[a normal sort of superhero]
May. 30th, 2006 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaI'm reading Alias (the comic!), which is written by Brian Michael Bendis, same guy who does Daredevil right now. And it's good. I mean, it's seriously good-- not amazing or top-10, but solid. And I mean, I realized how much I miss that sort of solid work when I don't read professional stuff and just read slash.
I mean, I love fandom as a concept-- and amateur stuff as a concept. I love the idea of creative freedom, sharing memes and stories, doing whatever the hell you want with both stories & media and screw the market demands. I love all that. But. It's slush-pile reading a lot of times if you want to read a lot. And while I -enjoy- that, at the same time... seeing quality inspires me. Makes me... I don't know, makes me want to create things.
More than satisfying my yen for pretty boys in compromising positions, more than reading exactly what the summary and the warnings promise, I just want something good. Something that's both professional and worthwhile -and- fun. Something that embodies the -good- side of 'professionalism' the way some of the best fic embodies the best about being amateur-- meaning, the work is polished, cut-- the dialogue is on the money, the art is mesmerizing and unique and holds your attention, the story is unpredictable and fun. It's satisfying in a unique way that amateur stuff never quite touches, it feels like. I dunno.
More specifically, it's the het. Being in fandom makes me feel like het can't be interesting-- I mean, I know it can and I even know how to write it that way and what pairings to look for if I want to read, but-- still, my instinct is that slash or yaoi is just more interesting. The dynamics are more equal, the drama's more intense, it's more risque sexually-- all that. I mean, bottom line, in fandom-think I just think gay = cooler because misfits & outsiders = cooler than the 'normal' people, that's what it comes down to, at least for me. I mean, I think of reading those Mary Sue-type fics where pretty sparkly girls get pretty sparkly boys to stare at their tits and it's just-- it feels like objectifying boys is 'better' somehow. Messed up, but. Yeah.
And I know most fangirls just think two cocks are better than one or whatever-- all I know is that -I- love slash because it breaks barriers and makes otherwise stagnant characters do interesting, unlikely things (though admittedly this is much more extreme in pairings like H/D). But. the truth is, it's just harder to do that with het, that's all. It can still be done by a good writer.
So. It's just nice to read this comic and be like-- hey. Het is pretty damn interesting (and it's not even a romance comic), especially when it's between messed-up yet surprisingly normal former superheroes in a crazy world of mutants and weirdo basically normal people. It just gives me perspective-- this feeling like hey.
Hey.
Straight or gay or muddled, mutant or not-- it's the story that makes that character someone you can identify with. Just another person the way we all are. And no matter how 'special' they are, it just underscores how terribly ordinary they are, somehow, and I needed that. And I think it takes a tight-- a professionally tight-- writer to show that well.
I mean, I love fandom as a concept-- and amateur stuff as a concept. I love the idea of creative freedom, sharing memes and stories, doing whatever the hell you want with both stories & media and screw the market demands. I love all that. But. It's slush-pile reading a lot of times if you want to read a lot. And while I -enjoy- that, at the same time... seeing quality inspires me. Makes me... I don't know, makes me want to create things.
More than satisfying my yen for pretty boys in compromising positions, more than reading exactly what the summary and the warnings promise, I just want something good. Something that's both professional and worthwhile -and- fun. Something that embodies the -good- side of 'professionalism' the way some of the best fic embodies the best about being amateur-- meaning, the work is polished, cut-- the dialogue is on the money, the art is mesmerizing and unique and holds your attention, the story is unpredictable and fun. It's satisfying in a unique way that amateur stuff never quite touches, it feels like. I dunno.
More specifically, it's the het. Being in fandom makes me feel like het can't be interesting-- I mean, I know it can and I even know how to write it that way and what pairings to look for if I want to read, but-- still, my instinct is that slash or yaoi is just more interesting. The dynamics are more equal, the drama's more intense, it's more risque sexually-- all that. I mean, bottom line, in fandom-think I just think gay = cooler because misfits & outsiders = cooler than the 'normal' people, that's what it comes down to, at least for me. I mean, I think of reading those Mary Sue-type fics where pretty sparkly girls get pretty sparkly boys to stare at their tits and it's just-- it feels like objectifying boys is 'better' somehow. Messed up, but. Yeah.
And I know most fangirls just think two cocks are better than one or whatever-- all I know is that -I- love slash because it breaks barriers and makes otherwise stagnant characters do interesting, unlikely things (though admittedly this is much more extreme in pairings like H/D). But. the truth is, it's just harder to do that with het, that's all. It can still be done by a good writer.
So. It's just nice to read this comic and be like-- hey. Het is pretty damn interesting (and it's not even a romance comic), especially when it's between messed-up yet surprisingly normal former superheroes in a crazy world of mutants and weirdo basically normal people. It just gives me perspective-- this feeling like hey.
Hey.
Straight or gay or muddled, mutant or not-- it's the story that makes that character someone you can identify with. Just another person the way we all are. And no matter how 'special' they are, it just underscores how terribly ordinary they are, somehow, and I needed that. And I think it takes a tight-- a professionally tight-- writer to show that well.
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no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 10:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-01 10:30 pm (UTC)The Pulse isn't bad, but it isn't as good as Alias, and the art is dodgy. Jessica is brilliant in it, but the art drags it too far down for me. Also it's set in that whole Secret War arc, which really is a low point in Marvel's meta-history. I can't wait until they retcon it out of existence and fix S.H.I.E.L.D. Damnit, where's Nick Fury when you need him?
no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 06:23 am (UTC)Alex Ross has kind of killed any favouritism towards water colours in US comics for me. Just... *shudders*