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New DC Super Hero Girls Announced, With LEGO


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DC Comics has announced a new universe called DC Super Hero Girls, which will focus on empowering girls, and will feature many of the famous DC female characters as relatable teens. You can read more about the announcement here, and it definitely sounds like a cool concept. But one of the more intriguing bits is that LEGO will be the exclusive construction partner, which means we might get some Friends-style LEGO sets for the DC characters. It's set to begin in Fall 2015, so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out!

 

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Yes yes yes yes yes. Interesting that they mention "action figures" in addition to dolls. Given Lego's forays into more humanlike CCBS figures, I wonder if we'll finally get a female-focused CCBS line?

 

My only objection is that the character designs in the promo image all look a bit "samey" in terms of facial features and body types, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

 

 

Sooo insecure teenage girls with low self-esteem are somehow more 'empowering' than a strong self-leading woman? Riiiiiiiiight. Just like how water is bad for you and soda doesn't dehydrate you. ;)

 

Ah, see, this boils down to the good old "strong female character" argument. There's no doubt that what we need more of is strong female characters. The trouble is, there are at least two different definitions of what this term actually means, and thus it's actually two groups of people wanting two different things.

 

Definition 1- A female character who is physically and/or psychologically strong, and can accomplish any task set to them, overcome any hardship with dignity and confidence.

 

Definition 2- A female character with strong characterization. Now she might be smart or dim, brave or cowardly, strong or weak, kind or selfish, or some mixture of the lot, but we want to watch her because she's a fascinating character- maybe we relate to her and empathise, or maybe makes us go "What the heck is this thing?", but she's engaging to us as a character, not just as a piece of eye candy. 

 

Both are important for young girls to see. It's entirely possible to do both at the same time, but I would argue that it is much more important to see a varied range of personalities than it is for all the female characters to be hypercompetent perfectly-adjusted Mary Sues who never make mistakes, never doubt themselves, never show fear or depth or complexity or anything even remotely realistic and human.

 

You do not overcome gender stereotypes by making the female characters "perfect" or "the sane one" or otherwise less flawed than their male counterparts. You do it by writing them as people, with any of the realistic flaws and failings that that implies. Even if they have superpowers- Peter Parker struggles with confidence and money, Tony Stark has basically had an existiential crisis, Bruce Banner has to accomodate the monster within- why shouldn't female characters be allowed to have that kind of personal struggle?

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I'm far more interested in what super heroes are like when they aren't being, you know, super, so this sounds like it could be pretty appealing to me. And at least two of those characters are (or, will become) villains and I'm a sucker for a good 'fall' story.  I do think the character faces are a bit too similar to each other, but hopefully their personalities will be unique enough.

 

Sounds like an interesting experiment- I hope it pays off.

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Sounds cool, but I have two thoughts:

 

1. I hope DC uses more female characters than just legacies (Supergirl, Batgirl) and Batman girls (If the girl with the sword is Katana, then over half of the revealed characters are from Batman). I want to see Black Canary, Killer Frost, Starfire, Raven, Hawkgirl, etc.

 

2. I REALLY hope the sets don't end up like "Supergirl's Fortress of Slumberparties" or "Batgirl's Batcave Makeover". I want to see battles, vehicles, and everything the other superhero sets have.

 

Both of these things would be pretty easy to avoid, so I'll reserve judgement. Here's hoping for the best.

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I'm kind of bewildered by their decision of using Katana, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. Katana uses a magic sword that steals the souls of people she kills to get revenge for her dead husband, Harley was an unethical psych student who used to take gymnastics classes, and Poison Ivy wants to kill every living creature on Earth. Not exactly "role models" I'd say. Also, does anyone else think that Batgirl's suit looks like Azrael's Batsuit from the Knightfall arc?

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"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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I dunno...this looks rather interesting, but the article makes it feel like it was made purely to show off "politically correct" sensibilities, which is, in my experience, a surefire way to make something stupid. Time will tell, I suppose.

Though even if it avoids that gaping pit-trap, there's still the fact that everyone is a teenager for some reason...sigh.

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2. I REALLY hope the sets don't end up like "Supergirl's Fortress of Slumberparties" or "Batgirl's Batcave Makeover". I want to see battles, vehicles, and everything the other superhero sets have.

.

Jeez, I hope they don't do that with this new series of sets. I really want to get into a new theme.

Edited by Anonymous User

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there's still the fact that everyone is a teenager for some reason...sigh.

 

I'm not sure why you say it that way- I don't know much about the DC universe, but I'm pretty sure all these characters had to have been teenagers at some point. And as long as the characters are well written, that part of their life can be just as interesting as the parts where they run around and kick butt. Maybe even more so since these are the years when they'll probably start to be become most accustomed to their abilities.

