Secret Origins, The Story DC Comics

When it comes to the two big names in comic books (DC and Marvel), I am entrenched in neither camp. I love certain Marvel characters, their creators, writers, and artists - like Jean Grey (X-Men), Galactus, The Silver Surfer, Magneto - too much to declare myself full on Team Marvel, but my first brush with comics came courtesy of William Moulton Marston's star spangled Wonder Woman and she has always been my favourite. Then there's Batman, The Green Lantern, and Julius Schwartz's revamp of The Flash.

It took me a long time to hunt down "Secret Origins, The Story of DC Comics" and am I glad I did. To hear greats like Neil Gaiman (whose reimagining of The Sandman was genius), Alan Moore, Jim Lee, and see the old clips and the old timers was worth the effort. It was like watching a movie about my friends. Not just the heroes, anti-heroes, and even the villains that I adore, but the people who brought them to life.

Comic books have had a special place in my heart for nearly three decades. I fell in love with Wonder Woman comics before I could read. I knew from the pictures she could deflect bullets with her bracelets and that she was on the side of "good". I aspired to, like my heroine, do good deeds.  This idea that good people do good things has stuck with me ever since.

I literally cheered during this documentary. Cheered when I saw Julius Schwartz and Neil Gaiman herald Alan Moore as a genius because he is - The Swamp Thing, Watchmen, V for Vendetta prove it. I was inspired by these people who loved something so intensely. Just as I cannot police the universe because I don't have Hal Jordan's power ring, I was not blessed with the gift to draw comic books. I'm not even sure I could write them. I say not sure because before seeing this documentary I'd have said I couldn't even write them.

Now I feel a little differently. Now I see that same passion and fire for comics I feel has been infused into every comic book ever written, so maybe one day. Maybe one day I'll toss off my glasses and ummm peel off all my clothes and I'll be a hero...

And if you feel inspired to read comics and never have, let me give you a few tips.

• Start from the beginning.
• If you can afford it, buy colour omnibuses.
• Watch the films made about comics to see who you might be interested in knowing more about. I recommend: Stardust, Watchmen, X-Men First Class, Batman (Tim Burton's or Christ Nolan's series based on Frank Miller's Batman), and certain cartoons such as the 90's Batman, Superfriends (which was amazing), and the animated X-Men series (which was also amazing).
• Ebay.
• Enjoy.

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Why I Love Wonder Woman

My fourth birthday party was dedicated to Wonder Woman. I had the WW logo on my glasses, my cake, my party favours, my balloons, and I even tried to dress up like Princess Diana of Paradise Island by wearing a blue leotard and taping tin foil to my wrists.

I had a pink plastic jump rope lasso of truth and a backstory. Since I had just moved from an island off the shores of Korea my backstory was rooted in truth. I was a half-Amazonian princess raised on a magical island who left her magical island to be raised in the world of men.

As I think of my backstory, or what comic book fans might call my "origin" myth, I'm reluctant to give too many details. Why? Well that little backstory I concocted in my mind that day and told to all the party guests and my insistence that they not call me by real name because I was now "Wonder Girl" - well that story has stayed with me all my life. It's partially what inspired the series of books I want to write.

The funny thing is, it wasn't the TV show that starred Linda Carter who gave me my love for Wonder Woman. It was the comics. They belonged to an older girl who lived near my grandparents, but by the end of the summer I had the action in the panels nearly memorised and when my birthday rolled around all I wanted to be just like her. Even if just for a day.

Wonder Woman comics weren't popular when I started buying my own comic books seven years later. Still, Wonder Woman remained my favourite even when pitted up against other female superheroes with incredible powers like Stan Lee's "Jean Grey". I was in awe of Jean, but I never wanted to be her.

I'm still a serious comic book fan. I am a frequent visitor to comic book related message boards and I wouldn't pass up a chance to go to ComicCon. I wouldn't go out of my way either though. I'm more addicted nowadays to Alan Moore's work than Stan Lee's continuing legacy.

But then there's Wonder Woman. There's that memory I have of me at that birthday party when somehow the world was a perfect place and I was going to grow up to be a hero and have an invisible plane and the possibility that one day I might save the world.

That's why I went and bought The Wonder Woman Chronicles from Henk's Comics when I was in Amsterdam. They didn't have it in the shop, so I ordered it and paid to have it sent to me. I have a soft spot for their shop. I bought my Tardis key chain there, my The Walking Dead t-shirt, and lots of comics. Though to actually ship me my WW was more than they charged me. Will definitely have to go back and buy more comics from them.

Now let me explain why coming home to my WW Chronicles was the cherry on a near perfect day.

I took the 10h17 train from Gare de Lyon with the intention of possibly going to Fontainebleau to have a coffee, browse some shops, and write near the reflecting pool behind the chateau for awhile.

They rearranged the bus system. The trip that should be 15 minutes max ended up taking one hour and twenty-two minutes.

I had a terribly strong espresso than had to take a pee in a loo that someone had obviously just taken a massive poo in while holding my breath.

Every shop I wanted to pop into was closed.

Walked all the way to the chateau, spotted the swans, ducks, and carp and ended up walking all the way back to a bakery to buy a sandwich that a swan brazenly ripped out of my hands minus a bit of mayonnaise and ham.

