Meh. Something that I realized a long time ago is that everybody has favorites, and everyone gets attached to “their characters.” And no matter how much Joey Da Q and Dan Didio want it to be different, any change will cause controversy, and we, as readers, are well within our rights as consumers of DC & Marvel (& Image & Dark Horse & Virgin & Devil’s Due & AC Comics, et al) to voice that displeasure.

If more Loners is forthcoming, as the sellouts might indicate, then I will probably sign on to read it. My harsh words, like yours, are due as much to the WAY the stories are being told rather than the stories themselves. And as last issue so aptly proved, one piece that doesn’t work (i.e. we have a Japanese girl, she’s Yakuza!) can bring down the whole thing. Honestly, if Johnny & Julie’s foray into Hollywood hadn’t been such a farce, I could have brought this issue up a full star, mebbe even a star and a half, depending on prevailing winds and cheese whiz.

I realize this is a team book and you can’t focus six complete issues in a row on one single character on a team book (unless it’s Wolverine or Batman, history sez) but I just hope this isn’t the creative team taking a long look at Julie Power and saying “hmm…Lightspeed…moves fast. Kids book…BORING…wait…she leaves a rainbow trail, hmm…rainbow…gay…lesbian! Okay, Julie’s covered, moving on…”

No matter how “respectful” or “thoughtful” a lesbian character is–even if a woman’s writing her–the danger is of course that the lesbianism is used as subconscious (or worse, blatant) tittilation for the overwhelmingly male demographic that purchases comic books. I’m not against the sight of two attractive women kissing, after all I am unabashedly male and therefore easily amused and distracted by female sexuality. However, even as someone who is susceptible to the trick, I can recognize exploitation when I see it. Tasteful exploration of a lesbian character is fine and dandy. Constant “horny” dialogue and sneaking bedroom shots of two scantily clad comic book heroines who are invariably built like Maxim models takes it into a different territory. Obviously that hasn’t happened here yet, but the clumsy dialogue surrounding it sounds like a warning sign for things to come.

In spite of my benign prejudice against homosexuality (I have gay friends on both sides of the fence, I just don’t understand a same-sex preference and will never attempt to,) the trend favoring lesbians over gay men in comics is as clear as the trend in movies and television of today: lesbianism can sell and is losing its “taboo” status…largely because the men who control the money in that world love seeing two hot chicks “go at it.” Hey, money talks, and most guys would rather pay to see “Wild Things” than “Queer as Folk.” Meanwhile, gay men are given “dignified” portrayals at times (read: GLAAD is thrown a bone,) but by and large are desexualized in most mainstream depictions, either as mincing artistic types or wailing “queens” whose sexual comments are taken about as seriously as Tyler Perry dressed as “Madea,” and yes, that is an intentional comparison.

Anyway, point is, if a publisher wants to defend having all sorts of lesbians popping up in recent comics as “realistic” and “respectful” it has to go both ways (no pun intended) and actually be realistic about it. The ratio of male heroes and villains to female is something like, what, 70-30? 60-40? Yet how many more lesbians are there than gay male characters? I don’t have time to add them up but I’m sure the former outweighs the latter. Like Kyle Broslofski said: “Either all of it is okay, or none of it is.”

So I’ll give the book a pass until it gets to 10-12 issues…but it really needs to be tightened up. I’m sure the writer is capable of doing so–the job must have been awarded based on higher quality than that which has been seen in LONERS so far. Sorry if I’ve been a little acidic regarding the book, but I always had a weakness for the “Power Pack” characters since it was one of my favorite regular reads as a kid.

Salieri, I think it was totally meant to; she was playing it up for them to emphasis the difference between it and the real her. If it makes things better, that’s probably the last we’ll see of Hollywood Julie. ;)

Which goes for Mark I., too. Yes, the “new” Julie Power was different, but she meant it to be that way, because it was just an act, and, as you know, she’s decided to drop the act. Before you write off Julie written by C.B., I’d suggest you’d give the Julie that we’ll (hopefully) see in issues #5 and #6.

To Matthew Peterson, yeah, I don’t mind seeing Julie’s implied lesbianism too. Let’s face it, it’s a part of our population (and has been since civilization began) and always will be; gay people should get some representation in comics, too. The only thing remains is to get some more gay male superheroes.

