Breaking the Bottle

Joe Quesada has been talking a lot for the last few months about putting genies back in their bottles. He's been talking a lot about it. Really. I think he's a tad obsessed.
Essentially, these genies are character developments he disagrees with. The first was the number of mutants in the Marvel universe. The second, and more relevant to this blog entry, is Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane. Joey Q has a problem with Spider-Man being married, because it takes him farther away from the archetype relatable teenage character he was created as. I find a lot of things wrong with this assessment. The audience of comics have grown, so it worries me that Quesada thinks that the 20 or 30-something audience is alienated by the idea of marriage. The X-Men were created as teens, but no one argued when Cyclops married Jean. Any complaints about Cyclops' affair with Emma Frost did not relate to the characters aging.
Quesada claims that there are no stories that can be told about a married Peter Parker that can not be told about a single Peter Parker, but that the opposite is not true. I disagree. MJ could be even more jealous of Spidey's occassional partnering with the Black Cat, because he vowed to be with her. Or, if the characters were to be portrayed more maturely, MJ could reveal that she trusts Peter and the Black Cat. There can be stories about MJ and Peter's future: Will he always be a super-hero? Should they have children? When will either of them get real jobs?
In addition, if Quesdada wants to tell the stories of a swinging, single Spider-Man, he has plenty of options: the Ultimate line, Marvel Adventures, the movies, video games, flashbacks, etc.

But it turns out none of this is the issue. It seems Joey's talk of putting this genie back in the bottle was all misdirection. Civil War #2 arrived this week, with its shocking conclusion. But the cliff hanger did not feature MJ getting dropped off of a bridge or the Scarlet Witch removing her from continuity. It had almost nothing to do with her. At the end of the issues, Spider-Man reveals himself at a press conference to be Peter Parker.
Now really, how are you going to complain about genies and bottles and then smash the bottle? I think Spider-Man's secret identity is just as key, if not moreso, to than character than his single lifestyle. There are so many stories that one can tell about secret identites that you can not tell with a public identity. Yes, there will be new stories about Flash Thompson, J. Jonah Jameson, and Spier-Man's villains' reactions, but really, that can only take up a year at most.
Half of me hopes that Quesada and Co. piece this bottle back together quickly and shove that genie in it, but the other half of me wants to see what they can do with it. Especially if it entails Quesada being exposed for the hypocrite he sometimes can be.

Issue #7 Wasn't the Only Thing Coming Out in 52 This Week

This week's issue of DC's 52 marked the first appearance of Kate Kane, destined to become the future Batwoman. But that's not what has gotten all of the media attention. Oh wait, you haven't heard? That's odd. So why all the attention? DC (and Marvel) have gay characters and have had them for years. Could it be the high profile of a book like 52? No, because Renee Montoya has been in that book since the beginning, as well as being featured in Batman books for years. Maybe it is because she is a member of the Bat-family? But Batman and Robin have been gay for years! Kidding. Mostly. Whatever the reason, Kate Kane has really drawn a lot attention.
But is it deserved? As stated, comics have been depicting GLBT characters for years. In fact, Comixfan recently did an article on the Top 10 GLBT Characters. Vertigo is known for showing all sorts of GLBT characters essentially since its creation. Maggie Sawyer's sexuality was hinted at but never directly stated for years in the Superman books, paving the way for Kate's ex Renee. Currently, even gay teens like Hulkling, Wiccan, and Lucy in the Sky are being shown over at Marvel in books targeted at young readers like Young Avengers and Runaways. Wiccan and Hulkling are especially notable, because their sexuality has not been seen to be a major issue, and their relationship is presented as relatively normal.
It is clear that there is a diversity of other gay characters. So does Kate Kane really deserveall this attention? It is too soon to make any realy judgements, as she has yet to even don her black leather costume. But based on the few pages we got of her in this week's 52, she is not really anything special. In the links to the news about Batwoman above, DC describes her as a "lipstick lesbian," and swear that her sexuality will only be a part of her character. The lipstick lesbian comment gives me fear though, because in this issue, she is presented as the femme to Renee's butch. I worry that DC is trying too hard show that she is not a stereotypical lesbian, and thus making her Barbie who has no interest in Blaine or Ken. Stereotypes can be bad, but making a character the opposite of stereotypes is interestingly enough, still playing into prejudices.
Again, it is too early to judge Kate in any real way, and the media attention is definately throwing the new character under a critical microscope. But based on this issue, the only thing presented about Kate was her sexuality. And that she's kind of a bitch. Key may have been what drew people to the issue, but Booster Gold's story and Renee's relationship with the Question are by far the most interesting parts.