DC Comics' All-Star Batman and Robin series (from creators Frank Miller and Jim Lee) has taken quite a bit of heat here and there, but it's not the dubious quality of the book that has its publisher urging retailers to pulp its newest issue: It's some censored dialogue that managed somehow to not quite get censored. [more inside]
posted by kittens for breakfast on Sep 10, 2008 - 67 comments

"And on the rare occasion when nonwhite heroes were included, names like Black Panther and Black Lightning telegraphed the difference" (NYT). Nonwhite and non-traditional superheroes aren't new, but a "lesbian socialite" Batwoman is. How about "The Great Ten," a "Chinese government controlled superteam" also to be featured in the ongoing "52" Series from DC comics (an alternate superverse bereft of A-league stars like Batman and Superman)? When I was a kid, it was pretty shocking to know of at least one gay superhero (and a Canadian to boot), but I wasn't aware that there were actually so many. Of course, the irrepressible Stan Lee claims he created the first gay superhero in the persona of Pvt. Percival Pinkerton. (Previous mefi discussion of Pavitr Prabhakar, the "Indian Spiderman" here.)
posted by bardic on Jun 1, 2006 - 41 comments

Draw Batgirl. Jamie Dee Galey decided to draw Batgirl and post it on his livejournal site. And thus a meme was born. The list of LiveJournalers who have joined him keeps growing and growing. Many of them are pretty good!
posted by jazon on Jan 13, 2006 - 42 comments

Holy Transformation! Watch as Gotham City's favorite librarian Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl with a only few flashy accessories and a skirt that doubles as a cape! Check out more tv good'n's here.
posted by rokabiri on Sep 20, 2005 - 23 comments