Found a beautiful spot on the chateau grounds behind a pedestal (sans statue) to hide behind, had a puff, wrote a bit, and watched waterbugs. Waterbugs are beautiful to watch. They make ripples that are completely different than fish or rain droplets or anything else I've ever seen.

On the way back towards the chateau rescued a duck from a mean little Chinese boy. I'm not sure what scared him more, my accent in Mandarin or that I told him he was doing a naughty thing. Whatever it was, another Chinese couple also scurried off.

The duck I rescued escorted me down the road a bit, met an old French lady, escorted her a little bit, and then another old lady came and fed it some bread. It also got a sandwich out of me. I had a nice little talk with the old lady for awhile and then we both agreed it was very hot, and after wishing each other a good day we went our separate ways but not before she assured me that someone else would come and feed the adorably tame duck we were both smitten with.

I bought ingredients to make delicious pizzas (artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, Parmesan, arugula, and Parma ham). While waiting for the bus (which I missed) back to the train station I helped a lady find a perfume for her daughter and then waited for the next bus. Again the rearrangement of the buses screwed me, so I hopped into a taxi and watched the beautifully lit forest of Fontainebleau from behind a lightly tinted window while people complained about Sarkozy on the radio.

Train station. Paris.

Back home the package was waiting for me. Old school Wonder Woman was all about empowerment. The first female superhero was as strong as Hercules. As wise as Athena. More beautiful than Aphrodite. She also wore a skirt back then in 1941 when she made her first appearance in ALL-STAR COMICS #8.

William Moulton Marston's imagination (influenced heavily by his wife) created a heroine for little girls to look up to and I did. I'm hoping that reading the old comics will inspire me to be a hero like they did all those years ago.

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Superman is no longer American.

I am a massive comic book fan and have been ever since I was four years old and went around with aluminum foil taped to my wrists and a paper crown on my head à la Wonder Woman. She was my favourite superhero for many years and then I sort of forgot her until I grew old enough to afford comic books and started reading X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Green Lantern, The Flash, and all the other comics I discovered in my thirty year love affair with the art form.

But I must confess I've never been a fan of Superman. While I can appreciate "The Man of Steel" as a superhero, Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman never appealed to me. When I became engrossed in the JLA comics all I could think was despite all his invincibleness and speed and strength and buffness he still wasn't The Green Lantern. He wasn't even the second or third or fourth best member of The Justice League! (IMHO)(The H is for humble.)

First off Superman isn't invincible. There's Kryptonite to deal with and lead and magic and psionics and his dependency on a certain female reporter.

Secondly he's not that fast either. In the World's Finest #198-199 Superman races The Flash (Barry Allen, Silver Age) and Superman is forced to admit that The Flash is the fastest man alive...on this planet (Earth).

 

Overall Superman vs. The Flash would leave it at 2-0-2 before Barry Allen died saving the Multiverse in The Crisis of Infinite Earths (1985).

hen Barry Allen is resurrected in 2009 they have it out again and The Flash beats Supes in an actual foot race. Easily. Knowing The Flash he probably chewed gum leisurely and had time to hit on a few ladies while he gave Supes a chance to catch up. Supe lovers can get into all the debates they want but while atmospheres may be different from world to world, it doesn't change the fact that The Flash can manipulate the very atoms of his body which essentially boils down to manual teleportation, which even someone as fast as a speeding bullet can't do even on their best day.

Now in strength Superman has a little more ground to stand on. The Hulk was bested by Superman and The Hulk is the strongest mortal on Earth. But let's not forget Superman isn't invincible. Doomsday managed to kill him and he isn't the only one. In fact any superhero with either enough magic, lead, or Kryptonite could do the job. Heaven forbid post crisis 1985 Superman were to meet up with say Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen) or Thor (as he is a god and all). Superman isn't as badass as he used to be.

Still even I have to concede that in buffness Superman isn't a bad choice as far as superheroes are concerned. He certainly does fill out a pair of tights and there were moments in the JLA that Supes proved he wasn't just a perfectly square-jawed face...

I didn't read Superman because there were so many other comic books I want(ed) to read and I just never liked him enough, in fact I liked him so little I considered Superman my least favourite of all the more popular comic book superheroes. I didn't think I could like him any less until...

The day I read on Google News that Superman had renounced his U.S. citizenship. Not because he saw the current situation in America for the bullshit it is, but because after showing up to support protestors in Tehran he inadvertently started a war because he is such an icon of America that the Iranians see it as an act of war. Supes denounced his citizenship at the U.N. (thus providing more evidence that the U.N. is actually the U.S.) and has decided to stop thinking locally and act globally.

WTF???!!!???

With the new Superman reboot coming out (with the hot guy from The Tudors as Supes) and all the other comic book movies being spit out by Hollywood (the best of recent memory obviously being ZS' The Watchmen), this is (obviously) another marketing ploy to rake in the big bucks internationally. When even stars of such calibre (or after The Rite is this statement no longer true? Hmmm...) as SIR Anthony Hopkins, Dame Helen Mirren, and other great actors not from the UK are now starring in films based on comic books it has to be obvious to comic book fans and non-comic book fans alike that DC Comics sold out Superman to sell more tickets.

But given that Superman is supposed to represent "the American way", maybe it was more in character than Goyer and Sepulveda realised. Which is very, very, very sad.

So no Superman as much as I dislike you as a comic book character, I don't think that you should have shafted the American people being such a symbol of hope and all.

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