I'm a writer, of comic books mostly. I live in Portland, OR, with my husband, writer Matt Fraction and our kids, Henry Leo and Tallulah Louise. Our company is called Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, Inc.
It’s a test in a similar vein to the Bechdel Test, designed to see at a glance how well written a character is. Coined by Kelly Sue DeConnick, iirc. Usually applied specifically to female characters, but it works for any characters who are in the token/companion role.
The test is:
If you replaced the character with a sexy lamp, would there be a difference? Would it affect the story in any way? There’s still something sexy for us to look at, still an object to obtain, but does the plot have to change at all? Do we lose any important information or actions?
If not, your character has failed the Sexy Lamp Test
In the weirdest “life comes a full circle” moment: I spent my undergrad reading Captain Marvel, grad school screaming at the movie, and now as a doctor, teaching a class about Captain Marvel, Kelly Sue, and the Carol Corps.
Saturday morning, I cracked open Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons.
It is an incredibly beautiful book. I think there should be a coffee table version of this book. (At its size, it’s probably already close to one; however, there’s no way I’d put my only copy of this on a coffee table xd)
My first thought on opening it was: My God is there a lot going on in the artwork. Seriously. So much. I knew I’d never be able to attempt to read it without flipping through it and just looking at the pretty pictures at least once, so that’s exactly what I did.
I flipped through it, skimming the artwork, until I found the stuff at the back - the bits from each of the artists on how they went about creating the art.
Reading how they did that, flipping back and forth between that section and the finished art and seeing things I most definitely would not have noticed without being guided (or at least, not on a first or even a fifth viewing), thinking of everything that went into all of it…
I fell in love. I’m in love with a book I haven’t even read yet. I know that it’ll be one of those books I can read again and again and again and always find something new in it - whether a detail I’d missed or a connection/reference I hadn’t picked up before - and there’s even more opportunity for me than perhaps usual, as I really don’t know that much about myth. But the writer posted a photo of all her pre-writing reference reading, so those are now all on my TBR list lol.
Today, I went over some of the art again, especially from the first book, and one of my initial feelings is being strengthened: I don’t think I’m going to be able to read this book without assistance (i.e., digitally, using guided view on ComiXology).
It is incredibly complex, made more so by how detailed and overwhelming the artwork is.
I’m still going to try, because I really want to read this book and I don’t want to wait until I can afford to buy it again digitally, but. If it goes, I think it’s going to be very slow going.
“I’m very aware of the fact that I’m just a conduit for a concept. It always, for me, was the star. I just wanted to imbue that symbol. That was my goal. If I could help imbue that star and that symbol to mean something, to help you get out of a tough situation, to give you strength when you feel like you don’t have it. That we’re free. We’re completely free to be as we are.
"I see people in like a leather Captain Marvel jacket or a keychain or a pin with that star. If that can be a reminder of inner strength and power? It’s a powerful concept. ”
– Brie Larson, on playing Carol Danvers in MPowered on Disney+
Out this week: Wonder Woman: Historia (DC, $29.99):
Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick teamed with artists Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott on this Black Label miniseries, which set out to tell the definitive story of the Amazons and their relationship with the gods. The art is beautiful, which you’d expect given the creators involved, but each of them went above and beyond to bring DeConnick’s vision to life. And it’s a vision that’s worthy of an Eisner.
It is an utter masterpiece in every possible way. The writing is impeccable, the art knocks you on your ass with every page. I am wholly unqualified to critique it, but I give it my most enthusiastic endorsement. Every Wonder Woman fan should read it. Desperately hoping we get the other 6 issues that KSD wants to do.
This moment right here. It made me think of that iconic line. The one we all know.
“Have you ever seen a little girl run so far she falls down? There’s an instant, a fraction of a second before the world catches hold of her again… A moment when she’s outrun every doubt and fear she’s ever had about herself and she flies… Maybe, if I fly far enough, I’ll be able to turn around and look at the world… And see where I belong.”
This scene made me feel things. And by feel things, I mean I starting bawling in the theaters because I felt this on a metaphorical level. On an innate, human, wanting to be understood, level. This moment where everything is still. Where she’s free- falling in a background of stars, allowing herself to float in the silence before igniting…
Anonymous![maxsindiecomics:
“Prometheus: Fire and Stone - Omega [one-shot] (February 11, 2015)
writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick | artist: Agustin Alessio | letters: Nate Piekos of Blambot | editor Scott Allie | assistant editor: Shantel LaRocque | designer: Sandy...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1a51c25cf56cda57928dbf74afa2b934/d9247db88f6ab8f3-62/s500x750/248ba79ab24b392051cbdbe8b4f3bd6162b124ea.png)
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