Counting down the best things for “Women in Comics” to come out of NYCC this weekend!
To be honest, going into a big con week I never know if there’s going be enough material to make a decent post of for She Has No Head. Sometimes I’ve struggled to come up with new announcements to write about, even after a big con. And then there are weeks where it’s hard to whittle your list down to ten items and you come it at well over 3,000 words. Well done, NYCC, well done!
I’ll also say that though I am “con averse” in general and was out of town for most of the festivities anyway, this was the first time I have been following the news (and even more so the tweets) and really felt like I missed out. So many great creators I love were out and force and being recognized for the insanely talented individuals they are and it made me feel so genuinely joyous (though disappointed to have missed out). Also, a huge thanks to all the people that so valiantly brave the con to do such great reporting, you guys are soldiers – soldiers that seemed like you were having an incredible time.
Onward to the list!
10. DC’S FIRST ‘WOMEN IN COMICS’ PANEL!
Landmark! Here’s to many more! To be honest, I’m excited for the day when a “Women” specific panel isn’t necessary, but we’re a long way from that day. The best way to get there is to continue featuring and supporting amazing women in comics. Marvel has been doing it (despite often and certainly currently) having less women creators than DC, so it’s great that DC stepped up. Their panel is LOADED with exciting talent – both new and established including: writer Gail Simone, writer/artist Becky Cloonan, artist Babs Tarr, writer/artist Amanda Conner, writers Marguerite Bennett, Caitlin Kittredge and Meredith Finch, and editors Shelly Bond and Bobbie Chase. A really wonderful group of ladies.
The Women of Marvel Panel was packed – standing room only – as per usual and hosted a huge number of women including these heavy hitters: writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer G. Willow Wilson, artist Sara Pichelli, talent relations manager Jeanine Schafer, artist Stephanie Hans, writer Marguerite Bennett. The panel also included up and comers: artist Stacey Lee, writer Margaret Stohl (for a Black Widow novel), Unbeatable Squirrel Girl artist Erica Henderson, editors Sana Amanat, Katie Kubert, Ellie Pyle, Emily Shaw and many more.
09. MARVEL WOMEN CREATORS VARIANTS COVERS IN MARCH 2015
Marvel announced 20 variant covers by female creators for 2015. So, this only ranks at number nine because variant covers are fun, but not really the heart and soul of “comics making.” In fairness, many on the variant covers list ARE doing much more than variant covers, now or in the near future – Sara Pichelli pencils a variety of books and is in hot demand, Stephanie Hans is on the back up story in the forthcoming Angela title, an Stacey Lee has just been put on something high profile which I'll discuss later on this list). Anyway, already the list of ladies announced is impressive we’ve got veterans Stephanie Hans, Sara Pichelli, Faith Erin Hicks, and Jill Thompson listed, but add to that relative new comers Vanessa Del Rey and Stacey Lee and I admit I'm super excited to see who else will be contributing and WHAT they'll be contributing. What with Faith's cover be? OMG.
Add to all of this general excitement a certain amount of personal pleasure that this list includes both Stephanie Hans - as many of you know a good friend of mine and the artist for both my novel covers as well as all the interior illustrations for The Girl Who Would Be King hardcover and several illustrations for the Storykiller hardcover, AND Stacey Lee who I just became acquainted with this past year and who did two of my favorite pieces for the illustrated Storykiller hardcover…so I don’t know…I feel so lucky to know them and to have worked with them and so glad that everyone gets just how incredible they are. Life is good, man.
While these women all deserve as much work as possible, variant covers are a good start to help them getting both noticed and paid! Congrats ladies, can’t wait to see what you do. The two covers released so far (by Stephanie Hans and Stacey Lee, above left and right respectively) are, predictably, fantastic.
08. GAMORA ONGOING…BY SCREENWRITER NICOLE PERLMAN?!
I actually knew this one was coming and I’m pretty excited about it. While I’m not sure Gamora is the title we most NEED right now -- i.e. we have a kind of large proliferation of “anti-heroine/assassin” types in the Marvel headlining females category with Black Widow, Elektra, the forthcoming Angela, and now Gamora (though Elektra has rumors of cancellation?) but Gamora totally makes sense as a character to take center stage in comics given her high-profile movie presence.
This will be Perlman’s comic writing debut, but as half the party responsible for the excellent Guardians of the Galaxy film, this should be cake to pull off. Ironically, Gamora is, for me, the character that works least in the GotG film, however, as there were two writers responsible for that film – and not in collaboration with one another (James Gunn is also a credited screenwriter) - so it’s hard to say if Gamora might have gotten (or did get?) a better portrayal in Perlman’s version. Either way, I’m excited to check this one out. There's no interior artist announced yet here which is a big x-factor (the cover above is by Francesco Mattina).
