Kicking Ass and Taking Names: An Interview with Jennifer K. Stuller

I'm thrilled to have been interviewed by the talented & erudite film critic and writer, Sara Freeman, for Chicago Now!

Sara recently interviewed Molly Haskell
for Bitch Magazine and will be presenting at this year's Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses - be sure to check out her amazing work at Cineslayer.com!

Wonder Woman Special Features Clip

This clip from one of the Special Features Documentaries for the new Wonder Woman 2-disc DVD or Blu-Ray features yours truly talking about the Amazon Princess!


GODDESS EVOLVES

Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors (Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You)

I wanted to let anyone who is interested in know that I made a Facebook Page for my forthcoming book.

The book itself won't available until late Summer/early Fall, but I will be sure to post publishing details, speaking engagements, reviews, and interviews both here on my blog and on Facebook.

In the meantime, here is some advance praise:

“Female heroes abound in literature, film and all walks of life, although most people don’t know that they do. Not surprising given how much they challenge the gender roles in which women and girls have historically been confined. This wonderful book shows female heroes breaking out of gender boxes left and right and illuminates new possibilities for the indomitable hero in all of us.”

Kathleen Noble, Ph.D., author of The Sound of the Silver Horn: Reclaiming the heroism in contemporary women’s lives.

"Once upon a time -- only a few years ago, actually -- women could turn on their TV sets and glory in the adventures of Buffy, Xena, Sydney Bristow, Dana Scully, and many more strong, ass-kicking women. Today there is not one show on the small screen that stars a female action hero. What happened? Comics are not much better. Aside from the occasional exception (for which we are grateful) like Birds of Prey, and women writers like Ivory Madison (The Huntress) and Gail Simone’s newly feminist interpretation of Wonder Woman, most comic book action heroines continue to be male-written and drawn creations whose breasts are bigger then their personalities.

Now along comes Jennifer Stuller, with her very entertaining book, Ink-Stained Amazons, to explore the whys and wherefores of pop culture super women, and perhaps jolt us all into demanding more and stronger women characters. Thank you, Jennifer. We need those role models!"

Trina Robbins, author of The Great American Superheroines (Palace Press, 2009)

Another Great Comics Arts Conference at WonderCon

From Wonder Con's Programming Page


"The Humanization of Weisinger's Legion of Superfluity," "Sequential Signs: Comic Art in the Gallery," "The Feminstas of Justice" — do these titles seem a bit high falutin' for a comic book convention? Well, they're the titles of a few of the presentations slated for the Comics Arts Conference, a full- fledged academic conference that takes place each year at both WonderCon and Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Founded in 1992 by Dr. Randy Duncan — of Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas — and Dr. Peter Coogan — who teaches at Washington University in St. Louis — the Comics Arts Conference brings scholars and professionals together to talk about comics with the public by breaking out of the ivory tower and holding sessions during two of the nation's most influential comic book shows. This year marks the CAC's 17th annual conference at Comic-Con International and its third at WonderCon.

Headlining this year's CAC presentation at WonderCon is the legendary cartoonist and San Francisco native Trina Robbins, a special guest at the convention. Robbins will be presenting "Nell Brinkley and The Brinkley Girls," a talk on Jazz Age cartoonist and illustrator Nell Brinkley, whose glamorous, curly haired "Brinkley Girls" were a household name in the early 20th century when Brinkley was "The Queen of Comics." Robbins' talk is drawn from her Fantagraphics book The Brinkley Girls, published in January, and Robbins will be signing copies of after her talk.

Comics have been moving into the classroom and gaining ever-greater acceptance at educational institutions. This acceptance is reflected in two CAC presentations. The first is "Cross-Curricular Comics: Applying Comics in the K-8 Classroom" a workshop by middle-school teacher Liz Vizcarra that demonstrates the application of comics in the K-8 environment to meet California standards. A professional development certificate is available for teachers who attend this session. The second is from CAC co-chair Randy Duncan on his new comics studies textbook, The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture, to be published in April by Continuum Books. As the first textbook on comics and graphic novels aimed at undergraduates, The Power of Comics is an exciting breakthrough in the cultural legitimization of the comics medium, and the CAC offers a first look at this important work.

Besides the classroom, comics have broken into the museum, and the CAC does as well, in a pair of talks. Fine arts scholar Kim Munson explores the importance of comics to contemporary visual culture and the central role of the 2005 Masters of Comic Art exhibit in breaking comics out of the art world's high/low debate. CAC co-chair Peter Coogan presents "Superhero Science 101," a talk originally given in conjunction with the Marvel Comics Super-Hero Science exhibition at the St. Louis Science Center. Dr. Coogan explains the science- fictional laws that operate in superhero universes, including why Bruce Banner's pants stretch so much and what we in the real world can learn from such "rubber science."

