Warrior Woman Wednesdays #19 by Kate Krimson

Spider-Girl #1 (“Family Values”)-Marvel-$3.99

3.5 out 5 stars

Summary:

In New York City, Anya Corazon/Spider-Girl is chasing the thief known as Screwball, who likes to record her burglaries and post them online. Spider-Girl makes Twitter updates about her whereabouts. Spider-Girl punches Screwball out and gives her over to the cops.

Anya goes to school and texts Gil, her dad, during her time in the halls of learning. When she gets home, her dad is still arranging things in their new home. Susan Richards/Invisible Woman comes over to keep Anya company, while Gil goes out to find some information for an article he is writing. Anya tries to get some advice from Susan on how to make friends, while taking a stroll in the city. During their walk, they knock out two purse snatchers. Susan gets a call that the Fantastic Four are needed and the Thing picks her up.

Anya stops two men who are trying to carjack a woman out of her automobile. She also stops another car thief, a jewel thief, a cell phone thief, and a cat thief. She tries calling her dad a couple of times, but he doesn’t answer. Turns out the Red Hulk was the cause of the Fantastic Four and Gil’s problem. The Red Hulk knocked over a piece of the building, which landed on Gil. While Anya tries to save her father, the Fantastic Four try to control the Red Hulk.


Writer (Paul Tobin): The cover of this comic declares “Warning! The only things standing between you and the most synapse-shattering super hero debut of the decade are your hands and this cover!” It didn’t deliver. The storyline is interesting, but definitely not “synapse-shattering” especially since it left the most action packed conflict to a mere glimpse at the end.

Illustrator (Clayton Henry): Henry does a wonderful job of capturing Spider-Girl in flight and in combat. He also depicts the fury within the Red Hulk quite well.

Spider-Girl #1 - comiXology

Warrior Woman Wednesdays #18 by Kate Krimson

Nancy in Hell #4-Image Comics-$2.99

5 out of 5 stars

At the beginning of the final installment of this mini comic series, Charon denies Lucifer’s request to take him and Nancy across the river Acheron to the gates of Hell. (Clarifier: Lucifer and Nancy are the protagonists of this tale). Lucifer convinces Charon to take them across the river by telling him that he can free himself from his “eternal burden” and that “what is written can be rewritten.” Mr. Macabre, the villain, walks on top of the rivers treacherous waters, like an evil, creepy Jesus, in order to follow them. The river begins attacking the boat. Nancy falls into the waters, where the souls try to capture her, but Lucifer rescues her.

They arrive at the Gates of Hell. Charon decides to keep doing his job as the Ferryman because it is “his destiny” and “his choice.” As they try to open the Gates, the lost souls of Hell attack them. Nancy as usual uses a chainsaw to defend herself. Lucifer tries to talk the souls out of attacking them and when that doesn’t work, he turns them into dust with a single blast of his power. The ground beneath them begins to shake and break. A monster rises from the ground. The monster is “everything that men believe” of Lucifer. Lucifer tells Nancy to go open the Gates. Mr. Macabre shows up and helps Nancy start to open the Gates. He tries to convince Nancy to leave Lucifer behind, but she calls him over and they both walk out of the Gates of Hell to other side, which destroys the monster.

After Nancy and Lucifer go to the other side, it becomes apparent that Mr. Macabre is the one who murdered Nancy. He killed Nancy because she was the only soul who could change Hell. Lucifer and Nancy arrive on Earth, near San Diego. They encounter one tiny problem: they forgot to close the Gates behind them. Now Hell is on Earth.

Writer (El Torres): El Torres has written probably one of, if not, the best comic book series of this year. His series creates a Hell that is a living thing that feeds off of Lucifer’s sorrow and off of the human imagination. It forces the readers to think (Oh No!) about their beliefs. Is Hell a real place or just a human concept? If it’s just a creation of the human mind, then what kind of monster is humanity?

Art (Juan Jose Ryp, Malaka Studio, and Antonio Vasquez): Throughout the series, these artists have managed to capture one of the most graphic depictions of Hell. The often horrific images remind us why there is the phrase “It will scare the Hell out of you.” That is exactly what their artistry does.

P.S. If you missed this series, you can pick up the graphic novel on January 19th.

Nancy In Hell TP - comiXology

Can All Feminists Get Along? By Kate Krimson

I think that often in America we forget that a feminist is a person who believes that women and men should have equal rights. Many liberals and conservatives are feminists. Many men and women are feminists. Yet the media tries to make it look like that to be a feminist you must be a liberal woman. Why does the media create such a big divide between what they consider true feminists and what an actual feminist is? There is only one reason for the big divide and that’s the abortion issue. It is the main issue on which feminists disagree. As if one issue could possibly define a whole group of people who are fed up with inequality. While there is one issue that feminists disagree on, there are so many on which they agree: the end to child prostitution both in the U.S. and abroad, the end to the sexual assault that continues to go unpunished in the U.S. military, and more.

Many feminists can agree that when women run for office the media makes them bigger targets for harsh and often sexist criticism than their male counterparts.



In the last few minutes of this clip, Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin show how they agree on this issue, even though they belong to different parties. Also, Palin shows admiration and gratitude for what Ferraro has done in her political career which has paved the road for the women that have followed her into the political sphere.

Both liberal and conservative media agree that the so-called “honor killings” that have been taking place in the Middle East and elsewhere are backward and monstrous. Both Ms. Magazine’s Blog and the National Review discussed the attempted “honor killing” of Harry Potter movie star, Afshan Azad, by her father and brother for her dating a Hindu man. Anushay Hossain in her Ms. Blog called the event is part “an unfortunate but very real and rising trend amongst the British-Muslim community.” (http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/07/03/harry-potter-star-may-have-been-in-attempted-honor-killing/)Phyllis Chesler in her National Review article called “honor killings” a problem that is “vast and growing.” (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/232735/honor-killings-rise-phyllis-chesler).

When it comes to feminism, politics, and life in general I think it is time that we stop dividing ourselves and start unifying ourselves. An issue has more power when more people are behind it, but with dividing lines between us we will never be strong enough to overturn vicious ways of past and present for the future.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #17 by Kate Krimson

Women of Marvel #1-Marvel-$3.99

2 out of 5 stars


Summary:


Story #1: “Medusa in Thrones” (Written by G. Willow Wilson and Illustrated by Peter Nguyen)


Crystal and Karnak are playing a chess-like game called Bak Taga. Crystal does not like playing it. When Karnak starts to make fun of her for disliking the game, Maximus comes into say that he doesn’t like it either. Medusa tells everyone to be quiet before Dr. Nial hears them because they are supposed to be studying. Maximus challenges everyone to run into the throne room and to sit on the first throne without being caught by an adult. Medusa goes into throne room. Two adults, Crystal’s mom and dad, are in there. Medusa lets them know that the kids are playing a game. When the others get there, Crystal’s parents start yelling at them. During the commotion, Medusa sits on the throne and wins the game.


Story #2: “Black Magic Women” (Written by Marc Bernardin and Illustrated by Romina Moranelli)


Black Cat and Satana are trying to steal the same treasure, a cameo that belonged to the last witch burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials. (Historically inaccurate by the way. 19 people were hanged during the Salem Trials and one man was pressed to death. No one was burned at the stake). They start fighting and Black Cat escapes on a modern, rocket-powered witch’s broom. Black Cat brings the cameo to Joaquin, the man who paid her to steal it. Joaquin wanted it because he’s a demon and it would make him stronger to wear that cameo. After hearing that, Black Cat decides not to give him the cameo. Satana shows up and together they kick Joaquin butt. Satana sends him back to hell. Black Cat and Satana decide to be friends.