07. G. WILLOW WILSON ON X-MEN
G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel is magnificent (and she’s a hell of a lady) so I am really excited to see her doing something cool with the adjectiveless (and all female) X-Men title which has floundered a lot since its incredibly strong opening arcs. Wilson’s Ms. Marvel and Wolverine team up in the pages of Ms. Marvel (and with gorgeous hilarious art by Jake Wyatt) were some of my favorite issues to date so I have no doubt she can handle the ladies of X with similar grace and humor.
Details are a bit unclear at this time whether she’s on the X-Men title in an ongoing capacity or just for the 4-issue “Burning World” story arc that begins with X-Men #23. I also didn’t see a mention of the interiors artist (The Dodson’s did the lovely cover above). Hopefully Wilson will be on for more than just an arc, but it’s exciting (and well-deserved) news regardless.
06. WONDER WOMAN ’77
Hmmm. I LOVE Wonder Woman, but I haven’t been impressed with the digital firsts books so far - with the exception of Li’l Gotham – which was its whole own world that felt different from ANYTHING else (in the best of ways). I also liked the first ever Legend of the Dark Knight digital story by Jeff Lemire and Damon Lindelhof which was pretty spectacular – but everything else I’ve read has been mediocre at best.
Wait. Batman ’66, which this is obviously aping to good effect (i.e. springboarding off of an old beloved TV series) is another exception I suppose – the quality of Batman '66 is certainly there and I get (and appreciate) what they’re trying to do, but it’s just not that intriguing to me personally. I have trouble investing in it emotionally (maybe due to the camp factor?) and I’m not into the “gimmick” of the way the interactive element works. I just want to read comics. The only reason I read digitally is for convenience of getting books and ease of storing them, I’m not looking for some “innovative” interactive experience. I liked the issues of Batman '66 I read, but I don't pick it up regularly.
That said, I love Wonder Woman and since, unlike Batman, her regular book is not something I can read, I am happy to give this a try to get some Wonder Woman back in my life. Marc Andrekyko is writing and I’m a big fan of his Manhunter series and Nicola Scott is a great cover artist so if they can get someone good on the interiors then there might be something here. I also appreciate an apparent push at DC on the Wonder Woman character. I'm sure that's largely to do with the eventual plans for a film, but Wonder Woman has four books now (Wonder Woman, Superman/Wonder Woman, Sensation: Wonder Woman, and now this one) whereas she used to only have one not so long ago, so I hope that's a good thing. It breaks my heart that I don't love all of them/can't read them, but, well, life doesn't just give you everything you want, now does it. There is no doubting that Wonder Woman’s height of popularity and the touchstone for many people when they think of Diana is the 70’s Lynda Carter version, so I can certainly understand the appeal. I’m on board for a couple issues and I hope they can pull it off!
Go to the next page for #5-!
05. HAWKEYE
This would actually rank higher, but since Kate is not technically (literally?) co-starring or headlining, I had to drop it to #5. That said, the creators say they almost named the book Hawkeyes (which is WAY more fun AFAIK) because Kate plays a big role in the series, so that’s easily enough confirmation to get it on this list. The new Hawkeye ongoing series is from writer Jeff Lemire (who has written many things you've likely heard of but perhaps most notably in this case – recent writer of DC’s own archer title – Green Arrow) and phenomenal artist Ramon Perez. To be honest, Hawkeye is one of my favorite books – not only of late – but “of ever” – so it’s unlikely a new book can top it, but I like that Marvel (and these creators) are not afraid to get out there and do their own thing with the character. Bold reinventions have created some of my favorite stories in the last 5+ years so it’s good to see Marvel running right into the fire, rather than away from it. I’ll be giving this a shot and I hope it’s great and even coming close to living up to Fraction, Aja, and Wu’s work would still make it a great book. I hope they try to do something new and different to distinguish themselves while still respecting how great that title was. The only thing that could have likely made this book a better idea was if they HAD called it Hawkeyes. Maybe next time!
04. “INDIE” ANNOUNCEMENTS
Not as many as I expected quite frankly and the thing I’m most excited about – OMG. FINALLY A PREVIEW OF BITCH PLANET!!!! YESSSS!!!! Didn’t really debut at NYCC so much as just show up on CBR. Regardless, it looks damn intriguing!
