I’d like to thank Scribe for giving me the opening to indulge in two guilty pleasures at the same time.

On a distubing sidenote, if anyone is curious what happens when a strong woman gains too much success in an adolescent male power fantasy then look up the term Women In Refrigerators.

Stephen Grant has my favorite interpretation:

“It comes down to sex, really. It’s no big secret that, in the adolescent power fantasy which are the bread and butter of superhero comics, fight scenes are symbolic surrogates for sexual activity. You can’t get up the nerve to ask the girl who sits next to you in geometry class for a date, but you can buttress your virility by vicariously beating the crap out of the Joker. At heart, superhero comics are conservative, exonerating status quo attitudes rather than undermining them, and a basic tenet of the conservative attitude in this country is that women shouldn’t enjoy sex. When superheroines go out there and beat up villains, hey, those fight scenes are symbolic surrogates for sexual activity, too. They have to be punished for enjoying it, because it’s just too threatening for women to enjoy power corresponding to that enjoyed by men. So heroines are de(p/fl)owered, mutilated, raped or sexually threatened, and killed. “Serves ‘em right for trying to do a man’s job.” A lot of recent “bad girl” books would seem to disprove my point, but many of those are boldly misogynistic, basically excuses to torture women then justify it by having them “win” in the end (not to mention most of the “women” therein are actually thinly disguised inflated dolls). Guys in general tend to be paranoid about the notion that women don’t actually need them for anything (which is why so many find the double-edged sword of lesbianism so fascinating), and, let’s face it, superheroines don’t exactly mollify that paranoia, unless they’re functionally subservient to a male figure.”

Super powers: Shapeshifting, volcanic temperment, and “that smell”. Also in times of crisis he has the amazing abilty to clear his mind of important policy details.

Weaponry: Media Love Ray and the Century Bomb

Better Base: the basest

Sidekicks: Homewrecker, the mysterious alcohol heiress with the hidden financial past. Charles Keating.