Marvel Flipside

Titania

Villains of Summer! 

What's Her Deal? Weakling no more, Dr. Doom turned Skeeter MacPherson into the mighty Titania for some good ol' fashioned throw down against the Marvel heroes. I think her name is taken more because it's like "Titan" than it is because it's like the fairy queen from Shakespeare, but because she shares the name of our famed character of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania is a perfect, if oblique, Villain of Summer!

What Should She Do? Well, as we speak she's throwing down as one of The Worthy, agents of The Serpent, and causing massive mayhem. But other than than, she is always good for a one-off tussle with the likes of She-Hulk and Spider-Man. If you want to use her more purposefully, her backstory contains themes of self-esteem, "might makes right", and self-indulgence. That would play perfectly with Ms. Marvel and the new Power Man/Iron Fist combo, or even folks like the Runaways and Power Pack.  

Of course, you could always run with the oblique reference, and have her fight with Alpha Flight's Puck, and see if anyone other than me would pick up on it.

Smartest Marvel Women!

Here's my attempt at the Top 10 Smartest Women in the Marvel World!  I hope you enjoy what I've come up with. I tried to narrow it down to women involved in the "hard sciences," as well as those native to Earth, obviously. I think what's amazing is that there is actually a variety of ages, ethnicities, appearances, and dates of origin. Other people more better than me can take this info and read into what they like!

10


Lady Octopus

    Carolyn Trainer was the protege of Doctor Octopus (and perhaps more?!) who obviously liked her credentials of being a genius-level intellect and an amoral sycophant. She helped him become a cyber-something with her technical prowess, transforming Otto into the Master Programmer, and even took on his trademark mechano-tentacles to become Doctor Octopus in her own right. (Later, she got downgraded to Lady Octopus to avoid confusion.)  She was created by JM DeMatteis for Amazing Spider-Man #406 (1995).

9


Starlight

    Tania Belinsky, another product of the mind of Steve Gerber, this time for the Defenders #35 (1976), broke all kinds of expectations that were products of the culture of the times. She was a heroic Soviet as well as a brilliant neurosurgeon, one of the best medical minds in the world.  She later was transformed by the evil Presence to become his radioactively-powered companion, and as Starlight, I wonder if she belongs on this list anymore.

8


Nightshade

    It seems to be a theme for a few people on this list, as Tilda Johnson took control over her own education and fought her way through many obstacles  to become the brilliant scientist she is today. Well, that and also the heartless criminal she is today. Fun fact: She was second in command to Superia during that villain's selective-breeding scheme (that's how Captain America was briefly transformed into his opposite gender… oh, comics.)  She's a Steve Englehart creation for Captain America #164 (1973), where she transformed the Falcon into a werewolf. (I just… ah, nevermind.) 

7


Ruby Thursday

    We don't know much about Ruby's pre-villainous career, except that she was such a brilliant scientist that she created a sophisticated organic computer more advanced than anything before. Of course, she proceeded to replace her own head with said computer, but other than that, that sounds pretty intelligent! Oh, also, she tried running for President of the U.S. once, so that might also be a strike against her, depending on what you think of politics. She shows up every now and then, often in the company of the Headmen, and really needs a stand-out story to show us all what's she's capable of. Created my Steve Gerber in Defenders #32 (1976).

6


Superia

    This woman is so superior it's in her code name! And she got that way because she was intelligent enough to clamber her way through various scientific disciplines, although her first major achievement was a bomb that would ensure human sterilization and selective breeding. More recently, she's been able to gather up some remnants of H.A.M.M.E.R., which were once the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D., to maybe make a name for herself once more. Created by Mark Gruenwald in Captain America #390 (1991).

5


Sunset Bain

    Here's a woman that displays not only scientific breakthrough but also business acumen. CEO of her own company, named appropriately enough Baintronics, she's a power player in the arms race, technological advancement, and corporate marketing/leveraging. She was originally an opponent of Machine Man in issue 17 of his series in 1980 by Tom DeFalco, then became a villain by name of Madame Menace, and after a supposed death by the Punisher in 2008, she has since returned to become a premier villain of Iron Man's. 