Story #3: “Love and Illusion” (Written by John Layman and Illustrated by Davide Gianfelice)


Larry works at a hotel because Amora is a regular. She uses men for their money and throws them out when their broke. When she speaks to Larry, she calls him “Worm.” Jason Wyngarde shows up at the hotel and asks to rent the most expensive room. Amora is not happy about this man’s arrival. Apparently he can bewitch people just like Amora can and make duplicates of people. Larry punches out the fake Amora that Wyngarde conjured up. Amora makes Wyngarde “disappear.” After this, Amora stops going to that hotel and Larry finds out that Amora is an Asgardian sorceress. Larry is somewhat angry that is love for her was nothing but a spell, but he also likes the fact that “for the briefest moment in time a goddess knew his name.”


Review: Unlike the Girl Comics series that Marvel put out earlier this year, Women of Marvel appears to want to give a negative view of women. Medusa is smart, but uses her intelligence to beat the others in a game and get the others in trouble for playing the same game. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t betrayed Crystal, who’s the innocent child in all of this.


Satana and Black Cat wear outfits that were designed to pull a Janet Jackson/”wardrobe malfunction,” while they fight each other and the demon-man Joaquin.


Amora doesn’t need any explaining when it comes to how she’s a negative female image. She uses men for their money. She reels people in by putting spells on them. She’s like the Paris Hilton of Asgard.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #16 by Kate Krimson

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home-Batgirl –DC Comics - $2.99



Summary: Stephanie Brown aka Batgirl is defending Waynetech Research and Development from an intruder who shoots a “frickin’ laser beam” from his head (How often can you plug a Dr. Evil line). Barbara Gordon aka the Oracle, who gives Batgirl advice while she fights, thinks the bad guy may be Amazo, but for the meantime they decide to just call him, Casper, since he can make himself invisible like a ghost. Casper manages to get away.


Oracle thinks about calling in the Birds of Prey to take care of this and tells Batgirl to stay out of it for the time being. Of course, Batgirl is not the type that listens to any sort of advice. She does some investigating of her own while Proxy/Wendy Harris gives her the down low. While searching for clues, she gets surrounded by a gang of guys. She kicks their butts and then flees the scene. Via some more investigating, Batgirl finds out that Casper is Bruce Wayne, who is testing Batgirl’s skills. A Ms. Vicki Vale tells Oracle that knows who Batman is. After a heated discussion on the superhero gang, Vale walks away and Oracle takes out what looks like an iPhone and it says on the screen “Data clone complete.” Stephanie tells Bruce that she’s not giving up being Batgirl just because he’s back in the picture.


Bruce tells Alfred that both Stephanie and Wendy need looking after because they are both daughters of criminals. Alfred says Bruce didn’t need to test Stephanie to know that the Bat way of life is within her. Bruce says it was more like giving her the second chance that she deserved.


What I liked: Stephanie gets an A+ in Superhero 101 from Batman.


What I Hated: Not finding out who Ms. Vale is.


The Current Song in My Head – Well it’s more like three and there all from One-Eyed Doll’s album Break


“Murder Ballad”






“New Orleans”





“Redneck Love Song”

Rock N' Rol Hall of Fame 2011 Nominations by Kate Krimson

I hate the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. My two big reasons are they are constantly inducting non-rock-n’-roll icons and that they seem to keep passing over great women in rock.



Here are this year’s nominees:


Alice Cooper
Beastie Boys
Bon Jovi
Chic
Neil Diamond
Donovan
Dr. John
J. Geils Band
LL Cool J
Darlene Love
Laura Nyro
Donna Summer
Joe Tex
Tom Waits
Chuck Willis


4 out of 15 of these nominees are either solo female artists or bands that have female members and not a single one of them is a woman of rock. Even with numbers like these, I still find it shocking every year that Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Heart, and The Runaways are not on the nominees list. Why are they not on the list? The Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame probably doesn’t want to induct any real rockin’ women. They tend to induct women pop stars/divas, like Madonna, the girls from Abba, and Aretha Franklin. Mariah Carey will be in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame way before Wendy O ever is. A powerful and aggressive female scares the supposed rock experts, who claim to be defenders of rock n’ roll and who vote for the nominees. Even the people who represent the form of music that says “Screw you. I am going to be true to myself whether you like it or not,” are trying to keep women in that little box known as the feminine mystique.

Another problem is that Hall of Fame rarely inducts actual rock n’ roll artists. 3 out of the 15 above nominees classify as some sort of rock. If the Hall of Fame wants to keep Rock N’ Roll in their name, they may want to stick to inducting rock n’ roll artists. There are plenty of worthy nominees. There are the rockin’ women I listed above. Kiss has been nominated, but not inducted. In four years Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana will be eligible.

 Here are the Hall of Fame’s qualifications for nomination: an artist’s first record must be 25 years old and the artist must have made a significant impact in rock n’ roll. What do you think? Do you think they are skipping over some artists on purpose or not? Why do you think they are driving away from the genre they claim to represent? Just like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of Tootsie Pop, the world may never know.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #15 by Kate Krimson

Valkyrie #1 (“Tragic Opera”)-Marvel Comics-$3.99

Summary:


Under the name Valerie, Brunnhilde was working at a hotel in NYC. A male customer pushed her out of his hotel room window for not prostituting herself. She died, but an inner bolt of lightning sprung her back to life. The paramedics want her to stay with them to make sure that she was completely recovered. After she seems to regain some of her sense of self, she remembers that she has some unfinished business and busts out of the ambulance’s back doors. She goes back to hotel to find her attempted rapist/murderer (Ryan Sanduski), but also who she’s been for the past three years. The years of working at the hotel all seem to be a strange tale to her that she barely remembers. She doesn’t ever remember being Valerie, but she remembers being Brunnhilde. Unfortunately Sanduski checked out, but Brunnhilde decides to keep up her search for at least her real self.


She goes to Cresskill, NJ to visit her friend Janet van Dyne a.k.a. The Wasp. Brunnhilde seems now to be aware of the fact that her memory loss is due to being in the Slumber of Ragnarok and Thor, god of thunder, is the one who woke her up when she “died”. She doesn’t feel like she can go back to the Asgardians because Odin banished her. Janet tells her that was a long time ago and that she’s sure that they would be glad to see Brunnhilde. Janet tells Brunnhilde that she must follow her heart to make the right decision.


While putting back the puzzle pieces of herself, Brunnhilde starts putting other puzzles together. She realizes that Ryan Sanduski must be her old enemy Brian Calusky a.k.a. Piledriver and that her old friend Ziggy might be Siegfried, one of the paramedics who rushed to her rescue. After making this realization, she goes to Siegfried’s apartment where she finds Piledriver attacking Siegfried and his family. Piledriver almost kills her again, but Brunnhilde decides that dying once is enough and starts fighting back like she means it. During the fight, Piledriver calls Brunnhilde a man-hater and she teaches him a lesson:


“Those who fear me—Fear my strength, my independence…They are the ones who judge me in order to shield their own weakness…I am not cold and aloof; nor am I a hater of men…I am a woman of deep loyalty…Far beyond that which most mortals of this realm could ever hope to understand.”


Then she defeats him with one tough punch. Afterwards Siegfried begins to have a heart attack, Brunnhilde takes him and they ride off on a police officer’s horse to go to Asgard, so he can be healed. In her face is the pure look of absolute determination that she will never lose another battle, because she has “defended and avenged, fought the incredible and the mighty… and carried the worthy to their great reward” and she is “Valkyrior (female warrior), Brunnhilde, Shield Maiden of Asgard.” All of this is what truly defines Valkyrie.


Writer (Bryan J.L. Glass): Thank you, Bryan Glass, for writing the most feminist comic that I have come across thus far. Glass deals with women’s issues (rape and being deemed a man-hater just because one is a tough woman) and shows how a woman can overcome these obstacles by believing in who she really is.


Illustrator (Phil Winslade): Winslade also makes the comic a feminist one with his more than clear depictions of Brunnhilde as her true warrior self, who as Twisted Sister once said isn’t “gonna take it anymore.”