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... these are the years when they'll probably start to become most accustomed to their abilities.

Well, three out of seven of them were normal people when they were teenagers, so didn't have abilities.

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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I dunno...this looks rather interesting, but the article makes it feel like it was made purely to show off "politically correct" sensibilities, which is, in my experience, a surefire way to make something stupid. Time will tell, I suppose.

Though even if it avoids that gaping pit-trap, there's still the fact that everyone is a teenager for some reason...sigh.

 

"politically correct" is just a way of saying "treating other people as equals" that turns it from a good life philosophy to something inherently political, and thus, controversial. I hope there's not actually anything controversial about a single line of super hero toys focusing on female characters, and there's certainly nothing political about it.

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Ah, I'm guessing this theme is gonna fit into the "Minidoll Cycle"...

 

>Line first announced by Lego, most fans criticize it for using Minidolls and scream that they won't be buying the sets on various forums.

 

>Set images start to appear, people who hated the sets before start noticing all the new pieces and colours, but still are against buying the sets.

 

>Theme is released, haters end up buying ALL the sets and loving them.

 

>Rinse and repeat.

 

:P

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"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." - Douglas Adams


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My big problem with this is that it is trampling all over the canon stories of these girls. Why not just make new super heroes/villains? Most of these girls become a hero/villain WAY after high school. Harley Quinn was already a psychologist by the time she became... insane. Ivy wasn't a teenager her thing happened. It literally makes no sense for this to even be a thing from a canon standpoint. It's like focusing a whole storyline on young Bruce. There's nothing interesting there. He's a depressed kid that lives depressing life, then when he's older he trains his body and his mind every single day. I like the idea of teenage super heroes, it would work if we used ones that actually... you know... did super hero stuff when they were teens? 

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My big problem with this is that it is trampling all over the canon stories of these girls. Why not just make new super heroes/villains? Most of these girls become a hero/villain WAY after high school. Harley Quinn was already a psychologist by the time she became... insane. Ivy wasn't a teenager her thing happened. It literally makes no sense for this to even be a thing from a canon standpoint. It's like focusing a whole storyline on young Bruce. There's nothing interesting there. He's a depressed kid that lives depressing life, then when he's older he trains his body and his mind every single day. I like the idea of teenage super heroes, it would work if we used ones that actually... you know... did super hero stuff when they were teens?

 

Well, considering more than a few times in cartoons Bat girl has been made a teenager (and one of those times Poison Ivy was a teenager herself and Barbara Gordon's friend) it doesn't seem quite so far fetched. Harley Quinn though, we can agree on. Edited by Drakua Toa of Rahi

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Gosh dang it LEGO. You're not fooling anybody with this "it's designed for girls" stuff. You nearly went one step forward with Elves, now your going two steps back with DC, who has been 5 steps back for years now.

 

 

 

My big problem with this is that it is trampling all over the canon stories of these girls. Why not just make new super heroes/villains? Most of these girls become a hero/villain WAY after high school. Harley Quinn was already a psychologist by the time she became... insane. Ivy wasn't a teenager her thing happened. It literally makes no sense for this to even be a thing from a canon standpoint. It's like focusing a whole storyline on young Bruce. There's nothing interesting there. He's a depressed kid that lives depressing life, then when he's older he trains his body and his mind every single day. I like the idea of teenage super heroes, it would work if we used ones that actually... you know... did super hero stuff when they were teens?

Well, considering more than a few times in cartoons Bat girl has been made a teenager (and one of those times Poison Ivy was a teenager herself and Barbara Gordon's friend) it doesn't seem quite so far fetched. Harley Quinn though, we can agree on.

 

My whole point is that when DC does things like this to its characters, it's no wonder the average person gets confused as of to what is canon and what isn't. They should really stick to a certain backstory for all of their characters and then force all media to accurately represent that material accordingly. 

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But when writers are no longer allowed to take creative licenses in alternate universes, creativity is reduced. No matter what happens, marketing is marketing. Some people make money and some people are confused. It's not really a cause for outrage.

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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My whole point is that when DC does things like this to its characters, it's no wonder the average person gets confused as of to what is canon and what isn't. They should really stick to a certain backstory for all of their characters and then force all media to accurately represent that material accordingly. 

 

 

This slavish devotion to a single, unifying, unbending canon is so uniquely Bionicle fandom. I don't think even Star Wars fans get this cranky about the idea of microcontinuities.

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My whole point is that when DC does things like this to its characters, it's no wonder the average person gets confused as of to what is canon and what isn't. They should really stick to a certain backstory for all of their characters and then force all media to accurately represent that material accordingly. 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, Marvel is having an even worse canon problem than most of other franchises. Their singular continuity (excluding the multiverse) stretches back to the 1960's. Though, it's stayed alright up until recently.

