Female Characters Roundtable « The Hooded Utilitarian

The Kathy Kane Syndrome: FCR 6

It took Batman his whole life to become Batman. That’s the point of his story: to do what he does, you have to spend your whole life getting ready. But Kathy Kane became Batwoman because she felt like it. She used to be a circus performer and that was pretty much all the prep she [...]

You Know What’s Good About the Watchmen Movie?

As noted here, there are a few bright spots (scroll down). Another is this: Apollonia Vanova as Silhouette, specifically the bit in the credits sequence where she steps up to a girl and scoops her in for the great Times Square V-Day kiss.Watching Vanova’s five seconds, you get the idea she actually could beat up people [...]

Stan’s Babe-o-Dome, b (FCR addendum)

I was writing about Stan Lee’s hot-chick covers of the 1940s and mentioned P. G. Wodehouse. I see some resemblances between the two fellows. They’re cheery and upbeat and they see their job as entertainment, pure and simple. In person Wodehouse was very shy; no one could call Stan shy, but he is fairly private. [...]

FCR 4ish: do men with unisex names write better women?

Strangers in Paradise, Locas, and soap operas

Because We Needed A Woman — FCR 1c

I’ve already posted a couple of entries to the female characters roundtable, so I should no doubt stop — but…. I’ve been thinking again about the Jeff Parker Marvel Adventures Avengers series — mostly because my son has me read them to him over and over and over. For those not in the know, this [...]

The Perfect Girlfriend (FCR Next)

One of the manga conventions that came up in discussing YKK was the Perfect Girlfriend. The first volume presents Alpha as the sort of single girl readers might desire, though later volumes might shoot me down. Either way, she fits the ideal: demure, bright, beautifully plain. This type shows up enough in manga for males, [...]

Stan Lee Presents: Welcome to the Babe-o-Dome (FCR part 2)

Noah’s been conducting the FCR Roundtable by himself and doing a good job of it. My contribution is an extract taken from “Face It, Tiger,” a column I did for TCJ last year. It’s about Spider-Man’s Brand-New Day relaunch, including the cold-blooded decision that Mary Jane could no longer be part of the series as Mary [...]