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #14 by Kate Krimson

Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called #1 (“First Blood”)-Dynamite Entertainment-$3.99

Mercy Thompson is just the typical average woman. She fixes cars. She can turn into a coyote. You know the usual. She comes upon Mac, a fellow mechanic, who is being ordered by two men to get into a van that looks like the Mystery Machine. If he doesn’t get in the van, they’ll shoot him. Mac is a werewolf and these men want to “cure” him. One of the men apparently is a werewolf and the cure doesn’t work too well because he becomes a werewolf and attacks his friend. Mercy, just like her name, comes in just the nick of time as her coyote-self to protect Mac from the vicious brute. She bit him in the neck and ran. The werewolf ran after her, but died because he didn’t take the time to heal his wound. Mercy feels bad about killing someone, but returns to the garage to see if Mac is ok. He is and her mind wanders to when she met Mac a few days ago.


That past Friday Mac came into the garage looking like a fright and looking for work. Mercy could sense that he was a werewolf, but felt bad for him, so she gave him a job and some food. When she got home that night, she found her cat, Medea, in a crate with a note from Adam Hauptman, a leader of a werewolf pack. His note said that if Medea was ever on his property again that he would eat her.


On Monday Mac comes back to continue working at the garage. They have a quiet day of working and then go home. Mercy goes back to the garage to pick up her purse. When she gets there, that’s when she sees Mac with the two “cure” men. After the werewolf dying and making sure Mac is safe, Mercy decides that Mac should get werewolf tutoring by Adam, so she calls Adam and tells him that she just killed a werewolf in order to make sure that he will definitely come.


Writers (Patricia Briggs and David Lawrence): These writers sure know how to draw you into the world of Mercy Thompson, the werecoyote mechanic, and her werewolf surroundings. Picking up the next issue definitely seems like must.


Illustrator (Amelia Woo): Woo’s illustrations bring to life the battle between Mercy and the werewolves with the gnashing of teeth and gushing blood. Woo also reminds us of Mercy’s humanity with her soft kind eyes and with her tough, but loving grip.


Cover Art (Brett Booth): Booth’s cover depicts both the handsomeness and darkness of the werewolf community. I’m not sure who all the characters are, but the friendly redhead in the background must be me.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #13 by Kate Krimson

X-23 #1 (The Killing Dream: Part 1) – Marvel Comics-$3.99

4 out of 5 stars


X-23/Laura, the female clone of Wolverine, is dreaming that she’s running away from death and destruction, when she runs into Wolverine. He tells her that he will give her freedom if she will be his queen and help him rule Hell. She wakes up screaming “no.” She is on Utopia Island, the X-Men headquarters. Although other X-Men youngsters are hanging out and eating pizza, X-23 decides to talk with Storm, who is remembering her lost love, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner). Storm tries to make Laura feel better about not fitting in and asks Laura to play chess with her. X-23 decides to leave when she senses that Wolverine is nearby. Wolverine and Storm discuss Laura’s ability to change. Wolverine doesn’t think she can. She was raised to be a killer and that’s what she’ll always be. Storm thinks that Laura at least deserves a chance to prove him wrong. Cyclops and Emma Frost argue over Laura too. Frost thinks X-Men ruined Laura’s chances of enjoying life as a youngster. Cyclops doesn’t think Laura would have been able to anyway. Cyclops is the one who enlisted Laura in X-Force, the X-Men black ops group.


The next time we see Laura she is knocked out in the middle of a forest. Perhaps she has gone on an exhausting killing spree, but we will never know.


The next day the young X-Men give Laura crap for not hanging out with them last night. Hellion stands up for Laura. She tells him that she has missed him. The group continues to harass her, but Cyclops comes to the rescue. Cyclops sends Laura to a mutant halfway house, a place to transition from the life of a mutant to the life of an average Joe or Josephina in X-23’s case. But even in this new place, Laura’s dreams of horror continue.


Writer (Marjorie Liu): Liu makes us love X-23 by displaying how the character is one that we can all relate to. Laura does not fit in with regular human beings or mutants. She feels like she is all alone on a dark blood-covered island. She is the outsider that is within us all. It will be interesting to watch how she grows and learns to mingle with others.


Illustrator (Will Conrad): Conrad’s illustrations are fantastic. He illustrates Laura’s life in way that the reader can feel what Laura is feeling. Whether it is the pain and horror in her dreams, the awkwardness of her trying to socialize with others, or her loving of Hellion, all of Laura’s emotions can been seen on the pages thanks to Conrad.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #12 by Kate Krimson

Batgirl #14: Terror in the Third Dimension-DC Comics-$2.99

2.5 out of 5 stars


Stephanie Brown a.k.a. Batgirl is playing Scrabble with her mom and being bored out of her mind, when the doorbell rings. It’s her friend, Kara a.k.a Supergirl, and she wants to hang out. Stephanie goes with Kara to hang out. They go to Stephanie’s school, Gotham University. A man runs into them knocking his important research papers all over the place. He picks them up and keeps running. Stephanie and Kara decide to see a vampire 3-D flick.


The research man who doesn’t look where he’s going when he runs is named Newton. He needed to show his research results because they are taking away his funding and kicking him out of the lab. He decides to show everyone the results of his project.


While the girls are at the movie, the film becomes a little too 3-D, when Dracula comes flying out of the screen. Stephanie and Kara decide to stop him. Somehow he gets trapped in green slimy stuff. Newton shows up. Dracula came out of the film because of him. His project was an invention that took images made by light and turned them into 3-D objects. The only way to stop Dracula is with a control rod through the chest. Since there are 24 frames per second in a film, there are 24 Draculas running around. They take out Draculas at some weird locations, like on top of a ferris wheel and inside an ice cream shop. The 24th was a little hard to catch and kill, but of course they managed. Stephanie and Kara end their night of hanging out with an unseen pillow fight at Stephanie’s house and by promising to help each other whenever they’re in too much trouble. Kara leaves and Stephanie tells her mom that she had the best time hanging out with her friend.


Writer (Bryan Q. Miller): The storyline is kind of interesting. Batgirl’s just an average college student who plays board games with her mom by day, and by night she’s fights crime sometimes with friends, like Supergirl. What a life! But the movie coming to life has been done before. Anyone ever see a little movie called The Ring before. (If you read this comic, you’ll day in seven days-Ha ha ha). Also, why do Batgirl and Supergirl have to be stereotypical girls, who have pillow fights, say things, like “BFFs”, and make pinky swears. There only college age kids for goodness sake. Also, how original is it to name the science guy, Newton? It’s only a little better than calling him Einstein. Also, killing these film Draculas with basically what are stakes through the heart. That has never been done before, right?


Illustrator (Lee Garbett): My personal favorite illustrations in this comic are all the different places Batgirl and Supergirl have to kill Draculas, especially the ice cream shop and the photo booth.


Cover Artist (Stanley “Artgerm” Lau): The girls are back to back surrounded by black and white Draculas (it was an old film they were watching) and they look completely ready for the fight.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #11 by Kate Krimson

Shadowland: Elektra-Marvel-$3.99

3 out of 5 stars


Summary:


Master Izo talks with Elektra out in a snowy landscape surrounded by tall cliffs. Izo appears to be trying to talk Elektra out of climbing those cliffs because of what is beyond them.


The writer hits rewind and plays a scene of Elektra taking out a bunch of guys. It turns out that she got paid to do so by a man in the C.I.A. While meeting with the C.I.A. man to collect her money, several ninjas show up. Elektra knocks out the C.I.A. man, so he won’t get hurt or do anything stupid.


The ninjas work for Daredevil. They say that he will no longer tolerate her presence. They say she has until the sun rises to be off the continent. She kills all the ninjas. These ninjas are members of The Hand, an organization that tricked Elektra into murdering Master Izo.


