Posted in: Recent Updates | Tagged: Batman, batwoman, dc comics, detective comics, lesbian
Batwoman: DIY Publicity
One vaguely mainstream press notification of the publication of Detective Comics #854 and its notable relevance is in today's Dallas Voice, a gay community newsletter, written by Arnold Wayne Jones, as part of a puff piece for a signing by Greg Rucka of the comic at Zeus Comics. And it uses "Zowie!" in the headline.
DC Comics may possibly have seemed reticent to talk up this particular book to the press of late. And of course there were a lot of celebrities suddenly dying that might get in the way of comics coverage.
Greg Rucka only has few qualms about noting pertinent selling points
""The 'big deal' about her is she's gay, which I say with a certain amount of sarcasm. According to some people, that was a big deal"
"She's queer, and her orientation is a fundamental part of the character. It's like asking whether it matters that Wonder Woman was an Amazon or that Superman was raised by Ma and Pa Kent in Smallville. It's taking one of the most recognizable characters in the world and associating it with 'the gay community.'"
Richard Neal, openly gay owner of Zeus Comics definitely sees the appeal of the comic and told Dallas Voice how excited he was. The signing takes place tomorrow. Whether the rest of the media pick up on the comic's sudden availability by then is another matter.
Rucka also mentiones the situation regarding Devin Grayson, originally hired to write a Batwoman series. "I don't recall anyone saying 'We are going to do a Batwoman book and you are going to write it,'" Rucka says. "There was lots of concept work done by another writer, so I reworked it into something that made sense for me. It was a two-year process to get it to where it was going to go."
Rucka tells the paper he has a 100 page bible of the character seen by him and Dan DiDio only and that the first eighteen issues are written and the first seven drawn. Which is the kind of thing that happens when a company sits on a comic, but should also help the monthly schedule for the notoriously perfectionist artist JH Williams.
And Greg gives us the quote of the article, "She's not Batman with tits; she is her own person."
The Dallas Morning News picked up on the piece and added details about the signing at Legacy Comics happening tonight.
But aside for local interest signing stories, has the mainstream media really gone so highbrow it can't find cheap shot headlines about red haired lesbians running around in leather/PVC one more time? C'mon, the third's the charm folks!