4


Kavita Rao

    If Moira MacTaggart, now deceased, was necessary for the X-Men's storylines, someone's gotta fill that position. Enter: Kavita Rao, scientist extraordinaire, thanks to Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men in 2004. She was the driving force behind finding a "Cure" for mutantcy, or kind of, anyway, because there were some aliens involved in that whole scenario. She must have impressed someone, however, because she was among those selected to become the so-called X-Club, a group of scientists who were charged with undoing the effects of M-Day, where thousands of mutants were unwittingly "cured" by the Scarlet Witch. She's been a mainstay among the X-Men ever since.

3


Valeria Richards

    As the daughter of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic himself, and the god-daughter of Victor von Doom, how can this girl *not* be smart? In fact, recent appearances seem to have her almost on part with her father, which isn't too shabby for a TWO YEAR-OLD! (Admittedly, the artists often depict her as seven or eight, so there's that.)  Created by Chris Claremont for Fantastic Four #15 (1999) but reborn by Rafael Marin in issue 50 (2002) as an incarnation of the concept created by John Byrne in Fantastic Four #267 (1984) and later still reinvented into the genius she is today by Mark Millar in Fantastic Four #558 (2008.)

2


Suzi Endo

    She was head of research for Stark Industries' Far East Division, at least when there was a Far East Division, let alone when there was a Stark Industries. There was some confusing times when she was replaced by a future version of herself, a superhero called Cybermancer, but it was on a team called Force Works, and no one really noticed. In more recent times, she again was running some division of Stark stuff and assisted Jim Rhodes/War Machine, where she helped him take control over an entire satellite. More recently still, she was granted power cosmic by a cosmically-powered High Evolutionary and made into his Herald, called the Seeker, but she got better. Created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for Force Works #4 (1994)  

1


Monica Rappicini

    Monica Rappacini's code name is the "Supreme Scientist," the head honcho for the techo-terrorists of AIM-- Advanced Idea Mechanics. Why? Because she relishes in the unbridled knowledge that only unethical science can bring. She single-handedly worked her way into wresting control of AIM from MODOK, and thrown down with Hank Pym, Ms. Marvel, and the Hulk on separate occasions. Created by Fred van Lente for Amazing Fantasy #7 (2005).

 

So... aside from these and the Honorable Mentions from yesterday, how did I do?

Smartest Marvel Women: Honorable Mentions

I was inspired to write another list, as hard as these things are to put together. This time, I would tackle the question: "Who are the seven smartest women" on Marvel-earth? There has been this phrase "the world's seventh smartest man" when used to describe the character Amadeus Cho (a favorite of mine, by the way!) but as has been pointed out, this phrase doesn't seem to be very gender inclusive. If it is supposed to be using the term man to mean human, then why not just say "world's seventh smartest person?" Does it throw off the idea? the intent? the lyricism?

So I made my list, and I after much thought, I decided upon 12 names that I could write about, with varying degrees of obscurity. However, I ran into an unfortunate roadblock. When trying to research these names to make up some tiny blurbs about each woman, I found out that my top three were actually … dead. (To be fair, I already knew about one of them, but two of the three were surprises.) These three would definitely have been in my top 3 in some order, until their passing. So today I'll post these as Honorable Mentions, with a more complete list on Friday.

Smartest Women in the World! Honorable Mentions:

Alyssa Moy
   She's often been compared to Reed Richards, which explains why they briefly dated as colleagues before Richards formed the Fantastic Four. Created by Chris Claremont in Fantastic Four #5 (1998) as a unique character to play off both Reed and Sue. After losing track with her, my research now tells me she is dead, killed in the last days of Nu-World, an artificial Earth she helped create, when its sun collapsed-- and this somehow after she had lost her body and existed as a disembodied brain in a spider-bot. An ignoble way to go for a promising character that was both bright and adventurous.

