Robbin' from the Women to give to the Men.

I'm a person who has read a lot of detective stories as I was growing up. Not nearly as many as I'd like, but I did pick up a rather interesting talent along the way. I'm pretty good about picking up on small details in the things people say and seeing the larger implication of what it could mean. An example would be if you're questioning a witness, and they use a plural tense. How did they know there was more than one culprit if they didn't see anything?

It's also a handy skill to predict what my mother gets me for Christmas every year based on her trying to gloat by dropping tips that she she thinks "You'll never be able to guess.". She eventually stopped with the hints after a couple years straight of me being right. But I'm getting off topic.

I was listening to the latest edition of the The Invincibly Super Massive Comic Book Podcast of Stuff with special guest Kyle Higgins over the week. There was a lot of talk about Cassandra Cain and Nightwing. During the conversation, I noticed something a bit unnerving that I don't think Cassandra Cain fans would be too happy about. In the conversation Higgins pretty much confirms that Dick Grayson's ability to read body language was based from Cassie. Despite not being a super power, this was one of Cassandra's more unique character traits that stood out among the Bat Family. Watching her juke and swerve though a hail of hot lead made her the envy of the bat boys who depend on body armor.

A moment that Cassandra fans often call back to are the scenes of her dodging gun fire due to her uncanny skill to read body language. This level of skill at such a young age also made her stand out among the women of DC Comics as a whole, becasue she was doing something through skill what most guys do in comics by luck. That, or the bad guys have the aim of a Storm Trooper.

Similar to gem stones, the fewer people with a skill or power the higher the value. With Cassie's absence in the New 52, this alteration comes across as her cool "power" being robbed from her to further build up one of the male cast. Why did Nightwing even need a new ability? Let alone take one from Cassandra. What happens if/when she makes a return to the pages of DC? Even if she has this ability. It's no longer a defining trait that's unique to her, nor would she be the first to hold it. She'll come across as the copy due to the new continuity. Intentional or not. It actually sounds rather offensive.

Looking over the DC line up post-New 52. It seems to be greatly imbalanced. With the exception of Wonder Woman, it feels that more was taken away from the women than was added to the men. Lois Lane seems to have zero pride in journalist integrity, Barbara Gordon is no longer an information broker that even Batman came to for help or the founder of the team she created, and I'm not even going to go into Catwoman again - - see my three other blogs on Selina.

I know as a straight male who doesn't have much issue with fanservice, - - I also draw half naked guys for my female followers on deviantArt - - I seem like a strange advocate for this sort of issue, But I still like Cassie and think women deserve more powerful female role models in comics. There should be more balance, and this shouldn't be a boys club. Women comic fans are awesome. What do you all think about the concept of taking powers away or copying from female characters to give to the males?

(FYI - The "robbing" and "Robin" in the subtitle was an intentional pun.)

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

How can a publisher of Marvel's caliber fail to meet the demands with a proper supply?

As a young teen, I was a huge Spider-man fan, and I used to be blind and naive enough to ever think they could do no wrong with the popular webslinger that is the very icon of the popular comic publisher. That was however before the infamous middle finger to the long time fans that was One More Day and Brand New Day. I was many of the former die hard fans that swore off all SPIDER-MAN titles, but I just refused to buy any as long as Joe Quesada was the EIC at Marvel. This isn't a blog about OMD, and I'm pretty well tired of people telling me about "all the great stories that followed". As if that justifies creating one of the most broken stories in comic history that treats your readership like morons who have the long term memory of a six months old.

Well, with Quesada no longer EIC I became open of buying the series. However, not enough to invest in the high priced monthly series. I follow events online and see if a story is interesting enough. I don't care about spoilers, and events in these series never have any long term hold to effect enjoyment of reading. I do the trade waiting when it comes to SPIDER-MAN. It was mainly because of my love of Humberto Ramos' art that I actually purchased the digital trade of SPIDER-MAN: BIG TIME on Comixology. I really enjoyed it, but I felt it was a bit over hyped. I might have enjoyed it more if people hadn't been repeatedly doing nothing but trying to convince me to come back to SPIDER-MAN becasue "Big Time is so great!"....... There is something to be said for underselling to make for a better reading experience.

