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Batwoman rant ahead
Okay. So, DC Comics has screwed up again, and JHWIII and Blackman have walked from the book.
I started typing out this sentence, and it started out 'okay, so.' I really need to figure out a new way to start my sentences. Anyway, doom and gloom has come once again from DC Comics. Editorial is fucking around with Batwoman, and JHWIII and Blackman have walked, mostly due to the fact that DC Editorial decided that they didn't want Maggie Sawyer and Kate Kane to get married. There were some other things, like changing the origin of Killer Croc and forcing the ending to this arc that they had planned to be completely scrapped, and I've been seeing a lot of people crying about how DC hates lesbians and is homophobic and doesn't want Kate and Maggie married.
Is there some homophobia in DC? Probably. I doubt it really has anything to do with Orson Scott Card, like some people are saying, but they do have a disturbing pattern. Setting aside gay men (because duuuuuuude, they have representation that's just as bad as the women) let's see how many queer women there are in DC—
1) Harley Quinn—bisexual, technically, even though I don't think it's been seen on page. However, if Bruce Timm says that Poison Ivy and Harley were an item, I will defend it to my dying day.
2) Starling—bisexual. Currently benched.
3) Renee Montoya—gay. Currently benched.
4) Maggie Sawyer—gay.
5) Kate Kane—gay.
6) Sarah Rainmaker—gay.
7) Holly Robinson—gay. Removed entirely from continuity.
8) Voodoo—bisexual. Currently benched.
There's my issue in a nicely numbered list. I've never actually liked the Kate/Maggie relationship, because it felt too much like tokenism. When they got smooshed together? They were the only available lesbians. It happened so fast, with such little lead up, that I felt like DC was going 'we don't want to handle genuine queer relationships, so we're going to pair the two single lesbians we have together, and then we won't have to worry about them.' Their relationship is problematic for a number of reasons.
Maggie has stated in canon that she intensely dislikes and distrusts vigilantes. There's been absolutely no follow through on that with Kate. Kate proposed and revealed she was Batwoman all in one panel, and in the very next issue, they were engaged and moving in together. We didn't get the conversation that needed to happen. Why would Maggie marry Kate, knowing she was Batwoman, knowing she was lied to, knowing that she has an estranged young daughter that she needs to protect?
In the previous story arc, Kate-as-Batwoman accidentally stabbed Maggie with a syringe of fear toxin, and Maggie's been holding that over her head. In a display of Kate's excellent relationship skills, Kate decides that the only way to make things better between them again is to inject herself with fear toxin a DAY before she has a big Batwoman operation. That isn't healthy or mature, but it apparently works.
Maggie stays by Kate's side for the entire night while she's suffering the fear toxin. Why would a detective in Gotham magically have TWELVE hours available to stay at Kate's bedside? The answer is that she wouldn't. That's not Maggie. And this idiot who would inject herself with fear toxin might be Kate? But it shows me that she's not ready for marriage at all.
All this aside, is DC denying the wedding because they don't want a gay marriage? Or just because they don't want a marriage at all? I believe it's simply that they don't want any marriage. I mean, come on, right now, there are only two comics being headlined by a married person, and that would be Aquaman and Animal Man. It's the same reason they broke up Lois and Clark. They're stupid and think that married couples can't have interesting storylines anymore.
In short—is what DC did horrible? Yes. I respect JHWIII and Blackman for walking off after not having the freedom to write the story they want. Am I disappointed? A little. I'll miss JHWIII art. Time will tell if I'll miss his writing.
Does anyone else have thoughts about this? I'd love to hear them.
I started typing out this sentence, and it started out 'okay, so.' I really need to figure out a new way to start my sentences. Anyway, doom and gloom has come once again from DC Comics. Editorial is fucking around with Batwoman, and JHWIII and Blackman have walked, mostly due to the fact that DC Editorial decided that they didn't want Maggie Sawyer and Kate Kane to get married. There were some other things, like changing the origin of Killer Croc and forcing the ending to this arc that they had planned to be completely scrapped, and I've been seeing a lot of people crying about how DC hates lesbians and is homophobic and doesn't want Kate and Maggie married.
Is there some homophobia in DC? Probably. I doubt it really has anything to do with Orson Scott Card, like some people are saying, but they do have a disturbing pattern. Setting aside gay men (because duuuuuuude, they have representation that's just as bad as the women) let's see how many queer women there are in DC—
1) Harley Quinn—bisexual, technically, even though I don't think it's been seen on page. However, if Bruce Timm says that Poison Ivy and Harley were an item, I will defend it to my dying day.
2) Starling—bisexual. Currently benched.
3) Renee Montoya—gay. Currently benched.
4) Maggie Sawyer—gay.
5) Kate Kane—gay.
6) Sarah Rainmaker—gay.
7) Holly Robinson—gay. Removed entirely from continuity.
8) Voodoo—bisexual. Currently benched.
There's my issue in a nicely numbered list. I've never actually liked the Kate/Maggie relationship, because it felt too much like tokenism. When they got smooshed together? They were the only available lesbians. It happened so fast, with such little lead up, that I felt like DC was going 'we don't want to handle genuine queer relationships, so we're going to pair the two single lesbians we have together, and then we won't have to worry about them.' Their relationship is problematic for a number of reasons.
Maggie has stated in canon that she intensely dislikes and distrusts vigilantes. There's been absolutely no follow through on that with Kate. Kate proposed and revealed she was Batwoman all in one panel, and in the very next issue, they were engaged and moving in together. We didn't get the conversation that needed to happen. Why would Maggie marry Kate, knowing she was Batwoman, knowing she was lied to, knowing that she has an estranged young daughter that she needs to protect?
In the previous story arc, Kate-as-Batwoman accidentally stabbed Maggie with a syringe of fear toxin, and Maggie's been holding that over her head. In a display of Kate's excellent relationship skills, Kate decides that the only way to make things better between them again is to inject herself with fear toxin a DAY before she has a big Batwoman operation. That isn't healthy or mature, but it apparently works.
Maggie stays by Kate's side for the entire night while she's suffering the fear toxin. Why would a detective in Gotham magically have TWELVE hours available to stay at Kate's bedside? The answer is that she wouldn't. That's not Maggie. And this idiot who would inject herself with fear toxin might be Kate? But it shows me that she's not ready for marriage at all.
All this aside, is DC denying the wedding because they don't want a gay marriage? Or just because they don't want a marriage at all? I believe it's simply that they don't want any marriage. I mean, come on, right now, there are only two comics being headlined by a married person, and that would be Aquaman and Animal Man. It's the same reason they broke up Lois and Clark. They're stupid and think that married couples can't have interesting storylines anymore.
In short—is what DC did horrible? Yes. I respect JHWIII and Blackman for walking off after not having the freedom to write the story they want. Am I disappointed? A little. I'll miss JHWIII art. Time will tell if I'll miss his writing.
Does anyone else have thoughts about this? I'd love to hear them.