Phew! at least I didn't say feck or arse!

Just back from BBC Norfolk for the Women's Hour bit on Female Superheroes it's now got a 'listen to this item' and listen to the show again feature, if you want to hear yours truly mumbling to some question about Buffy but getting slightly better when i get to mention She-Hulk and Spider-Woman quelle surprise. The other speaker Dr. Esther Maccallum Stewart who was very good, has a great blog, Break of Day in the Trenches which combines blogging and academia expertly.


It was a bit weird sitting in a wee room on my own beside the reception of BBC Norfolk* waiting for about 45 minutes with head phones on and cardboard cutouts of three Look East presenters leering over my back waiting for a wee light that may or may not light up as a big retro clock clicks on and on. It reminded me of poor Desmond, my favorite character in Lost (why? because he's got a bunker! and some retro computers and that) waiting to type those famous numbers every 108 minutes.

Ever since I started the thesis I have been trying to clarify the differences between transferring pre-existing female superheroes to film and the slightly different creations of Xena, Buffy and Tomb Raider, but people still keep asking me about Buffy, so I have to try and not offend Buffy fans by claiming she's not a superhero in the comic book sense.

I think the constant coverage TV action heroines obscures some of the great recent characters like Tara Chace in Greg Rucka's Queen & Country, Ed Brubacker's great run on Catwoman, and Warren Ellis' great Jenny Sparks character. Whilst back in Dublin I was wandering around an old haunt (that other comic shop that's not Sub City or Forbidden Planet opposite Urban Outfitters in Temple Bar, Bob will no doubt know the name it escapes me) and saw this old cover for a 2000ad summer special. I had forgotten all about Tyranny Rex, perhaps by green-woman thing predated She-Hulk! I remember this cover especially as I felt the need to put it inside the door of my locker at the seminary and almost got it confiscated.**

Just listened to it online, I'm not as much of a mubling mook as I thought and props to the BBC for pronouncing my name right, hooray.

*I tried in vein to get a snoop about by asking to go to the loo, but got told to use the public ones in the Forum pfft! feck that I've seen them, I wanted to see the nerve centre of east anglia media.
**I should feel bad about this, but then I listened to a DC Comics podcast with Brad Meltzer where he was talking about having a She-Hulk poster up on his door at college.