I really love reading comics about teams. Individual titles are interesting. They let you get a sense for what a character thinks of him or herself, and they show you what that person’s thoughts and actions are like when they’re interacting with a few other heroes, but for the most part, they’re about solo crime-fighting activities or what the character does with their family or friends. Take the current run of Hawkeye, for instance: it alternates between Clint and Kate (and occasionally Pizza Dog) taking on their own enemies, but it also has Clint dealing with relationship issues and his brother showing up, and Kate leaving home and moving across the country. The book focuses on who they are as people, as it rightly should – it’s a book about them, after all. Team books are different. Where individual titles give you a sense of who the characters are as people, a team book gives you a sense of who they are as heroes. Batman on his own is different than he is while he’s part of the Justice League. Iron Man’s behavior in his solo title is different from how he behaves in a group dynamic. Team stories show what I feel are more honest interactions – ones where the heroes aren’t hiding their skills behind civilian identities or lying about who they are. Even in the case of heroes whose civilian identities aren’t known to their teammates, the hero in question – let’s just call him Batman, for sake of discussion – is still more able to be honest with his colleagues as Batman than he is in his day-to-day life as Bruce Wayne, head of Wayne Enterprises.

While I was on vacation last week Image Comics announced a boatload of new series coming out soon. Here they are: The Fade Out I’m not a huge fan of Ed Brubaker, but I do respect his work on Fatale. It’s going to be ending after its 24th issue and Brubaker will be working with Sean Phillips (who he also worked on Fatale with) on The Fade Out. Here’s how Brubaker describes it: The Fade Out is my ultimate noir story. It’s a brutal crime story set in late ’40s Hollywood, and all spinning around the mysterious death of an up-and-coming starlet. For people who’ve been waiting for us to return to Criminal, this will be exactly what they’re looking for, but on a much more epic scale—going from studio backlots to the debauchery of the rich and famous, and even stretching back to the horrors of World War Two. I am a fan of noir, but what’s really exciting about this announcement is how it’s shaking up the industry. Phillips and Brubaker will have full creative control and ownership of their projects at Image for the next five years. Image Comics was founded because of the Big Two having ownership of characters created while working for them. But this is an even further move. I think this new move is motivated by Thrillbent and Panel Syndicate proving that the Internet is finally coming through on its promise of no longer needing a publisher. So if publishers want to stay in business, they need to provide something above and beyond what creators can get doing it on their own. It’s an exciting shakeup that could lead to even more creative works in a space that really needs it.

Hello readers of Comic POW! 2013 was a great year in which we were joined by two new, great writers. Tracey Mania and Kari Woodrow have really been knocking it out of the park with their articles. Last year I also started my series on Understanding Japanese Culture, Humor, and Gender through Love Hina. I had been planning to move to a magazine theme in 2014 to reflect the type of article we write here on Comic POW! so it was great to read that with the Twenty Fourteen theme, the Wordpress team would be creating a world-class theme available to all Wordpress users. As we gear up again after the holidays, I thought it was the perfect time to move to the new team. Since we have a very small team, expect some growing pains as there is a lot about the way themes work that can’t really be found until a theme goes live. I’m really excited for Comic POW! in the new year and I hope you continue to join us! ...

Marvel is releasing a slew of new titles to fill out their line-up in the new year and one of the first up for offer this January is Black Widow by Nathan Edmondson with art by Phil Noto. Marvel has had trouble finding a female character that can carry her own title and last year saw the cancellation of Red She-Hulk, the Sif led Journey into Mystery, and the all-female team book Fearless Defenders. Thankfully they aren’t giving up on trying to get more female helmed books on the market and Black Widow is a smart choice because of her recent visibility in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The introduction to Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow says that Alan Moore had a once in a lifetime chance. We can chuckle at that from our vantage point in the New 52 world. Frankly, I’m surprised that DC didn’t do another of these right before the reboot, but then again their misleading statements (intentional or not - and I think they were intentional) about it not being a reboot would have been undermined if they had undertaken a project like this one. When the story came out in Superman#423 and Action Comics#583 there had been stories in which Superman had died or gone missing. But this was the first time it all happened in continuity. Because the 1986 reboot was getting rid of all the previous canon, this story marked the first (and last) time that a comic book company was OK with doing away with a marquee hero canonically with finality. After all, it wouldn’t be canon just a month or two later. I think what is most interesting about the story is how I believe it might have gone differently in 2011.

Never hit a woman. Treat women with respect. Protect women in need. These are all common things taught to men from a young age and at first glance they seem to be a straightforward and respectful guide to the interaction between genders. However, ask any girl who was refused a place on a school wrestling team or football team because the boys refused to engage her as the sport demanded and you’ll see where the flaws lie. Of course a boy shouldn’t hit a girl for no reason, but if he refuses to tackle her on a football team then he is extinguishing her opportunity to be treated as an equal and live out her dreams.

My family celebrates Christmas, so for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been big into the holiday shopping mindset. Items on Christmas wish lists range from small to large, from new socks (thanks for being easy to shop for, Grandma) to new Xbox One games (thanks for being impossible to shop for, nephews). The one thing that caught my eye was on my youngest cousin’s list: he wants Batman pajamas.

As a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy media I’ve grown used to seeing female characters in skimpy clothing and impractical armor. In fact I’ve grown so used to seeing women’s bodies on display that it rarely even registers until it reaches Starfire levels of ridiculous. Fan service aimed at pleasing the male gaze is such an ingrained part of the genre that female fans are expected to just deal with it. After all, sex sells. That’s why, as a woman, I find the Thor franchise to be such a breath of fresh air.

It’s been a while since the last one, so I figured this week I’d do another comics time capsule. This time, I’m going to look back to the mid-80s with volume 2 of The New Teen Titans – specifically, the Brother Blood story told primarily between issues #26-31 (December 1986 – May 1987). This is a great story in a comics run that was, all told, superb. I don’t love every last thing about the run – I’ve never been a Danny Chase fan, and the sexist way that Changeling speaks sometimes grosses me out – but for the most part, the stories and characters are all wonderfully crafted and explored brilliantly. This story holds a special place in my heart because it’s the only big post-Crisis story that features Jason Todd as Robin, and though I don’t like to play favorites when it comes to Bat kids, I sometimes can’t help it. (This is definitely one of those times.)

Superman has been the subject of countless papers and books exploring what is so compelling about this alien super hero. Interestingly, as comics have become more sophisticated, it’s become harder and harder to write a good Superman story that encompasses all that makes him great. Oh, I’d argue it’s not much harder to write a compelling origin story. Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright, which I wrote about here, is a pretty good indication of what Superman’s appearance in our world might look like. Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics Vol 2 also gave us a good look at how Superman might work to use his working man convictions to do as Superman what the justice system was failing to do. But I think what makes Superman so hard to grow as a character is his ability to maintain his “blue boyscout” ethics in the face of all he deals with. It’s an accusation that would be easy to levy on Batman except that his writers have had a succession of boy (and girl) wonders in the Robin role to evolve Batman emotionally. (Even if it took until Batman and Robin Vol 2 for him to stop grieving his parents and start celebrating their legacy) In a nutshell, there’s no reason why Superman’s time growing up in Smallville should make him perpetually maintain those values. There are tons of people who move from the countryside to the big city. Very few of them maintain their small town views. Everything is changed, even just a little. We often use platitudes like Superman seeing the best in humanity and, therefore, being above the pettiness, but I find no reason why this should be the case. So what might it be like if Superman actually existed in the real world? Well, two different authors have explored that in two very different ways.