When she goes outside, she sees Daredevil fighting Bullseye on a big screen. Daredevil stabs him.


The story goes forward to Elektra climbing the cliffs that Izo tried to stop her from climbing.






Writer (Zeb Wells): Even though this comic is a one-shot, it sure doesn’t read like one. It tells the reader that the story continues in Shadowland #3. Well, there are things that I would like to know now. What is beyond those cliffs? Why does Daredevil want Elektra gone? The comic seems to only give a vague answer to this. How exactly did The Hand trick Elektra into killing Izo?


Art (Emma Rios): Rios is definitely good at portraying motion in her work, especially in all the fight scenes. When a punch or a kick is released, you would almost swear that you could hear that crack in bone it makes when it lands on the opponent.


Covert Art (Sana Takeda): Takeda portrays Elektra in her fierce yet flowing red outfit, which emphasizes her sexiness and her ability to swiftly take out an enemy.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #10 by Kate Krimson

Spider-Girl: The End-Marvel-$3.99

4.5 out of 5 stars




Auntie M has been teaching children about the “final age of heroes.” She tells them the next thing they will discuss is the death of Spider-Girl. Spider-Girl’s real name is May Parker and is also known as Mayday. Spider-Girl had one enemy that was hard to conquer, April Parker a.k.a. Mayhem, who is a clone of May. April had the same powers as May, but no real concept of right and wrong. April lived with the Parkers (Peter, Mary Jane, May, and Benjy). April disappears one night causing destruction around town. May’s friends, Davida and Courtney, ask her about the whole situation. Davida says May is better off without April and Courtney just wants to make sure that May is feeling ok. They run into a guy named Wes and invite him to go with them to a café. Wes is apparently in the comic book business. On their way to the café, May’s spider-sense goes off. April is following her. She tells her friends that she forgot a book at school, so she can take care of the April business without endangering her friends’ lives.


April says that she’ll let May live if she admits that she is not the original Spider-Girl. Before the reader knows what to expect, April and May start fighting. April sees herself as good because she’s killed bad guys like Tombstone and Hobgoblin, and May sees April as evil because she doesn’t believe killing is the answer. Their fight causes a fire. May tells April that they need to get out of the building, but April won’t listen. May gets trapped under some wood because she pushed April out of the way of the collapsing roof. May blasts April out of the building with her web and then the building explodes. Auntie M has to stop the story so the kids can go to bed. Torus Storm tells Auntie M, who the reader now finds out is April, that Bio-Preds are closing in on them.


After May died, April tried to replace her, but there was no fooling her family. Then, April began killing as many villains as she could. Some superheroes tried to stop her and she killed American Dream by accident. Bio-Preds were mercenaries that were supplied with the “Carnage symbiote” in order to stop April. The Bio-Preds killed everything in their way. April was the only thing that stopped them from killing everything. She saved the human race. Unfortunately, people have to live in the sewers to be safe from the Bio-Preds.


The Bio-Preds break into sewer home. Torus starts to fight them, while April goes to find her friend, Cassie, whom she has been working with on a plan to stop the Bio-Preds.


This all ends up being a vision that April had the day she was fighting with May in the burning building. because of this vision she saves May and leaves herself in the burning building. May mourns the loss of April with her family. Wes shows up to make sure that May is ok, because he knows that May is Spider-Girl and wants to make sure she didn’t get harmed. Wes tells May that he’ll keep her secret identity secret, since he has one too. His real name is Reynard, which I think means he is the son of Reynard Slinker, the thief and enemy of Spider-Man. May and Reynard kiss.


Writers (Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz): Although the story is a bit hard to follow at sometimes, it is definitely never boring. The unexpected is constantly around the corner. Almost every flip of the page reveals something new and surprising.


Illustrator (Sal Buscema): Buscema’s work is great. His costume for April is beyond amazing and his depiction of the two girls’ reactions to seeing one another die is heartbreaking.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #9 by Kate Krimson

Witchblade: Due Process-Top Cow/Image-$3.99

3 out of 5 stars


Summary: Sara Pezzini, the bearer of the Witchblade and police detective in NYC, is trying to right the wrongful imprisonment of William Hicks, who has been in prison for 10 years. Pezzini presents evidence at Hicks’ preliminary hearing that shows that Hicks is innocent. She says that the police officers who arrested Hicks did so in order to cover up their selling of illegal drugs and their murdering of their fellow officers. The board says they need 30 days to review these facts.


Hicks gets stabbed by his cellmate. Hicks is able to kill his cellmate without living a trace because he has received powers from a monstrous demon.


Three months later Hicks is released. Pezzini tries to help him, but he doesn’t want any help from the police. The demon shows itself to Sara and she tries to kill it with the Witchblade, but that doesn’t work. The demon says since it is only a voice, it can only be killed with words. The demon’s name is Agares.


William goes to see his “brothers,” others who are under the spell of the Agares. They tell him he has to pay for the protection Agares has given him and his family by collecting souls.


A lot of people think Hicks is a skinhead, because he has a shaved head and he has a cross tattoo on his neck that has swastikas around it (this is the mark of the “brothers”). Hicks goes to see his family but they don’t want to see him because of what he has become. A few black men see him and think he is a skinhead and make a remark about turning his daughter into a prostitute when she is older. William starts shooting at them. Sara tries to stop him. Hicks and his wife get killed by the thugs. Their daughter, Rebecca, is now an orphan. Both Agares and Sara give Rebecca an option for being with a new family, but it ends without revealing her choice.


Writer (Phil Smith): The storyline is pretty gripping. The reader hopes that Hicks will defeat both his actual demon and his personal demons, but he dies before being able to overcome either of them. Reminding us that time is too limited to keep on making the same mistakes. Rebecca’s choice also being left open-ended is interesting because she could take the same path as her father, Agares’ road, or the road that he denied when offered, Sara’s road. The reader gets to picture that she made the right choice, but also has to imagine that maybe the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.

One thing that did bother me however was Phil’s spelling errors in the section “The Demon Agares,” where he discusses what helped him create the character.


Illustrator (Alina Urusov): Alina’s drawings are amazing, especially the cover art, her depiction of the horrifying demon Agares, and the way she captures the actual terror Rebecca has when she witnesses both her parents being killed.

Women’s Equality Day by Kate Krimson

August 26th is Women’s Equality Day, which celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.


Here are several ways to celebrate:


1. Make a Mix CD of Pro-Woman Songs


               Here are some of my song selections:


                        “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy


                         “The Pill” by Loretta Lynn


                        “She Works Hard for the Money” by Donna Summer


                        “Respect” by Aretha Franklin


                         “Just a Girl” by No Doubt


                         “Can’t Hold Us Down” by Christina Aguilera and Lil Kim


                         “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore


                        “Too Big for My Skin” by Desdamona


                        “Stupid Girls” by Pink


                        “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton


2. Watch a feminist film


             Some of my favorites include A League of Their Own, 9 to 5, and Thelma and Louise.


3. Read excerpts from the works of inspiring women


            Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou


           Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan


          A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft


4. Volunteer at an organization that helps women

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #8 by Kate Krimson

Morning Glories #1-Image Comics-$3.99

4 out of 5 stars.


Summary:


Man opens piece of paper with “for a better future” written on it. A doctor takes him to check on a woman.


Akiko is caught passing a note in Miss Daramount’s class. Akiko put a highly explosive liquid on the chalkboard, which only needs a little pressure to explode. When Miss Daramount goes to write something on the chalkboard, everything goes kaboom.


Vanessa and Brendon are running in the hall. They kiss and then go their separate ways. Brendon seems to have found a book with something troubling in it. Then a monster man shoves his hand through Brendon’s skull.


Chicago: Sixteen-year-old Casey is about to head off to new prep school.


Manhattan: Ike and his mom are discussing his troublemaking at school and elsewhere. Somehow he has managed to get accepted by another school, after being kicked out of seven.


