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sharplittleteethIt all started with Death.
Neil Gaiman was writing The Sandman. In issue 8, we were introduced to the Sandman's sister, Death. She had black hair, black clothes, black Eye-of-Horus eyeliner, and a big silver ankh.
In other words, she looked like a goth chick. A sexy goth chick. And the fans loved her.
With good reason. She was a cool character. But what made her really cool was not her boots or her Egyptian accessories. It was her personality. Because where a lesser writer might have made her spooky or dark or ghoulish, Gaiman made her cheerful, friendly and kind. She was the archetypal perky goth.
She may have been the anthropomorhic personification of mortality, but she felt like the real goth girls I actually hung out with.
Sandman wrapped up. Vertigo spun off a new series called The Dreaming. I think the original idea was that it would have a rotating roster of writers. But eventually, it settled on just one: Caitlin Kiernan.
Kiernan was a friend of Poppy Z. Brite. She was a goth. And she was the first to convince me that goths shouldn't be allowed to write goths.
Case in point: she introduced a character who was a goth, cross-dressing serial killer.
A goth. Cross-dressing. Serial killer.
Kieran went on to write a miniseries called The Girl Who Would Be Death. The title character was this beautiful, bisexual, blonde goth-bitch who owned the coolest goth club in New Orleans. There was even a cameo from the cross-dressing serial killer.
At least the artwork was really nice.
And now Vertigo are at it again. They have new series out, called The Witching. This comic features another blonde, beautiful, bisexual goth girl. It also features a second goth chick, this one a cybergrrl with a rock star boyfriend.
Uh-huh.
I have no idea of the The Witching writer is a goth. But I do know this: black eyeliner and some tribal tattoos do not a rounded and interesting character make. I happen to know several goths, and they have these things called "personalites". They are not just walking cliches in nice boots.
I'm giving The Witching one more issue to show some spark of life. And if it fails, then I'm just giving them away.
Neil Gaiman was writing The Sandman. In issue 8, we were introduced to the Sandman's sister, Death. She had black hair, black clothes, black Eye-of-Horus eyeliner, and a big silver ankh.
In other words, she looked like a goth chick. A sexy goth chick. And the fans loved her.
With good reason. She was a cool character. But what made her really cool was not her boots or her Egyptian accessories. It was her personality. Because where a lesser writer might have made her spooky or dark or ghoulish, Gaiman made her cheerful, friendly and kind. She was the archetypal perky goth.
She may have been the anthropomorhic personification of mortality, but she felt like the real goth girls I actually hung out with.
Sandman wrapped up. Vertigo spun off a new series called The Dreaming. I think the original idea was that it would have a rotating roster of writers. But eventually, it settled on just one: Caitlin Kiernan.
Kiernan was a friend of Poppy Z. Brite. She was a goth. And she was the first to convince me that goths shouldn't be allowed to write goths.
Case in point: she introduced a character who was a goth, cross-dressing serial killer.
A goth. Cross-dressing. Serial killer.
Kieran went on to write a miniseries called The Girl Who Would Be Death. The title character was this beautiful, bisexual, blonde goth-bitch who owned the coolest goth club in New Orleans. There was even a cameo from the cross-dressing serial killer.
At least the artwork was really nice.
And now Vertigo are at it again. They have new series out, called The Witching. This comic features another blonde, beautiful, bisexual goth girl. It also features a second goth chick, this one a cybergrrl with a rock star boyfriend.
Uh-huh.
I have no idea of the The Witching writer is a goth. But I do know this: black eyeliner and some tribal tattoos do not a rounded and interesting character make. I happen to know several goths, and they have these things called "personalites". They are not just walking cliches in nice boots.
I'm giving The Witching one more issue to show some spark of life. And if it fails, then I'm just giving them away.