Moira MacTaggart
    A long-time mainstay of the X-Men's universe, she had always been involved in Professor Xavier and Magneto's pre-X-Men days. She helped make the X-Men Mansion what it was, helped outfit many a mutant with costumes and accessories, served as love interest for Banshee, was the mom to the villain Proteus, hosted an erstwhile X-Men team on several occasions, even the team Excalibur. She was killed, in a way, by literally working herself to death, seeking a cure for the Legacy Virus that attacked only mutants up until her infection.  Created by Chris Claremont in X-Men #96 (1975).

Tessa
    A.k.a. Sage, Tessa's mutant abilities make her mind nigh unto a living computer. That nebulous ability has been expressed in a range from having an eidetic memory to "seeing" and switching an individual's genetic code, and has been called "cyberpathy." She was Professor Xavier's right-hand woman for many years both prior to the X-Men's history and in the team's formative years (although that was only revealed very recently, as she was only seen at the time as a toady for the Hellfire Club.) At one point, Sage is caught up in a battle between Merlin and a team of Exiles, and she is given all the knowledge of the Multiverse when its guardian, Roma, dies. Sage helps the Exiles on their multi-versal missions while based in the Crystal Palace, and was last seen bodily merged with the Cyrstal Palace in order to stabilize the Multiverse, and for all intents and purposes, she has passed away. Created by Chris Claremont in X-Men 132 (1980) .   

Marvel Bugs of Prey

You know? It's hard to find bird-related Marvel women, but it's actually quite easy to find a number of bug-related girls. I'm sure that there is some kind of meta-commentary on the psychology of comic book readers if not creators, perhaps segueing into discussion on the morees of American sociology, on sites like 3 Chicks, etc., but that gets us away from the fun of seeing a Marvel team-up like this:

From left to right--

YELLOWJACKET -- Rita was a criminal, but just for a little bit. The message of her story is: Be careful what you steal, because if it's a heroic idenitity, you just might find yourself called to stop a master villain or two.

GYPSY MOTH -- Sybil started off as a jilted lover looking for revenge but later got a different kind of revenge by becoming a cult leader whose followers worshipped her through love and drugs. Not much momentum for career there, however, since she was last seen running sex clubs until joining villain teams and the Thunderbolts "just for kicks."

PIXIE -- Megan enrolled at the Xavier Institute when they pretty much enrolled any mutant who could walk (or fly, or slither, or whatever) through the door. Then things got complicated when this hyper-innocent newbie was drawn into Limbo and had to replay stories once given to Illyana "Magik" Rasputin in the 80s. Now she can be as hardened and embittered, or as carefree and sexified, as the writer wants.

MANTIS -- Mantis first appeared as a companion to the failed Swordsman, and both joined the Avengers where further adventures revealed her to have been raised by the mystic Priests of Pama as the Celestial Madonna. She took some time off to raise her son, but when the Celestial Messiah never really had stories that panned out, she found time to become a hero in her own right once again with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

DRAGONFLY -- Veronica was made into a member of the Ani-Men by Count Nefaria for some reason, and has been in the background of many a supervillain team since then.

WASP -- One of Marvel's earliest superheroines, Janet was a cornerstone of the Avengers pretty much throughout its history, until a forced plot twist required her to become a bomb at the climax of a major storyline.

Marvel Birds of Prey

If DC Comics can have an all-female team book called Birds of Prey, starring the likes of Black Canary, Hawk and Dove, and Lady Blackhawk, why can't Marvel?

Clockwise from the right:

RED RAVEN -- Dania is the descendant of the original Red Raven, a human raised by the Bird People on a floating island and who faught Nazis in World War II. For some reason, her long hair doesn't get caught in her wings.

FIREBIRD -- Bonita came upon her powers thanks to divine intervention, or maybe it was just alien toxic waste. Either way, she is devoted to fighitng crime as much as she is devoted to Catholicism.

PHOENIX -- Jean used to be your normal, average telepathic telekinetic until she bonded with a cosmic entity that had a habit of resurrecting her.

