BOOK TALK – Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed To Earth by Judd Winick

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed To Earth by Judd Winick

AAAAH!!  Is that a greeting?  I like it!

These are the first words Hilo says to his new friend D.J.  To be fair, the first thing D.J. says to Hilo after Hilo wakes up from having crashed to Earth is AAAAHH!!

D.J. is a kid who feels outshined by his parents and siblings.  They are all really good at something, but the only thing D.J. ever felt he was really good at was being friends with Gina.  Until she moved away.

Then he meets Hilo, an unusual boy with cool powers who crashes to earth.  After meeting Hilo, D.J. finds himself lying to his teachers and family (mostly about Hilo and where he came from) and being chased by robot monsters from another dimension.

Hilo is curious and loves learning new words and building things.  Things change when the evil Razorwark, a mysterious figure from Hilo’s past threatens Hilo’s new friends and community.

This is a really fun book about a super-powered kid.  If you have kids asking for superhero books, you might want to direct them to Hilo. This will also hold the interest of kids who enjoy SciFi, Robots, and stories about friendship and bravery.  Hilo is appropriate for school aged kids, and might be appreciated by Middle Grade Readers as well.

The Boy Who Crashed To Earth is the first book in an upcoming series.  The second book is due out next year.

BOOK TALK – “Sidekicks” by Dan Santat

“Sidekicks” by Dan Santat

 

How many of you have a pet?

I have a cat.  She’s pretty cool.  I’ve seen her jump six feet in the air before.

But what would you do if you found out your pet has superpowers?

In “Sidekicks” by Dan Santat, we follow the adventures of Roscoe, Fluffy, Shifty, and Manny: a dog, a hamster, a chameleon, and a cat.  They all happen to be pets of Captain Amazing.  And when they hear that he’s going to be holding auditions for a new sidekick, they all start training so they can be chosen.

But Captain Amazing doesn’t know his pets want to be superheroes.  He doesn’t know that Roscoe can turn into a metal dog (like Colossus from X-MEN).  And they’re hoping to keep it that way.

But there’s a new superhero in town: Wonder Man!  But Manny doesn’t trust him.  And when he shows up at the sidekick auditions, things start to get exciting.

This graphic novel is really fun and moves along quickly.  The humans are kind of interesting, but it’s really the animals that make this story pop.  The super-powered pets are only the beginning, there’s burgling raccoons, and a nightclub run by penguins.

If you like superhero stories, funny family stories, or stories about talking animals, you might like this book.  It’s on our Summer Reading List and might inspire you to write a story about your pet as a superhero.  Check out “Sidekicks” by Dan Santat.

BOOK TALK: “Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman” by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ross MacDonald

“Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman” by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ross MacDonald

Do you like comic books?  Do you like superheroes?

Who doesn’t?

Now, do you know who the first majorly successful comic book superhero was?

SUPERMAN!  Do you know who created Superman?

Two boys fresh out of High School from Cleveland, Ohio.  They were bad at sports, painfully shy, and couldn’t talk to girls.  Their teachers thought they were weird and wasting their time.  But they worked hard and wanted to tell the country, which was suffering through the Great Depression at the time, a new story about a new hero, one who helped solved every day problems as well as world-threatening disasters.  One who was just like them: nerdy, shy, and wearing glasses, but who could also be the bravest, strongest hero of them all.

“Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman” by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ross MacDonald tells the story of Jerry and Joe and the creation of superman.  This is the true story of the birth of American Superhero Comics.  It tells us about Jerry and Joe and how they got started making comics, and where the idea for Superman came from.  Most of the story is told with pictures, much like a comic book.  And the art is very similar to Joe’s original style in the old Superman Comics.  The last part of the story, what I think is the sad part of the story, is told only with words.  This last part tells us about what happened to Jerry and Joe after Action Comics (who we now know as DC Comics) bought Superman from them.  And it probably doesn’t turn out how you’d expect.

If you like superheroes or comics, and especially if you love Superman like me, you should give this book a try.  It will teach you some of the history behind one of the most famous superheroes, which can be just as exciting and fascinating as the stories of the superheroes themselves.  This non-fiction book, “Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman” by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ross MacDonald is part of our suggested reading list for Brooklyn Public Library’s Summer Reading Program.  Every Hero Has A Story.

Superhero Training Camp 2015

Summer Reading 2015 started last week (June 4) at our library.  Our kickoff party was a blast!  We had special musical guests out on the plaza.  We had craft stations for the kids to make superhero masks and magic cuffs/bracers (a la Wonder Woman).  We had stations to help the kids come up with their superpowers or their superhero name.  We had a Superhero Training Mission (scavenger hunt).  It was awesome.

