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muccamukkDay Ten: In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing.
I'll talk about two creators, I think. One of fan works and the other who gets paid money for this shit.
Paid money one first. I will read just about anything written by Marjorie M. Liu.
I first came across her in comics when she was billed to take over Black Widow. She had an X-23 one shot coming out around then, so I picked that up, and enjoyed it but haven't read any of the X-Men stuff or NYX so had very ittle idea of what was going on. I liked Laura's relationship with Logan though.
Then I got to Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. Man, was that a great comic. It was my absolute favourite comic by anyone in 2010, and that includes Avengers Prime. I was absolutely heartbroken when she left the title.
So here's what she did: she took a character that has been retconned into nigh incomprehensibility (though Cornell did a good job of sifting through that in Black Widow: Deadly Origins), found her at her core, and then told a new and fresh story about her. The five issues were jam packed with guest spots, but everything in that comic was about Natasha. Her relationships with her lover, team mates, friends, old enemies, comrades and fellow professionals all highlighted and distilled who she really was. It was an incredibly tightly-written and elegant bit of story telling, and it made me feel for Natasha right in my heart. The ending made me cry it was so gorgeous. Oh, also gorgeous, utterly non-cheesecake art by Daniel Acuña. Seriously, get this in trade. Do not walk. Run. (The trade also has a Black Widow back up by Kelly Sue DeConnick, who is another favourite of mine.)
I think the only comic of hers I haven't read was the Daken: Dark Wolverine stuff, and that's because I dislike the character. Even though I haven't read it, I admire what she did for the character in rescuing him from a a stack of clichés and doing something unique.
So when Liu left Black Widow (weeps!), she moved to X-23. Remember how I don't read X-Men comics? I do now. I followed her over, hoping I would be able to follow. I was. It's been another spectacular ride. She's taken this broken young woman, who her own father, all her parents and guardians, used as an assassin, and set her on a quest to find her humanity. Unlike many of these stories, especially this kind of stories as written about women, Laura really does need to look, and hard. Along the way she picks up a couple of mentors, and some new friends, and they provide a family of sorts. Even still, finding love doesn't make it all magically better. Laura is still extremely poorly socialised, still doesn't relate well to emotions or things that don't involve stabbing, and still doesn't know quite what to expect of her family. She also has a wonderfully slash relationship with Jubilee. I love this comic very much, and feel extremely disappointed at its cancellation.
I am, however, please to see that Liu will be taking over Astonishing X-Men in March. It's one of Marvel's best selling titles, and she's due for a break like that. I have never read Astonishing before, but I plan to now.
She also writes novels. She writes wonderful Paranormal Romances that actually deal with the problems caused by interspecies relationships and where when the men are dicks they're called on it. Oh, and there's soul-bonding mermaids. It's lovely. Then there's the Hunter Kiss series, which is grimdark urban fantasy that's actually about back tattoos, but manages to miss every one of those cliché (when it's not turning them on their heads). Amazing stuff, and I really need to dedicate some time to catching up with both series.
My favourite fan creator is unfortunately no longer with us in the fandom sense (alive and well so far as I know, but no longer writing fic). This is a fact that I regret daily.
ltlj (or Martha Wilson, Randi DuMois and Victoria Custer) was one of those authors who I would do a little happy dance every time she posted a new story. She wrote consecutively in Star Wars (original flavour), Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Stargate: Atlantis, and in all of those fandoms she absolutely captured everything I loved about canon and made it more so.
Her AU of H:TLJ season five (partly co-written with Kimberley Rector) was nothing short of perfect. I wrote a long rec for the first in that series over here. Go read that, if you don't know what I'm talking about. The stories in order are: Home Is Where the Heart Is, Home Is the Hunter, Dark Hunt and The Ninth Plague.
When you're done reading those, having seen everything in season five put right as it ought to be, enjoyed masses of in character h/c, snark and adventure, go poke around this page and read all her other fic. Actually, the whole archive is absolute quality stuff. Read it all.
You just absolutely especially then read When Hellmouths Coliide, a hilarious novel-length crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (also co-written with Rector). I've recced it before, but I'll rec it again. If you've ever enjoyed either Buffy or Hercules, go read this.
Oh, and she also wrote Stargate.
There was that time she wrote a Space Pirate AU, which was an actual series AU that made sense and everyone was in character including the bit where Jack O'Neill quoted Jack Sparrow. Then there was the series called Hunting Parties, also known as "The one where John Sheppard is an alien princess." Also gloriously in character with some wonderful OCs (she always has wonderful OCs, and comes into the fandom with a fantastic knowledge of different cultures, so her world building is phenomenal).
Her stories tended to centre on John Sheppard, and played with his isolation and vulnerability, but they never made him a poor woobie. He was always strong, funny and completely bad ass. However, she didn't just pick her favourite and ignore everyone else. Elizabeth, Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, Lorne, Aidan and even Bates all get excellent roles. Plus the SG-1 gang crossed over lots, which was always fun.
I have a hard time picking a favourite, but I've reread the Retrograde Series so many times that that has to be it. She more or less wrote it on a dare, or at least out of a conversation about how to have a realistic situation where the people of Atlantis came into real conflict with SG-1. It's another AU, this one on the premise that Atlantis didn't connect with Earth after the first season. They've been living on their own for years, and now SG-1 is finally trying to find them, only they have the worst possible timing. The series is long, plotty, full of angst, and wonderfully humorous. She writes the best Jack O'Neill I've ever read.
I miss her fandom presence very much, but at least I have all that wonderful rereading to do.