San Diego: Zoe says goodbye to her multiple rich boyfriends before going away to school.


Toronto: Hunter is teaching his stepbrother how to play a video game. He tells his dad goodbye, but he doesn’t seem to care that he is going.


Des Moines: Jade is writing about how she’ll miss Marcus, a man who is either her boyfriend or a teacher filing a restraining order, while at a distance her dad and her brother talk about her in not the kindest words.


Fukayama Jun is picked up at an airport. He is going to be attending Morning Glory Academy. He falls asleep in the academy driver’s car. Then, we see Jade, Hunter, Ike, Zoe, and Casey all in their separate rides with the driver and they all miraculously fall asleep.


When Casey arrives at the school , she is greeted by Miss Daramount. Behind her, academy staff are removing a dead body and the monster man also lurks behind her.


Zoe, Ike, Hunter, and Casey are all in a classroom together. Ike hits on Casey. Zoe snubs Hunter. The teacher has a projector set up. Two images that stick out on the projection are one of a man slitting a goat’s throat in front of a child and another that says “for a better future.”


Ike, Hunter, and Jun are roommates. Casey, Zoe, and Jade meet their overly ethusantic R.A, Pamela. Jade realizes that her notebook is missing and calls her dad to ask him to mail it to her. Jade finds out on the phone call that her dad has forgotten who she is. Hunter and Casey literally run into each other in the hallway. Hunter begins having a crush on Casey, even though she’s not looking for a relationship.


It also turns out that everyone has the same birthday, May 4th, which in the comic is the current day. The only person who doesn’t know her real birthday is Zoe, because she was adopted.


Casey talks to Pamela about the weird birthday thing and about Jade’s dad not remembering her. It turns out it is all standard procedure at Morning Glory. If students’ parents don’t act like they don’t know you, they will make them. Casey’s parents weren’t up to this task, so they killed them. Casey finds this out when Pamela leads her to a dungeon with their dead obviously tortured bodies.


Writer (Nick Spencer): Even though the comic is at first hard to follow, because of the multiple storylines in the comic, Spencer is still able to draw the reader into the story because people want to know what is really going on at this mysterious school. Although some stuff is not explained, the readers can make some of their own conclusions on the left-out info from the info that is provided.


Illustrator (Joe Eisma): Eisma’s drawings definitely bring the characters and the sick twisted nature of the school to life with each little pencil line that he created.


Cover Art (Rodin Esquejo): The cover is good, but the kids look like their 13 or 14 not 16 or 17.

Kate Krimson’s Recommendations

* Comic Book: Scarlet by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev features a kick ass redhead, who is trying to change the world by teaching all bad guys, including bicycle’s thieves, that no bad deed goes unpunished.


*Magazine: The Summer 2010 issue of Ms. Magazine, which discusses the horrors of the sex-show industry in Thailand (“Ping Pong Hell” by Deena Guzder) and the child prostitution that is happening in the U.S. (“Jailing Girls for Men’s Crimes” by Carrie Baker). Both of these articles are eye-opening and make the reader want to take action to end these atrocities.


*TV Show: On Rizzoli and Isles, Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) is the cop and Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander) is the medical examiner. These two women combine their skills to stop crime in Boston. Catch it on TNT at 9pm Central on Mondays.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #7 by Kate Krimson

Sorry about the delay. This week has been crazy busy for me, but I have a comic book review for this week.

Spitfire #1 (“Living in the Ruins”)-Marvel-$3.99

3 out of 5 stars


Summary of Background Story:


Spitfire’s real name is Lady Jacqueline Falsworth. Her dad is the British superhero Union Jack. During World War II, she was bitten by a vampire and given a blood transfusion from the Human Torch. The vampire venom plus the blood of the Human Torch apparently equals speed. After the war, Spitfire and her brother (Union Jack II) fought evil doers together. Later in life, she got hurt fighting Namor. Human Torch gave her another blood transfusion. Blade, a vampire hunter, tried to kill her when she started displaying some vampiric traits: fangs and regenerative powers. She forgave him for trying to kill her and they began a romantic relationship. They joined the MI:13, a British Secret Service agency and later defeated Dracula and his Vampire Nation.


Summary of Comic Story:


In Kent, Pete Wisdom, Spitfire’s boss, introduces Spitfire to Ms. Amelia Bertram-Hayes. They are at a vampire shindig that is comprised of vampires that left Dracula’s little club. Blade is there.


In New York City six years later, Blade and Spitfire are looking for Hayes. Spitfire senses her presence in the city first and leaves Blade to find her. Spitfire crashes through a vampire bar wall with Blade following behind her. Inside they find out Hayes has been there before and that she used to spy for the Nazis. They go to Hayes’ place. Hayes traps Blade with a cross-shaped “Spellcaster.” Spitfire and Hayes fight. Of course, Spitfire wins. Blade and Spitfire give each other a victory kiss. Spitfire suggests going out for a “real beer.”


Writer (Paul Cornell): The story although interesting is a little too short and lacking in details. Considering Hayes’ Nazi past, readers are aware that is Hayes is far from being good, but we are not entirely sure why Blade and Spitfire are hunting her down. Pete Wisdom does not come into the picture in New York City. Did Spitfire drop him as her boss or is he not necessary for this mission? He could have have died in the past six years and we just don’t know.


Illustrator (Elena Casagrande): The illustrations are good, especially one of Spitfire zooming freely through New York City.


Cover Artist (Jenny Frison): Frison makes Spitfire look as though someone has managed to take a photograph of her running with the wispiness of her hair, and her arms and legs in the running position.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #6 by Kate Krimson

Artifacts #1-Image Comics-$3.99

4 out of 5 Stars


Summary:


Detective Sara Pezzini, the current bearer of the Witchblade, and her partner, Gleason, catch a monster killing a priest. Many priests have been killed lately. Pezzini thinks this monster may be the killer. The monster says he is looking for the one, but this priest is not the one. Gleason takes the priest away to safety. The monster is looking for someone who escaped Hell. Pezzini kills the monster with her blade, when he attacks her.


Julie Pezzini, Sara’s sister, calls to tell Sara that she and Sara’s daughter, Hope, will be staying at the park a little longer than she originally planned. Sara says that’s okay since she’s tied up with a case. Unfortunately, it appears that a strange woman is watching Julie and Hope.


Meanwhile, a new monster finds the damned escapee, Tom Judge, who is a former priest, but Tom kills the monster with power given to him by his cross necklace. Tom apparently woke up on train in the city. He’s not sure how he got out of Hell, but he had an address on his mind during the ride. The address was that of a man simply known as The Curator. The Curator tells Tom some very important information, like Tom’s double-stacked cross necklace, The Rapture, has something to do with his miraculous escape from Hell and that The Rapture is one of 13 artifacts that when all put together means doom for Earth. Each of these artifacts is assigned to a person and luckily #13 remains hidden and unknown. Unfortunately, The Curator thinks that Tom made it out of Hell because someone is trying to collect all the artifacts.


Back at the park, the strange woman poses as a balloon saleswoman. When Julie tries to purchase one for Hope, the woman shoots Julie in the head. Her name is Aphrodite IV. She is an android programmed to kill. Aphrodite kills a green monster with a strange light beam that comes from her chest. The monster was trying to save Hope because he works for Hope’s father. After her two kills, Aphrodite walks away with Hope into the night.


Writer (Ron Marz): Marz sucks the reader in automatically, when the monster says he looking for someone who escaped from Hell. A trick that I’m sure most people wish they had. The 13 artifacts for a 13 issue miniseries probably means each will issue will give a detailed tale on the artifact and its owner. #1 gave us two artifact holders: Sara Pezzini (The Witchblade) and Tom Judge (The Rapture). One is sure to want to read the upcoming issues to find out about all the artifacts, especially the mysterious #13.


