Eliyes

- Leave a comment saying "Beam me up Scotty!"
- I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity.
- Update your journal with the answers to your questions.
- Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.

Got this from ladyblahblah. ( Here's her questions for me. )

Feel free to answer these questions in the comments, whether or not you ask me to give you questions of your own!

I am very excited for X-Factor: Forever!

And I know at least one person on my f-list is probably just as excited for Sabretooth: Origins!

Let's play "Name That Team-Up!" DC baddie version.

These two criminals are both part of the so-called "Rogues Gallery" of one particular member of the Justice League. While not constant partners, they have worked together occasionally and are known to be friends.

The first is a redhead who habitually wears green costumes, and whose M.O. heavily involves a form of hypnotism. Activities are usually arguably a form of activism, or theft to fund it. Strongly indicated as a homosexual.

The second is fair-haired, favours close-fitting but clownish apparel, and relies on a miscellany of weapons customized from what might otherwise be found in a joke shop or slapstick comedy's prop room. A cream pie could be a bomb -- or not.

[Poll #1417857]

Tough choice, eh?

UncannyXmen.Net did a spotlight on Chris Bradley!

"Who?" you may ask, and I wouldn't be surprised. He was a kid with lightning powers who the X-Men took in only to discover that he had the Legacy Virus. That all happened in X-Men Unlimited #8. What even most people who read that book don't know is that his story didn't end there! Alas, it did end, and quite tragically. Read all about it!

From The New Defenders #151:

Hank: C'mon, Bobby -- So the girl you were sweet on turned out to be a stellar nebula forty times the size of the solar system! It could have been worse!

Bobby: Oh, yeah? How?

Hank: She could have been married!

Couldn't find Gambit and the X-Ternals at my FLCS, but the owner says he'll check his yet-to-be-organized backstock for me. So I bought $30 of Defenders instead. X3 I jumped all around, I have the beginning and the near-end (before Manhunter, so, basically the end of Cloud). I'm kinda happy about this. *bounces* I'll let you know how it goes.

Over at In One Ear... there are a few (very bitter) parodies of giving advice for writing minorities in comics. Here's a link to the one about writing gays. Needless to say, the advice lampoons the actual practices. The Marvel ones had me nodding and naming names at every point. I'm not as strong on the DC tropes, really, because Marvel was what I was reading a lot more of when I was young and optimistically looking for queer role models in my favourite forms of media. eta: Just to make this a little clearer: I'm only addressing the Marvel ones in the rest of this post. (Even though I actually have more variety of DC characters who are gay or bi represented in my icons! X3)

The interesting thing is that, while the handling of Northstar is the main target of these "suggestion"/criticisms on nearly every point, the first one applies not to him, but to Iceman. (I'm pretty sure it's never happened to Northstar, because what would mean admitting he'd gotten laid at some point in his life. *headwall*)

The poster boy for #4 is arguably Arnold Roth, boyhood-and-beyond friend of Steve Rogers. Yes, that's right, folks: Captain America went to art college and roomed with a gay man. The best part for me is that Cap is totally okay with this when he finds out. I'm also impressed that neither Arnie nor his long-time lover Michael die of AIDS. Instead, they suffer the type of traumas supporting characters in a superhero book often find themselves in, getting kidnapped a lot. Baron Zemo kills Michael, but Arnie dies of bone cancer -- and with him, Cap's last living tie to his past, alas. They aren't the only gay characters to show up in Captain America, either. For example, the WWII heroes Destroyer and Union Jack II were a couple (unfortunately, Union Jack was killed by a car accident in 1953 -- dying in Destroyers arms ;_;). Two long-term loving gay couples.

Right now, Marvel has some very visible homosexual heroes around: Wiccan and Hulkling over in Young Avengers, Karolina Dean in Runaways (she turns point #1 on it's head: her spouse is an alien shape-shifter who is naturally male but usually appears female to please Karolina, who is only attracted to women), and in the X-books there is (or was, depending on current state of alive-ness) Sunfire II, Northstar, Karma, and Anole. Moondragon and Captain Marvel IV are a f/f couple, although Moondragon is currently physically an actual dragon (but they're both telepaths, so They Have Their Ways). Also, Electro (the Spiderman villain) is now canonically bisexual, as is Marlo (Rick Jones's wife). That's all in the main continuity: in the 1602-verse, Angel falls in love with "John Grey", whom he believes to be male, and in the Ultimates! universe, Northstar and Colossus are a couple.