And the last issue got 1 star? Hah, I must’ve put a mental block on that little fact; I was convinced it was also a 1.5. ;) Good, then I’m not completely crazy in thinking #4 was put together better than #3. :P I’ve found enjoyment in all the Loners books so far, btw (especially the first), but as with movies and TV shows, I’ve found that I’m easy to please. ;)

“We suspect that Phil doesn’ want to use his powers because they’re driving him mad, and Ricochet joined the group because of guilt about Hornet’s death, but there’s not a lot of explanation as to WHY the others are there.” ~ Matthew Peterson

Good point. Well, as of Loners #4, Julie’s reason is because she promised her parents that she wouldn’t use her powers out here in L.A. Of course, she lies so much that I automatically have trouble believing this is the real reason (I have a sister who lies a lot, so I’m naturally suspicious), but I’ll go with it since it probably is the reason. Mattie’s real reason should hopefully be uncovered in Loners #5 and #6, along with Turbo’s and Darkhawk’s; I don’t think C.B. would completely miss this aspect of the characters.

As for Julie’s “dream job” not being set up earlier in the series, come on, in issue #1 she mentions her hopeful aspirations for an acting career. Yeah, the execution of the idea in issue #4 was rushed and unrealistic, but at least it wasn’t something that came completely out of the blue in the beginning of #4. Keep in mind she was stuck in the hospital for issue #3.

Although, just before the meeting in issue #1, when she was on the phone, the whole acting career thing might’ve been really talking about her lesbianism but just didn’t want to say that to the whole group. If, that is, she really is a lesbian. Anyway, her whole acting kick has been mentioned since at least Loners #1; I’m not familiar with Excelsior’s run in Runaways.

Although, I will say (I got this from a couple of other people on Newsarama who said the same thing), that Karolina and Julie might’ve gotten their flirt on, even way back then. At the very least, it proves that Julie doesn’t mind that sort of attention. ;)

Julie: Don’t try anything funny, girlfriend, or I’ll–
Karolina: Wow. You are really, really pretty.
Julie: Oh… thanks? I mean, you’re pretty, too.
Karolina: Seriously?
Julie: Yeah, I like how your hair glows and–OWF! *gets hit by a flying “Chamber”*
Karolina: Molly! I was talking to her!
Molly: Sorry, K! The flaming trenchcoat guy was trying to burn me with his face!

“The execution, however, makes it feel like they’re all crowded together, clamoring for your attention.” ~ Matthew Peterson

Hmm, yeah, come to think of it, it does seem like that (not that I minded whilst I was reading it, apparently, heh); and that’s why you said what you said about there being more than six issues worth of story crammed into this miniseries. Well, if you can let go of that, I could suggest you take it as many stories are happening simultaneously and we only get to see bits and pieces of the others as the focus shifts.

I really hope they don’t do all that (what you said, Matt) with Julie. Sigh. ^_^;;

So do I. Last issue got 1 star. :)

Maybe I like it so much just because it’s not your typical “let’s fly in and save the day, oo, let’s stick an explosion in there too, just for the hell of it” book. I really, really don’t mind the high exposition and “talkiness” of it.

I don’t mind talking heads in a comic… One of my favorite off-brand series in recent years was “Common Grounds,” a book which essentially consisted of people sitting in a coffee shop and jabbering. The problem for me comes in the WAY the exposition is done, a very “90210″ we’re-trying-to-create-a-new-persona-to-change-our-life feeling. We suspect that Phil doesn’ want to use his powers because they’re driving him mad, and Ricochet joined the group because of guilt about Hornet’s death, but there’s not a lot of explanation as to WHY the others are there.

Sure, the Julie plot seemed too cliche when the director tried to collect on those “fringe benefits,” but I don’t mind all that much because I care far more for the Phil-Hollow plot than hers.

I didn’t mind Julie’s After-School Special nearly as much as I was bothered by the unrealistic setup. If the “dream job” had been something that started earlier in the series, and had a realistic arc to it rather than a high-school student’s idea of what being in movies is like, I might’ve felt differently.