I followed the news of SPIDER-ISLAND on Comic Vine, and Ramos' art had me seriously anticipating the trade for this story. Unfortunately, Marvel isn't especially good about announcing trade releases, and it was never appearing on Comixology. It was ultimately released in January 2012, but I didn't learn about that until around September. That's when I was putting together my Amazon wishlist for the holidays. Just out of personal tastes, I prefer the paperback edition of comic trades. Hardcovers can often be heavy and awkward to take anywhere. I'm also not thrilled about the idea of spending more on a story I've never read before.

So, imagine my surprise when the Amazon store has the hardcover edition available now, but the paperback edition wont be published until October 2013. That's nearly two years after the story arc ended, and 22 months after the hardcover edition has been available. That is inexcusable. I understand wanting some gap between the releases, but this is insane. You'd think they would get the hardcover out for the hard core, but also want the paperback available soon for those who maybe aren't as invested but still want to read it. It's basic supply and demand. It's why they put out DVDs and Blu-rays at the same time for new releases. You strike while the iron is hot and interest in your product is high. This is more a case of striking while the iron is dead cold.

Whoever is in charge of distribution at Marvel must be working under the assumption that making the more expensive version the only one available will make them more money. Unfortunately for them, I'm not biting at that bait. Since they can seem to wait to earn any profits from the paperback. I can also wait to buy it. Providing by in that time I don't lose interest or forget about buying it at all together. In which case, they earn nothing.

In an industry that struggles with dropping sales, and trying to undercut online piracy. You'd think a publisher at Marvel's level wouldn't be making such a Big Time face plant. You'd think they'd want the largest possible market share. I'm not going to stoop to reading some online pirated version, but it's far more likely that making me wait this long will only result in me never reading it, period. Which is a shame since I was really interested before this.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

This Japanese publication celebrates a landmark anniversary for the year 2013!!

Starting this month the Japanese serialized manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump has begun celebrating it's 45th anniversary in publishing their magazine that has brought us some of the best selling manga series of all time. If you've been a fan of DRAGON BALL, NARUTO, ONE PIECE, or BLEACH. This is the magazine where they all started, and these are probably the only ones you've heard of. For the rest of the year, you can expect to see Shueisha's flagship magazine mark their covers with the 45th Anniversary tag, as you can see on the cover above.

The series began as a semimonthly publication between 1968–1969, but moved to weekly distribution in October of 1969. Since then it's published almost every week in the year with a few breaks for national holidays. It was back in 2008 that Shonen Jump hit the 2,000th issue, and in a few more weeks it will hit 2,200 issues published. The above issue is 2.198. Regardless of your thoughts on manga, that's an accomplishment to be applauded. If you're curious how this magazine manages to stay strong since the late 60s. You can see my article Publishing Tricks: Comics vs. Manga.

I would like to also give a mention that this series publication has begun to spread so far that is was recently they opened up a US branch website that will be publishing official English translated chapters the week they are released in Japan. Basically, they are trying to undercut the popularity of pirated fan translated manga chapters. I'm still personally a bit dubious of this option, given the US company in charge of the translation, VIZ Media, has a practice of censoring manga and making certain scenes childish. One example would be in NARUTO Vol. 36 Ch. 328. VIZ painted out the cigarette and lighter out of the hand and mouth of Shikamaru Nara and ruined a great moment of character drama.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

As you can see, I really like playing as Catwoman in ARKHAM CITY.

I am not nor have I never have been a leaderboards chaser in video games. Still, I get a lot of fun in playing BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY on my PS3. I really enjoy playing the Combat Challenges with Catwoman. She's so fast and looks cool as you take down a room full of guys in a tight catsuit with a partially functioning zipper.

If anything, I get more fun out of playing these challenges and trying to beat my own personal best. A few weeks ago I was playing the Hell's Gate Extreme challenge. I didn't do perfectly, but I did pretty damn well. I certainly wiped my previous best score. Out of curiosity, I then checked the leaderboards. I was shocked at what I saw and took this picture.

