This and that, plus a question and comments about Gotham Central and proprietary rights

Things in my head:

Cronin is getting all kinds of love these days, and the rest of the contributors here should be jealous, since, let's face it, Brian's Comic Book Urban Legends are cute and all, but I mean, really, have you seen Brian? Should we really be praising this guy?
*****
I disagree with almost everything T. says, but he's interesting and provocative and has some good thoughts about comics. He begins a review of Wanted here, although he never actually gets to the book itself (it's part 1). Head on over there and tell him how crazy he is because of his thoughts about the history of America. Or tell him he's a genius - you make the call!
*****
I was reading the second trade of Gotham Central, by everyone's favorite punching bag, Greg Rucka. It's the one in which we learn Renee Montoya's BIG SECRET (she's a lesbian - ooh, how cutting-edge!). It's not bad. Anyway, I thought of some things, and I need your help, good readers:

1. What the hell happened to Harvey Bullock? I always liked Bullock, but from what was said in this trade, he did bad things and Internal Affairs smacked him down. What happened? I have been away from the Bat-books too long, apparently.

2. In his introduction, Rucka says that when Denny O'Neil approached him about writing a Batman story, he told Denny he wanted to write a Two-Face story because, he suspected, every writer wants to write a Two-Face story for their Batman tryout. That may be true, but isn't that everything that is wrong with comics writing these days? All writers want to write the definitive "fill-in-the-villain-or-hero" story, and we get messes like "Hush." Why would Rucka even want to write a Batman story? I would like Gotham Central a LOT more if the cops were taking down "regular" villains. It would read more like a good police procedural instead of "cops-sitting-around-waiting-for-Batman-to-throw-them-a-bone" stories.

3. Rucka also mentions that he didn't "make" Montoya a lesbian. "She was always gay," says our esteemed writer. Well, sorry, Greg, but that just ain't true. Brian posted the other day about when Renee Montoya was created, back in 1992. Did anyone ask Paul Dini if she was gay back then? He may have said "I didn't really think about it," but that's not the same thing. Tell Montoya's boyfriend who died from the Clench that she was always a lesbian - he might be surprised. Tell all the writers who wrote her before Rucka did. Now, I don't have a problem with Montoya being a lesbian - whatever. But the fact is, Rucka took over a FICTIONAL character and needed a story, so he MADE her a lesbian. That's fine, but it's one of these things that comes up with regards to proprietary rights: Paul Dini obviously has no rights over Montoya, because he was a DC wage slave, but he created the character whose sexual orientation was probably not even an issue. Rucka grafted her sexual orientation onto her for the sake of a story. The next writer might say she was just "experimenting," and Rucka won't have a thing to say about it. Just a point.

Have a good weekend, everyone - watch out for Cronin lurking outside your window!

Read More