I worked on our Superhero Training Camp Obstacle Course.  I worked with a couple of coworkers to develop the plan, then I built most of the pieces.  I also worked the Course while dressed like Harley Quinn (sans makeup) and heckled the kids and gave them the “backstory” for why they were doing the Course (I had kidnapped their sidekicks and they had to rescue them.

Our course started with the kids having to break through a “super sturdy brick wall” that I told the kids was built to withstand the Hulk, the Thing, Superman, or that big guy over there.  Once they were through the wall, they had to crawl through “this really gross tunnel that I loaded with snakes an’ spiders, an’ other gross gooey crawly things.”  Finally, they had to navigate my “laser death grid” and they were warned that touching the lasers would burn off their cabooses.  Once through the “lasers”, they snagged a doll wearing a cape and mask and had to return through the lasers and the tunnel.  Many of them came back three or four times.

Here’s a video showing the obstacles:

As you can see, it was a fairly easy build.  The wall was several cardboard boxes wrapped in brown paper and painted to look like bricks (or brownstone).  The tunnel was a rainbow tunnel we keep in our play area.  The “lasers” was half a skein of yarn crisscrossed and taped across the room.  If I did it differently, I’d probably move back the carpet so I could have some vertical lasers.  A lot of our little kids were small enough to crawl right underneath the lasers entirely, and I had hoped for a more high-stepping, ducking and weaving approach.

What should I read next? Comic edition

Hey everybody!  It’s been weeks since I last posted, sorry about that.  Lots of exciting things happening at work (moving things around, new displays, new programs, new committees) and I’ve been distracted.

Anyway, I thought I’d share a list, in no particular order, of comics that I think are fun and would recommend to anyone who asks.  Some of these are currently printing, most of them should have at least one trade collection by now.

1. Matt Fraction’s run of “Hawkeye”.  This series follows Clint Barton around during his non-avenger time.  What’s life like for the purple archer?  How do his neighbors in Bed-Stuy (Brooklyn neighborhood) feel about him?  How does he handle his personal relationships?  What fallout did he and Kate Bishop (the other Hawkeye) have to deal with in the wake of Hurricane Sandy?  The art was kind of Art Deco-y to me.  Simple, but fantastic.  Fraction’s writing was stellar.  You can get this in trades.

2. Ms. Marvel.  The new teen superhero from Jersey City, Kamala Khan  is a Pakistani-American who is obsessed with superheroes (she writes Avengers fanfic).  We get to see her dealing with all the normal teen angst: who am I?  How do I deal with my family and their expectations?  OMG, how do I talk to my crush? Peer Pressure.  The desire to fit in.  And on top of that, she gets exposed to Terrigen Mists and becomes an Inhuman with polymorphic and fast-healing powers.  Her first nemesis is “the Inventor”, a clone of a historic New Jersey denizen (some may call his historical counter-part a villain).  This series is currently running new issues and has a trade collection available of the first story arc.

3. Loki: Agent of Asgard.  This series follows the Marvel version of Loki (fitting, as it is a Marvel comic).  Old Loki, the nefarious villain has died and been replaced by a new, benevolent, well-loved kid-Loki.  Something happened to that Loki and we are now following a chic young teen(ish) Loki, with a swanky apartment and a new agenda: he wants to erase his villainous past and become a Hero.  To do so, he makes arrangements with the All-Mother triumverate of Asgardia (Odin is MIA at the start of this series), he will do missions for them, and for each one, they will erase the story of one of his misdeeds from existence.  Loki is hilarious, and makes friends with Verity Willis, a mortal Midgardian capable of seeing through any lie.  He also gets into shenanigans with Thor, Dr. Doom, Sigurd, Lorelai, and the Enchantress.  This series is currently running and has a trade collection of the first story arc.  Also, there is a fairly important side story for this is the Thor and Loki storyline following the Original Sin event.

4. Harley Quinn by Palmiotti and Connor.  The fan-favorite clown of Gotham leaves her old life behind and moves to Coney Island.  Our beloved Harley sees herself as a bit of a do-gooder.  She’s back to practicing Mental Health, she’s saving all of the pets, putting kidnappers in their place, being a landlord and friend to a crew sideshow carnies.  Of course, she’s still kind of psychotic and goes to her Roller Derby match with an oversized mallet, launches pet poo at her enemies from the roof of her building, and generally follows her violent urges.  We get the occasional visit from Poison Ivy, and one arc with Power Girl, but mostly Harls is off doing her own thing, and it’s fantastic.  There are lots of hilarious special issues to go along with the standard run, which is currently printing.  There is also a trade collection of the first arc.

