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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

5 Comments

  1. BerserkRL
    November 28, 2011 @ 9:29 am

    "Hercules specifically tricks Hippolyte out of a magical undergarment"

    In the context of Hippolyta's story, "girdle" has its original meaning of a belt, not an undergarment. (Admittedly, readers of the original comic might have taken it as a reference to the like-named undergarment.)

    "It is not an inauspicious beginning"

    One negation too many.

    Reply

  2. WGPJosh
    November 28, 2011 @ 10:45 am

    One thing I think about superheroines that I was kicking around in relation to Power Girl awhile back is how they represent a weird hybrid version of the Leading Man: The Lead tends to be an inherently masculine figure and, as we talked about in relation to Jon Pertwee, the most disposable and consumable role in the narrative thanks to their charisma. So in many ways female action heroes tend to be Female Leading Men instead of Feminist Leads and, as a result, still have the logic of consumption as intrinsic to who they are, but even more so as they're women and are still subject to the Male Gaze and generations of anti-feminine discrimination.

    Long story short I think Power Girl eventually came to subvert this problem, just as she got wiped from continuity. I'm not sure if this is the direction you were thinking of going with Wondy or if you think that's a part of who she is even at this early stage of her life, but I just thought it'd be interesting to toss out especially as you spent so much time talking about similar lines of thought over the summer. I'm positive I'm not the first person to make this connection, but I couldn't give you references off the top of my head. You're probably in a better position than I at the moment.

    Reply

  3. BerserkRL
    November 28, 2011 @ 10:59 am

    Largely unrelated, but …

    When the original (1939) Sandman character first appeared, he was given a female partner, Dian Belmont, who was (mostly) his equal rather than a mere rescue object. But then a couple of years later, coiciding with Sandman's switch to a more typically superhero-type costume, Dian was dropped (killed off, in fact) in favour of a Robin/Bucky-style boy sidekick. (Simon & Kirby sometimes get the blame/credit for these retoolings, but in fact they inherited them.)

    Reply

  4. 5tephe
    November 29, 2011 @ 1:40 am

    Alarmingly few of your regular commenters seem to be making the most salient point here:

    "K-chink."

    Consider yourself kick-started.

    Personally, I love Wonder Woman, and always have since I was a little boy. But as I grew to be a critical adult, found the nature of her as a "masculinsed woman" and not a powerful woman to be a bit of a problem for my fannish like.

    BUT – along comes you, and with your tendency to re-interpret and re-imagine the best picture of a piece through Anarcho-Marxist-Alchemy, and suddenly there is hope in my heart that perhaps I wasn't just ogling Diana all this time.

    I can't wait to read your book!

    Reply

  5. Henry R. Kujawa
    April 15, 2012 @ 4:20 am

    BerserkRL:
    "When the original (1939) Sandman character first appeared, he was given a female partner, Dian Belmont, who was (mostly) his equal rather than a mere rescue object. But then a couple of years later, coiciding with Sandman's switch to a more typically superhero-type costume, Dian was dropped (killed off, in fact) in favour of a Robin/Bucky-style boy sidekick. (Simon & Kirby sometimes get the blame/credit for these retoolings, but in fact they inherited them.)"

    I haven't been able to read most of the originals yet, however… I believe Dian simply disappeared between episodes. Roy Thomas, eternal Golden Age Fanboy, wrote a story in SECRET ORIGINS in the late 80's in which Dian was killed. And then, some years later, another story was written elsewhere which totally invalidated it. Because Dian lived to a ripe old age.

    SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE, a series in the 90's, told stories that, presumably, all took place before the original comics. For the longest time, it was uncertain whether it was supposed to be the "same" character who later joined the JSA, or not. Later, after the book ended, we found out– he WAS. But the writers who worked on SMT may not have intended this, or else, were simply having "fun" at readers' expense. (Similarly, Frank Miller's BATMAN: YEAR ONE had Jim Gordon with a son, not a daughter, and Selina Kyle as a hooker. Both of which have been "explained" away in later stories by other writers. (One can almost imagine what went on behind the scenes… "HE's not like that– he's like THIS!" "Oh yeah? Well I'll show YOU…!" All the while readers get only more confused.)

    Reply

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