There was little in the way of “announcements” from Image. Doubling down on announcements at their Image Expo and SDCC doesn’t leave room to prepare a lot of new stuff for NYCC I suppose. Of course the big news (which surprises exactly NOBODY) is that Scott Snyder and Jock’s excellent Wytches has already been optioned for a film by New Regency (and partnering with Plan B). YESSSSS.
Oni actually kind of dominated in the announcements category with a handful of all-ages books that all look interesting, though unfortunately not much specifically notable to “women in comics” except for Terrible Lizard by Cullen Bunn, Drew Moss, and colorist Ryan Hill, which features a young girl protagonist (and of course a time-shifted dinosaur. Yes!). Costume Quest also looks delightful.
Vertigo (does Vertigo count as “indie”? Hell, I dunno). Anyway, they announced a new Gail Simone female-led book titled Clean Room and Tim Seeley has a book with a female lead (child star turned real life cop) in his book Effigy.
Dark Horse announced a Brian Wood penned Eve: Valkyrie, which is based on the video game. I don’t play that game (or much of any games) so this is probably not for me, but it’s a big announcement that will have a lot of appeal to others I’m sure. Wood also has a new series called Rebels forthcoming from Dark Horse (already announced earlier) that includes colorist Jordie Bellaire on the creative team.
From Boom (or more accurately Kaboom!) there was some more talk with Frank and Becky about their forthcoming Capture Creatures, which looks awesome and debuts next month. Also from Boom Marguerite Bennett spoke about her Sleepy Hollow book which has Noelle Stevenson on backups and this quote from the Boom panel about the book takes this book from something I probably wouldn’t read to something I’m definitely going to check out: “Bennett is doing the “spooky” stuff and Stevenson is doing the “anecdotes” where they “eat ice cream and watch movies” YUP. SOLD.
IDW gets its own section with something super exciting below but they also had some talk about Kate Leth’s much anticipated Edward Scissorhands mini-series, which sounds incredibly fun.
03. PEGGY CARTER BOOK – OPERATION S.I.N. - WRITTEN BY KATHRYN IMMONEN!
Don’t love the title, but you gotta love the creative team. Rich Ellis on art and Kathryn Immonen writing and all for a period piece Peggy Carter series? That’s an insta-buy if you’re interested in women in comics.
Kathryn Immonen has been much missed since her departure from Marvel when the Sif-focused Journey Into Mystery was cancelled, but it’s nice to know that she’s been working on something incredible as a come back. Immonen’s indie book Moving Pictures (with husband Stuart Immonen on art and published by Top Shelf) is also a period piece (from roughly the same time period), and one that tells me Immonen will be right at home in writing a 50’s Peggy Carter. This is actually a Peggy Carter team up technically with Howard Stark, which a ton of sense given the TV series forthcoming this year. I do wish they'd just let it be a Peggy Carter book (and name it as such) but there's little room for complaint here.
02. JEM!
Being a child of nostalgia I can’t pretend I don’t love Jem & The Holograms, especially since it was a totally female focused show - a rarity in animation. SoIDW's announcement of a new series (Limited? Ongoing? It’s not entirely clear) surely thanks to the forthcoming movie, is pretty damn exciting on multiple levels including nostalgia! Details are sketchy at this point – no creative team and no release date as yet – but people were REALLY EXCITED about this even without any details except this teaser image. I am one of them!
And do yourself a favor, if you like/liked the show, check out Ross Campbell’s – let’s face it, truly outrageous - Jem redesigns from a few years ago. The best place to view them is actually on CA in a hilariously detailed and thoughtful examination of each of them by Chris Sims and Bethany Fong.
I really hope that IDW will go bold with the new series – letting it morph and become something modern and relevant while still honoring the classic awesomeness rather than staying too tied to the old stuff (or the forthcoming film). One of the best things about comics is that, like animation, you are only really bound by your imagination. Despite being visual medium, expensive special effects and the limitations of human beings don't have to hold you back in comics. In that respect, I hope they push toward bold new horizons with the property- and an artist like Campbell would certainly be an incredible way to re-invent Jem (& co) in the best possible way.
01. SPIDER-GWEN ONGOING & SILK ONGOING!
YESSSSSSS. By Jason Latour and artist Robbie Rodriguez, who launched the character in her Spider-Verse tie in series this ongoing launches in February 2015. Let’s get the elephant out of the room…I don’t read a lot of Spider-Man. I really like Peter Parker and I suspect I would like a lot of his books/stories, but I often feel overwhelmed and confused (even as a comics professional) by what I should read/where I should start when it comes to Spider-Man books. I have a gift for sifting through confusing madness when it comes to X-Men, but many (most? all?) other properties easily overwhelm me when I see too many options.
