Marvel's New Captain

It's an unfortunate coincidence that Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel outside of our planet's atmosphere, would pass away, at the age of 61, in the wake of Kelly Sue DeConnick's new Captain Marvel series. Instead of celebrating those woman who have managed, despite not only the force of gravity but also a sexism that similarly serves to try to keep them grounded, to touch the sky, we are, instead, mourning one of them. 

Of course, DeConnick got me thinking along those lines even before Ride's death-- Captain Marvel #1 is so good, in part, because its author problematizes stereotypes about gendered work without ever seeming heavy handed. Ride's death, which weirdly mirrors what goes on within these pages, does, however, put a fine point on these critiques; that the comic's first piece of dialogue ("LUCKY ME! IF IT AIN'T CAPTAIN AMERICA'S SECRETARY, MS. MARVEL!) is meant to suggest just how little distance we've come from the days when a journalist asked Ride if she wept if things on the job didn't go quite right. 

To tell you the truth, I don't feel I'm well enough versed in gender studies to properly analyze the book any further along those lines, so, putting it in the only adequate language I can muster, its unfortunately striking just how feminist this book is. When I say its unfortunate, what I mean is that it is unfortunate that it is striking at all; in the best of all possible worlds, every mainstream superhero comic would be as aware as this one is. Sexism is so entrenched in the genre that the two often seem to go hand in hand, but if this book can manage any traction at all, its a good first step towards a more enlightened status quo. 

Which is to say, basically, that Captain Marvel #1 should be very good. And, in fact, it is, if you read it out loud and do your damnedest not to look at the pictures. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that Dexter Soy is a terrible artist, and in particular a terrible partner for DeConnick-- while the writing is alive, almost crackling with energy and ambition, the art is stiff, sludgy, painterly in the worst possible way. At his best, Soy is a low rent Mike Deodato and, at his worst, well, you get zombie Captain America: 

Sorry for the crappy iPhone picture, but you see what I mean.

The cynic in me says that Soy's assignment to the book is Marvel's desperate attempt to get it canned. I can't imagine the book will sell very strongly if it continues to look this dismal, particularly in comparison to both Jamie McKelvie's clean design and to Ed McGuiness's truly excellent cover (which you can see above). There does, however, appear to be hope at the other end of the gutter, since Captain Marvel is shipping twice in October, and both issues are drawn by the far superior Emma Rios and I can only hope that, from that point forward, the book will thrive. We need more books like this; as sad as it is, we seem to need a reminder that it isn't only Tony Stark and Thor who can touch the sky, that there is as much, and probably much more, to admire in Carol Danvers and Sally Ride.

On Captain Marvel

We've talked before about how awesome the new Captain Marvel costume is, and there have been a lot of people having a lot of fun with it. To wit:

 Terry Dodson's cover for Avenging Spiderman #9

 Conley 

Cameron Stewart

...and then there's Ed Mcguinness's sweet cover for Captain Marvel #1

These are all great and, like McKelvie's design, marvelously fun and cartoony, which is part of what makes the look work. For the book itself, though, we're stuck with these dark, sludgy, pointy, deadly serious Dexter Soy paintings. It's like Marvel is trying to get the book canned. 

Quote for the Week 3/19/12

In the current marketplace, most "ongoings" are making it to, what? 6-12 issues, no? If you're lucky? I've got a plan and I'm not being shy about planting seeds that I hope to come back to for, you know, exponential awesomeness... but neither am I holding my breath.

Though Carol is an Avenger, there is no Captain Marvel movie coming out this summer, you know? And we talk a big game about wanting female-led books that don't look like gynecological exams, but can the community actually come through with the numbers to back that up? I don't know. God, I hope so.

The problem isn't just that we have to get folks to buy it; it's that we have to get retailers to order it. The failing of our distribution model is that our customer isn't really the reader, our customer is whoever places the Diamond order at any store. So if there's a perception that the book won't sell, it gets under-ordered and it becomes this self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here's a thing that happens to every creator on Twitter on one Wednesday or another: an incredibly sweet reader who really wants to support you, writes to tell you that they tried to buy your book at their LCS and it was already sold out! It's only noon, they say! The shop only opened at 10! Your book must've flown off the shelves!

And then the creator, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings, says, "Wow! Thanks for your support — better pre-order the next one!" and then they cry into their coffee. Because, friends, selling out by noon on a Wednesday is not good news. Heck, selling out byThursday is not good news. That means your book was under-ordered — if it was ordered at all. If the consumer wants the product and we can't get them the product, our system is broken.
I hate the pre-order thing. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Ten years ago, I was complaining about it on the WEF — I'm a shopper. I looooove to shop. I will spend money. But I am not going to buy a pair of shoes that I'm expected to order three months in advance and am not able to try on! And that's what we're asking of our readers. It's the dumbest system. No wonder we have problems! Is there another industry that works like this?

And yet, here I am begging you: if you want to read this comic, please, please oh please, oh please: pre-order it. If you want to see more female-led titles from the mainstream publishers, pre-order this book. If you're not familiar with how to pre-order, or you're not sure why it's so important, check in with me on Twitter @kellysue or on my blog athttp://www.kellysue.com — some time in the next couple weeks I'm going to do a step-by-step blog post. Maybe I'll even do one of those Warren Ellis-style pre-order coupons.

-Kelly Sue Deconnick.