Illustrator (Michael Broussard): His monsters are scary. His depiction of Aphrodite IV as a goth clown android interesting and yet still fits the character. He gives the reader a glance of the artifacts and their owners that definitely makes the reader want to pick up issue 2.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #5 by Kate Krimson

Lady Deadpool (“The Revolution will not be Televised”)-Marvel-$3.99


2 out of 5 stars


Summary:


Lady Deadpool/Wanda Wilson makes herself one hell of a greasy sandwich that looks so artery-clogging that even McDonalds wouldn’t serve it, while watching a cooking show that sounds like a parody of Paula Deen. When the cable goes out, Lady Deadpool decides to finally leave the house.


Meanwhile, Shosanna Einhorn, a journalist and heiress, talks with Arnold Prior, a retired admiral and U.S. Senator. Their conversation is a bit hard to follow, but it doesn’t matter because they are interrupted by Tristan Sheen, the founder of Bajillion Squillion Corporation, the current Cybersecurity Czar and the former CEO of Number Corp. He’s really rude to Shosanna and then Captain America shows up out of nowhere to help Tristan with a little project.


When Lady Deadpool enters the streets, it would appear that anarchy has taken over. Lady Deadpool decides not to focus on the chaos, but on Charles Randolph, actor/revolutionary leader, instead. She thinks that he’s so attractive. Randolph is leading a revolution for change. While Randolph gives his speech and kisses babies, Shamus Onus talks to Lady Deadpool. He says that he’s been looking for her for 11 days and wants to hire her as a mercenary. She decides to blow him off. Then, she focuses back on Randolph. He invites Lady Deadpool to a demonstration. She shows up. After that, she basically becomes a Randolph Roadie as his career in political speaking grows. . At one event, a man, who claims his wife left him for Randolph, throws a shoe at him. Lady Deadpool blocks it and the shoe knocks out a few of her teeth. Then, she shoots the guy.


Tristan has both Captain America and Sloane, Randolph’s girlfriend, working with him to take down Randolph. Lady Deadpool breaks into Randolph’s home to kill Sloane, because she wants to be the only woman in Randolph’s life. Captain America shows up and takes Randolph to a terrorist detainee center. Sloane tasers Lady Deadpool. Tristan visits Randolph in his cell. It turns out that Randolph is Tristan’s nephew, who is only good looking thanks to Tristan getting him plastic surgery.


Lady Deadpool gets info from Onus on Randolph’s whereabouts. She saves Randolph and slaughters at least four guards. Captain America shows up and fights her. She stabs him and he falls down. Tristan shows up, but Randolph chops off a piece of his head with nunchucks. Randolph is injured by a bullet leaping from Tristan’s gun. As Randolph starts to die, Lady Deadpool leans in for one last kiss for her dead decaying mouth.


Writer (Mary H.K. Choi): The story seemed a little lacking in details. Why was Tristan out to get Randolph? Why was Captain America willing to help this seemingly-evil guy? What exactly did Shosanna and Arnold have to do with the story? Half the time you won’t even know what’s going on. I’m sure my summary is hard to follow, but so was the comic. Also, I didn’t like how Lady Deadpool is more about falling love with cute guys than kicking ass.


Illustrator (Ken Lashley): The drawing, unlike the writing, was pretty good, especially the close-ups. The first close-up is on her killer sandwich, which oozes of death with greasy cheesiness seeping out the side and with Lady Deadpool’s big knife leaning in to cut it in half. The last close-up, which is fairly mortifying, is of Lady Deadpool getting ready for her big kiss. You don’t realize how wrinkly and warty her mouth is until you reach that close-up and you’ll probably wish you hadn’t.


Cover (Greg Land): Land’s cover for Lady Deadpool seems to capture her perfectly. It captures her soft side by showing her holding a teddy bear, her tough side by showing an arm and a pizza box with knives in them, and her couch potato side with her on the couch watching TV and eating pizza.

Concert Review: Women of Rock Night at Midnight Rodeo by Kate Krimson

Two female fronted bands, Immora and One-Eyed Doll, rocked Midnight Rodeo last night in Abilene, TX.


Immora (San Angelo, TX), formerly known as Siren, was the first band to hit the stage. The audience wanted hard rock and Immora gladly delivered it. All the musicians rocked the house, but the most enjoyable sound traveling on waves through space during Immora’s set was the drum playing of Nic Mendoza. The only part of Immora’s performance that could use some improvement is the vocals of the lead singer, Krista Sandoval, were either covered up by the roar of the guitars and drums or by microphone feedback. When Krista could be heard perfectly, one could tell that she does have a beautiful voice. Erik Ponce, guitar, and Krista did entertain the crowd with a humorous, possibly scripted, spat about the difference between a “couple” and a “few.” Krista said they were going to play a few more songs. Erik said they were going to play only two more songs and that’s a couple not a few. Among the list of songs that Immora played were “Orange Flurry” and “Sincerely, Bryan,” which can be heard on their myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/immoramusic).

Krista Sandoval of Immora

 One-Eyed Doll featured kickass rock n’ roll with a side of adorable thanks to the sweet and loveable Kimberly Freeman, lead singer and guitarist. Freeman, embodies the conflict that most people  have between their sweet side and their dark side. Freeman proves that you can wear black clothes and makeup, rock hard, and still be kind. Kindness is definitely in her blood. She not only signs posters, shirts, and CDs, she gives all autographs a personal touch: a lipstick kiss, a bite mark, and a little drawing. Now that’s how you know you have an authentic Kimberly Freeman autograph. Many of the songs they performed were fantastic, but the ones that stuck out most to me were “Hoochie Mama” and “Cinderblock.” “Hoochie Mama” from the album Hole is a great song that tells jerky guys to fuck off (“If I wanted a caveman, I would search the rock pile. I'm a girl of distinction and you're just not my style.”). “Cinderblock,” which is on their latest album Break, is about a child who gets revenge by dropping a cinderblock on the head of his/her physically abusive alcoholic father.

Kimberly Freeman of One-Eyed Doll

All-in-all the Women of Rock night at Midnight Rodeo was a night filled with great rock and delicious margaritas (Don’t judge. I only had a few).

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #4 by Kate Krimson

Lady Robotika #1-Image Comics-$3.50


3 out of 5 stars


Creators: Jane Wiedlin (guitarist for The Go-Gos) and Bill Morrison.


Summary (Spoiler Alert): E’Death, a clear depiction of a villainess, asks a man named Jasper the location of Lady Robotika’s club house. He refuses to give her the information, so E’Death is going to give him an updated version of waterboarding. Lady Robitka/Jane Wiedlin breaks into E’Death’s place. The Iron Maidens, E’Death’s metal-clad female minions, come after her. She uses her Miracle Whip to fight them off. Then, Jane breaks off into what lead her into the Lady Robotika life.


Lady Robotika’s journey started with a series of weird “dreams.” In her first major dream, she is strapped down on an examining table surrounded by aliens. One alien updated her cell phone with new apps: the ability to create wormholes, the ability to manipulate time and space, and the ability to post twitter updates to Alpha Centauri. Then, she was examined by a Probuloid, a robot with a needle arm.


She “wakes up” backstage at her next show. Her manager, Austin, signed an endorsement deal with a musician supply company. They want her to use a new amp. Jane freaks out on stage because the new amp looks a lot like the Probuloid. Her playing is a little off, because of her fear of the new amp. She’s sees a man in the audience whose appearance makes her feel safer. The mystery man meets her after the show. His name is Jasper.


They decide to go out for a drink, but as soon as they get into Jane’s car a tractor beam from a spaceship starts to pull them up. They wake up on the spaceship and Jasper makes the genius idea that they must be on a weird Syfy channel reality show. The aliens are from Herron IV and their spaceship is called the Millennium Falcon. One alien has Spider Man hands and even captures Jane with one of his hand shot webs. The references to Star Wars and Spider Man are totally on purpose, because the aliens of Herron IV turn out to be total Earthling pop culture junkies. Their emperor, Yecchh, is a big fan of Jane’s music and they kidnapped her, because they want her to play a concert for him. They were going to put Jasper through more experiments and then enslave him, but Jane told them that he was Ace Frehley of Kiss. Jane agrees to do the show, since she doesn’t want to die. Jasper and Jane rest on the spaceship. When Jane wakes up, she has a new robotic arm.


