Reviews, comments and observations on stories that feature DC Comics' best detective (cough, afterbatman, cough) and the sensational Sue, his spoiled wife. I'll be pointing the best ones, the key ones and the lousy ones.
Last week I mentioned that I wanted to marry Ralph Dibny. I’m actually not sure if that’s true, or if I just want to be Sue Dibny. Though her appearances in various Justice League International titles have kept her modern, Sue still possesses a certain air of old-fashioned glamour; you just know she talks like a heroine from a noir or screwball comedy. (It helps that her relationship with Ralph was famously based on Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man books/movies.) She’s always witty and self-possessed; even in the Silver Age she could banter with the best of them.
On her own, Sue is brilliant, funny, brave, and forthright, whether she’s slugging a supervillain or putting the moves on the dashing (well…dashing-ish) Elongated Man. She’s the brains of the Superbuddies (okay, that’s a bit of a tallest hobbit situation, but still) and the heart of the JLE. She once encouraged an entire nation to rise up against their supervillainous dictator. And no one can wear an outrageous hat like she can!
That's from a post in Dimestore Dames, a column by Jessica, on the girl-wonder.org blog. Jessica focuses on many female characters in comics, who are all too often pushed aside in favor of male heroes and villains. She has gone as far as declaring that she wants to be Sue, be married to the Elongated Man and punch Hal Jordan in the face... Which girl wouldn't?
Don't read it. The picture is good, the content is just wrong, ha. ha.
Sue makes a great case. Modeled after Nora Charles, she had a defined, interesting personality from the start. However, after she joined the Justice League Europe, she also developed as a multi-talented woman. We already knew she has an amazing taste and was a great fashion designer, but her time in the league showed that she is also a great hacker, a leader and a top notch PR manager. Later, Gotham Knights #41 revealed she is also a great mystery writer and a talented amateur detective, rivaling with Batman and her own husband. Can Lois Lane pull all that? Didn't think so.
So, yeah, feminist girls should look up to this fine fictional lady.
CLICK HERE to read the full article. I fully recommend in order to understand about one of DC's most talented women.
A note from friend of the Ralph Dibny, the [yadda yadda yadda...] Blog (yes, the one you're reading right now from some reason), Freakazoid! writer and natural born really nice guy, John P. McCann (WRITE ENOUGH!: The Prophecy of Freakazoid), lead me to an utterly awesome and masterfully done video article from The Escapist by Bob "Moviebob" Chipman: The Prophesy of Freakazoid!
The video (I cannot paste it here, you'll have to go to the article ) is about the amazing fact that back in 1995 the creators of that cult hit show created a character that incarnates what internet is today: a collection of memes, nostalgic pop cult references and utter nonsense (porn aside, of course).
On a side note a bit of nostalgic Freakazoid! googling lead me to find --
I interrupt this article to make the following announcement: I'm your computer, and I'm in love you. Also, your fingers ticke me.
-- some relly cool concept art by Bruce W. Timm, of Batman: The Animated Series fame:
I really love the first one. That's Kid Carrion, he actually made it to the show, mostly with crowds of villains in the first season. Too bad there was no episode about it. Bombshell and Major Danger, can be seen only in The Lobe short. I don't believe Witch Girl, Ben Franklinstain or the Nunchucks were ever used, even in the backgrounds.