I had somehow ranked 16th on the entire PSN leaderboards for ARKHAM CITY. A lot of people would probbaly feel a great deal of accomplishment for something such as this. I actually felt a little embarrassed. I realized I had been playing this way too much. I put down the controller and stepped away from this game for a couple of weeks. Sure, I'm back playing again, but I'm not going to try and replicate this sort of action.

I actually feel I'm qualified though to write a guide on Giant Bomb for the combat system in this game now.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

These two finally clash in in the fight for best detective....through rap battle!

Now, I don't want people to mistake this as a battle forum I'm starting between Sherlock Holmes and Batman. That battle has been played out enough in the forums, so don't bring that here. That's why I'm not putting it in the Battle Forums. I want to share with you all a seriously funny video that just involves these two gong at each other.

There are a group of rappers on You Tube called Epic Lloyd and Nice Peter. They have been posting themed rap battles they call Epic Rap Battles of History. Normally, it's between two characters that have something similar but they are from history, reality, and fiction. The great thing about these videos is that they let the audience not only decide the winners, but choose the next better in the comments on the latest video. The production value and special effects can be impressive.

Check out one of their latest fights between Sherlock Holmes and Batman. Be sure to go to their website to decide the winner and post a comment on who you want to see next. I've been pushing for Superman vs. Goku.

I've really gotten hooked on some of their videos. The lyrics can be a bit on the mature side at times, but never really crude. Some of my favorites are "Ben Franklin vs. Billy Mays", "Frank Sinatra vs. Freddie Mercury". and "Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama".

I'll share one more with you, but you'll have to go to their You Tube channel to see the rest.

Hope you got a good laugh out of them, and have a good day.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

Past all the tricks and gimmicks used by publishers to increase sales. There are things to be learned from Japanese manga.

As I look at the state of comic publishing. I always hear people complaining about low sales, and that you need to buy the singles if you ever want to see a trade, but the economics that have been created favor the trade-waiters. Single issues can get costly, especially when they create events that cross numerous titles. With the rise in prices, I don't see publishers helping matters.

How often do we see major publishers such as Marvel and DC just create a title that contains the very same characters in them telling stories that are only marginally different than the other. For DC, the answer is make a bunch of Batman titles, and for Marvel their answer is Wolverine - - or they'll mix things up and make it Deadpool.

I don't see how the answer becomes taking a popular character and putting them in as many books as you can in the hope that fans will then buy all the series to boost sales. On top of that keeping the same higher prices. That practice only seems to appeal to the hardcore. More likely, you are fracturing your reader base by spreading them too thin. Maybe several of these series would have stronger sales numbers if there were less similar titles. Maybe if you didn't have four titles specifically dedicated to Batman and condensed it to one or two that their sales would get stronger, becasue your readership wouldn't be so deluded and stories stronger. Readers would know where to go.

The way publishers then try to get boost sales seems more like a series of gimmicks than an actual publishing strategy. I'm not going to go into the classic issues of reboots, renumbering, or retitling. I'd like to point out the odd fixation DC clings to still about keeping 52 titles out of some weird sense of branding. It made sense when there was the New 52, but a year has passed. The entire publishing plan is to cancel any series that has low sales and replace it with an equivalent number of all new titles. All to make sure there are 52 titles. However, do they even bother addressing the issues that caused the low sales to begin with? That doesn't sound like a strategy. It's a reaction. Has anyone ever really looked into how many old readers you lose versus new readers you gain after reboots?

Then there is the issue of new readers. How are new readers going to know that Marvel of DC have these new reader friendly titles if they aren't advertising it outside of the comic bubble? What are the odds that someone walks into a comic book store for the first time just as they release all these .01 or new #1 titles?

I don't really see these sort of issues with manga publishing. I follow their sales numbers quite often. The Oricon group is a company that tracks sales of all media in Japan, including manga. Every November they publish the sales numbers of top 50 manga volumes. This is only for those series published within that year and don't include back issues. Some of the top manga we've heard of in the US are NARUTO, BLEACH, and ONE PIECE. This is the sales records for all the new manga for these three released between November 2010 - November 2011.

Yeah, you aren't imagining things. Those five volumes of ONE PIECE sold in that year produced nearly 38 million in sales. The series has been running since '97 and the sales are only growing. A single volume of this averages 2 million sales in three days of release, and it appeals to readers across gender and age groups. You have to wonder how they can manage to keep older readers while still getting new ones every year. I may have an explanation for you.

