A New Era At DC Comics?

Just a thought:

If Diane Nelson is indeed in charge of overseeing DC Comics now – and, as evident from what I've read concerning her, wants to help drag the publisher into the 21st Century in terms of digital media & movie production – then I'm done poo-pooing DC's efforts. Because, frankly, I want to see more female execs succeed and make an impact in the entertainment industry.

As women, we can blog and rabble-rouse online about this or that perceived or actual sexist thing, and I think that's necessary to a degree. But the only person who is going to actually make a tangible, immediate, long-lasting difference is the person Paul Levitz has to answer to, or a similar person of that rank and stature.

(and you can say "yay we got Stephanie Brown back" but the fact of the matter is the cover of the first issue of the new "Batgirl" cuts off her eyes and focuses on her breasts so the same cluelessness is in play in my opinion)

I remembered Jenette Kahn's last day at DC, and how it dovetailed into the start of Dan DiDio's tenure at DC. I remember being told the story about how Jenette first arrived at DC, how Warners wanted to drag DC Comics into the 20th Century and so they hired her. And how she went in there and essentially cleaned things up and made them presentable to interact with the rest of the modern media. The 1980s were a golden age for DC; I don't think anyone can argue with that. DC is still living off the comics and ideas brought forth in that golden time.

It is my belief that what happened with DC and Jenette Kahn in the late 1970s might be happening again now. And this brings with it a tremendous potential for change and advancement for this publisher.

This is not to say that by having a woman in charge, all things will immediately get awesome and there will never be any sexism anymore and etc. That is too simplistic a view. But having a female in some position of authority helps. It helps. Because I doubt a woman with the personality and character to negotiate movie rights with a JK Rowling is going to just nod and look away at some of the crap that has been happening at the DCU for the last 10 years.

I'm a damn hard cynic, but I'm going to allow myself a window of optimism.