To the Staff (10-Mar-2015)

 In: Letters > Staff > 2015
 Posted: Mar 2015
From Uriel Walker, via twitter

Wow. I felt the characterization of #SpiderWoman was off but what you say makes total sense. I do think Hopeless truly cares for his readers but have asked myself if Jess has logorrhea. She seems, as you say, not nice. Having said that, one of the most interesting depictions of Carol was when she became a bit too zealous in Civil War. If the intent is to portray #SpiderWoman as reckless then it works. But it's just marking her out as damaged goods, again! But yes, I have noticed a tendency for her to claim to be superior whilst eschewing the moral high ground. Had she quit 'cos her game was off, as she admitted often during Spider-Verse then I think she would seem more responsible. But even in the #SpiderWoman 5 preview she manages to diss Maria Hill, Spider-Man and herself. She is not in a loving place. And her behaviour is analogous with Espy, in that she feels she has earned it. Even rewarding herself with the title "surly". All of which could point to this being her "Superior Spider-Woman" era , but it is an odd choice to start a relaunch upon. I'm not even saying it is a bad choice. But I think at least if I knew it was intentional, I could praise it for being that. But, again, it victimizes Jess. Walking away to rebuild herself after acknowledging mistakes would show greater strength. The bold new direction for #SpiderWoman seems regressive and reductive. And too much concern over her garments not the writing. I wish I could learn how not to care, but like most guys and their football teams, #SpiderWoman is my number one, so...

We feel you, Uriel. It's our opinion that if you're going to write a character who has some character flaw that they will overcome in the course of the story, they'd better be awesome and/or interesting and/or sympathetic in other ways, because otherwise you'll lose the reader on page 1. If the reader doesn't have a reason to root for your character, you're toast.

Jessica could get away with being selfish and unpleasant if she was really good at her job, like Wolverine or Elektra, who are typically all three. But selfish, unpleasant, and incompetent at superheroics? Ugh.

 In: Letters > Staff > 2015
 Posted: Mar 2015