Jean Loring's wish to be a mother
It's wonderful that I was able to buy Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups, both 2 volumes published so far, because that too has what to learn from past history. And from The Atom #29, February/March 1967, written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane and Sid Greene, there's a thing or two worth noting here. The story is bookended by a part telling about how Jean Loring is asked by a widowed soap opera actress to defend her rights to her child, since her in-laws are trying unfairly to take custody for themselves. This she does, and while it's only a minor part of the book (the majority is about the Atoms of Earth 1 and 2 squaring off against the Thinker), it does tell quite a bit about what Jean wished for. On page 3, she tells Ray Palmer while at an exhibition for bookstands:
And, on the last page, 23, after she's succeeded in handling the case in court, she tells Ray:
From what material I've read from the Silver Age so far, I can see almost nothing if at all to suggest that Jean was ever the irritating, nagging, domineering stereotype DC's current editorial seems to want people to think. Let's also not forget that after she'd divorced Ray in the mid-80s, she didn't want or care for his scientific machinery gear either, as noted in my post on the Sword of the Atom TPB.
Once again, that's why I'm calling on DC to right a wrong, and urge others to follow my example.
And a big thank you to Gardner Fox, Gil Kane, Sid Greene and also Julius Schwartz for addressing the subject so well years before. I don't think the subject of parenthood was addressed so often at the time, but they did it very well.
"A baby belongs to its mother, Ray! I've just got to make sure Cheryl Drake keeps Ronny!"Quite right. A mother is the primary guardian of her child.
And, on the last page, 23, after she's succeeded in handling the case in court, she tells Ray:
"When we are married and I should decide to keep up my law practice, I'll need a governess to care for our babies! In pleading for Cheryl Drake -- I was actually pleading for myself!"To which Ray happily replies:
"And who could resist such an appeal?"Answer: Dan DiDio. It's clear he doesn't have much respect for a woman's wish to be a mother, if, as editor in chief, he was going to go that far in seeing to it that she'd be depicted out-of-character. The same argument applies to how he treated Sue Dibny, said to be pregnant at the time of her death. A woman who does such a kindness and service for another one by helping her to maintain custody of her child, and who wishes to become a parent herself, is not someone who would stoop to cruelty and murder.
From what material I've read from the Silver Age so far, I can see almost nothing if at all to suggest that Jean was ever the irritating, nagging, domineering stereotype DC's current editorial seems to want people to think. Let's also not forget that after she'd divorced Ray in the mid-80s, she didn't want or care for his scientific machinery gear either, as noted in my post on the Sword of the Atom TPB.
Once again, that's why I'm calling on DC to right a wrong, and urge others to follow my example.
And a big thank you to Gardner Fox, Gil Kane, Sid Greene and also Julius Schwartz for addressing the subject so well years before. I don't think the subject of parenthood was addressed so often at the time, but they did it very well.
Labels: Atom, dc comics, good artists, good writers, women of dc
