Believe You Me
Just stop it. You can say that you believe any opinion:
- “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” -Abraham Lincoln
- “I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.” -Steve Martin
- “I’ll ne’er believe a madman till I see his brains.” -William Shakespeare
- “Despite everything, I believe that all men are really good at heart.” -Anne Frank
- “I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us.” -Kinky Friedman
You can even say you believe (or disbelieve) dubious or unproven facts:
- “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “I believe that I was a dog in a past life. That’s the only thing that would explain why I like to snack on Purina Dog Chow.” -Dean Koontz
- “I am not a lesbian and I am not a slut, and somehow I am going to make people believe me.” -Vanessa Williams
- “Everytime a child says ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ there’s a a little fairy somewhere that falls down dead.” -J.M. Barrie
But you can’t say you believe or disbelieve a documented fact. Consider this statement by Scott Brown, republican nominee for the vacant Massachusetts US Senate seat.
Marriage
I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. States should be free to make their own laws in this area, so long as they reflect the people’s will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.
Guess what, Scott? If you are implicitly saying that you disbelieve that marriage is between two people of the same sex, you believe a lie. Because I’m married to a wonderful guy. There are people all over the globe whose spouses are the same sex they are. I really don’t give a flying fart what you believe.
Isn’t it funny how he avoids using the word “gay” or even “same-sex?” His implicit criticism of the judicial rule that denying same-sex partners marriage licenses is unconstitutional (as opposed to putting minority rights to a majority legislative vote) is really hateful too. Scott, you don’t get to reinterpret what our laws say — an accusation leveled at gay marriage supports frequently.
Now, prepare to lose on Tuesday.







Secret Six #12 written by Gail Simone, art by Nicola Scott. Both of Gail’s titles made the Top 2 this week, but I have to say, Secret Six #12 makes it to the top with the artistic aid of Nicola Scott. The premise of Secret Six is this: six villains (or at best, anti-heroes) band together originally to survive, and eventually because they enjoy working together. In recent issues they got involved with a slavery ring, and discovered that Artemis, one of the Amazons, was a captive of the slavers. This issues the ultimate Amazon shows up… yeah, that’s Wonder Woman. She has an awesome smackdown with Jeannette, one of the more mysterious members of the Six, whose secret is finally revealed in this issue. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Diana captured as perfectly both in script or in image as this issues of Secret Six. She is truly chilling and awesome to behold in this issue. Take a look on the right. DC Comics
Guardians of the Galaxy #17 written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, art by Brad Walker. Marvel comes in with one of their cosmic titles, which is also the single most enjoyable title they are putting out right now. Two of my favorite Marvel heroines are featured regularly, Moondragon (who only has a small part in this issue) and Mantis (who is absent from this issue), but this issue does guest star my second favorite Marvel heroine, Medusa along with the rest of the Inhumans Royal Family in this War of Kings follow-up. The Inhumans have gone and detonated a deadly bomb to end the Kree/Shair War, and the result is a massive rift in time and space that threatens to destroy the cosmos. The Guardians of the Galaxy go to confront the Inhumans for their actions, and to see if they can do something about the unravelling of the galaxy. Naturally Medusa is a bit consumed by grief as it looks like her husband, and King of the Inhuamns, Black Bolt, has been obliterated. As you can see in the image on the right, she doesn’t have much patience for Martyr’s “I told you so’s.” Fortunately for the cosmos, Adam Warlock manages to stop the rift’s growth. Unfortunately for the cosmos, the resulting timeshift causes him to become the villainous Magus. It’s a pretty shocking ending, and great cosmic space opera. Marvel comics
War of Kings #6 of 6 written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, art by Paul Pelletier. As mentioned above, Medusa is one of my all-time favorite heroines from Marvel, and she and the rest of the Royal Family of the Inhumans is featured prominently in the War of Kings miniseries which reached its conclusion this month. It comes down to an epic personal battle between Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans, and Vulcan, man Emperor of the Shiar. Black Bolt intends to detonate a T-bomb, powered by his deadly voice, that will have deadly repercussions to the galaxy. Vulcan intends to stop him. Medusa comes to realize that Black Bolt will perish in the explosion as this epic war comes to a close. Abnett and Lanning do cosmic storylines with finesse, action, political intrigue and great characterization. Unfortunately, they tend to paint their characters in fairly broad strokes: Crystal and Ronan are our heroes, and seem to make no errors in judgment, while the rest of the Inhumans Royal Family are nearly reduced to cardboard villains. I would have rather seen more layers. The miniseries was elevated by the fabulous artwork of Paul Pelletier though, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the next chapter in this saga. Marvel Comics
Batgirl #1 written by Bryan Q. Miller, art by Lee Garbett. I wasn’t going to read the new Batgirl series, as I wasn’t all that interested in the last young lady who wore the costume. For some reason, when I found out who was going to be wearing the costume, I was intrigued, so I decided to pick up issues #1. I’m going to spoil you about the new Batgirl’s identity, because it’s revealed very early on in the issue. Stephanie Brown, formerly Spoiler, is our new Batgirl, and while I don’t really know all that much about Ms. Brown, I thought I’d see how she handles the role. The art is terrific, and Brown’s Batgirl is a little uncertain of herself and makes some mistakes. Clearly she is in need of a mentor, and she is apparently going to get one in the form of Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, and now the uber-information broker, Oracle. Miller writes Barbara with a lot of pent up anger, which I’m not sure I buy, but I’m going to wait and see where that anger is coming from and see how the story develops. In the meantime, I’m in. DC Comics
propel her back to serious status. Gray and Pamottie are taking a slightly humorous approach to Power Girl (there’s a joke about her breasts in just about every issue) but they’re also doing a good job establishing her as an entertaining and strong character. Amanda Conner’s art is a little cartoony, but it fits thebig adventures well, and she captures facial expressions really well. I’m enjoying this title much more than I thought I would. DC Comics
I wanted to mention a few other titles for various reasons, starting with Blackest Night #2. I’m not as over the moon about this event as most of fandom. Never been much of a Green Lantern fan, and Geoff Johns stories are wildly uneven for me, some being outstanding, others being overhyped. But the big surprise in this issue was the awesome return of Mera in a big way (take a gander at left). Mera is the long-suffering wife of Aquaman, who has basically been the ultimate expression of the wife/girlfriend character in comics. Now that Aquaman is dead (and returned in Blackest Night) it appears that Johns is going to shine a little spotlight on Mera, and for that I must thank him. She’s got tons of potential, great powers, and an outstanding visual. She’s the Queen of Atlantis, and as you know from Marvel’s Medusa, I’ve got a thing for Queens!


