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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

"Batwoman's Kryptonite = Homophobia"

There is a smokin' interview with Devin Grayson on the site After Ellen that pretty much confirms all my theories & suspicions regarding the "burying" of Batwoman:

“I won't pretend not to be resentful of how badly DC treated me in that exchange, but the majority of my concern and sympathy goes out to the character, who was basically thrown away by a company which had a lot of support to make her successful and unique. My experiences up to that point had been much more positive, although admittedly less ambitious, and it was really sad and discouraging to see the ball so badly dropped.”
--Devin Grayson

According to the interview, after eight months in development she found out that her proposed "Batwoman" series was kaput not through the courtesy of a phone call -- but through a newspaper article.

Please add the "Batwoman" debacle as an addendum to the previous "Countdown to Change" post. Then hustle over to Greg Rucka's LiveJournal for his own laments concerning Renee Montoya (both stories found via Journalista)

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:21 PM

    Right. Any setback whatsoever for a gay character MUST be homophobia!

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  2. The substance of the Grayson article I'd read before, but Rucka's issues are new to me. I wondered about the decidely sapphic allure of the newly solicited Crime Bible cover, and thought some might object to the blatent exploitation. This though-- wow, that art and redesign is teh suk. The covers recall Cowan's mulleted Question redesign of the 80's, which sorta works today for a lesbian detective if you can get around the sterotyping, but this? Blech!

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  3. I don't know. Batwoman is kind of sucky. You make Batwoman, then the next is Batboy.

    Honestly, I think it was a bad idea from the start. Batgirl has much more potential and adding another Bat-whatever would just dilute the other characters.

    I'm glad they axed it. Not particularly happy with how they did it, but glad they did it.

    Anyway, DC is a mess. I expect more sh*tbombs coming.

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  4. This is about the 52 Batwoman, right? I know people who are mad that Batgirl had to step aside for Batwoman. Whatever. Batwoman was not a standout in 52. A Bat- whatever should come from within Bruce's circle. Only Huntress or Catwoman have the right to that title, in my opinion.

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  5. Okay, I am absolutely LOVING this blog. Please give me truth. More and more truth!

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  6. There's always hope that Didio's successor will bring Batwoman back. But they won't have the momentum that mainstream coverage in Newsweek would have given them. So sad.

    I also want to add to your list of DC's failures... creative mismanagement. DC has had more artistic talent sitting on the bench than anyone realizes. How many of Marvel's more recent exclusive contracts came from DC, too?

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  7. It's really a pity that DC didn't know what to do with Batwoman.
    You cay cry "PR stunt!" all you like, but they had a chance to effectively develop this character into something interesting, and dropped the ball royally.

    And, seriously, the last couple of uears of DC under Didio have been really lacking.

    Not to mention the reek of misogyny - I still can't quite wrap my mind around why they are so reluctant to giving Spoler that Batcave case.

    Best,
    J.

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  8. I'm not sure I think it's homophobia in this case, honestly, so much as simple business sense.

    I mean, buzz about sexuality aside, Batwoman was not really a major draw in 52. She's neat and I really like her, but who honestly knows if she can lead a comic yet.

    On the other hand, isn't she supposed to be in Crime Bible? Considering that Crime Bible centers around Renee Montoya, AFAIK, that's actually a really good sign. Renee was a main draw of 52 and Gotham Central and has a much better chance at leading a comic.

    I'm not saying I'm particularly fond of the redesign, but heck, it's still Renee leading a comic, written by Greg Rucka.

    Also, there's another possible sign of hope. I mean, if Batwoman were a comic, her sexuality could very easily become all that she is, or be ignored/brushed under the table completely. Now though, she's in a comic with Renee, with all the emotional connections and complications that implies. Which means that her sexuality can't be denied (female ex-lover/main character and all) but also, because of the very strong emotional ties, her personality and specific relationship will HAVE to take center stage rather than constantly having a "girlfriend of the month" to exploit the hot girl-on-girl action, which is a very easy trap to spring.

    I'm optimistic!

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  9. Personally, I think Devin is a dreadful writer, so I'm glad she's not going to be writing this series.

    However, I would like someone to write it. Kalinara's worry that they might screw it up if Batwoman gets her own book is a real fear, but I think I speak for most homosexuals when I say that the possibility that it might be bad hasn't stopped any number of straight characters from getting books and it shouldn't stop gay characters either. Would we ever say "They might screw up what it means to be Black so it might be a good thing that Blacks don't have their own books"??? I don't think so.

    Give us a chance to fail or succeed just like straight characters.

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  10. The Grayson interview was originally on comic book resources. I know because I wrote it :) But's that's neither here nor there, the important thing is that it's part of a much larger, four-part series on homosexuality in comics. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should... and not just because I wrote it.

    Homosexuality in Comics Part I

    Homosexuality in Comics Part II

    Homosexuality in Comics Part III

    Homosexuality in Comics Part IV

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