Need to bone up on your superhero history? The fifties, sixties, and seventies get a thoroughgoing review in a matched set of three presentations. California State University librarian Douglas Highsmith and University of California librarian Chuck Huber examine the superhero comics "between the Flashes" from the last appearance of the Golden Age Flash in 1950 to the first of the Silver Age Flash in 1956 — yes, there were superhero comics in the early fifties! Moving on to the 1960s, independent scholar Jeff Barbanell peers through his timescope to find the first "Marvelization" of a DC series in Jim Shooter's Legion of Super-Heroes run and his infusion of his comic book narratives with the Lee and Kirby techniques of group dynamics, hyperrealism, and cosmic context. Finally, the "ink-stained Amazon" Jennifer K. Stuller attempts to resolve the conundrum of the "feministas of justice," the superwomen of the 1970s such as Valkyrie, Diana Prince, Ms. Marvel, and Lois Lane, who presented a superficial image of feminism but continue to serve as symbols of female empowerment in the cultural imagination.

But like the world of comics, the CAC is more than superheroes. CAC presenters take on social issues that resonant with today's headlines. Indian cartoonist Gokul Gopalakrishnan (aka Gokul TG), who is a fellow of the Centre for Performance Research and Cultural Studies in South Asia, investigates the cunning exploitation of the misconception of comic strips as "harmless fun" to enable cartoonists to sidestep censorship, focusing on O. V Vijayan's Malayalam comic strip Ithiri Neramboku, Ithiri Darshanam ("Bit of Trifle, Bit of Philosophy") during the 1975–1977 State of National Emergency in India. Diana Green of the Minneapolis College of Art & Design unearths the GLBT in EC Comics and the play of these stories in the burgeoning, shifting acceptance of gay culture that began in the 1950s. And Trevor Strunk, graduate student at New York University, takes on the topic of hybrid cultures as they are expressed in Jaime Hernandez's Love and Rockets output.

With the Comics Arts Conference, WonderCon offers attendees a unique chance to dig into comics' past and present and give their brains a workout while in the midst of one the country's great comic book conventions.


(BTW - - "The Feministas of Justice" is me! - - Thanks to Hubby for the title suggestion!)

Wonder Woman Animated Feature

The trailer for the forthcoming Wonder Woman direct to DVD feature is online.





I'm really excited about this, not just because I'm glad that Wonder Woman is getting attention, or because this trailer looks promising, but also because I was interviewed for the DVD's featurettes!

When I was researching the book we used to joke while watching featurettes that we would see me in one someday and that it would say something like "Jennifer K. Stuller, Modern Mythologist". Well, close. I will be introduced as "Jennifer K. Stuller, Author, Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology." Very exciting! And so much fun because it was filmed at Trina's house which made the whole opportunity even more special.

Wonder Woman will be released in February 2009.

Superwomen in the Movies

On the subject of female heroes in movies and television I wanted to link to a couple of thought-provoking posts & sites.

The first is by Cindy Cooper of Blog Spot "The Bad Genious" who passionately writes about the need for women and girls to see positive heroic representations of their sex/gender to be able to grow up believing in themselves. In fact, she relates a story about spinning with her sister until dizzy and nauseated, hoping upon hope to burst into Amazonian Princesses, that echoes one I tell in my book introduction almost word for word. She also asks, and answers, the question,"So why didn’t those little girls watching superheroes grow to be a generation of women reading about superheroes?" and notes the frustrating fact that movies featuring superwomen just aren't given the same respect as those with supermen--which forces young girls to identify with either the love interest or the contemporary male heroic ideal.

Supervillainess over at "Female Comic Book Superheroes" asks female audiences an important question with What's Your Dream Superheroine Movie? (My desires include: A Modesty Blaise movie worthy of her character, a Promethea movie, a good Buffy movie, Wonder Woman, natch, and Birds of Prey.)

And Heroine Content always has thoughtful critiques of race and gender in movies and television.

Superwomen Exploited Again (NSFW)

I don't quite know why, but this calendar bothers me more than the Wonder Woman thing.

"In the tradition of the best-selling 2007 Nerdcore™ calendar, this 2008 edition reunites famed photographer Cherie Roberts and designer/artist Jason Adam, and features tasteful, giant photography of nude girls in heroic and villainous settings. Featuring geek goddess Justine Joli, former Playboy "Cyber Playmate" Jessica Kramer, and 2007 Nerdcore™ cover girl Karlie Montana, and many other beauties.

+ NERD DATES — Regular and nerdy holidays, including over one hundred important holy days for geeks, including: Major movie releases like Iron Man, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones 4, Harold and Kumar 2, and The Incredible Hulk; conventions like San Diego Comic-Con, Alternative Press Expo, etc. ; anniversaries for Night of the Living Dead and more cult classics; birthdays for Stan Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Jean Luc Picard and others ; even Sarah Connor’s assassination, the morning Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 departed, and the day Marty was sent back to the future."

Apparently, once seen, you'll believe that babes can fly.

(Ink-Stained Amazon shudders)

Wonder Woman: Porn Star, Feminist Icon, Erotic Goddesss, or All of the Above?

This recent Playboy magazine cover has already been commented on all over the net with varying degrees of righteous scorn, insight, and “What’s the big deal/are you really so suprised-ness?” so while I doubt I have anything insightful to add I feel like should say something.