5.  Lazarus by Greg Rucka.  Rucka creates a brand-new dystopic future in this series.  We mostly follow Forever, the Lazarus of House Carlyle.  The world’s governments have more or less collapsed, to be replaced by a handful of ruling families.  Those with the money, power, and influence rule their territories with an iron fist.  Carlyle made their mark with Biotechnology, and Forever defends their holdings and their right to rule against any who would stand against them.  Full of interesting characters and plenty of cautionary tales about our possible future.  This series is currently running new issues and has a trade collection available as well.  I recommend the single issues over the trade, until the special edition is released, because Rucka’s back matter is fantastic and illuminates more of the world the story is set in, as well as sheds light on where he gets some of his ideas, and how we might be in danger of ending up in a world like Forever’s.

BPL Comic Con 2014!!

Yesterday we debuted a fun program at the library: Comic Con!  I can’t really take full credit for the idea.  Last year, at another branch, I was doing a program and another librarian mentioned to the kids that I had previously worked at Marvel and I attend New York Comic Con.  A couple of the kids thought that was the coolest thing ever and decided I (meaning the library) should take them to Comic Con.  For obvious reasons, the answer to that was a resounding NO.  But I started thinking: I can’t take the kids to comic con, but could I bring comic con to the kids?  We first started talking about this program at the beginning of the summer, and we had grandiose plans of a several day program leading up to NYCC full of fun events like comics drawing, movie screenings, and guest speakers.  We started talking about things and trying to contact potential guests, and weren’t having the best of luck, so we decided to scale down for our first year.  Our Comic Con program was a single afternoon and we packed as much awesome as we could into it.

“Scorch” the superhero from the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store and 826 NYC.

Our program took place the Wednesday after NYCC, so we were able to include stuff we’d seen at the Con, and give away some nifty things we’d received there.  One of the more popular events was the above pictured photo space.  I made the “skyline” out of cardboard boxes, butcher paper, construction paper, and tempera paint.  The mannequin was a loan from the fantastic Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store and 826 NYC (http://www.superherosupplies.com/ and http://826nyc.org/).  He was a huge hit.  The kids (and several adults) were able to pose with the superhero (I called him “Scorch”) and take their picture with him.  I even had a superman cape on hand if they wanted to have a bit of dress-up themselves.

Another event was a superhero emblem button maker.  We set out a button maker and paper with assorted shapes (hearts, lightning bolts, diamonds, etc) and markers and welcomed attendees to make their own superhero emblem badges.  We also had a make-your-own-comics space.  I set out all of our how-to-draw books, sheets of paper with assorted comics panel templates, tracing paper, pencils, and colored pencils and invited the kids to make their own comics.  We had our T4 coordinator come down and demo LEGO Mindstorms and talk to the kids about robotics and engineering.  We also had a movie screening in one corner of the space.

We topped off the program with some epic giveaways: t-shirts, tote bags, comics, bookmarks, posters, buttons, and other assorted swag (some from comic con, some not).  We raffled the bigger items at the end of the event.  This program was well-received and we’ve already started talking about a repeat some time next year.  I’m hoping with enough forward planning, we can maybe work towards that grandiose plan we started with and get some cool guest speakers to come present.

NYCC ’14

Yesterday was “Professional Day” at New York Comic Con 2014.  And yes, the quotes are to imply sarcasm.  This year, NYCC opened Professional Day up to everyone.  Which had both good and bad consequences.  The good?  There was more cosplay on Thursday this year.  I had a lot of very fun interactions with other cosplayers yesterday.  The show floor and artist alley were open all day.  If you’re at the con to buy things and meet people, this was a definite plus.  The bad?  There were lots (and I mean LOTS) more people there.  Obviously.  But the biggest drawback for me was the lack of quality professional panels.  Last year, there were tons of cool pro panels (I went to Women in Comics, Fandoms in the Library [about creating library programs], and  Tween Fantasy Booktalk panels).  This year, there were a couple of “comics in the classroom” panels and a We Need Diversity panel (more on that later).  And then a bunch of weird ones, like how to open a comic shop.  Then we had some “standard con panels”.  But, since it was Thursday, they were maybe less exciting than they would have been had they been scheduled for one of the weekend days.