When most people in the US think about manga we see the paperback novel sized versions we find in bookstores. Those are actually a collected volume called a tankōbon that contain 10-12 chapters of your average shonen-action series. You could compare it to a trade paperback for comics. Most manga are actually serialized in books either weekly or monthly in publications the size of regular comic books or a magazine. Here is the genius in how serialized manga series work that can capture new readers to different series.

Let's say for the sake of this article that there is a fan who enjoys ONE PIECE, but this person has only been buying the volumes. The problem is that volumes are often months behind where the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is up to, That's where the latest ONE PIECE chapters are published weekly. If they want to be up to date. They'll have to start buying the magazine.

Now, if you're buying SHONEN JUMP. You aren't just getting the ONE PIECE series. Several over manga are in this rather large magazine. One chapter per series, and they average at about 16-19 pages per chapter. There are currently twenty-one separate series running. They include:

Odds are pretty solid that if you are buying the series for ONE PIECE. You are also going to be reading all the other series that are also published in the same magazine you just paid for. You bought it for the latest of one series, but it's like a sampler of all the other series you aren't reading. You could wind up becoming a fan of say NARUTO or any of the various other stories, and it's very convenient to find back issue volumes.

It's a bit hard to really explain just how large WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP or any other serialized magazine can be. It's much thicker than your average trade paperback or a manga volume that can be over 200 pages. Luckily, I found a YouTube video of a woman flipping through the pages of a 2009 issue of SHONEN JUMP. (Well, she's either a girl or a guy who takes really good care of his nails. I also got quite the laugh at the DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION ad in the early pages.).

When you consider that your average comic published is $3.99 USD for about 25-30 pages, including ads. You'd have to imagine that these huge serialized manga magazines must cost a fortune. Things aren't cheap in Japan. A Japanese anime DVD that has 3 episodes on it can cost about ￥7.000 ($85). In 2012, SHONEN JUMP, costs ￥250 ($3.04). Back in 2000, it cost ￥220 ($2.68). The latest ONE PIECE tankōbon volume costs ￥420 ($5.11). I have no idea what magic they use keep the prices so low for all this content. The sales must be working out for them. It's been published weekly since 1969 and nearly 2200 issues. They don't appear to be having the same problem as US publishers are having. (You may want to see my article Comic Numbering is a Broken System! Here's a Possible Solution!)

This also affords them a large base audience when a new series starts. As the series BLEACH is nearing it's grand finale, the reader is also seeing the new series HUNGRY JOKER and SHINMAI FUKEI KIRUKO-SAN that started this month.

Often times when I write about manga publishing on Comic Vine the responses can range from curious to dismissive or straight out hostile (see the comments in my article Could Comic Vine Use a Staff Manga Reviewer?). I draw these comparisons becasue there could be something comic publishers and the audience could learn. Covering your eyes to the larger world around you doesn't solve anything. Can you really look at these manga series large sales and think there is nothing to take away from it? Take a moment, and think about it.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

Show Your Vote with Comics!

If you are a voting citizen of the United States. I hope you went to the polls today and cast your vote for the presidential election. I already have and got my "I Voted" sticker. If you have pride in both your vote and comics. Take a picture of a comic you love along with your Voted sticker. Share your pictures in the comments.

I'm not saying put it on your comic. Just along with the sticker as I show in the pictures below. I took the picture along with my volumes of ONE PIECE Vol. 61 & 62, and HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD Vol. 5.

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

Are you tired of the erratic issue of comic re-numbering? I may have a solution for everyone.

Are you a reader who is endlessly irritated but the repeated tampering of comic numbers in the vain attempt to seem "less intimidating" by the large issue numbers? Long time fans see that as a badge of honor for a series. They feel it should be celebrated. Still, you have DC rebooting the entire universe to recreate #1s, and then you have Marvel with this superficial title changes for their reasoning behind the numbering reboot.

You can't say that the #1 reboots don't work - - to an extent. We have often heard about people who see the #1 and start reading. Though, how many you're drawing in is certainly in question? These same people often recognize that these are never real #1 issues. I honestly have to wonder why such a superficial change can sway a person when they know it's artificial.

