Owner: The Comic Book Discrimination Dossiers URL:http://cbddossiers.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:05:53 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: A blog whose purpose is meant to be similar in some ways to that of Women in Refridgerators, in focusing on comic book characters who've been misused and subject to discrimination by the companies that own them. Site statistics:Click here
Profile: Fire 2007-10-31 12:49:00 Beatriz Bonilla da Costa, FireFirst appearance: she first appeared in Super-Friends #25, October 1979, and was created by E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon. In the pre-Crisis time she was originally created in, she had been the president of Wayne Enterprises’ business branch in Brazil, and got her powers via magicians and mysticism. After the Crisis, her origin was redone, making her a model in Rio de Janeiro as well as an actress and a showgirl who became a special agent for the Brazilian government, and her powers were acquired after she was stuck in pyroplasmic explosion that gave her the power to produce eight-inch bursts of green-colored fire. She was reintroduced in Infinity Inc. #32, November 1986. She first took up the names Green Fury and Green Flame, and later changed it simply to Fire. She became a member of Justice League International for a couple years.Current status: an agent for the new rendition of Checkmate.Was subjected to the following act of discrimination: sh
Profile: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld 2007-11-07 14:15:00 Amethyst, Princess
of Gemworld, aka Amy WinstonFirst appearance: Legion of Super-Heroes #298, April 1983, in a special promotional story that served as a lead-in to the maxi-series that followed a month afterwards. Originally a princess from the magical dimension/planet of Gemworld whose parents had been slain by the evil Dark Opal, she was sent to our dimension on Earth, where she was raised as a youngster named Amy by a couple called the Winstons. Since time moves differently between our world and hers, she became approximately five years younger on Earth. On her 13th birthday in her Earthly state, that’s when she found herself travelling to Gemworld again, where she became her older self and discovered her heritage, and did battle with Dark Opal.Current status: after Infinite Crisis, not sure what it is, if at all.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: she’d been blinded at one point, and later merged along with a Lord of Chaos called The Child with Gemworld itse
Record: Mark Millar 2007-11-19 14:09:00 The errors I can find that Millar
made in his own writing career took place in the Ultimate Marvel line during 2001-2003. Here are at least two examples of what this decidedly pretentious writer did: In the Ultimates, just 5 issues into the series, he regurgitated the infamous 1981 Avengers story where Hank Pym beat up on Janet Van Dyne. Pure sensationalism. Of all the storylines that could’ve been used as fodder for a new twist, that’s not one we needed to see. Certainly not if Jan was being pegged as the one who’d provoked Hank into being violent towards her (but no, I don’t think I’ll try to describe just what happened). In Ultimate X-Men, the Ultimate version of Wolverine leaves Cyclops stranded or for dead in a deep valley, all so that he can then seduce Jean Grey for sex (and she may be underage!). Yet he’s never expelled from the Ultimate X-Men. Supposing your own best friend left you stuck in a valley where you had to survive on rock plants for a week so that he Read more:Record
Profile: Fury 2007-11-28 12:45:00 Lyta Trevor/Kosmatos Hall, FuryFirst appearance: Wonder Woman #300 Vol. 1, February 1983. She was originally created as the daughter of the Golden Age Earth-2 WW and Steve Trevor. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, she was reworked as the daughter of a Golden Age Greek superheroine of the same codename, whose real name was Helena Kosmatos, who appeared in All-Star Squadron. Lyta was one of the first members of Infinity Inc during the 1980s.Current status: in death limbo along with her husband, Hector Hall (Silver Scarab and later a new Dr. Fate).Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: she went nuts after Daniel Hall, her son, went MIA in the Sandman series. She was later captured and rendered unconscious by Mordru in JSA. She was later saved from this effect, but then, in 2005, she and her husband were banished by the Spectre to hell. Daniel Hall later brought them into the Dreaming, after which we see that they’re presumably dead with their spirits now in the Dreaming.W
Profile: Wildcat 2 2007-12-05 14:37:00 Yolanda Montez, Wildcat 2First appearance: Infinity Inc. #12, March 1985. She was the goddaughter of Ted Grant, the first Wildcat. Unlike him, she had mutant powers including retractable claws.Current status: deadWas subjected to the following act of discrimination: killed in Eclipso #13 by the title villain, along with the second Dr. Mid-Nite.What’s wrong with how this was done? If you’re wondering where the whole notion of killing off characters that’s become so prevalent today began, look no further than the 1990s. This may have had what to do with a crossover called The Darkness Within, and it was just as bad as the Bloodlines crossover, which featured quite a bit of ugly bloodshed.And this was all before Zero Hour too.In a way, it’s also disturbing how Ted Grant, as the original Wildcat, is one of a couple characters who’s outlived his younger peers, whose own potential to develop into their own characters was thrown away.Strangely enough, in 2006, an illegitimate son na
Profile: Dr. Mid-Nite 2 2007-12-06 15:58:00 Beth Chapel, Dr. Mid-Nite 2First appearance: Infinity Inc. #19, October 1985. She was a medical student of Charles McNider, the first Dr. Mid-Nite. She also had an affair with Rick Tyler, the son of the first Hourman.Current status: deadWas subjected to the following act of discrimination: put to death in Eclipso #13 by the title villain, along with her fellow Infinitor, Yolanda Montez.What's wrong with how this was done? The same argument surrounding the death of Montez applies here too. A gratuitous death done only to get rid of a supposedly useless character.She's not alone though: shortly afterwards, Charles McNider was killed off in Zero Hour, along with the original Atom, Al Pratt. As was told once in JSA, they were hit the hardest from the assault conducted by the former Hawk.
