By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

1. Me and The Beatles
Like most people in America, I’m a Starbucks guy. Grande white mocha no whip, in case your wondering. I stop by a few times a week to get my fix. This past week I noticed something peculiar. Every time I entered a Starbucks, The Beatles were on. But not just one song. They were playing continuously, hit after hit. Beatlemania was running wild on Starbucks. Now, you know how those Starbucks lines can get. Sometimes you’re stuck there for awhile. After a few days of continuous Beatles songs in the background of my coffee runs, I thought bubbled to the surface of my conscious mind that scared me. I knew if I shared it with anyone, I’d be exiled to some fourth-world country and forced to live off dirt and my own recycled urine. Kevin Kenealy would rip out my eyeballs with his teeth if he found out.

But there was one person I could safely confide in, one person I could share this dark discovery with: My girlfriend. So one night, on our way back from the gym, I told her. The problem was, I wasn’t exactly gentle about it. I actually oversold it….

“You know, I think I hate The Beatles.”

You’d think I told her Casey Anthony was my new roommate. She was shocked. She said something to the effect of: “You can’t share that with people! The Beatles are iconic! Even if you don’t like them, you have to at least respect them!” Eventually, she talked me down to “I don’t hate The Beatles. I just don’t like when they’re on non-stop.” Which, in all fairness, is the actual truth. I DO NOT hate The Beatles. “Let It Be” is actually one of my favorite songs. But what fascinated me was the reaction I got. Our culture has become so used to labeling The Beatles as this rock and roll dynasty of awesomeness, that the very idea of someone not liking them is shocking to some people.

I can’t remember which episode it was, but Family Guy did a bit once where Peter says: “I did not care for The Godfather.“ He gets responses like: “How can you even say that?” and “It’s so good. It’s like the perfect movie.” He in turn talks about how he can never get into it. Sometimes I feel like that with The Beatles, because I’m not SO in love with them like other people are. Does that make me a bad person?

And for the record, I didn’t see The Godfather until a few years ago, but I LOVED it.

2. Whoa…
I was originally planning to review the first issue of DC’s new Catwoman series this week. When I picked up the issue, I expected that Catwoman and Batman would continue their romance, dancing around the idea of coming together in a relationship which from a practical standpoint can never work. After all, he fights for justice and virtue, and she skirts the lines of truth and justice as a thief. Morally, that goes against what Batman stands-

WHOA!!!!! What the hell, bro???

Judd Winick and Guillem March found themselves in the center of a mini-scandal this week when readers saw Batman and Catwoman having sex (or at least that’s implied) in a public place. THIS is the scene that prompted me to put the issue back on the stand. When Newsarama reached Judd Winick for comment, he wrote: “This is a Catwoman for 2011, and my approach to her character and actions reflect someone who lives in our times. And wears a cat suit. And steals. It’s a tale that is part crime story, part mystery and part romance.  In that, you will find action, suspense and passion. Each of those qualities, at times, play to their extremes.  Catwoman is a character with a rich comic book history, and my hope is that readers will continue to join us as the adventure continues.”

So being Catwoman in 2011 means you bump uglies in public? I don’t buy it.

From a creative standpoint, I get where Winick is coming from. Catwoman is a wild chick. Is this something that a person who wears a catsuit and steals would do? Probably. But that doesn’t mean you have to actually show it. Somehow it comes off as disrespectful to the legacy of the characters, at least in my mind. It looks like the beginning of a terribly distasteful fan drawn porno. Between this and what happened with Starfire in Red Hood and The Outlaws, let’s hope this was a one-shot deal, and not a sign of how some of the women in the DC Universe will be treated from here on out, especially after the heat DC has taken lately regarding a lack of female creators. 

Front page image courtesy of forbes.