I went to Comic Con crossplaying Harley Quinn this year (that’s me, making faces at the Sad Batman statue).  I dress up a lot: Halloween, Ren Faire, Library Programs, Just Because, and this was possibly one of the most fun cosplays I’ve done.  My Hogwarts Wizard costume always gets fun attention, but there’s not a lot of character in it.  My quasi-fantasy just-back-from-the-crusades knight character is a lot of fun to play with other actors.  My Elizabethan noble is a good ensemble piece.  But this Harley was fun just for me.  For the first time, I had people stop me for pictures (normally this happens for me as part of a group or during a bit).  I have to admit, I kind of loved the attention.  But I also know Harley Quinn pretty well as a character.  I used her “voice” (phrasing, inflection, some pronunciation) and her attitude for a lot of my interactions.  I had some fun bits with a phenomenal Joker, an intoxicating Poison Ivy (that’s funny if you know your comics), and several other Harleys.  I was a little disappointed with the Batmen I met.  I made faces at them, or tried to tease them, and they just glared at me.  Which, I guess, is a Batman-ish thing to do.  But it’s not very interesting.

The panels I attended this year were a Game of Thrones Fan Forum with Kristian Nairn and Daniel Portman (Hodor and Podric Payne), Arthur Darvil Spotlight, and #WeNeedDiverse (Comic) Books.  The GoT fan forum was much more fun than I expected.  I like the show, and both of the characters represented are fun, but they’re not headliners and I was a little leery of a long fan Q&A (because a lot of people have really silly questions).  Also, this kind of panel is tricky.  They can’t talk about what’s to come (SPOILERS!), and most of the questions one might have about the story can be easily found online or in books.  But I was impressed.  The questions were mostly entertaining, and Kristian and Daniel were hilarious.  And poor Daniel kept getting embarrassed.  I have to admit, I have a bit of a man-crush on Daniel after the panel, he was really fun to watch.

Arthur Darvil’s panel was pretty much the same, but without wikia moderators on the panel to supplement the questioning.  Which meant that this time we had a headliner (he’s Rory from Doctor Who, also in Broadchurch, he was in Once on Broadway, and will soon be in Treasure Island at the National Theatre), but a whole lot of silly fan questions.  He was charming and witty, but his panel laughed the raw joy we saw from the GoT chaps.  They were obviously having a really good time, while Arthur had obviously done this before and it was less exciting for him.  He did have some hilarious moments, mostly at Karen Gillan’s expense.

The #WeNeedDiverse panel was disappointing.  At last year’s Women in Comics panel, I got to listen to a panel full of women talk about how they got into comics, both as creators and fans; what their experience was like, again as creators and fans; and what they hoped to see from comics in the future, both in terms of representation in the pages and behind the scenes.  The diversity panel was four people.  Half men, half women, and three of them were white.  It started with an overview of horrible racial stereotypes in comics, starting back in the 30’s.  They discussed how that was addressed, but then over-corrected with the original introduction of characters like Luke Cage and John Stewart.  There was an awkward and poorly-addressed mention of the “Women in Refrigerators” and Hawkeye Initiative phenomena.  The introduction finished with a ridiculously short look at some of Marvel’s current efforts to diversify their dramatis personae.  Then they kind of talked about why diversity is important.  One of the panelists said something like “I’m a skinny white guy from the suburbs, I can find representation of me anywhere I look in comics.  But I still think we need more diversity.”  It was incredibly awkward.

Still, I spent the day with some fun colleagues and had a great time cosplaying Harley.  I was dubious about even attending this year after having a less than stellar experience last year.  But I think I’d be happy to attend next year, if the opportunity is there.

A brief look at “Vicious” by V.E. Schwab

This book was recommended to me by one of my coworkers and she knows what she’s talking about.  Schwab and the library both categorized it as “Adult Fiction”, but it kind of felt YA to me.  Of course, that might just be how one distinguishes between the two.

Eli Cardale and Victor Vale (whose name is ridiculously similar to a Batman character, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a connection between the two) were best friends and roommates in college.  Until they decided to work together on a research project about ExtraOrdinaries, humans with seemingly impossible abilities.  This research, and subsequent experiments cause the proverbial feces to hit the fan, and violence, betrayal, and vendettas ensue.

