Friday, July 21, 2017

"I'll take Batman.  Golden age Batman or campy Silver Age or grim Batman or the aging Dark Knight of even Batman 2099.  I'll take whoever chooses to answer the Bat-Signal on a given rainy night. I'll take him for all sorts of reasons.  Because he's a weird superhero.  No powers, just his self-discipline and talent and personal hang-ups. Part vicious vigilante, part neurotic warrior saint.  With his private cult of unrelenting mourning, he's the costumed patron of the walking wounded, of simply Not Letting It Go." ~ Austin Grossman, Me and Batman and You, from Last Night a Superhero Saved My Life.

It's a collection of essays not really about the superheroes exactly, but about each famous author's relationship to the preferred hero of their childhood. Why that one?

And what of my heroes? They aren't in the book. I liked Wonder Woman well enough, and did see her film on opening night, but meh. Nothing bad ever happened to her (celibacy is a huge drag but doesn't count as trauma) - daddy issues got added to her plate in this version, that helped a little, but still. I like Storm, throwing thunder like bowling balls in the strike zone. I hated Lois Lane even though she was a writer -  always needing saved and too stupid to see Clark for what he was, dumb bitch..

VIRGO  Your circumstances are where you are, not who you are. Some environments are harder to escape than others. Today you'll have to wriggle and fight to unclench the talons that hold you in a place.