When Good Bloggers Go Bad...

I've enjoyed OCCASIONAL SUPERHEROINE on many occasions. I admired her bravery in sharing such private info in the past. I lamented her waiting to take a stand on her principles until AFTER she got fired from what she paints to be a "He Man/Women Haters" club. But that's not what this blog is about.

In a review of JSA #12, she makes a mistake:

The sequence with John Irons was also in need of some editing/quality control; John's opening dialog with his wife sounded like pure exposition devoid of any human quality. And Dale Eaglesham's art, while reminiscent of that great Stephen Sadowski work on the previous JSA, has occasional difficulty in getting from point A to point B in the visual storytelling.

As was pointed out in the comments (politely and devoid of snark, I might add), that was Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning), not John Henry Irons. Her response?

Valerie D'Orazio said...

"That was Jefferson (Black Lightning) Pierce in JSA, not John Irons."

I think the problem is that Johns wants to make the JSA the catch-all group that every other DC team is rolled into/connected with. Actually having Irons & the Infinity Inc cast make an appearance would make sense to me, as the two titles were historically linked to each other. But to bring not only JLA but Batman and the Outsiders...you need to have a realllly skilled hand to work within such a scope. I'm thinking a little past Johns and more like Busiek.

So, she was confused because it made more sense for it to be John Henry Irons? I don't know if I agree, but she's entitled to her opinion. As a reviewer, though, you'd think she might make more of a habit of keeping the book she's reviewing close at hand for reference:

It's all there. Sure...three panels...but the whole appearance lasted about three pages. I don't think asking that you pay attention enough to catch the name mentioned twice and the previous team affiliation mentioned at least once is too much. Everyone has an off day, though...so just acknowledging a mistake with an "oops" or "sorry" would seem appropriate. She responds with the following:

"So instead of oops we get that having Steel in the issue would have been better than Black Lightning?"

--exactly. now you are catching on.

but also, had the book been more engaging and actually made me care it would have been easier. by the introductory boxing scene my mind was glazed over.

It's not a company-specific thing, I had the same problem with the latest Ultimate Spider-Man. Every girl I saw in that book I thought was Mary Jane.

Is that the "it is everyone's fault but mine" refrain? Why, yes...yes it is!

Pedro wanders in to call attention to this with a comment (and, also, a blog):

Ha Ha. I don't even get what you are trying to say in regards to JSA.

You mistake John Irons for Jefferson Pierce and then suggest that John Irons would make a better fit to cover this mistake.This goes against the "subtle" Kingdom Come storyline that Johns is doing and also the 52 storyline when they turned away from the JSA.

It also seems that the legacies they are focusing on right now are inherited powers. It's also would completely go against the themes that Milligan is working at in Infinity Inc.

Do you read the comics you write about?

A touch harsh? Maybe. But it hits relevant points. All points that Ms. D'Orazio brought up in her flurry to avoid admitting a harmless (albeit rookie) mistake. All of which serves to put her foot in it more:

"This goes against the "subtle" Kingdom Come storyline that Johns is doing and also the 52 storyline when they turned away from the JSA."

"Do you read the comics you write about?"

I read comics to enjoy them. When they become this arcane continuity-wise, when a single issue of JSA requires a knowledge of Kingdom Come, Infinity Inc, Batman and the Outsiders, JLA, and, I suppose, some rudimentary Death of New Gods and Pre-Final Crisis knowledge, it stops being enjoyable for me.

You obviously possess more obscure DC continuity knowledge than I. My obscure knowledge stops at the old Infinity Inc series, which was closely tied to the old All-Star Squadron series, which was basically what JSA is now. That's why I thought Infinity Inc was connected with JSA, and that John Irons was a good fit.

I'm so sorry I don't collect Batman and the Outsiders, Infinity Inc, Countdown, Death of the New Gods, and JLA so I can understand a single damn issue of JSA. Next time, I will try to spend about $25 dollars a week just on DC books so I can understand what is going on.

Then I will say: "I understand the continuity! I get those subtle hints Peter Milligan have been throwing at me all those issues in Infinity Inc!"

This is besides the issue that some white comic creators create bland African-American characters.

Where is the African-American Guy Gardner? Where is the African-American Batman? Where is the African-American Joker? Booster Gold/Ted Kord Blue Beetle? Oracle? Wolverine? Spider-Man?

DC's African American characters are either created to be the only person of color on a team (JSA, JLA, Teen Titans, Green Lantern Corps), or by editorial fiat to fill a diversity need (Firestorm).

Ergo, they are usually uninspired and only have life breathed into them by writers who truly understand and see them as a character first and not a "diversity representative" (ie Dwayne McDuffie with Black Lightning).

I would argue that while certainly well-intentioned, Johns is not the most skilled in this regard.

Oh wait, he DOES have Jakeem Thunder who spouts out racist/sexist comments to fellow teammates. Excuse me.

She get snarky about obscure continuity when her reach goes back further, but just isn't valid any longer. She seizes on a character (Black Lightning) created by a white creator (Tony Isabella) to say is only completely understood and well-written by Dwayne McDuffie. Ironic on the current timing, because Tony feels about as passionate about the usurped control of the Black Lightning character as the recently departed Steve Gerber felt about some of his creations at Marvel.

I won't bore you with the additional details that led to more moments of Ms. D'Orazio flailing wildly to try to find some way to avoid admitting a mistake, but Pedro's and David Brothers' blogs handle a lot of that. Their points in the comments section don't actually get addressed by Valerie, as she pulls the last ditch move of someone losing a debate:

Pedro, you don't really care about story integrity or my integrity or about defending Black Lightning or Geoff Johns.

You just want to feel like "somebody" for instigating and winning a "debate" on teh internets.

Sir, it is a dick move.

Go on the Newsarama boards and pick a fight with some comic writer. I grow weary of you. Good day.

She goes on to close the comments on her blog, rather than even get further posts from some agreeing with her. It is really quite a shame. But at least she didn't put it on moderation and just make the comments she didn't like disappear. So, I guess there's that.