There is then the issue of publisher backpedaling. They have this renewal, but then alter it back when some anniversary comes up. Just look at what happened to WONDER WOMAN in 2010. This series jumped from issue #44 directly to #600. How does this help anyone? The low information readers would be wondering what became of the missing 556 issues. You only stand to confuse readers more.

I think we all need to face facts. The numbering system used by publishers is broken, and it only serves to work against the reader. I stand with Corey (Undeadpool) on the topic of reader intimidation. If you are intimidated by large numbers from reading a series you know you might enjoy, then 24 might as well be 600 to these people. After you start the numbering over, you are going to be having the exact same problem in two to three years. There will be someone who doesn't want to jump in on a #14 and so on.

I understand that there are going to be readers who look at this and will say, "No change. This is the way it's always been done.". That's not an excuse for you to stay with a system that you know is working against your better interests. Just becasue something is a tradition doesn't mean you cling to it. Also, publishers are changing the numbering every few years. Aren't you more frustrated by that? Sometimes, a drastic change is needed.

I could sit here and just rant on about what's wrong and be like so many other bloggers, but that's not the purpose here. I actually have a suggestion on how we can improve this issue, and it can be found in the far East. That's right, I'm pointing to Japanese manga. Not the volumes that many of us are familiar with. I'm looking to the serialized magazines. There are monthly magazines that contain numerous individual chapters of various series. Though, these magazines don't spotlight the issue number. They put the focus on the month and year. It's a universal standard that you can always keep organized. After every year, the numbering is restarted to #1 for January. It's the year number that keeps them further organized.

Here are a few select monthly covers for various magazines. These have the year and month number shown.

Gallery

Allow me to go into a bit more detail. The image below is the cover of MONTHLY SUNDAY GENE-X (SUNDAY G-X). This issue was published and sold in April 2006, but as with most magazines it uses the title of the following month. The most prominent number is the number 5 on the cover that represents the month of May. This is the SUNDAY G-X MAY 2006 issue. When the next year comes along, it will be the January issue for 2007. That's the cycle they all follow.

Now, here's the interesting tidbit. Nearly all of these magazines have the issue number printed on them among the various other publishing fine print. They're just not the focus. In the picture below, I've highlighted where you can find the issue number on the SUNDAY G-X cover above. This is the seventy-first issue. You just have to look very close to see it.

Even if you like this system. You may say that this wont work for any comic that's published more than once a month. I also have a suggestion for that. You look to the system of weekly manga magazines, such as WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP. These series are organized by issue number (representing the week), month, and day. This is the cover of the issue that was released in Japan this earlier month. As you can see, this is No. 47 for November 5th. When the first issue of next year is published, this will change to No. 1 of 2013. Every year starts off with a No. 1.

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP - - just as the name suggests - - is published on a weekly basis. It's been doing so since 1968 with only a few scattered weeks off within a year, for national holidays; and it's never actually rebooted their numbering. In the fine print at the top left, you can see this issue is #2191.

What all these series have in common - - month or weekly - - is that when they reach a grand anniversary issues. It boldly puts "100!" or even "2000!!" on the covers. Currently, DENGEKI MAOH is celebrating the series' twentieth anniversary, and MONTHLY DRAGON AGE is on its fortieth. These series have both had "20th" and "40th" on the covers of the issues this year.

This is a number system that could make everyone happy for comics. You have a numbering that reboots every year to make things easier for new readers to not feel so intimidated, and the actual issue number can also be continued in the fine print for those who want that information.

What are your thoughts on my proposal?

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

What lessons can be learned from Eiichiro Oda's Nami that can be applied to Catwoman?

When you do writing, you should never underestimate just how important your origin story can have for a character. It's your guiding light for most of your character's behavior. Often time when you are reading a story and the behavior doesn't fit. It's more likely that the author doesn't take into consideration the origin.

It's just seems sad that far too often major publishers treat origin stories as throwaways. How else do you explain how that embarrassing Nocenti BATMAN RETURNS rip-off for Catwoman getting past DC editorial? Of all the stories they had to work from, they went with the one even the porn parody used. That origin story doesn't explain a bloody thing about the character so many of us enjoy.

