Welcome back netizens to Creator Highlights. Today we’ll be talking about a creator who only relatively recently came to comics but with a big splash. Writer of cut short series Mockingbird and cancelled series Vision, Chelsea Cain.
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| Potential heroes, here’s your humanities textbook. |
The Not-As Funny Papers
Now before going into comics, Cain serves a writer known for her novels like Gretchen Lowell and Kick Lannigan; as well as columns for newspapers like the Oregonian. Her earlier works display a need for humor in everyday life; one of her books is The Hippie Handbook for crying out loud. Maybe someone at Marvel found her Does This Cape Make Me Look Fat book. By the time Gretchen rolls around, Cain was going through a pregnancy which is scary enough. The first book in the crime thriller Heartsick is a best seller; going into the complicated obsessive life of a femme fatale and a detective. It won Cain a number of awards and recognition.
The work with Gretchen doesn’t stop there, Cain soon makes more books and eventually creates Kick. Kick unlike the puppet master Gretchen is about taking back the life stolen from her; especially when the only legacy Kick has is a victim. However obsession comes back for Kick as her desires get in the way of what she needs. Both of these books deal with women who are strong, independent, and reflective. In this day and age, it’s no wonder Cain is so successful.
Chelsea Cain: No Innocence Lost
To Kill a Mockingbird
Unfortunately, Cain took a risk that nearly wrecks her career. Cain puts out a (attempted) humorous demand for readers to show more support and wants for female led stories; in the form of Bobbi wearing a T-Shirt that said “Ask me about my Feminist Agenda”. Now I already cover that in a comparison’s post and that’s not even the risk despite what naysayers will say. It’s how Cain handles it on social media.
Jokes that offend people happen kind of regularly especially in today’s politically correct age; but this isn’t one an apology can fix like a couple controversial YouTube videos do. It’s a social gray area that people can take to extremes. A few tweets later and things only get worse for her. Cain has to quit social media for a while because of all the backlash the cover causes.
Blurred Vision
But that isn’t the end, Cain comes back on social media to go on about her times with Marvel. While it was nice to see her back, there were more gray areas that open up. While some are just a coincidence; trolls began to really get riled up with some fans thinking there were feminist agendas happening at Marvel. This includes the America series run or just a photo of friends going out for milkshakes. Cain isn’t responsible for this, don’t get me wrong; but controversy has a way of following people and their associates everywhere. Sometimes it’s just learning how to deal with it that can get things through.
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| Now I’ll never know who those six faces are. |
Controversy seems to follow Cain to her doorstep though with her Vision series getting cancelled. The Marvel editorial department decides to take Vision in a new direction but never informs Cain about it. I know Tom King is a tough act to follow (nevermind the controversy surrounding him); but I was looking forward to that comic. Viv is an interesting character from her time with the Champions; and Cain has the experience of writing people going through hard times. And maybe the breadcrumbs left by King could be answered by Cain too. But it looks like nobody will ever know.
Who Needs Griminess? Not Chelsea Cain
However, Cain isn’t out of the comics game yet. The Mockingbird team goes on to create Man-Eaters. It deals with some topics that are known for controversy in the form of menstrual periods; but it looks like Cain is deciding to own a healthier kind of controversy. Less than subtle themes of growing up when near the puberty stage are always welcome.
A twelve-year old girl who lives with her divorced cop dad has to deal with puberty. Unfortunately a mutation that turns menstruating women into wildcats complete with territorial and aggressive behavior is going around. A woman’s period is something that people don’t like to go into detail about. Most of the time it’s either an embarrassing joke or an excuse of females being wild. This series’ concept takes the latter to a whole new level. In fact, the only solution to this problem in the story is to get women to stop menstruating. But the simpler the ideas, the more diverse the problems that arise.
There are very few series that even feature things like tampons, Man-Eaters puts the little things front and center. Not to mention it has Cain’s signature blend of humor and closely packed thriller content. Later issues even display some of the charts like in Cain’s self-help books.
Doesn’t Mean She Doesn’t Get Grim
And yes, naysayers complain about trivial things like a lack of nuance or diversity. But come on, people like them complain about lack of diversity in Frozen; a movie that takes place in Norway during the 1840s. There are always going to be things that people will not relate to; doesn’t mean it should be everyone’s problem. Although Cain putting people’s tweets on later issues is another thing.
In short like most of her audience Cain’s not a perfect person and doesn’t always fit someone’s ideals. Sometimes she has to step back and take a dive when things get hairy. What makes Cain so notable however is her resilience. There are times when she get knocked down, but with the right people in her life Cain gets ready for another round. Because being strong isn’t taking all the burdens head on, it’s also about opening up to the right people. Something Cain shows in all of her series.
Ask Me About My Chelsea Cain Agenda!
I for one like Cain’s stories and I’d like to see more of them. Although if you ask me she should take a different route than major publishers. For that matter Cain should find an alternative to social media; Twitter’s getting a bad rep for labeling people and ruining their lives. But until then the ink’s not dry yet.
Thanks for coming and remember to look between the panels.