Miles Morales proved a good way for me to read some Spider-Man stories without having to worry about a lot of continuity and though I can’t always read all the books I want to due to time and money constraints you can bet I will make room for SPIDER-GWEN.
And as I said months ago, if I was picking any property for Sony to develop for their “Solo Female Movie” it would be a Spider-Gwen movie starring the already beloved and super talented Emma Stone. So does this get us one teeny tiny step closer? Maybe!
In a nod to the power of interesting and super talented creators, a title I was not remotely interested in, Silk, suddenly becomes a very high priority by putting incredibly talented newcomer Stacey Lee on art. I know this is not a “proven A-list team” but I assure anyone on the fence that Lee has the chops and then some to make this title an instant buy. Written by Robbie Thompson and beginning in February 2015 alongside Spider-Gwen the inclusion of Lee in the creative team means I won’t dare pass this up, even though the character hasn’t interested me in the past. I haven’t read much (any?) of Silk, but the concept itself does not particularly intrigue me. However, I’m a firm believer that talented creators can make any character vital and interesting and with a creative team like this, I will be all over this title. At right is Dave Johnson's cover to Silk #1, but Stacey Lee's variant leads off this post. It's stunning. Also, these are the two pieces Lee did for my book Storykiller and they just blew me away:
Also, while we’re here, let’s tally up “female headlining” books at Marvel – assuming we get no cancellations (unlikely) I think we’d be up to an absolutely mind blowing SIXTEEN titles in 2015! Newly announced Gamora, Spider-Gwen, Silk, and Peggy Carter/Operation S.I.N. (which I’m going to count even though the title’s a bit of a cheat for the rules of "headlining female") would join the announced just prior to NYCC Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, which would join the still forthcoming Angela, Spider-Woman, and Leia, AND the already running Thor, Storm, X-Men, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, She-Hulk, and Elektra (which has rumors of cancellation since August but no confirmation – the latest legit news I could find on it – from Marvel - was an early September piece that denied cancellation – but not very vehemently…if that’s a thing?). Anyway. Suffice to say that SIXTEEN titles...even if we lost one or two before then...is HUGE. I mean, I was excited last spring when I wrote this piece about five great titles. We've more than tripled that! They're not all going to be winners and they're not all going to last but it is DAMN EXCITING to see Marvel trying.
I don’t want to get down on DC because A) They had their first ever Women of DC panel, and that is AWESOME and B) They have been doing some really exciting things of late with regard to both books and new creators - Gotham Academy, Batgirl, and a forthcoming Secret Six – together equal the most excited I’ve been about DC comics in years – and it’s just too bad that timing wise those don’t "count" for them in this "nycc announcement news cycle" and C) DC has showed some good initiative in hiring women and looking for/nurturing newer female talent. However, looking at this list, Marvel just killed them in the book announcements this con and I’d love to see them give Marvel a run for their money in that regard.
Anyway. You guys. This is so damn exciting. Sometimes it’s really cool to love comics. Today is a good day.
Oh! Here’s an honorable mention bonus round! for a couple things slightly less “women in comics” but still particularly awesome:
HMBR #1: One of the greatest cartoons to ever grace the face of the earth (Rick & Morty) will be a comic forthcoming from Oni. If they can capture even half of what is so great about the cartoon, everyone is in for a treat.
HMBR #2: Taking a tip from DC’s BRILLIANT move to commission a month of Variant Covers from Darwyn Cooke, Marvel announces 20 Phil Noto Variants in 2015 – all in his ‘60’s candid photo style that he’s made so popular on his tumblr. These are some of my favorite of Noto’s works/styles and so I’m truly excited to see these covers. Here's one from All-New X-Men for February 2015:
HMBR #3: And in the not quite comics, but definitely women category, we’ve got the very cool teaser that Neil Gaiman’s new illustrated children’s book The Sleeper and The Spindle (out 10/23/14 in the UK) has a “sleeping beauty” awoken by a “snow white.” Obviously I’m a fan of re-imagined fairy tales (ahem!) but to see a master like Gaiman re-imagine fairtyales and also give us such a rare glimpse at a princess awoken by someone other than a traditional prince? Well, suffice to say I’m sold.
Okay, so, that’s where I landed. What about you guys? Anything absolutely vital I missed regarding women in comics from the last week’s festivities? What has you most excited? Sound off!
Kelly Thompson is a freelance writer living in Manhattan. She is the author of the superhero novel THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING recently optioned to become a film, and her new novel STORYKILLER is out now. You can find Kelly all over the place, but twitter may be the easiest: @79semifinalist