It’s distressing that the character who originated as a role model for girls (regardless of the problematic ideology of her creator) and was later adopted as a symbol of female empowerment has again been co-opted, not as a figure of women’s sexual empowerment, but as an image of male fantasy. (Then again, I suppose she has also always been this as well.)

But it’s almost like a sexist slap in the feminist face. Gloria Steinem was one of the champions of the Amazon Princess in the 1970s. In the 1960s she wrote her famous undercover expose of Playboy Clubs, “I Was a Playboy Bunny.” So in this we meet a moment of cultural irony.

I’ll bet the editors of Playboy thought they were merely being playful.* Wonder Woman is after all a recognizable symbol of a powerful woman.

I can’t say I’m happy about it, especially the comparison of this model/actress to Lynda Carter, but I can’t help but wonder what the response would be if this were a spread on Suicide Girls (Minimal pun intended).



*At least it’s not as insidious as the panel in the “Women’s Lib” issue of Wonder Woman where the writers actually had Diana say, “In most cases I don’t even like women . . .” Likely a childish message from the writers of Wonder Woman to the editors of Ms. for interfering with their work.

Wonder Woman Wardrobe War

(Found via The Beat)



From Project: Rooftop

Contest Announcement: Wonder Woman Wardrobe War!
Break out your golden lassos, kids! Project: Rooftop is teaming up with Zeus Comics of Dallas, TX for a drawing contest event in honor of fan-favorite creator Gail Simone’s upcoming run writing for the world’s greatest and most recognizable superheroine, Wonder Woman! Starting today, we are accepting entries for the Wonder Woman Wardrobe War, with Zeus Comics providing cool prizes for the top redesigns!

Grand Prize (1) - This classic Lynda Carter Wonder Woman statue, a signed WonderWoman issue from Gail Simone, a DC Direct Wonder Woman action figure, and $25 gift certificate good at the Zeus Comics Online Store!

First Prize (2) - A signed Wonder Woman issue from Gail Simone, a DC Direct WonderWoman action figure, and a $15 gift certificate good at the Zeus Comics Online Store!

Second Prize (3) - A signed Wonder Woman issue from Gail Simone and a DC Direct Wonder Woman action figure!

Additional Prizes - P:R and ZC may provide a few extra goodies for the other striking entries, if we see something that really knocks our socks off!

Send in your Wonder Woman redesigns to editors@projectrooftop.com, with the subject line, “Wonder Woman Wardrobe War!” Please include your full name, age, website, and mailing address for prize shipment. All the usual P:R Guidelinesapply!
All entries must be recieved by November 20th, 2007!

Over 65 Years Later and Still No Wonder Woman Movie

On the heels of this alleged statement from Warner Bros president of production Jeff Robinov:

"We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead".

comes this disappointing news:

Joel Silver, who was producing the now-stalled Wonder Woman movie, told reporters that the project has been placed on the back burner in light of another impending superhero film. "They're going to make the Justice League movie, and we're kind of pausing on Wonder Woman now," Silver said in a news conference while promoting Fred Claus. "Let them go ahead and do that picture [first]."

Wonder Woman Day II

We went to Portland this past weekend to participate in the second annual Wonder Woman Day --a fundraiser for local Domestic Violence shelters and resources, including Raphael House, Bradley-Angle House, and the Portland Women's Crisis Line. Last year's event raised over $15,000 and this year's raised over well over $20,000.

Wonder Woman Day is organized by writer Andy Mangels whose history of the Amazon Princess, The Wonder Woman Companion, is coming out next Summer.



And is hosted by the friendly staff at Excalibur Comics on SE Hawthorne.




Artists with a range of skills, and from a range of locations, donate illustrations of the Amazon Princess which are then put up for auction. Winning bids ranged from $20 up to the over $6,000 donated for an Alex Ross original. I bid on, and won, this lovely piece by Joan Reilly.





I wasn't familiar with the artist but she sublimely captured the joy I felt as a little girl when Linda Carter would transform from Diana Prince into Wonder Woman.

Professional artist Anne Timmons was in attendance, as were writer Gail Simone, and artist & writer Phil Jimenez.

All were doing signings and sketches for donations.

Anne lives in Southern Washington and co-created Go Girl! with Trina Robbins.





She drew me this lovely sketch of a young Diana.



Her proud parents came out to the event to support her and take photos--it was so sweet!

Gail, who is an Oregonian, signed a copy of the latest collection of Birds of Prey for me.






And Phil, who must have flown out from New York for this,






sketched this gorgeous Princess Diana for me.



Everyone there was generous and friendly; the staff, Andy, Anne, Gail and Phil--who was particularly gracious. We'd met by chance at Wonder Con last year, and he remembered us (which is mind-boggling to me, because he must come across thousands of people every year). He is honestly one of the kindest, most sincere, and curious persons I've ever met.


I forgot to ask Andy if Wonder Woman Day was inspired by Trina's book, Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story (illustrated by Colleen Doran and available from Mile High Comics). It's a story that addresses issues of domestic violence, as well as provides resources for women in need of them.



Participants could have their pictures taken with a Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman mannequin.





And if all this has got you itching for Lynda Carter in those satin tights--Seasons One, Two and Three of Wonder Woman are available as a set from Amazon!