CUCKOO -- Kay Cera is one of many of the secret family of Clan Destine, but unlike her family, she chooses to hide in plain sight, taking the identity of others.

MOCKINGBIRD -- Bobbie was once a scientist for secret agency SHIELD, until she got promoted to full-time spy, then quit to be part-time superhero. Now she runs a counter-terrorist unit. From her basement. She'd be perfect to round up this little team and put it into action! Or, heck, we could add a few extra women who are natural leaders, like Sharon Carter, Misty Knight, or Heather Hudson! Done, done, and done! Someone publish this already!

 

Comics Memo to Writers #1

Stop dividing narration among multiple panels, especially when mixing narration with other dialogue.

("Love and Illusion" from Women of Marvel (Digital Comics) John Layman, Davide Gianfelice and Veronica Gandini)

Nobody really uses thought bubbles anymore in comic books these days. I guess I'm okay with that, as writers and artists have come up with alternative ways to show character's inner thoughts/monologues. I guess we call these things "narration boxes" instead.

(As an aside, perhaps we should credit the innovations of digitized coloring and printing, as often these narrative boxes will have little icons and/or special colors, often in a wash or cross-fade gradient, to denote who is the character "speaking.")

But sometimes the writer gets carried away, breaking up the narration of ONE sentence across MULTIPLE panels, often when there is a lot of action taking place. Usually, I will notice this after I have read two or three panels. The "voice" has been broken up so much, however, that I lose the actual content of what is being said. After all, there might be a lot action to witness and even OTHER DIALOGUE happening in between the split-narration. Then I have to find myself reading the page twice-- once to just read the narration boxes and then again to read the other dialogue. Actually, this might mean reading the page three times, but this is hard to explain through just typing it out-- you see, I am a visual person, too, and I tend to do my first  "reading" of a page by looking the action of the characters/scenes within the panels regardless of word balloons. It's like reading someone's body language before you tune in to what they are actually saying. And obviously this is easier with some artists over others, and is what people talk about when they say an artist has "good storytelling."  

All of that to say, if a writer breaks up narration boxes with other things, it can be quite confusing to get a "flow" to the reading experience. Rather than expressing a coherent message, the whole thing is fragmented, disjointed. If narration/inner thoughts/whatever needs to be expressed, it should be used in a place where it is most effective-- for example, to set up the scene or to wrap up the scene. Sure, there may be times when an interruption is effective and thus can be broken over multiple panels, but that is more likely the exception that proves the rule. You gotta know the rules first before you can break 'em!

Or just go back to using a thought bubble, okay?     

Why I Hated HER-OES

Her-Oes #1, cover by Craig Rousseau

Well, not exactly *hate.* What I hate is seeing a lot of criticism thrown around on comic book fansites that pretty much boils down to nothing but hatred.

Some summary at first? HER-OES centers around a young girl who has been forced to hide her super powers for fear of being a freak. An outcast at school, she's forced to use her powers along with similarly-powered friends to save themselves from a conspiracy who would rather exploit such powered-people. Oh, and she learns a little something about herself. 

I mean, this comic book has a lot to like. It's exactly what I like to see in a new superhero book, and I'm a sucker for origin stories, the kind where everything about the hero changes and yet it sets up a nice status quo for ongoing stories. The characters are engaging and the world it creates has a nice balance between a real world with slightly magical elements (that whole "magical realism" genre that superheroes do so well.) I'd imagine that much of the criticism, if any, the book received was from being a bit *too* standard stock, and the characters/plot lines a little *too* boilerplate. (I'll come back to this in a second.)