The characters are all very interesting, they all have backstories and motivation for doing what they do.  The pace is quick, there’s some good action, and Schwab keeps it brief, without getting into too many of the gorey details (there still are some gorey details, but it’s no Titus Andronichus).  The best part of this book, for me, was the look at morality.  One character sees himself as a hero, but does some pretty heinous stuff.  The other is intrigued by the possibility of being the villain, since he is the counter to the “hero”.  Our “villain” (who we get to know the best), spends time musing over the moral implications of his actions and the actions of those around him.

I’d say this book is completely lacking a hero in the moral sense, but that’s what I find so fascinating.  Just normal people put in an extraordinary scenario, and none of them really think about the “greater good”.  Additionally, this book gives a brief glimpse into the mind of a psychopath.  Many of the characters seem to lose their sense of empathy and remorse (if they indeed ever had one), and struggle to determine the appropriate behavior.

If you like superhero stories, philosophical quandaries, or sassy protagonists, give Vicious by V.E. Schwab a read.

Green Lantern Shadow Puppet Story Time

It’s been a while since I’ve followed through on the “librarian” side of the blog.  I thought today I’d share a work-in-progress program idea with you.  Part of a Children’s Librarian’s regular duties is presenting a story time for the younger patrons.  Depending on the age group, this can consist of singing silly songs with hand motions (to slow down language, which helps the kids learn the different sounds that make up our words, while the motions help them make the symbolic connections between words and ideas, in addition to developing motor skills), reading picture books aloud to them, and otherwise engaging them in the early learning process.  Older kids can handle longer stories and questions aimed to help them learn reading comprehension and teach them to think critically about what the read and hear.  Many librarians will make use of puppets, either to help tell a story, or to just get the kids excited and more engaged.

This program is taking some of these ideas and running away with them in a very creative and dramatic way.  In the original conception, it was intended as a fun mainly-for-entertainment program.  But as I thought more about it, I realized it could be the linchpin of a bigger program about superheroes and science. So if you have the chops to increase the production value and quality of the story, you can make this part of an all-day superhero event.  There can be an associated craft in which you teach the kids how to make their own shadow puppets and perform with them (teaching them motor skills, artistic skills, creative writing/literature skills).  If you’re into STEM, you can include several lessons in the event.  Making articulated puppets, rather than silhouettes on a stick, has an element of engineering to it.  Maybe not quite the same as building a robot, but learning how to joint and rig the moving parts so they move how you want them to can be a bigger challenge than you’d think.  You can also incorporate a brief physics lesson into the event, and discuss the properties of light.  Why do some of the puppets cast shadows, while others allow light to pass through?  Why does the light change from “white” to green when passing through the Green Lantern puppet?  You can get into more complex science if it suits your program.  Like, how and why do we see color?  How does light move?  How and why does a prism work?

The idea was formed because I was thinking about how much I like superheroes and how many of the kids at the library do too.  But I don’t want to just have a “program” where I put out some comics, wear a Superman shirt and put a movie on the projector.  Mostly because that happens all the time, and I wanted something different.  Something memorable.  My two favorite superheroes are Superman and Green Lantern.  While I was trying to think of what cool things I could do for a Superman day, I had a light-bulb moment.  Green Lantern’s powers are based on the projection of light.  I could use that idea to make an all-day event talking about light and superheroes.  And the main event could be a Shadow Play of a Green Lantern story.  Use light to tell a story about a man who uses light to fight evil.  The program I have in mind is probably best aimed at 5-8 year olds.  The group should be old enough to be interested in superheroes, patient enough to sit through a longer and slightly complicated storyline, but young enough to be willing to sit through a shadow play.  If you’re extra talented and a good puppeteer, you could theoretically make this work for any age group, as many cultures still use Shadow Play to entertain adults.  But tweens and teens might think it’s hokey.  You know your patrons best, so you can make the decision.

To prepare, you’re going to need a few things and a lot of creativity.  First, you’ll need to build a shadow theatre.  This can be as easy as a cardboard box with two open sides and a sheet stretched tight across one side.  But you might want to do a little research into traditional styles and make something a little more lasting and quality.  After all, do it well and you can re-use the materials for other programs.  Once you’ve built your shadow theatre and figured out how to light it, you’ll need puppets.  Again, the easiest way is some black cardstock and a popsicle stick.  But some more effort will yield better results.  If you articulate your figures (multiple pieces joined with a rivet of some kind), your figure can move and take different poses.  You can experiment with thin colored paper, or perhaps water colors on a translucent paper to achieve colors.  For stronger colors, you can try to obtain theatrical lighting gels (colored plastic used to filter stage lights).  You could use this as puppet material, or cut out parts of a thicker material and use this to fill the holes, giving you a silhouetted character with colored accents.  And don’t forget the scenery!  Make this the same way you do your puppets, but perhaps on a base so you can “Set it and forget it” during a scene.

