Masculine Character Development: The Female as Subtext

Dick Grayson evaded capture in all versions of the Judas Contract. Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Judas Contract #1 (2019). Copyright DC Comics, reproduced under Fair Use.

When I started this blog in 2010, I went back to square one in childhood, and reviewed some of the pop culture stories that influenced my writing. The most important of these was the DC Comics tale, The Judas Contract, in which a female character, Terra, was decimated and committed suicide. Other writers have commented on how much this story affected them, most notably, Brad Meltzer.

In serial writing, the term for the history of a story line or single character is a 'continuity.' My whole continuity for Terra is here.

This week, DC published an alt-version of the Judas Contract, Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Judas Contract #1, which demonstrates how a female character can be used covertly in story-telling to reveal the biggest flaws of prominent male characters, while leaving primary masculine characterizations unsullied. In this case, the Judas Contract sheds light on Batman's darkest secret. My review is added to the bottom of this earlier post.

The Batman-Robin subtext was not just a gay subtext, as discussed by Slate. Image Source: DC via Slate.

For those who already know the story, you will finally understand why Dick Grayson was the only character to escape in the Judas Contract's opening attack. For those who don't, the review is still relevant in light of the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew scandal, which could almost be seen as the real world version of the Judas Contract.

"I'm making it publicly known that in no way, shape, or form am I suicidal"

"I have made this known to my therapist & GP-If something happens to me-(for) the sake of my family do not let this go away & help me to protect them." - Virginia Roberts Giuffrehttps://t.co/IRiC1rgVRN

— Brutum Fulmen 🧢 (@BrutumF) December 11, 2019

Our Father, Who Art in Silicon: Censorship of Social Media and the War over the Virtual World

A livecam (here) constantly broadcasts footage of the Centennial Light, a light bulb which has been burning since 1901. The bulb, located in a fire station in Livermore, California, USA, is taken as a proof of planned obsolescence in industry. Image Source: mnn.

Do you know who you are? One can define oneself in terms of the past, present, or future. Tech companies are currently censoring social media to produce a toxic, Orwellian 'now,' in which past content is being erased on the grounds that it is not authoritative. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the main character, Winston Smith, is a 'historian' in that nightmare world. Or rather, he is what historians will become: a censor. Winston Smith erases history and creates new versions of it, from one hundred years ago, right down to yesterday.

In anticipation of the American 2020 election, among other agendas, tech corporations are becoming Orwellian censors. In the past month on Youtube, Google has begun weirdly removing date stamps from videos. Today, Youtube will begin erasing past content of which they disapprove.