I'll talk about two creators, I think. One of fan works and the other who gets paid money for this shit.
Paid money one first. I will read just about anything written by Marjorie M. Liu.
I first came across her in comics when she was billed to take over Black Widow. She had an X-23 one shot coming out around then, so I picked that up, and enjoyed it but haven't read any of the X-Men stuff or NYX so had very ittle idea of what was going on. I liked Laura's relationship with Logan though.
Then I got to Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. Man, was that a great comic. It was my absolute favourite comic by anyone in 2010, and that includes Avengers Prime. I was absolutely heartbroken when she left the title.
So here's what she did: she took a character that has been retconned into nigh incomprehensibility (though Cornell did a good job of sifting through that in Black Widow: Deadly Origins), found her at her core, and then told a new and fresh story about her. The five issues were jam packed with guest spots, but everything in that comic was about Natasha. Her relationships with her lover, team mates, friends, old enemies, comrades and fellow professionals all highlighted and distilled who she really was. It was an incredibly tightly-written and elegant bit of story telling, and it made me feel for Natasha right in my heart. The ending made me cry it was so gorgeous. Oh, also gorgeous, utterly non-cheesecake art by Daniel Acuña. Seriously, get this in trade. Do not walk. Run. (The trade also has a Black Widow back up by Kelly Sue DeConnick, who is another favourite of mine.)
I think the only comic of hers I haven't read was the Daken: Dark Wolverine stuff, and that's because I dislike the character. Even though I haven't read it, I admire what she did for the character in rescuing him from a a stack of clichés and doing something unique.
So when Liu left Black Widow (weeps!), she moved to X-23. Remember how I don't read X-Men comics? I do now. I followed her over, hoping I would be able to follow. I was. It's been another spectacular ride. She's taken this broken young woman, who her own father, all her parents and guardians, used as an assassin, and set her on a quest to find her humanity. Unlike many of these stories, especially this kind of stories as written about women, Laura really does need to look, and hard. Along the way she picks up a couple of mentors, and some new friends, and they provide a family of sorts. Even still, finding love doesn't make it all magically better. Laura is still extremely poorly socialised, still doesn't relate well to emotions or things that don't involve stabbing, and still doesn't know quite what to expect of her family. She also has a wonderfully slash relationship with Jubilee. I love this comic very much, and feel extremely disappointed at its cancellation.
I am, however, please to see that Liu will be taking over Astonishing X-Men in March. It's one of Marvel's best selling titles, and she's due for a break like that. I have never read Astonishing before, but I plan to now.
She also writes novels. She writes wonderful Paranormal Romances that actually deal with the problems caused by interspecies relationships and where when the men are dicks they're called on it. Oh, and there's soul-bonding mermaids. It's lovely. Then there's the Hunter Kiss series, which is grimdark urban fantasy that's actually about back tattoos, but manages to miss every one of those cliché (when it's not turning them on their heads). Amazing stuff, and I really need to dedicate some time to catching up with both series.
My favourite fan creator is unfortunately no longer with us in the fandom sense (alive and well so far as I know, but no longer writing fic). This is a fact that I regret daily.
ltlj (or Martha Wilson, Randi DuMois and Victoria Custer) was one of those authors who I would do a little happy dance every time she posted a new story. She wrote consecutively in Star Wars (original flavour), Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Stargate: Atlantis, and in all of those fandoms she absolutely captured everything I loved about canon and made it more so.
Her AU of H:TLJ season five (partly co-written with Kimberley Rector) was nothing short of perfect. I wrote a long rec for the first in that series over here. Go read that, if you don't know what I'm talking about. The stories in order are: Home Is Where the Heart Is, Home Is the Hunter, Dark Hunt and The Ninth Plague.
When you're done reading those, having seen everything in season five put right as it ought to be, enjoyed masses of in character h/c, snark and adventure, go poke around this page and read all her other fic. Actually, the whole archive is absolute quality stuff. Read it all.
You just absolutely especially then read When Hellmouths Coliide, a hilarious novel-length crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (also co-written with Rector). I've recced it before, but I'll rec it again. If you've ever enjoyed either Buffy or Hercules, go read this.
Oh, and she also wrote Stargate.
There was that time she wrote a Space Pirate AU, which was an actual series AU that made sense and everyone was in character including the bit where Jack O'Neill quoted Jack Sparrow. Then there was the series called Hunting Parties, also known as "The one where John Sheppard is an alien princess." Also gloriously in character with some wonderful OCs (she always has wonderful OCs, and comes into the fandom with a fantastic knowledge of different cultures, so her world building is phenomenal).
Her stories tended to centre on John Sheppard, and played with his isolation and vulnerability, but they never made him a poor woobie. He was always strong, funny and completely bad ass. However, she didn't just pick her favourite and ignore everyone else. Elizabeth, Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, Lorne, Aidan and even Bates all get excellent roles. Plus the SG-1 gang crossed over lots, which was always fun.
I have a hard time picking a favourite, but I've reread the Retrograde Series so many times that that has to be it. She more or less wrote it on a dare, or at least out of a conversation about how to have a realistic situation where the people of Atlantis came into real conflict with SG-1. It's another AU, this one on the premise that Atlantis didn't connect with Earth after the first season. They've been living on their own for years, and now SG-1 is finally trying to find them, only they have the worst possible timing. The series is long, plotty, full of angst, and wonderfully humorous. She writes the best Jack O'Neill I've ever read.
I miss her fandom presence very much, but at least I have all that wonderful rereading to do.
(no subject)
Date: 10 Jan 2012 20:21 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10 Jan 2012 20:44 (UTC)