all, there have been at least three brilliant articles written about Starfire’s portrayal by DC in the newly-released comic Red Hood and the Outlaws, not to mention ComicsBulletin.com’s own take on the controversy, with input from quite a few contributors. I didn’t think I had anything to add to the conversation. [read more]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

Worth Her Weight: Amanda Waller in the New 52

2012-03-08T14:56:33Z

Note: This article was posted several months ago, but I
never promoted it here. Over the next few days I'll be posting links to
more articles I've written and want to share. Please feel free to
comment on them here or at the original article.

Just in case you missed it, the latest character to fall victim to DC's
often ill-thought-out redesigns is one Amanda "The Wall" Waller. She's
gone from being a "wall of a woman" to...looking like every other woman
in comics. In other words, she's svelte, with high cheekbones, big
breasts, what some have termed "fuck-me lipstick", a blouse unbuttoned
far enough that you can see her bra peeking out, and-- especially
infuriating for many-- straightened hair. [read more]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

Reason number 1,791,623 that I love my husband

2012-03-08T14:43:59Z

Me: "You know, it's International Women's Day today?"
Him: "How come you only get a day?"

You'll note that he did NOT say, "When's International Men's Day?"

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

12 issues of Batman: The Dark Knight for $11.99 w/coupon code BATMAN

2012-03-07T17:06:56Z

You can subscribe to Batman: The Dark Knight at Tanga.com today for $11.99 for a year’s subscription. Use coupon code BATMAN at payment screen. Don’t forget to enter the coupon code or you won’t get the deal!

I purchased a similar deal for “Batman” from them last year and, though it took awhile for the subscription to start, it was a legitimate deal. I have no idea if Batman: The Dark Knight is any good, but at a buck an issue, I can afford to find out. I’m still getting Snyder’s Batman in the mail on my old subscription, and that’s certainly a steal at a dollar per issue.

Please tweet/reblog this around so that others can share in this deal if they wish. It’s only good for 24 hours, expiring at midnight PST today, March 7th. I have no idea if it’s quantity limited as well as time limited.

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

Judging a Book by its Cover: How Women See Comic Books

2012-03-04T16:25:05Z

Want to know a secret?

Comic books are dying.

[Read More at the original article.]

This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth Account, where it has comments.

A Modestly Indecent Proposal: Comics Piracy and the New 52

2012-03-04T15:53:02Z

Note: This article was posted several months ago, but I realized I never promoted it here. Over the next few days I'll be posting links to more articles I've written and want to share. Please feel free to comment on them here or at the original article.

Remember that old chestnut, "98% of people masturbate, and the other 2% are liars?" I was reminded of it when thinking about illegal comic book downloading: everybody does it, no one will admit it. It's the elephant in the room that no one's willing to talk about, including and especially the 'Big Two', DC and Marvel.

[Read More at the original article]
This entry was originally posted at http://kyrax2.dreamwidth.org/1957.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Tumblr Plugin Recommendations?

2011-07-29T16:21:04Z

I'm finding Tumblr really counterintuitive to use. I've installed the Firefox 'Missing E' extension and that's helping some, but I'd appreciate any recommendations/tips you have for making tumblr more usable. I can install Greasemonkey scripts.

Thanks, folks!

This entry was originally posted at http://kyrax2.dreamwidth.org/1618.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Con Reports and other information

2011-07-28T23:42:15Z

First, I want to thank everyone who commented on my Convention reports and gave me support and encouragement. Those reports were meant mainly for people I knew, and as such they were written hurriedly and casually. There is now a much more comprehensive and in-depth account of my experiences at the DC panels at SDCC here. Since the original reports contain some inaccuracies (for example, I'd remembered that DiDio asked if women wanted to work for DC, but it was Morrison), I've made them private for now. Thanks very much for your understanding.
This entry was originally posted at http://kyrax2.dreamwidth.org/1497.html.