I did no know this, but they come from the special features of the season 1 DVD set. Along with other desigs. Some can be seen in this fan made retrospective from youtube by phoenixpenftw:
You can skip the bull and go straight to min 85:54, to hear the good bit about the coolest superhero blog. OK, I'm just kidding, the rest is even better. The first half is a review of Justice League of America #207 - 209, Crisis on Earth Prime, which is quite the event, featuring the JLA, the JSA, the All-Star Squadron, Per Degaton, the Crime Syndicate and even He-Man and the Masters of the Universe --Only He-man in a backup feature (got your eyes crossed, didn't I?). The second half is about blogs about DC Comics characters. They start with the blogs of, friend of this blog, Diabolu Frank, who is so productive, he's practically a human-franchise. Then, they go on with the rest of us, mortals. They made a crack about the lenght of my url, which kinda goes with the blog's topic, but yeah, I'm sure that a number of Ralph enthusiasts often think "sure, I'll see what's new with the Elongated Man Blog. Let's see, it was www.theworldfamous... no, www.theelongatedmanworld-famo-- no, www.ralphd-- meh, www.facebook.com!" The great thing is that fans of odd characters now have odd blogs to follow, where loons like myself are going to make sure they get the basics and any update. A cool thing about many of them is that they sometimes do crossovers, which makes them like a "league of bloggers about Justice Leaguers"; and the really cool thing is that this is the second time this blog is considered for one of those crossovers! Which practically mirrors the way the way the Elongated Man himself was invited to become part of the JLA:
*Green Lantern: Dude, you know who would be cool to have in the league?
*Superman (playing with a rubik's): Huh?
*GL: That stretchy dude who is always hanging out with the Flash.
*Superman: Oh, yeah, that Plastic Man guy.
*GL: No, the other guy.
*Superman: ...
*GL: The ginger guy that just stretches... ?
*Superman (scratches his head looking at the Rubik): Jimmy?
*Batman (popping up out of nowhere): He means Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man.
*Superman (freaked out): Dude!--... Jes's...
*Batman: I'm Batman.
-Batman gives the Rubik's a couple of twists and solves it. Superman looks at him with a confussed expression on his face.
*Batman: I'm Batman.
*Superman (makes back off sign with his hand): ... wait, you mean that we should invite a guy that just stretches and has no secret identity? What, are we getting our members from a circus, now?
*GL: Well he was with a circus.
*Superman: Oh, brother.
*GL: No, but hear me out, he's actually an uncanny detective.
*Batman: Teamed up with him a couple of times. Prodigious detective, great improviser... And unlike most of us, he's easy going and no drama queen -- Yes, that's f**n' right, I'm looking at you, Carter.
-Hawkman storms out offended.
*GL (looks Hawkman storming out of the room and then turn to Superman): Yep, Lord knows we need normal people.
*Superman: It might be so, but without Diana--
*Batman (with daydreaming expression): Diana... <sight>
*GL: What a broad.
*Superman: Yeah... Anyway, without Diana, this is becoming a total sausage fest. So I'm going with Black Canary.
*GL: Booyah!
*Batman: Agreed, sausage fest sucks.
*GL: Maybe she'll convince Hawkman to put a shirt on. I'm sick of man nipples.
*Batman: Forget it, not even his wife can do that.
*GL: Is it me, or is Hawkman's costume kind of. What's the word?
*Superman: Drag?
*GL: Thank you. --Not that there's anything wrong with that (...) but we need some chicks around.
And that's how the Elongated Man's membership was delayed for another 30 issues.
Anyway, it's good to know that talented and hardcore bloggers consider this blog to be fun and relevant enough to participate in their crossovers. And when I say, talented I mean it; I admire the hell out of people who can produce and host radio or podcast shows. These guys can casually talk about some of my favorite topics for over an our and a half and make it really entertaining. Maybe that's a cultural thing, Anglo-Americans and English people tend to be really comfortable in front of broadcasting media. Latin Americans are shy even in front of recording machines. If I made a podcast, I'd sound like a Donald Duck with a Spanish accent.
Btw, another awesome thing about the Fire and Water Podcast is their soundtrack, a Remix of the classic Super Friends theme. Few remixes feel like a true homage to the original material (like the Knightrider one). I was almost a bit sad when it faded so that the show starts; however a very quick googling lead me to the author, Michael Kohler. The title of the remix is That Time Is Now, and you can watch the video here:
I'd actually be surprised if someone reading this blog never came across any of Diabolu's. He's one of the ultimate sources on Martian Manhunter trivia and his JL Detroit blog includes all you need to know about the motor city JLAers. He's currently dedicating himself to what, in centuries to come, will be universally known as "The Vixen Year" (dammit, it's never been Ralph's year since he stole it from the Flash in 1960!), so, you might want to give it a try and be part of such an historical event.