Profile: Arachne 2007-12-19 16:00:00 Julia Carpenter, Spider-Woman 2/ArachneFirst appearance: Secret Wars 1, issue #6, October 1984. She became a supporting cast member of West Coast Avengers and Force Works.Current status: member of a new Omega Flight team following Civil War.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: she was attacked and had her powers stolen, just like the first Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, by the villainess Charlotte Witter, after which she retired from the superheroing business to raise the daughter she had as a regular mother. In Civil War, following her stint as a double agent, she's arrested and her daughter taken from her. She had to agree to be a member of the new Omega Flight to sort things out.What's wrong with how this was done? She was thrown away as a character when she first had her powers robbed by Witter years earlier, and the Civil War storyline that led to her being a member of an Omega Flight team that, unlike the original crooks gang, is a heroic team, was badly done t
Profile: She-Hulk 2008-03-09 15:21:00 Jennifer Walters, She-HulkFirst appearance: The Savage She-Hulk #1, February 1980. She was one of the last superhero-type protagonists created by Stan Lee, with John Buscema the co-creating artist. Her initial adventures, which were scripted mainly by David Anthony Kraft, were played mostly straight, but it was decided early on to make her into more of a tongue-in-cheek character who could have comedic potential, and 7 years after the first series ended, during which time she was an Avengers and Fantastic Four co-star, that potential was realized in The Sensational She-Hulk, which ran 1989-93.Current status: continuing with her job as an attorney that she began in Los Angeles.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: while there were a good amount of stories in Fantastic Four
Profile: Mary Marvel 2008-03-08 11:03:00 Mary Batson, Mary Marvel
First appearance: Captain Marvel Adventures #18, December 1942. She’s the twin sister of Billy Batson, Captain Marvel extraordinaire, who grew up under different legal guardians, and as his sibling, found herself also gifted with the powers that her twin brother received from the Egyptian wizard Shazam.Current status: as far as I know, she is Mary Marvel again, after going to the dark side.Was subjected to the following act of discrimination: after losing her personal powers, she went over to the dark side in Countdown to Final Crisis by taking up the powers of Black Adam, and becomes a darker, angrier version of herself that then comes to work with Eclipso, which was Jean Loring possessed by the evil diamond, and who’d come under the influence of Darkseid.What
Profile: Supergirl 1 2008-02-23 13:37:00 Kara Zor-El, Supergirl 1First appearance: Action Comics #252, 1959. Her reintroduction was in Superman/Batman #8, 2004.Current status: member of DCU again.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: during the Bronze Age, when she first had a solo series during the early 1970s, she’d be depicted quite a few times reacting to a failed romance by sobbing. Since her re-intro, or during the time between then and early 2007, they overly sexualized her with the way they draw her skirt almost sliding off her hips on the cover art. (Example: issue #21 of the current series.)What’s wrong with how this was done? Her characterization during the early 70s was awkward at best and hardly at all a good way to depict someone dealing with failed love life. And today, as welcome as Kara’s r
Profile: Big Barda 2008-02-09 14:12:00 Big BardaFirst appearance: Mister Miracle #4, Vol. 1, October 1971. A most interesting twist Jack Kirby gave when creating her is that she is physically stronger than her husband, and is very protective of him.Current status: apparently dead.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: during John Byrne’s run on Action Comics, in issues #592-593, a evictee from Apokalips named Sleez (getting the picture?) captures her and uses mind control to enslave her and also Superman when he comes to rescue her, subsequently pimping both of them out to a porn producer! Later, in 2007, in one fell swoop, she was killed in the first issue of the Death of the New Gods miniseries.What’s wrong with how this was done? Does Byrne’s weird little story in Action Comics sound exploitative? You d