Writers (Jane Wiedlin and Bill Morrison): The storyline is good except for the fact that they end the comic without explaining who E’Death is and why she is out to get Lady Robotika. That’s how they get you to buy more issues. I’m also not a fan of her weapon being named after a mayo, but now that I know the Herronians gave her the robotic arm and that they love pop culture, I’m going to guess that they named it.


Illustrators (Bill Morrison and Tone Rodriguez): The Iron Maidens look like sleek Cybermen, but the aliens look like the green lizard humanoids that have been seen a dozen times before.

Women of Rock Concert at Midnight Rodeo 3 by Athena Allred

This Friday, June 16, at Midnight Rodeo 3 here in Abilene, TX is hosting a concert of three female-fronted rock bands for what promises to be a loud, energetic night.

All three bands are made up of a female lead vocalist and other male members. Immora, formerly known as “Siren” will be performing their set beginning at 8pm. One Eyed Doll will be playing their set at 10pm. Ardor does not have a set time listed, but my guess is that they will play around 9pm, between Immora and One Eyed Doll.

Doors open at 7:30, and tickets are only $5, which is a major bargain to see three bands featuring strong frontwomen. Hope to see you there!

Midnight Rodeo 3
1082 South 2nd St
Abilene, TX 79602
325-677-6336

Smart Girls at the Party by Athena Allred

http://www.smartgirlsattheparty.com/


Smart Girls at the Party is a podcast hosted by Amy Poehler, with musical assistance from Amy Miles and production assistance from Meredith Walker. However, despite the star power backing the show, the real stars are the girls who are highlighted each webisode. The point of this podcast and website is for girls to see other girls being creative and smart, refusing to downplay their talents, and each webisode focuses on a different girl or group of girls who are talented and dedicated and not afraid to be seen as smart. I agree with another blogger, Ami Angelowicz when she states at The Frisky (http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-i-wish-smart-girls-at-the-party-was-around-when-i-was-a-kid/ ) that she wishes SGATP was around when she was a kid. From the show’s theme song, repeating, “Smart girls have more fun,” to the dance party at the end of each webisode, SGATP keeps me interested and makes me proud to be a girl.


The show, now in its second season, is helping to breakdown myths about gender, including the idea perpetuated in much of modern television, teen novels, and movies that the main goal of girls and women is to attract a man. However, men are not absent from the series. Men can be seen in some shots of the co-hosts and in the dance party at the end. Men no doubt work on the show, and the presence of men sends a message that smart girls should be celebrated by everyone, not exclusively other girls and women. Boys and boyfriends are not discussed, being irrelevant to the show’s purpose. The team instead chooses to focus on the individual accomplishments of each girl. This is also a departure from many tween and teen entertainment aimed at girls, which stresses the importance of relational savvy over personal achievement. Even though the Season One episode, Lea and Sarafina, the sisters, has a relational focus, it’s a sister-friend relationship, and not a boyfriend or rivalry between girls, relationships which are all-too-often featured in tween and teen entertainment. The first webisode in season two, Rachel: The Engineer features a twelve-year-old girl who designs and builds robots. This young woman is an amazing example for other girls, who are generally not strongly encouraged to pursue math and science.


SGATP is perfect for the tween and younger teen audience, as the videos are short, varied, and funny. There is no time to lose interest or decide that being smart is boring, as the hosts and guests move at a quick pace and keep things light whenever they can. Another thing that the series does well is to highlight the work of the girls featured and illustrate that the girls are special, while still maintaining a sense of accessibility. The webisodes do not center on celebrities, but rather everyday girls who are doing what they love. This sends a strong message to viewers that they too can build robots, start a band, or become a chef. Smart Girls at the Party is a fun, interesting way to encourage a new generation to, “Change the world by being yourself.”

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #3 by Kate Krimson

Velocity #1-Image Comics-Released June 30th


4 out of 5 stars


Writer (Ron Marz): While the story is a great action-packed adventure, the storyline tends to be a little too hard to follow with too much jumping back and forth.


Illustrators (Kenneth Rocafort and Sunny Gho): This duo brings this ultrafast fiery redhead to life with lightning bolt speed and an outfit to match. They created not only a superb hero, but also a great villain. Dr. Paine’s cyber-nightmarish appearance matches the evil within.


Summary:


Carin Taylor/Velocity was transformed into her superhero self by the Cyberdata Corporation. Super speed was the main gift from this transformation, but she received others as well.


Someone does not like the cyberly gifted and that someone is Dr. Erasmus Paine. Paine used to work for Cyberdata as a scientist working on the cyber humans. He performed a cyber transformation on himself, which didn’t go too well (Not surprising for anyone who has ever watched Doctor Who). Now he is out to get the people who had a good cyber transformation, mainly the crime fighting Cyberforce, which includes Velocity, Ripclaw, Cyblade, Heatwave, and Ballistic (Velocity’s sister).


Paine has his robots capture Velocity while she was watching an old black and white film at a movie theater. In the meantime, he used Velocity-look-alike robots as a means to infect the Cyberforce with a virus. Velocity and the Cyberforce have all been infected. They only have an hour to live. Velocity manages to break free from the Dr.Paine’s trap. She runs to start saving the others and herself, while time starts to tick away.

Concert Review-Joan Jett at QueFest in Rowlett, Texas by Kate Krimson

Last night I saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for the third time. Although the set list remains roughly the same, the band still is able to transfer the music’s essence and energy into the bodies and souls of the crowd every time that they play. Even the biggest stiff feels the need to rock at a Joan Jett concert.


They even played some of The Runaways’ catalog, like “Cherry Bomb” and “I Love Playing with Fire.” The crowd was able to follow Joan Jett’s music career from her teens to the present. It is quite clear that she must have been born with a guitar in her hands and rock n’ roll in her DNA.


Fireworks blasted off after the show, but their exploding power could not equal the band’s massive talent that vibrated throughout the crowd. If I ever get the chance to see them for a fourth time, I will.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays-#2 by Kate Krimson

Wonder Woman-DC Comics-#600


4 stars out of 5


In introduction to this issue, which is entitled “Wonder Woman Can Save the World,” Lynda Carter, the actress who portrayed Wonder Woman on the 1970s TV show, says that it is not Wonder Woman’s outfit or accessories who make her who she is, but her inner self, which represents “the ‘secret self’ inside every woman—the beautiful, unafraid, tenacious and powerful woman we know resides within us.”


The introduction is followed by several story lines and art pieces.


Art Piece #1: Adams Hughes’ drawing of “Wonder Woman,” which follows the introduction, depicts Wonder Woman’s ability to be graceful and tough at the same time. She lifts an elephant over her head without breaking a sweat.


Story Line #1 (“Valedictorian”): Wonder Woman is seen blasting through the air and leading a bunch of superheroes, mainly women, into battle. Her companions include Batwoman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Manhunter, Black Alice, Miss Martian, Ravager, Bulleteer, The Question, and several others. They are fighting cyber-sirens, which are hypnotizing men with their beauty. The fight is taking place near the White House. The battle is won. Wonder Woman leaves to attend the graduation of Vanessa Kapatelis, a close friend. They have taught each other valuable lessons. Wonder Woman taught Vanessa to “Keep faith. Trust to love. Fight with honor. But fight to win.” Vanessa taught Wonder Woman that “love endures” even though “circumstances change.”


Art Piece #2: Nicola Scott and Jason Wright created a shiny and flashy Wonder Woman on top of a pillar with ancient Greek architecture and the sea behind her.


