They’re Mad As Hell, And They’re Not Going To Take It Anymore

If there’s one thing a newspaper that prides itself on not having any opinions can’t do, it’s piss off the nerds.

Late last year, Metro posted an apology for making fun of the Philadelphia science fiction convention. Well, there was big news recently in the comic book world, and Metro attracted the nerds’ ire again.

DC Comics is bringing back Batwoman as a lesbian. But Metro wrote that Batgirl was coming back at a lesbian, a mistake also made in a throwaway joke here. While one could be corrected with a simple comment, the other required a Metro letter to the editor (scan here):

Comic news has glaring mistakes

Regarding “New incarnation of Batgirl: She’s a lesbian” (June 6): It seems every time your paper tries to give the public a bit of comic book news, you make glaring mistakes. For example, Storm and Black Panther getting married was referred to as “the first marriage between two prominent African-American characters” in comics. The problem is, Black Panther isn’t African-American, he’s African. He is the king of the first civilization on the planet, a technologically advanced nation in the heart of Africa called Wakanda, which in facts butts heads with the American government quite frequently.

More recently, your paper published that Batgirl was going to be reinvented as a lesbian. The implications of this change would be tremendous, but it was not Batgirl at all — it was Batwoman, a little-known character who disappeared in the ’70s. I don’t care if it’s only a slight misrepresentation. It’s my paper, and I won’t stand for it.

In conclusion, public: Batwoman is a lesbian, and Black Panther is the king of Wakanda.

June 2: Like A Bat Out Of Northeast Philly
Dec. 14, 2005: Breaking: Nerds even nerdier than once thought