Profile: Meggan 2008-02-01 03:01:00 MegganFirst appearance: Mighty World of Marvel #7, 1983. As a mutant human, she was born during a blizzard, and adapted to the weather by growing special fur. She fell in love with Brian Braddock, the former Capt. Britain, and they were married for a time.Current status: unknown since House of M.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: she had a rather strange upbringing as a child, being naïve and detached from reality. Because her parents were scared that she’d be persecuted (she was born near the site of an ancient British castle where dark magic was said to dwell), they hid her in their trailer where she watched a lot of television, and thought that Gerry Anderson’s world on television was real. Later on, during House of M, to stem a tidal wave of multiple realities
Profile: Power Girl 2008-01-31 11:03:00 Karen Starr, Power GirlFirst appearance: All-Star Comics #58, Jan/Feb 1976. She was created by Gerry Conway as the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman, though it was Paul Levitz who did much of the writing for her at the time.Current status: member of Justice Society in its current formation.Was subjected to the following acts of discrimination: during the time she was with Justice League International, she was depowered so that she was considerably less tough than Superman, and Gerard Jones, when he took up the writing, would write sexist jokes at her expense. She was once impregnated by the magics of Arion in a storyline that tied in with Zero Hour, where her “son” Equinox fought a villain called Scarabus and then promptly disappeared. In Infinite Crisis, Superboy-Prime turns her into a
Record: Jeph Loeb 2008-01-13 11:51:00 I’ve thought about the works of Loeb for some time now. As far as I know, he may have first worked as an assistant to Steven Spielberg years ago in his former Amblin production company before he began to write comic books beginning in the early to mid-1990s. More recently, he’s been a producer for Heroes on TV, and has even written for Smallville and Lost. But, studying his works of the past decade, I’ve had to come to the conclusion that he’s an awfully overrated writer with very questionable elements featured in his writing, and I’ll try here to list some of them. When Loeb first helmed the Superman/Batman team-up series, where the new take on Kara Zor-El first made her modern-day debut, he had her climb out of the spacecraft her father sent her in to escape Krypton’s d Read more:Record
Profile: Marvel Girl 2 2008-01-03 15:49:00 Rachel Summers, Marvel
Girl 2First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #141, January 1981. She was the daughter of Jean Grey from what turned out to be an alternate future (going by what Alan Moore once established, that would be Earth 811), and was a member of both X-Men and Excalibur for many years.Current status: last time I checked, she’d taken up the title of Marvel Girl.Was subjected to the following act of discrimination: Rachel once tried to settle a grudge with Selene Gallio, a member and Black Queen of the Hellfire Club who’d either committed some murders or tried to (Uncanny X-Men #207). But before Rachel could finish off Selene after besting her in a clash, Wolverine arrived on the scene and stopped her by stabbing her in the chest. Later, suffering from grave injuries, she was lured
Profile: Wonder Girl 2 2008-03-22 17:01:00 Cassie Sandsmark, Wonder Girl 2First appearance: Wonder Woman #105 Vol. 2, January 1996.Current status: a leading member of the Teen Titans.Was subjected to the followings acts of discrimination: when John Byrne introduced her years ago, it was a rather peculiar way to begin: he didn’t want for her to be a team player, despite that she can and does work well with one, and succeeding writers did make good use of her. Well, until more recently, that is. She also joined Supergirl, during Amazons Attack, in an assault on the president’s plane in the DCU that turns the US public against her.What’s wrong with how this was done? The story in Amazons Attack was already bad enough in how it featured a ludicrous story that may have been intended as an swipe at the US administration for its pol
Conclusion 2008-03-27 05:07:00 Time to give it a restWell, I’ve put in many entries whenever I could, and now, I think is the time to end. As Shakespeare once said, and Stan Lee may have quoted, “all good things must come to an end.”So many posts did I write here on various ladies, and even a few men, whom I could find at least one thing done to them that could be or was discriminatory, as well as occasionally give mention to some writers and what they did wrong at their end too. It wasn’t that often, but, I did my best to see what info I could find, and even tried to update some of the entries whenever possible according to what developments had taken place of recent.In the end, I wonder if maybe it hadn’t turned out to be quite what I had intended for this blog to be. Of course there were a few things where
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