That’s my main criticism with this issue: a lack of progression on the other subplots. But at least there were hints. And I could understand that he’d (C.B.) need to cut other stuff out to fit in everything he wanted to for the Julie plot. Geez, even my criticisms aren’t that bad.

“Lack of progression” is kind of a buzzword here. It may not come across well, but I’m not faulting C.B. for what he’s doing with the characters, as most of that is working for me. Ricochet’s guilt, Julie’s double-life, Phil’s emotional problems and concern for a complete stranger, the Mickey/Chris relationship, all these points are interesting and work for me. The execution, however, makes it feel like they’re all crowded together, clamoring for your attention. Then we get to things that don’t work for me at all, like Mickey’s interactions with the drug-dealer last month, and the somewhat silly movie-set sequence in this issue… There’s a lot to like, but there are enough problems to come very close to overwhelming the good bits, especially when we’re talking about spending three dollars a month on the title…

I mean, I like the book. And most of the characters, flawed as they are and certainly not your typical A-listers in spandex and capes, have grown on me. Even though I only bought this series for Penance. I mean, Hollow.

And that may be why we have differing perspectives. I am familiar with Turbo and Lightspeed (coincidentally, both the names of seasons of Power Rangers) and have a passing acquaintance with Darkhawk and Ricochet. I know nothing about Phil Urich that I didn’t read on the wiki, and I could never make heads or tails of the Penance history in Generation X… It may be a question of what characters you expect to see written in a certain way. F’rinstance, maybe it’s a question of my attitudes, but I don’t mind seeing Julie Power’s implied lesbianism (an old friend informed me that “lesbo” makes her want to kill. And her wife too.) but I suspect it’s the kind of development that won’t stick around after C.B. is done with this series. Marvel is still printing kid-friendly Power Pack comics, after all, and most of us still think of Julie as a ten-year-old girl. I figure the next time we see Julie, they’ll gloss over any mention of her solo career, (just as they did with Alex, post-New Warriors) de-age her, and ignore any sexual connotations. Unless she ends up dating Spider-Woman by the end of this series (a development that wouldn’t really surprise me, given the way the book has gone thus far.)

There’s also a problem with Nekra attacking the team since the woman was first taken down by Shanna the She-Devil. Come on. You should never have any street cred after that.

Maybe I like it so much just because it’s not your typical “let’s fly in and save the day, oo, let’s stick an explosion in there too, just for the hell of it” book. I really, really don’t mind the high exposition and “talkiness” of it.

Sure, the Julie plot seemed too cliche when the director tried to collect on those “fringe benefits,” but I don’t mind all that much because I care far more for the Phil-Hollow plot than hers.

That’s my main criticism with this issue: a lack of progression on the other subplots. But at least there were hints. And I could understand that he’d (C.B.) need to cut other stuff out to fit in everything he wanted to for the Julie plot. Geez, even my criticisms aren’t that bad.

I mean, I like the book. And most of the characters, flawed as they are and certainly not your typical A-listers in spandex and capes, have grown on me. Even though I only bought this series for Penance. I mean, Hollow.

I’d settle for them stopping the whining and backbiting “You fell off the wagon” bull$#!+. It’s insulting to the characters and to anyone who ever needed an organization like Alcoholics Anonymous.

There’s a lot of stuff that could be compelling here, but the execution isn’t getting it across.

I’m not liking the whole Julie Power sexuality thing since it feel like it was tacked on to make her more interesting.

I really want to like the book but it’s getting harder to do so. I also hope that we see them actually turn into a REAL hero team.

Maybe I’m a little sentimental about Julie Power. Still, Louise Simonson’s “child” used to be written as essentially the brainiest kid of the Power clan, the kind who would get so into a book she’d read while doing dishes. Now she’s a borderline bimbo with lesbo overtones. That’s just sad. Yes, I know, this isn’t Wonder Woman or Storm we’re talking about here, but maybe creating a natural progression for how this well-established (if less than overwhelmingly popular) character might have ended up later in life instead of shoehorning her into “flying Dazzler” would have been one step towards a more interesting story.

And RAMA KUSHNA! Yet another chick superhero as a lesbian? That was tired even before “the goddamned Batwoman” came along.

Someone please just get Power Pack back together. What’s next, Jack Power pops up in the New Warriors as a bi-curious comic book artist?