What allows the book to have a bit of an edge to cause a double-take is the fact that it's an alternate take on established Marvel heroes, and exclusively female, at that. The three main characters are the Wasp, She-Hulk, and Namora (Namora? At once a cool vintage character and a new sensation) With other roles for characters like Moonstone and Miss America (Miss America? Something out of left field that's surprising and fun)

But after the fun is over, I end up hating that, too. I hate the fact that this takes established Marvel properties and makes them into things that are nothing like the established Marvel properties. She-Hulk and Namora are given completely different backgrounds and personalities, and Wasp, well, she's been dead for a few years now in the Marvel storyverse! Which is nothing to say for Miss America, who's been absent for decades. Let's see how this appeals to different kinds of readers:
Reader 1, established Marvel-phile: Oh look! A series featuring these great characters! Oh, wait. This has nothing to do with these great characters at all. Why should I bother?
Reader 2, brand new to Marvel and/or comics: Oh look! This story is fun and has some interesting characters! Well, that was entertaining. See ya later! 

Contrary to some other fansites, I *like* seeing Marvel as a business. I want to see it establish a brand and leverage its properties. But there's no way that something like HER-OES can do that. It takes characters that should be developed in strategic ways and makes them interchangeable with "nothing." Here's where I return to that whole "boilerplate/"stock characters issue. By interchanging Wasp with some stock heroine for a done-in-one-shot miniseries, you are dangerously close to treating the iconic character in a disposable fashion. If there's no care (strategy) taken by the company, why should readers, or creators for that matter, take care to invest in the stories, either?
Creator: "I got this idea for a great new series for young readers-- a brother and sister discover they have powers and have to help each other survive the tragic comedy that is high school! It's perfect for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch!"
Editor: "You can't use Scarlet Witch."
Creator: "Fine. Quicksilver and, oh, Rogue, then."  

And yet, if the HER-OES story was done *without* using heroes that were recognizable as the Wasp, She-Hulk, and et cetera, would it have been successful? This is harder to answer "yes" to. It is a serviceable plot, but the twist is that it could be a parallel Marvel universe. The plot is too serviceable to be distinguishable in and of itself.

I would imagine the solution would be somewhere in the middle. Finding some kind of recognizable property in place so the story can introduce new characters and concepts. Alternatively, it would have to only use permutation on characters that are already being leveraged with other titles. Hence, Black Widow and the Marvel Girls could be an alternate take on the Black Widow, but there are regular appearances of Black Widow elsewhere, in a different title and/or in guest appearances. Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man are fine, because it allows the property to be always in the public eye while also maintaining distinguishable brand identities, including logos and art house styles.

All of that said, and I have to admit that I like shorelines set in parallel worlds, and I hope for the day we have an Invaders title that involves them hopping from dimension to dimension. And learning a little something about themselves.

Girl Comics #2 -- Post #2

I was right! See? I was right! That is, if it:s okay to say I:m right because I found an online column that shares the opinions that I expressed in my previous post about Girl Comics #2. But the column was written by one Brian Hibbs, windmill-tilting columnist extraordinaire and owner of Comix Experience in San Francisco. He was talking, actually, about the implications of digital comics publishing, but it:s his comments about regular comic-buying habits that explains what I was trying to say was wrong about Girl Comics #2 due to the “dismissible”-ity of these kinds of stories.

Mr. Hibbs was saying things like “the periodical right now is more one shots, miniseries, or otherwise short-run things that won't lead to long-term sales . . . That's because so much of what the publishers publish is essentially ephemera, utterly forgettable and unworthy of permanence.” Now, I:m NOT saying that Girl Comics #2 (indeed, any of the “Year of the Woman” titles on the slate this season) is such “ephemera.” Not at all! These be great comics in and of themselves. But they do seem to match the “short-run” category—the stories are nearly random in their choice of protagonists, often with either A: no ties to an overall universe-wide narrative, or B: no deeply thematic nor epic adventure. As such, this is what I called “dismissable.” So if one of these mythological “new readers” picks up her first copy of Girl Comics, where:s the buy-in to incentivise her to pick up the next one? If she does pick up another, it:s because she liked the medium itself, because there:s nothing to suggest she:ll receive the same story with the same characters—heck, not even the same settings, tones, themes, point of view, etc.