Originally, I didn't intended to write another blog post about Catwoman. I've already written several and felt I had vented enough. However, reading Sara's latest editorial "Catwoman Then And Now: How Much Has Changed?" got me thinking about the directions Selina's book should be taking. So far, all she's being is a thief with no real goal or direction. I really think she could really bloom in the role of a problem solver for the people who fall through the cracks.

Gotham may be a corrupt city, but just becasue you aren't clean doesn't mean you're filthily. In other words, angels aren't the only ones who are victims of crimes, but who's there to help them? Are the cops of Gotham going to care if some gangster is kidnapping strippers and selling them on the slave trade overseas, using the unseen street kids as drug mules, or if a gangster's child it kidnapped by rivals? Sure, Jim Gordon would, but he can't be everywhere, and Batman is busy with super criminals, such as Joker and Court of Owls. These people living in the shadows of Gotham fall through the cracks. Catwoman could be the perfect hero for these people, but what's her motivation to do so?

Catwoman has had so many different origins. Some have her with the life of a prostitute, as told in Frank Miller's BATMAN: YEAR ONE; and others have her as just growing up as a random thief. A theme you often notice is whenever writers have tried to "clean up" Selina's origin it makes her character seem more aimless. I pose it's becasue you don't understand why she's doing the things she does. Why does she suddenly care about the people in the seedy side of the city? Where is the attachment? If it's just some sense of altruism, why is that kind of person a thief? You'd lose the fun loving bad girl with a heart of gold, and raises too many questions about her motivations.

I personally never found Miller's prostitute origin offensive, because he never showed her as the stereotype. She was strong, willful, and she stood up for her friend Holly to leave. Growing up as a member of that social group gives her an attachment and motivation to look after them. She knows from personal experience that there is both bad and good to be found in them. People aren't black and white but shades of grey. She wants to see justice for them, becasue she knows no one else will do it. Similar to the reason Batman goes out at night.

There is actually a character in manga that I think shares a lot of similarities with Selina. Now, I know some of you see me use the word "manga" and stop listening. Well, just get over your irrational fear and hatred of manga for five minutes. I'm trying to make a point here. In the ONE PIECE series, created by Eiichiro Oda, there is a character named Nami. She's the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates, and she's also known as Cat-Burglar Nami. She's playful, smart, loves money and treasure, sometimes ill tempered, but also has a heart of gold. Sound like someone familiar?

Nami's origin is that of a war orphan who was adopted by a young woman, Bellemere; and she loved to draw maps. When Nami was ten, the evil pirate Arlong took over her home island and murdered her mother in front of her. Arlong forced Nami to work for him as a map maker by telling her that if she could pay him 100,000,000 berries* (*the OP currency, equivalent to the yen) he would free her home. When not being forced to draw Arlong's charts, Nami would then go out and steal from pirates to get the money. Little by little for nearly eight years. Robbing such a dangerous group means she had to get good fast. I'm not going to go into the details of the outcome when the villain naturally betrayed this promise. Go read her Comic Vine page to learn more. This origin explains why she's such a good thief, and why on her adventures she's always been protective of children. She knows what it's like to be scared, suffering, and not have anyone around to save her.

Nami coming to the rescue of children is highlighted in the current Punk Hazard story arc. Nami and much of the crew are captured on an abandoned island, Punk Hazard; and wake up in a locked cell. They break free and run into a room filled with children, both very large and small. They're being chased, but the kids suddenly ask for help. The children have been experimented on by Caesar Clown and lied to that they were sick. Their parents told that they had died in an accident. No one is coming to save them. Check out the scene in the images below. (remember to read right to left)

(Just a bit of FYI, when the girl calls Nami "big sis" what she's actually saying is "Nē-chan". While it does mean "elder sister". It's also a generic term used when talking to young women.)

Is there anything more heartbreaking than a child crying out for help? Most of the Straw Hats are reluctant but willing to leave these children behind to avoid capture, but Nami puts her foot down and demands they help her free them from these labs. What comes is one of my favorite scenes of Nami standing strong. I can't wait for this volume to come to the US.

