Comic Book Questions With Xenojay – ISSUE 2

As you could tell from Issue 1, I can get crazy busy about comics. I had to refrain from overstating the answer to a very simple question, because if I didn’t, well you’d probably still be reading it right now.

SO ON TO ISSUE 2!

Thankfully I got a lot of really great stuff out of the Twitter-sphere and this carries on with today’s issue, courtesy of this question(s) from @jessej1977 (who’ll probably end up in another issue soon because he didn’t just have these 2…)

many options… 1) where to start as a newbie reader. 2) why are people making a deal out of batgirls and spiderwomans new costumes

— Jesse Joseph (@jessej1977)

So question 1. Hmmmm…do I attempt to attack this question? For me, it’s always a little bit broad and of course we all have different tastes.

When it comes to the world of comics, most people tend to associate it with the world of the ‘superhero’. But while a lot of the great stories tend to have something ‘superpowered’ to them, some of the best are just interpretations or adaptations for the medium.

One of my favourites is Art Spiegelman’s ‘Maus’, the first Pulitzer prize winning graphic novel depicting his fathers experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It’s a good read for anyone to remind them of one of the worst events to occur during our recorded history of the world, and to see the strength in those who managed to escape it.

A current modern favourite and for very good reasons is ‘Saga’ from Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. With Staples wonderful art complimenting Vaughan’s astounding storytelling ability, it’s a story of interracial love between two people from planets at war. We follow their weird journey to escape with their newly born child, wanted by those in power.

To divulge any more would ruin the great tale this story tells and it cannot be endorsed enough.

I could carry on, but there is really a plethora of titles out there and I feel these are nice starting recommendations. You could also sink yourself into some solid collected trades, such as the previously mentioned ‘Batman: Year One’ in the previous issue, Marvels’s ‘Old Man Logan’ which follows Wolverine in old age or Francis Manapul’s latest run on DC’s ‘The Flash’, where a rebooted universe allows new readers to jump in fresh.

ON TO QUESTION 2!

“Why are people making such a big deal out of Batgirls and Spider-Woman’s new costumes?”

When these changes occurred I thought “HOT DAMN! PRACTICALITY!”. But yes, there’s a lot more to this particular question.

I can’t begin to start the debate on why the changes have happened, or why they took so long because that’s for people smarter than me. But what can I do is look at it from a fans point of view and try to explain it in a manner fitting my opinion.

The characters Batgirl and Spider-Woman are similar, yet also drastically different. While they’re both headstrong, tough-as-nails and cool as hell, they’re also driven by different objectives (while serving the same purpose) and are wildly different in age.

The significance in their costume change though comes from their importance in their respective universes.

Batgirl has always held high regard in the world of DC. As a support to DC’s most popular character, Barbara Gordon has been put through it all from being a partner to Batman to becoming disabled to then becoming ‘THE’ contact-point for any required information to then being rebooted into becoming Batgirl once more.

While there have been many iterations of Batgirl’s uniform (no doubt her most well-known number coming out of the 1960’s TV series), they’ve all shared elements similar to Batman’s, but with her own unique colour scheme.
With this in mind, it means the uniform is form-hugging, an attribute shared by both characters.

Of course this became a bit of an issue when DC rebooted into the ‘New 52’ and Batman went from this svelte number:

To this armored up piece of BAT-TASTIC-NESS!

In retrospect, when Barbara took over the mantle again, she got this uniform:

It’s not bad and definitely has the same elements as her previous suits and shares the armored side of Batman’s uniform, but the thing with this is Barbara was also de-aged, meaning she’s closer to the age of 18 to 20.

I’m not saying she can’t wear whatever the heck she wants, because she can, but this is a youthful Batgirl who tries to take her fight away from the Bat-family and keep it under her own brand.
This is a woman who may have access to Waynetech, but doesn’t want to or need to rely on it. If she needs to repair her uniform, it can be done on the fly on the wages her family earns, or with her own cash because she is an independent hero to the ‘Dark Knight’.

So when the affectionately known ‘Babs’ started running in this costume below, you better believe I was on-board for a practical and smart-looking uniform, used by a street-savvy woman who can kick your butt!

YOU GO BABS GORDON!

Now onto Jessica Drew, who is also known as Spider-Woman. Her character has a name due to the word ‘Spider’, but funnily enough she’s drastically different to Spider-Man, and isn’t even related to him in any way! (A joke that runs throughout the Marvel universe).

Drew has run with her uniform since her inception, which means it’s close to 40 years old (First appearance in ‘Marvel Spotlight Vol. 1 Issue 32‘).  This isn’t a bad thing, and she’s taken on other uniforms here and there, but her primary has always been the ‘Red & Yellow’ number (As per the image on the right).

It’s not controversial for a character to get a new uniform, especially replacing one that’s been around for a while, but to come back to the word ‘controversial’, it’s interesting that the following image happened:

A variant cover to ‘Spider-Woman #1’ (shown on left), a spin-off from Dan Slott’s ‘Spider-Verse’ event which returned Drew to her own title, the cover by artist Milo Manara, known for his depiction of the female form, caused a lot of rumblings in Social Media.

And by a lot I mean it was EVERYWHERE.

I myself chose to sit on the proverbial fence and observe the war of word and opinion, not due to being ignorant or undecided but because I understand both sides.
Yes, the image can be seen as sexual and exploitative of the form to appeal to the male audience instead of to both female and male. But I also know Manara’s work which is revered in the comics world for it’s style.
Human form shouldn’t be a factor in comics as they aren’t just about recreating realism, but just as much about creating the surreal, which was one of the arguments due to her positioning.

This event created a hype train of insurmountable speed, which may or may have not led to Spider-Woman’s new uniform as below:

Again, it’s come down to that street look. Jessica Drew will be returning to her more investigative roots, which will require her to be on the streets a bit more. This means a uniform that can be accessed quickly and secretly.
Again, practicality is what won me over here. The suit looks amazing, retaining similarities to her previous uniform while modernising it.

I just love it.

PLUS! Transforming glasses and hidden wings?! Yes, please!

Have I answered these questions as best I can? I believe so. As stated, when it comes to these uniforms, the full debate is smarter than I. But as a fan, I really love what they’ve done with the characters and how they’ve adapted them for their new, modern life.

ONWARD TO ISSUE 3!