 

Which has forced them to do a hard-reboot, which is coming next month.

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More likely it's to destroy any difference between the comics and the movies, and will probably cause more plot confusion than less, like DC's New 52 did. Or any other reboot, for that matter.

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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Gosh dang it LEGO. You're not fooling anybody with this "it's designed for girls" stuff. You nearly went one step forward with Elves, now your going two steps back with DC, who has been 5 steps back for years now.

Care to explain what you mean by this? Because Lego DOES in fact design things for girls. It's the whole point of Friends. It's the whole point of Elves. I don't see why Lego has to "fool" anyone, considering the design-focused approach to Friends made it into one of their most successful themes almost overnight, and did more to attract female fans than any other theme in Lego's entire history.

 

I have no idea how good this theme will be, since like the fairly blasé Disney Princess theme, the design of the sets will depend a lot on the quality of the attached license. But you're right that DC has long had issues with appealing to female audiences. To me, this seems like it could POTENTIALLY be a step in the right direction for them, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

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Comic books have trouble appealing to a lot of people for the same reasons ancient myths do. Some people with long backstories say some things, hit someone and go home. It's a good formula, but it's understandable if some are apathetic about it.

Edited by Jovan2

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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And getting angry at people for being devoted to canon is unique to you, apparently.

 

If you read anger from my post, you've sorely misread it. It was an observation, not an angry accusation.

 

More likely it's to destroy any difference between the comics and the movies, and will probably cause more plot confusion than less, like DC's New 52 did. Or any other reboot, for that matter.

 

Reboots would probably cause 100% less confusion if people approached them from the perspective of being tied to no previous canon.

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Comic books have trouble appealing to a lot of people for the same reasons ancient myths do. Some people with long backstories say some things, hit someone and go home. It's a good formula, but it's understandable if some are apathetic about it.

 

Uh, you realize people dedicate their lives to things like ancient mythology and drawing comparisons between various cultures and studying the themes and structures that pop up in their legends and belief systems to help understand those cultures better as a whole? And not only that, but ancient mythology is a widely, widely popular setting and "theme" (theme as in how everything's dressed) in a lot of popular media today?

 

Like, there's a lot of differences in the stories and the origin tales and so on and so forth, but that doesn't mean they aren't interesting as a whole? It doesn't mean some people can prefer one story over another, one interpretation over the other?

 

And while comic books themselves, as a medium, I don't believe are super popular anymore the superheroes they are about still are. (Why else would we have so many blockbuster movies about them? Or new TV Shows about them cropping up --- The Flash, Arrow, I'm unsure what they named the Daredevil one, and I think there's one more?). These franchises have been doing reboots, micrcontinuities and alternate universe stuff since they began, really. Stuff like this isn't new.

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If you have tried this line out 5 years ago it would have flopped.

 

But now that everyone and his dog has seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, comic book characters are at the height of their popularity. Apparently even little girls care about comic book characters now.

 

There couldn't be a better time to start this line up. Smart timing by LEGO.

 

famous DC female characters as relatable teens

 

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for some Teen Titans sets.... or do I dare hope for some Young Justice??? How about a set for when Wonder Girl and Batgirl try to take down Lobo? They could have the secret elevator and everything in the set!

Edited by TheSkeletonMan939
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@Dina: Reboots cause confusion because the writers are often not very clear on what's canon and what isn't. Reboots usually try to make origin stories more compact, but given the amount of characters in a comic universe, this becomes rather difficult. Also, people who don't regularly read comics become confused during reboots because in order to be introduced to a character they have to hear 3 different origin stories: the original origin, the one they are familiar with, and the new one.

 

@Goddess: Huh. Maybe it's just me then. Usually when I try to talk about comics and mythology to people their eyes start to glaze over.

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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I don't have much interest in it, but I don't want it to become a whole girls as the heroes vs boys as the villains thing. Males are already portrayed negatively enough in modern media and I hope LEGO doesn't do that. I can imagine we would get some good sets out of this theme though, ones that fit in with the other superhero kits.

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Since it's a superhero theme, I would expect that there would be some conflict and action features in the sets, and that means villains. If there is a female supervillain, it is Granny Goodness. *shiver* fishers is right though; until we see some set images, we can't really talk about quality.

SkeletonMan, why did you have to dredge up the painful memories of Young Justice's cancellation? :crying:

"You humans are absurd, Rook. Furious when you're not in control, terrified when you are. Pull it together."

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If I was told this was going to be a thing 10 years ago I wouldn't have believed it! if done right this could help break down some barriers in the toy industry, such as the gendered nature of dolls and action figures. Lego's participation is a good sign because they did a LOT of research for their Friends line. I know it's not perfect; there's always room for more diverse characters and stories that welcome everyone. This could be a step in the right direction and that makes me really happy.

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