Art Piece #3: Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, and Rob Reis display a Wonder Woman that is much like Donatello’s Judith. She is beautiful and feminine, but also a warrior with her sword raised up. The blood on the sword comes from the chopped off head of Medusa, which has eyes that are scarily still open.


Story Line #2 (“Fuzzy Logic”): Wonder Woman, Power Girl, and Batgirl defeat Chang Tsu, a Humpty Dumpty with a side of robot. Power Girl asks Wonder Woman for advice, which at first sounds like romantic advice, but ends up being advice for pet care.


Art Piece #4: Guillem March’s Wonder Woman brings new meaning to “roll with the punches” since she almost seems like a ball of fists.


Art Piece #5: Greg Horn’s life-like Wonder Woman stands proudly amongst a dark and cloudy landscape.


Art Piece #6: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccelato display Wonder Woman’s Amazonian roots in her fighting in a battle with ancient Greeks and with her arrow-struck shield in hand.


Art Piece #7: Phil Jimenez and Hi-Fi’s work depicts the world that created Wonder Woman as well as the world that Wonder Woman created with her standing proudly in the center.


Story Line #3 (“Fire Power”): Wonder Woman and Superman save people from a plane crash, which was caused by Nikos Aegeus. Nikos is using Zeus’ lightning bolts to cause trouble. He wants $100 million or he’ll do something tragic every hour that he doesn’t have his money. He strikes a train bridge next. Superman manages to stop a train from having a horrible accident on the damaged bridge. Wonder Woman traps Nikos in her lasso. Superman distracts Nikos from cutting the lasso with Vulcan’s knife and during this time Wonder Woman lands the winning punch in Nikos’ face.


Art Piece #8: Jock’s Wonder Woman has a lasso that looks like neon light, but an appearance that seems to say vixen instead of warrior.


Art Piece #9: Shane Davis, Jaime Mendoza, and Nei Ruffino have a Patriotic Wonder Woman whose portrayal could be seen between that of Uncle Sam and Rosie the Riveter. She has the American flag waving in the background, sparkles at her feet, and her lasso in her hand, ready for action.


Story Line #4 (“The Sensational Wonder Woman”): Wonder Woman is seen fighting a battle, while someone discusses what made her who she is.


Story Line #5 (“Odyssey: Prologue-Couture Shock”): Wonder Woman appears in her new outfit that is stylish yet comfy. In the new clothes, she is running down the street and bumps into a bunch of men that want to fight her. She kicks butt and manages to leave a “W” in a bad guy’s forehead. The men have explosive devices attached to their chests and blow up. It appears whatever mission they were on has failed. Wonder Woman decides to go see the oracle, a goth girl who hangs out under a bridge. The oracle reminds her of the home that she is trying to save, which now is nothing but knocked over Greek columns.


The issue ends with Jim Lee and J. Michael Straczynski discussing Wonder Woman’s new look in “Behind the Scenes: The New Costume.” Straczynski gives the best reasoning for the new clothes: Wonder Woman needs clothes that she “can fight in, that add to her presence and her strength and power.” As Lynda Carter reminded us in the introduction, the clothes don’t matter, but the woman does.

Artwalk-July 8th, 5:30-8:30 pm by Kate Krimson

Artwalk, Abilene’s free art experience, will have much to satisfy your eyes and your ears on July 8th.


The new exhibit of the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL-102 Cedar) is Golden Kite, Golden Dreams: the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Awards, which will feature art from past winners. Some of the artists whose work will be included in the exhibit are Robert Sabuda (Pop-Up Book Master), Tomie dePaola (writer/illustrator of Strega Nona), and William Joyce (Dino Bob and Rolie Polie Olie creator). Two featured artists, Barbara McClintock and Richard Jesse Watson, will be having a gallery talk during Artwalk at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. There will also be a free art activity.


The Grace Museum (102 Cypress Street) will also have a free art activity, as well as some great exhibits. Yosemite 1938: On the Trail with Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe is fun exhibit for fans of either artists and lovers of the outdoors. Adams’ photographic genius can be seen all over this fine exhibit. Drawing on the Past: Selections from the Bobbie and John Nau Collection of Texas Art features Texan paintings from private collections.


The Center for Contemporary Arts (220 Cypress Street) will have four new exhibits opening. Guns n’ Rosas, an Eric Villarreal exhibit, explores the different interpretations that children of different cultures have when playing with toys, especially weapon toys (like water guns). The Rosas part of the exhibit is paintings of Chicano women. Jessica Cunningham’s photographs in Ranch Stories depict the everyday occurrences of life on a ranch. Katy Presswood and Carol Mitchell, former art teachers and current members of the Center, display their art in Three Score and Nearly Ten. Dirty Drawers, a group that meets to draw at the Center, will hold their annual exhibit.


Cockerell Galleries & Studios (1133 North 2nd Street) has Jennifer Nieland’s “Art of Romance” in the Main Gallery and many wonderful works by many artists in the studios upstairs.


Music is also around during Artwalk. Trippin’ Blu will be rockin’ Minter Park (the corner of Cypress Street and 2nd St). The Abilene Swing Dance Society will be teaching classes at 8 p.m. in the Windsor Hotel Ballroom (401 Pine Street-2nd floor) for $5. Tony Barker will be performing by the Cockerell Galleries.


Come enjoy the local scene at Artwalk. It’s FREE and FUN.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #1 by Kate Krimson

Welcome to the first Woman Warrior Wednesdays blog. Every Wednesday the world is flooded with new comic books. On Wednesdays, I will try to review a new comic that is either about a woman or written by a woman or illustrated by a woman in order to bring you a drop from the flood. My first comic book review is on Namora. Hope you like it.



Namora #1-Marvel Comics-$3.99


Stars: 3 out of 5.


Summary (Spoiler Alert):


Namora with the help of a whale saves sailors in a submarine that is running low on oxygen. The whale leads her to an old Atlantean settlement. There she runs into a kraken. She soon finds out that it guards the settlement, when some settlers stop her from fighting the kraken. Namora tries to convince the settlers to move to Oceanus, but they say they cannot go because they grow weak whenever they get to far away from their mineral well.


Inside the well, Namora sees her daughter, Namorita, who she thought was dead. She cannot leave the well or she’ll permanently go away. Namora lost track of her daughter, when Lyrrah trapped her in a tomb for 50 years. Namora was freed by a robot who thought that she must be alive. When Namora was free, she went to look for her daughter and learned that she had been in a town where an explosion had taken place during the civil war and thought she must be dead. Namora leaves Namorita, because she believes that she is just an illusion.


At the bottom of the well, Namora finds a giant kraken. She swims up to tell the Atlanteans what she has discovered. She was able to feel the kraken’s memories. It is what is keeping the Atlanteans from leaving the area. It is trying to recreate a world in which it used to be worshipped.


The smaller kraken that lives above the surface grabs Namora. The Atlanteans can get it to drop her. It has grown too strong. Its power is connected to the larger kraken and its influence. Namora, however, is strong and can breathe air, because of her mother’s side of the family. She carries the kraken up into the air and kills it. The Atlanteans no longer feel controlled by the well. Namora tells them to get ready immediately to leave for Oceanus.


Writer: Jeff Parker


Parker brings the whole world of Namora to life and gives the reader enough information to understand Namora, but the need to know more about her.


Cover Artist: Stephanie Hans


Hans magically encases Namora in water that seems to swim with her body and through her hair.


Pencils: Sara Pichelli


Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg


Pichelli and Rosenberg depict an amazing fighting woman, especially when Namora bursts through the floor of the submarine and when she kills the kraken. Underwater life is seen in their work on the Atlanteans and their settlement. The blue Atlanteans seem a little too Avatarish, but are still interesting characters. The giant kraken’s appearance automatically horrifies the reader in its great, scary detail, but not Namora.


For more information go to http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=15560.