Tough Dames and an Imperial Icon

Some people get accused of wanting to rule the world, and I was recently accused of subconsciously wanting to destroy it for liking things like this Road Warrior-esque Pink video for “Funhouse.” Did a male comics nerd have a hand in writing the chorus about “evil clowns,” I can’t help wondering? Dave Whitney notes that Pink in that video, always a tad 80s-ish, looks a bit like Wendy O. Williams. She also looks a bit like a striking punker recently moved into my neighborhood — and like Storm from the X-Men in the 80s plotline in which she lost her weather-manipulating powers and so could cut loose emotionally for the first time in her life. So much simpler, and thus more aesthetically coherent, than Lady Gaga, recently condemned by Camille Paglia for “overkill.”

Speaking of wild costumes and tough dames, it occurs to me that Wonder Woman, whose costume change I mentioned yesterday, looks better as subtly redesigned by this Halloween costume company than she does as normally depicted by DC Comics (with star-spangled panties, no cape, and mere knee-high boots), and a Halloween costume being an improvement over the real thing is rare, perhaps even unique, so kudos to someone. I’m pretty confident the Darth Vader costume I wore for Halloween as a kid was not as impressive as the filmic original, though I’m sure I was terrifying.

And two more comics notes for the month: Matt O’Brien e-mails to note this list of forty comics arguably good enough for classroom discussion, topped by one about Iran, while both Paul Taylor and the Raspberry Brothers have, in the past few days, found themselves discussing the comedic wonder that is the “Italian Spiderman” trailer.