Only tangentially related: this is an awesome post discussing how being a queer fan and being a fan of slash are not the same thing. I'm often frustrated with how a lot of slash fans use the "gay" label, and how many slash writers depict exaggerated stereotypes of what they think being gay is like, and this post touched on some of the roots of the problem.

Today I did a little back-to-school shopping. I have a new knapsack! The old one had a strap break some time ago and been a unadjustable tied-in-a-knot strap for most of the summer. The old one was pink and maroon; the new one is black and BRIGHT GREEN ahahaha... It's smaller (yay! I was packing too much crap into the old one, and killing my back) and it has a great pocket set-up. Theoretically I could fit my laptop in it, too. We shall see.

I also got some notebooks (yay!), an 8pack of my fave gel pen (Sarasa Zebra) in blue (previously I could only find the multi-colour small packs, and I pretty much never use the red), a pencil sharpener so I can use the several boxes of pencils I have (it took me, a store employee and two other customers 10 minutes of searching to find the sharpeners -- but there were pencils everywhere, just no damned sharpeners) and it is also green.

And then I went to the comic store. :3

I think X-Men First Class is probably the most enjoyable thing Marvel is doing right now, as far as I'm concerned. It's a lot of fun, and I just think of it as existing in another universe, where the storylines from the original books happen, but with modern touches like laptops and iPods. You'd think this would be driving me crazy, but the idea that you wouldn't really have to change all that much of the Merry Mutants to have it all going on today sticks with me, like a balm against the achy scars of the 90s determination to make teen books as angsty and fucked up as possible. *purples*

And they're so much fun! If I were to quote my favourite bits from the most recent issue, I'd be just as well to scan the whole damned thing. (But my scanner hates me.) I suppose I should explain where my journal entry title comes from, though.

In this issue (#3 of the on-going series) the team is trapped on the Island of Monsters. Naturally, everything is trying to eat them. (Even the butterflies. And the trees.) Last issue, Bobby claimed the island for is own, planting a flag (made of ice) and declaring the island "The Republic of Bobbyland". Hank replied that the best part was "Hankville". (I love them so.)

Here are his decrees, from the first page of X-Men First Class #3:

"1. Bobbyland will be divided into 6 sections: New Bobby (that's the capital), Hankville, Jeanatropolis, Scottsylvania, Warrenburg and B.D. VIP (for when The Bobby needs alone time).

2. Since the trees here apparently wanna eat us, "shoot-first-ask-questions-later" is the norm when it comes to the shrubbery.

3. Sandwiches will be passed out like so: Bobby gets first choice (I want tuna), then Jean, then Hank, then Warren, then Scott (because I'm pretty sure he's too boring to experience flavor).

4. When we run out of sandwiches and chocolate, we'll eat Hank first. Then Warren. We'll draw straws after that."

Then Hank reveals he replaced all the candy Bobby had packed for the trip with healthier granola bars and a fight breaks out. I love that this book always plays to my "Bobby has a sweet tooth" conviction. XD

Finally, unrelated to comics or school, this is too cool! I'm having fun poking the links to previous entries, too.

You need to check out Prince Projectur and Saturn Boy. More male heroes need to wear pink bikinis with thigh-high boots, or minidresses with opera gloves and capes.

Seriously.

I especially love ( SPOILERS LIKE WHOA )

So much love for old Legion!!! XD <3

(Okay, really I'm making this post to see what all the fuss is about the new update screen. I was also just forced to update my WMP to get any music to play, and also my PDF reader. That time of year, it seems.)

So, okay, I'm behind and I just read 52 #31 and I gotta say, I sincerely hope Captain Comet is dead, because he was fairly likeable and if he's not? That's gotta suck. #32 had some stuff I'm sure I'll get once my brain kicks in.

I've been reading Trials of Shazam and I hate the art for the first few pages pretty much every issue. I keep reading it, though, because a) FREDDIE, b) Marvels, and c) FREDDIE. This most recent issue had Achilles and I just need to say yes. I am a closet Iliad fangirl, and yes, that works for me DC, go with that. Especially the little almost-flirt with Freddie. (Freddie, being a very pretty guy, is used to these random almost-flirts and was unruffled. Yay Freddie! :D)

What else what else... OH! Justice Society. If you have a Starman or Legion love, pick it up, people. Way to be a total tease, DC. I'm avoiding Legion World for a while until there's a chance the Dawnstar fanboys have cooled down. I really hope that's "Danny"/Thom... I think? :O He's totally nuts, that's unhappy.

And finally I get my hands on Yu Yu Hakusho #11 in English. It's been a while since I read it in French.