Brian continues: “Periodical comics have to be better. They have to ‘matter.’ They can't be rack-fillers and cash-grabs, or you run the very real risk of kicking the legs out of the entire model. They have to be things that will fuel long term sales.” And although it pains me to consider a creative industry in terms of relatively cold business terms, it:s only because I want to see a more cohesive “whole.” Marvel Comics used to be something larger than its individual parts—the brand of the company (the Marvel Universe) more than just a collection of titles (the Avengers titles or the X-corner or the Knights imprint and Adventures line.) Haven:t we moved beyond throwing everything against a wall and seeing what sticks? The only audience for that are we Jackson Pollack fans, and I:d like to share my hobby with more people than them. 

Girl Comics #2

Someone help me out here. I think Marvel is trying to push its female heroes, and I:m all for that. But what I:m a little less sure about is why they are choosing to go about it the way they are. Case study #1? Girl Comics #2.

First of all, I’m OKAY with the fact that Marvel is putting them a “non-continuity” comic that’s “indy-friendly.” But even just typing this statement makes me realize how much we talk about comics in ways that must be mystifying for a non-regular comics reader. What I mean is that this comic has self-contained stories that don:t tie into a larger narrative, and the stories are largely in genres different from the typical “wide screen” adventure stories. The comics medium and Marvel comics in particular would do well to provide such product.

However, here:s were I need help. Is it possible to have stories that are self-contained but use characters that were created for stories that were meant to be part of a larger narrative? Because what we:re getting-- heroes that are out of context, existing for no reason but the fact they have a marketable costume. The characters, as characters and not simply brands or logos, become interchangeable because we don:t need to know their origin, personality, or history/shared history with others. Take a look at the cover of Girl Comics #2. The only person that would be necessary for the cover to “work” is Wanda Maximoff, who is holding up a poison apple because it make sense if you know her heroic code name: the Scarlet Witch. All the other characters are largely interchangeable, and could be absent or present and it wouldn:t ruin the narrative of the picture. However, it:s a fine line between interchangeable and being dismissible. After all, if all are interchangeable, then there:s no reason to be there, and if there:s no reason to be there, why should the reader be bothered at all?

Even the character whose not interchangeable, in this case the Scarlet Witch, is still problematic. It relies on the reader knowing she is a “witch” (even if it is in name only) but at the same time asks you to disregard the fact that you know  she is a hero (or historically has been) so she can be the “villain” for this particular gag. Not to mention that she:s largely been absent from published comics for nearly two years. Why not have the Enchantress, the go-to evil sorceress for Marvel?

The solution instead is to make characters with purpose, and use characters with purpose. Marvel wants to push a heroine line? Great! What it needs is that one or two heroes with which to focus. Think of its new-found parent, Disney. Yes, back in the day it had many short subjects, but its focus was always on its Big Three—Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. In more recent years, calling on its vast library of characters, Disney still has a tight focus; Disney Princesses, Disney Kittens, etc. How is Marvel focusing? Within the last six months or so, we:ve had comics featuring and/or headlining Mary Jane, Wasp, She-Hulk, Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, X-23, Rogue, Pixie, Firestar, Spider-Woman, Spider-Girl, and others. This is an awesome line-up, but I:m not sure how purposeful it is. Right now, Marvel seems to be catering to a female audience by saying “here!” but offering so many choices it:s as if a new restaurant opened and is selling their best product-- *FOOD!* Those characters are about as diverse in tone and story as you can get.

A good success story would be have a headlining hero who could hold down her own focused line or family of titles. Spider-Man runs 2 or 3 titles under his banner, so to speak, with Hulk currently outdoing him because of his spearheading event. Even Daredevil will soon outdo him, with his Shadowlands event. Heck, Deadpool has a family of seven titles of his very own! How about we find some characters that can headline things like Her-oes and Girl Comics and Marvel Adventures but at the same time be a major player in the Marvel Universe itself, with her own title and maybe a team-up or two? Give us some girl heroes that can have fun, light, episodic stories AND be a worthy and integral player to the complex narrative of Marvel-as-a-universe, with serious, deep, and adventuresome stories. THIS should be what girl comics are all about.