How The New 52 Buffed and Nerfed Female Characters in the DC Universe

Producer 1: I have an idea! Let’s forget the long history of character arcs, plots, and places, and completely relaunch our superheroes”

Prodcuer 2: What, are you crazy? The fans will kill us! That’s tantamount to rewriting the Bible in their eyes.

Producer 1: Producer 2, I feel like you’re being a little extreme. They’ll still have all of their old comics to play with. At the very least this can be a little experiment.

Producer 2: A little experiment that will get us killed! Whatever we create, they’ll compare to the originals. 

Producer 1: What originals?

Producer 2: You know, everything that existed in the DC universe before.

Proder 1: Multiverse.

Producer 2: What? 

Producer 1: There were 52 worlds before. 

Producer 2: Sure. 

Producer 1: And the continuity between those worlds was all garbled up. 

Producer 2: Yeah, but they’re comics books. There are thousands, if not millions of them. How could we ever make sense of the continuity of things?

Producer 1: By starting over. 

With that fictional conversation, the New 52 were reborn. Like Producer 2 feared, many people were underwhelmed with the reboot. But it’s not just because it’s a reboot of what everyone knows. It’s because a lot of the reboots were over-sexed (Starfire), over-bloodied (Wonder Woman), and in general over-edged versions of their former selves. Yet, it wasn’t all bad. Batman and Justice League were done particularly well, the new characters were amazing (Prez, Midnighter), and though some female characters lost some of their feminist spirit, others emerged stronger than they were before.

Below’s a look at 3 female characters that the ups and downs of their New 52 reincarnations...

For the full blog, go to DamianEsteban.net

Ladakh: Paradise in Northern India

I’ve traveled all over the world. I’ve been to deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Southeast Asia. In all of my travels no spot has spoken to me as much as Ladakh has.

A Brief Overview

Ladakh is located in the Northeastern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In contrast to the rest of India, Jammu and Kashmir is known for its Muslim population. In contrast both to Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India, Ladakh is known for its Buddhist population. Ladakh’s right on the border with Tibet, so a lot of Tibetan influence flows in.

But don’t let that make you think that Ladakh is just a Tibetan satellite. The region has its own unique culture that goes back thousands of years. The first inhabitants of Ladakh were Indo-Aryan, but over the years the region has has changed hands between Tibet, China, and of course India. It’s location in the Himalaya’s has made it a strategic asset to empires of yore. But I think the real reason that empires have waged war over this little region of the world is its climate. It’s just that good...

For the full blog, go to DamianEsteban.org.

3D Touch, iOS and The Future of Mobile Technology

In Apple’s latest iOS 10 beta, users have the ability to further interact with their phones by varying the pressure that they use to interact with them. Although still in its infancy, 3D Touch represents a promising way of interacting with tech.

One of the most fascinating aspects of computers is the user interface. Way back in the day people had to insert cards punched with holes in order to get a computer to do something. Then, with the integration of the keyboard, people had to type in complex strings of commands, and the eventually less complex strings of commands to get computers to digitally execute on their individual wills…

For the full blog, go to DamianEsteban.com

EVEN IF THE SUICIDE MOVIE SUCKS…

…it’s worth checking out the comic book universe on which David Ayer’s lackluster movie is based. It’s the perfect setup: a band of villains forced to reluctantly fight for good.

The Comic Book You Need to Read for Every Suicide Squad Character (@EstebanRules) from Damian Esteban

In the process we learn that some of these bad guys have some good in them, some of these bad guys had  some good in them, and some these bad guys are just bad.

*PHILOSOPHICAL EXTRAPOLATION ALERT*

This is what’s ultimately amazing about Suicide Squad or any other villain-centered story, it forces us to think about those that we would normally write off as the bad guys…

For the full blog, go to DamianEsteban.net

 

 

How Pokemon Go Is Pushing the Limits of Privacy

Pokemon Go

It’s officially taking over. Ever since Pokemon Go launched seven days ago, it has succeeded in invading every aspect of the lives of the digital trainers that play it. People are playing with Pokemon Go on an unprecedented level: during the in-between hours of free-time at home, the morning commute, post-work commute, and even while touring through the Holocaust Museum. As one Twitter commentator put it, “We’re so effed…”

For the full blog, go to DamianEsteban.com

THE COMIC BOOK YOU NEED TO READ FOR EVERY SUICIDE SQUAD CHARACTER

On August 5, movie-goers are going to get their first introduction to DC’s Suicide Squad. From the looks of trailers, stills, and other behind-the-scenes content, I am really hoping that it will be a good one.

“Who’s in the Suicide Squad?”

Huh? Are you kidding? You don’t know every member of the Suicide Squad or the best comics to read to learn up on you Suicide Squad lore?

Honestly, when the first buzz about the movie hit the internet, neither did I.

Since then I’ve done a little homework and now can safely write a blog post in which I explore the makeup of the Squad and list a comic that you should read for each member of it. See below.

Note: The Suicide Squad features a rotating cast of baddies. The below list is of those that are featured in the upcoming motion picture.

Double Note: The nicknames are of my own ingenious creativity and are in no-way official cannon…yet.

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Rick Flag AKA The Babysitter

Technically the names of three characters in the DC universe (Rick Flag Sr., Rick Flag Jr., and Rick Flag III) the one thing that all the characters have in common is their participation in the Suicide Squad… 

For the full blog, go to DamianEsteban.net.