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surprised

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I can't believe I didn't see this movie when it was released.

Moon is a 2009 drama starring Sam Rockwell with a little help from Kevin Spacey. It's about a man working alone in a lunar mining base, coming to the last two weeks of his three year contract, when he makes some interesting discoveries. I'd like to tell you more about it but I really can't without ruining what a beautiful, wonderful film it is. And don't you dare go looking it up on Wikipedia and spoiling it for yourself. Go into this one cold, because it's probably one of the best science fiction films I've seen in ages.

Highly, highly recommended.

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mood

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disappointed

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Hoo boy. Where to begin . . .

So Marvel is putting out a new title called Girl Comics, which is quite obviously a comic marketed to girls. I was willing to put aside the preconceptions that Marvel's previous outing in this direction gave me (the horrific and character-wrecking Marvel Divas). After all, I can appreciate the effort. I don't agree with the premise that comics don't have stories that can be appreciated by either gender (The Stuff of Legend already dispelled that notion), but hey. They're trying something. I'll give them credit for that.

Sadly, that's about all I can give them credit for when it comes to this mess. While some of the vignettes included in this issue aren't awful, they're awfully patronizing. The artwork is all over the place; while the Punisher and X-Men stories included are lovely, the rest are unfortunate. Here's a tip Marvel: "girl" does not equal "child." Girls (and also women) who do read comics like artwork that speaks to them, not speaks down to them. It's why female readers tend to gravitate to manga. Manga features complex storytelling coupled with deep, intricate and stylish artwork.

See? That's all you need for comics to appeal to a female audience. Complex stories. Character development. Exemplary artwork. Not difficult.

What doesn't appeal to a female audience is a comic book that assumes its reader has the mentality of a six year old. What makes this even more disappointing is this book was written and drawn by quite a number of female writers and artists. I don't know what caused this to collapse . . . editorial fiat? The short story format, instead of a whole issue dedicated to a single story? You got me.

Women aren't children. They don't appreciate being infantalized. They like the same thing guys like: good stories, complex characters, brilliant artwork. Hell, sometimes they like some aspects of comics that male readers take for granted, like story arcs and continuity. Don't talk down to them, and don't try to make a book "for" them as though they're a different (or even lesser) species.

Some of the stuff in the book had potential, I'll say that. Both the Punisher and X-Men stories included, had they been expanded beyond four or so pages, could have stood well on their own. But as it came out? Not worth five bucks, that's for certain.