If you know Green Lantern well enough, and have some creative writing skills, you can create your own story for the play.  If not, look to the comics.  Hal Jordan first arrived on the scene in 1959, so there are decades of stories available.  Many of the current comics might be outside your target age range, or be too long a story arc to be feasible.  If this is the case, you can look at the Green Lantern Chronicles, which are trade collections reprinting the original stories.  You can also try Easy Readers.  I know our library has several of these beginner-level books with superhero stories in them.

To help provide reference material and inspiration, I have put together a board on Pinterest.  Feel free to look through the pins and familiarize yourself with both Green Lantern imagery and Shadow Play theory.

Where are all of our female superheroes?

Today’s post was sparked by a stubby little article I read on Emily’s Facebook wall last week.  It was a bit of speculation concerning  an interview with Kevin Feige (President of Production at Marvel Studios) from moviepilot.com.  In the interview, Feige was asked about a movie with a female super-hero lead (Captain Marvel, maybe?).  His response was non-committal and mostly amounted to no.

I poked around a little more and keep finding rage-inducing pussyfooting from the studio execs.  They’ll be happy to acknowledge Thor 3, a Doctor Strange movie, and a re-vamp of Fantastic Four (which presents another interesting set of issues, which we won’t get into today), but heaven forbid we get a movie about a girl.  And one of the most irritating things is that we have an established girl-character (oh, btw, I use “boy” and “girl” for adults, “man” and “woman” feels weird in my head) in the current Marvel movies: Black Widow.  She’s been around for several movies, and has been in more Marvel movies than any other Avenger.  In fact, her and Hawkeye are the only two Avengers we’ve met so far WITHOUT their own movies.  So why don’t we get a Black Widow standalone?  Well, mostly because studio execs are afraid of girls (I mean, look at the track records: how many times was Buffy cancelled?, where is a Wonder Woman movie?, how about a DC girl-hero CW show?, anyone remember Young Justice getting cancelled because the viewership was primarily tween and teen girls?).

Of course, the reasons we’re given aren’t much better.  Taken from a slashfilm.com and a screenrant.com article: we’re unlikely to see a Black Widow solo for two reasons (both articles are allegedly quoting Feige).  The first is (paraphrased) “she does such a good job as an ensemble character!  It’s not fair to remove her from a proven formula!”  The second is pathetic: (verbatim) “I don’t think we’d get the quote unquote credit for it”.  Wait.  What?!  You don’t want to do a Black Widow standalone because you “won’t get credit for it”?  The only reason you’d consider a girl-lead flick is to “get credit for it”?  I am ashamed.  Fortunately, there’s plenty of buzz that Scarlet Johansson is poking the bear for her own movie.

Meanwhile, we’re still not seeing a Captain Marvel movie, or a Wonder Woman movie, or maybe Storm getting a solo story?  I know there aren’t a lot of solo girl-characters out there, but the X-MEN world is full of badass ladies.  Let’s pick one of them and give her a solo movie.  Anyone want to watch a movie about a telepathic ninja who can manifest psionic weapons?  How about a mutant sorceress who claims rulership over a dimension of hell?

I know that a few of you are trying to point out that we got a Cat Woman solo movie a few years back.  And that totally doesn’t count.  One, it wasn’t really the same character, it was Halle Berry in Bondage gear.  Two, that’s been forever ago!  Let’s get some current stuff happening!  Let’s get some awesome characters in a great storyline that can get new people interested in comic books!

And, just in case I haven’t convinced you that execs are afraid of girls, both as lead characters and as viewers, I’d like to point out that Marvel is super-excited to be giving us a new ensemble movie and have been promoting the crap out of two of the characters more than the others.  They are: a talking raccoon with a big gun, and a walking, talking (barely) tree.  That’s right, ladies and gentlemen!  It is easier to write and sell a talking raccoon and a mobile tree than it is to accept that women are just as awesome as men (or more so, if the ratio of my friends is any indicator).

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The articles mentioned above can be found at:

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/03/18/ms-marvel-no-female-lead-marvel-movies-yet-1280310?lt_source=external,manual,manual

http://www.slashfilm.com/captain-marvel-movie/

http://screenrant.com/avengers-2-black-widow/