Everything about Nami's actions here makes sense for her motivation based on her origin. She lost the mother she loved, and thus can't stand the idea of other children suffering without their parents.

This is the sort of direction that could be great for Catwoman, but you need to create an origin that connects her in some way with the sort of people she's out there saving. Making her just another Robin Hood cliche isn't that interesting or unique. She shouldn't be so much a rob from the rich and give to the poor, than a rob from the rich and cuts the poor in on a percentage. Nami is very open that the two things she loves are money and mikans (a kind of orange that are a Japanese symbol of prosperity and wealth). It's a joke that the two things she loves are money and more more. That still doesn't stop her from standing for what she thinks is right.

It's just so frustrating that it's becasue of Nocenti's half-baked origin story that it seems impossible to get the Catwoman we love back. This is suppose to be the frame work for all those that follow her run. The OLIVER TWIST kleptomaniac with some serious self esteem issues and licked my alley cats.

If you'd like to read some of my previous Catwoman blogs. You can find them here:

• The Real Catwoman Disappears from DC Comics
• What Batman & Catwoman Can Teach Us.
• Arkham City: Catwoman Theme History

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt

The topic of rape and sexual assault came up in a recent podcast on Comic Vine. In the discussion, the scene from NIGHTWING #93 where Tarantula took advantage of an injured Nightwing to force herself on him right in the middle of the rain soaked streets was mentioned. Being confident and sexually aggressive is fine for a woman, but Tarantula didn't just cross the line. She crossed it and continued running for a quarter mile. "Don't touch me." is a pretty obvious "No". Devin Grayson, the author at the time, attempted to try and reassure everyone when she said,

" I never used the word 'rape,' I just said it was nonconsensual. "

Really, Grayson, you want to split that hair? Well, here is the definition of "rape" by Merriam-Webster:

" An unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent. "

The topic of men being the victim of sexual assault is something that often gets passed on. Probably becasue society still holds this image of men being the sexually aggressive caveman. Even the dictionary definition still specifies gender, but this isn't a discussion of equality. Rape in media can be just an incredibly uncomfortable topic. I really enjoyed the movie THE CROW, but I can hardly ever watch it becasue of that extremely graphic gang rape scene and how if keeps appearing in flashbacks. It makes my skin crawl.

This leads up to the topic at hand. It was hearing the discussion on the Comic Vine's podcast that triggered my memory of a scene from BATMAN INCORPORATED #2. I never read this series. I just remembered this scene of Talia drugging Bruce being talked about on a previous CV podcast (yeah, I remember a lot of things). Some time after Batman beats up Ra's, Bruce and Talia are seen in a room together kissing. It's an awkward enough scene to immediately go from beating up a guy to sleeping with his daughter.

As you can see, an apparent love potion has been slipped into Bruce's drink - as conveniently highlighted by the puff of smoke in the shape of a heart. Most likely a series of lurid events continues into the night. The next morning Talia starts talking about how their child will be the new Alexander of the world. This shows Bruce being surprised that something must have been slipped into his drink. The context as it's shown was apparently to make him more pliable and more fertile so she could have his child.

Many may try and play this off as not that big a deal, but would you say the same thing about this situation if the gender roles were reversed? Let's say a guy has a girl who is willing to sleep with him, but he decides to slip something into her drink without her knowledge that would make her more open to suggestion. All for the goal of getting her pregnant with his child, and not ever telling her until the next morning what he had done. Even if she was willing to have intercourse, she never consented to being drugged. To any women reading this, how would you feel if some guy told you the morning after that he had put a drug in your drink? I would think pissed off and scared would be an understatement, What would you define this as?

I don't believe I've heard of any comments from Grant Morrison about this scene. It could very much be a scene that comes off in way he didn't intend. Even Devin Grayson never seemed to realize she didn't just write a sex scene. It's drugging Bruce that seems over the top here. This isn't as disturbing as what Tarantula did, but it still isn't right to slip other people drugs. This appears like an assault to me.

While we're on the topic. I wonder if the Nightwing scene even happened in the post New 52 reboot? What are your thoughts?

-Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek.- Follow for news updates: @ FoxxFireArt