I’ve been speaking about Ink-Stained Amazons, Cinematic Warriors, and Superwomen in Modern Mythology through Humanities Washington at libraries, wineries, and schools across the state – and am bookable for 2014!
I had a blast working in Festival Publications for SIFF 2013 – and loved being a minion for a very special secret Whedonverse screening during the Festival, as well as participating in the forum Sheroes in the Media: From Guerrilla Girls to Women in Film.
Spike, Buffy, and Yummy Sushi PJs
First rule of Secret Screening: We don't talk about secret screenings, only about how they make us feel.
With William B. Davis - aka "The Cigarette Smoking Man"
I contributed a chapter on Lost Girl called, “Choosing Her ‘Fae’te: Subversive Sexuality and Lost Girl’s Re/evolutionary Female Hero” for the forthcoming anthology, Heroines of Film and Television (Edited by Norma Jones; Maja Bajac-Carter and Bob Batchelor).
With the help of my friends, there was a Handsy Puppet Joss Whedon, a Naughty Fan Fic Reading, Trivia, Rupert Giles singing “Behind Blue Eyes”, an Author Signing, Band Candy, and Snoopy Dancing. Drink Specials included “The Class Protector” and “Boinking the Undead.” We had music, limited edition GeekGirlCon buttons, squee-tastic photo ops, costumes, Scoobies and Slayerettes galore!!! Grr. Argh!
I got to talk about comics and gender with some of my favorite people at a Velocity Dance Center Speakeasy Conversation – BOOM! POW! COMICS, GENDER + MOVEMENT.
Boom Pow + Red Boots (Photo: Amy Peloff)
And of course, GeekGirlCon had its third annual convention! We had between 4300 and 4700 attendees – and sold out of passes before we even opened our doors on Saturday. Huzzah!
Plus, I got to make moments like this happen.
Something to Sing About (Photo: AltaStation)
And this – Where I experience Pure Joy.
Red, Karen, and Jen! (Photo by Josh Weiner: GeekGirlCon)
What’s next for The Ink-Stained Amazon? There are a few projects on the table, but unless anything extraordinary presents itself I’ll be taking it easy for the rest of the year. (Though I’m always amenable to extraordinary. So if you think of me for something, let me know.)
Last week I was thrilled to participate in several events surrounding the West Coast Premiere of Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines — an inspiring documentary I’ve watched evolve, and helped support, over the past few years.
Sunday, the film screened at The Egyptian theater with a post-screening Q&A featuring Kristy, Kelcey Edwards, Andy Mangels of the Wonder Woman Museum and Women of Wonder Day (previously known as “Wonder Woman Day”, cinematographer, Gabriel Miller, representatives from Reel Grrls, and moderator Dustin Kaspar of SIFF.
Afterwards,The Stranger hosted a Superheroine Happy Hour at St. John’s on Capitol Hill — and just around the corner from the Egyptian.
Additionally, I was asked by The University of Washington Department of Classics to write a few words on how I got involved with the film and how my experience in the Classics department enhanced my studies at the UW.(Note – The best part of the linked post isn’t what I have to say, but the Tag: “Student Success”)
Check out the Wonder Women! blog for more wonderific photos! Future screenings will also be posted at the blog, lovingly maintained by the film’s Executive Producer, Erin Prather Stafford. (Who I can’t believe I didn’t get a photo with – we’ll just have to get her back to Seattle!)
So be sure to look there if your Superwoman Geek is a fan of British Spy-fi!
Jaime Sommers
Fans of Bionic Woman, Jaime Sommers, are in luck – The Bionic Woman has finally been released on DVD in the U.S.!
Na-na-na-na-na-na . . .
And for those wanting to know more about the show there’s Bionic Book Reconstructed – a history of both Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. (With interviews!)
Wonder Woman
Anyone who knows me, or is familiar with my work, knows how influential Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman was on me as a child and on the woman I’ve become.
For those that want to revisit their childhoods, pop culture research junkies like myself, and parents wanting to introduce their children to the Amazon Princess, Wonder Woman The Complete Collection is the perfect gift.
Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels is a well-researched and thorough history of the character. And while I don’t care for Daniels’ weird dislike of Gloria Steinem I would still recommend this book for Wonder Woman fans.
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is another of my personal favorites when it comes to Superwomen. Get me started talking about the emotional resonance and feminist message of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I’ll never stop. I’ll also probably say things like, “I’m a Slayer. Ask me how.”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 will get your Geek caught up in the world of Buffy and the Scoobies as they lead an army of Slayers against the latest Big Bad.
I miss Sydney Bristow. From the very first episode of Alias I was hooked on this Superwoman and spy-fi shero. Your Geek can get hooked too, or just revisit the adventures of Sydney and her family of spies with Alias: The Complete Collection.
Private eyeful Honey West debuted in 1957’s This Girl for Hire – a novel co-written by husband and wife team Gloria and Forrest Fickling under the pseudonym “G.G. Fickling.” In addition to the 10 novels Honey appeared in, she was the star of an eponymous television series in the mid-1960s. (I wrote about her for the Noir Issue of Bitch.)
Fans of Superwomen would enjoy Honey West: This Girl for Hire – the novel that introduces us to the busty blonde detective.
Honey West: The Complete Series – as one of the first American television series to star an action heroine is an absolute joy.
Honey West by John C. Fredriksen provides a guide to the series with episode synopses and interviews.
Cathy and Mrs. Peel are two of the first action heroines of television period. Played by Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg respectfully, they were not only beautiful, stylish, and sexy, but smart, talented, fearless and perhaps more capable than their male colleague, John Steed.
Get Christie Love started out as a made-for-television movie loosely based on a novel called The Ledger, written by Dorothy Uhnak, who herself had worked with the NYPD. Teresa Graves (Laugh-In) starred as Christie Love – a sassy, skilled, take-no-shit, undercover cop.
Get Christie Love aired as a series during the 1974–5 season making Graves one of the first Black women to headline her own television show. Only the pilot is available on DVD.
The character was modeled after New York Police Detective, Olga Ford, one of the first African American women on the force. Ford served as a consultant on an early episode.
With it’s brash delivery of one-liners, cinematography as stunning as the cleavage on display, and sexually confident, if amoral, women, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a classic film for the Superwoman Geek.
Guilty Pleasure? Feminist message? Exploitation? Let your Geek decide! I, for one love Cleopatra 2525 in all it’s awesome awfulness as well as the teamwork of Hel, Cleo and Sarge. And Torres sings the theme song.
Okay, every Geek already owns Firefly: The Complete Series and Serenity– but since they star Torres as the badass, Zoe Washburne, they need to be listed.
Superwomen Geeks can also catch Torres in Season Four of Angel – or you can go ahead and get the entire series.
Hit-Girl
One of the most fascinating Superwomen to come out of the past year is Chloë Grace Moretz’s Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass.
She was more than just a pint-sized, foul-mouthed assassin (and more than a gimmick). She was the most capable, talented, forceful, and driven person in both the movie version of Kick Ass and the comic book version of Kick Ass.
Peanuts always has wonderful t-shirts. And sometimes Snoopy is there!
Plush Nibbler!
Too cute!!! Available at Toynami.
Of course, I’m also always on the lookout for Modesty Blaise and Steed & Peel items! Anything special out there that would particularly delight you if you came across it on the exhibition floor?
