2011 ComicCon - getting better for girls, or worse?

Thanks to the excellent Wendy Babiak for turning my attention to this article from Ms. Magazine's blog:
http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/07/26/a-feminist-visits-comic-con/

In a discussion Wendy started on Facebook, I remarked:
"For one thing, I'm not sure I would ever use Twilight in any way as a positive representation of anything feminist. As if.
Seriously though, I presented the comic-heroines-poetry panel at WonderCon as part of the Comic Arts Conference in 2009, in San Francisco, but I did attend ComicCon in San Diego as well, and I was actually very cheered at the growing contingent of "geek girls" taking more power and control at the conference. It's not the age of "booth babes" - at least, not as much as it used to be. Groups like "Team Unicorn" are creating their own real presence, and female writers and artists are increasing in number, I think, as well. Jennifer K. Stuller would be a great person to ask about this stuff, as she goes more than I do!"

What do you guys think? I wasn't able to go to ComicCon this year as it conflicted with the Port Townsend Writer's Conference, but I would be interested in hear from girls that went, and hear your opinions: how girl-friendly is the con these days? Better or worse than a few years ago? Fewer or more female writers, artists, etc?

Update from WonderWon

A short note to give you my first day rundown on WonderCon: got to see Jennifer K. Stuller's talk on "Superwomen in Modern Mythology" which was great and had a huge turnout, met her friend Trina Robbins who is giving a talk tomorrow on women in manga; talked to personal writing hero Peter S. Beagle, got a copy of the newly-inked The Last Unicorn comic book, really beautiful illustrations in that, and I told him I was excited to be sharing space with him in the new anthology, The Beastly Bride! By the way, I can be pretty blase around rock stars, politicians, etc...but around writers I admire, I am so tongue-tied!
Also, may catch a screening of Kick Ass (and thanks guys for the free t-shirts! Yay swag!) this weekend and The Last Unicorn, which they'll be playing on one of the big local theaters - I think I watched the original in the theater when I was about seven, so seeing it again would be cool.
Tomorrow is a "fun day" and Sunday is my work day, because that's when I give my presentation:
12:30-1:30 Comics Arts Conference Session #7: From Buffy to the X-Men: Female Comic Book Superheroes in Women's Poetry— Jeannine Hall Gailey (Becoming the Villainess) investigates how superheroes, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Lara Croft, have appeared in poetry by women, and how women poets use those icons to talk about cultural influence, body image, and the role of women as victims, villainesses, and heroines in comic books. Room 204/206, Moscone Center.

Dollhouse got better in the second season, and WonderCon

Guess who is presenting at WonderCon this year? Me! It's going to be all about superheroes and poetry. Excited yet? I am!

I think I've figured out why Dollhouse got so much better in the second season. Yes, I continued watching even though I had problems with the first season. The second season was more coherent, more oriented towards female-empowerment, and more intelligently written. Anyway, the girls who ran Reaper became Dollhouse showrunners. I loved Reaper, and I really admire Craft and Fain for their unique quirks, their uses of humor and pop culture and the mystical as metaphor. Anyway, I wasn't crazy about Boyd's reveal as the big bad, because there would be a lot of neccessary retconning to make that work, but I thought they did a nice job wrapping up the show with Epitaph 2, and they even got Eliza to emote!

I'm pretty excited about Lost starting up again. With Leno at 10 PM cancelled, a lot of good shows will have more episodes now, too. TV is looking up once again!

More Chuck - and possible WonderCon...

Well, if you are a fan of shows about geeks (and I am!) then you will be happy to hear that there's a rumout that one of my fave shows, Chuck, will possibly be making its return in a few weeks instead of next year, because some other NBC shows have been sucking. So, yay, more Chuck!

Also, today I submitted a brief proposal to WonderCon in San Francisco. Wish me luck! It's about poetry and superheroes. Crossing my fingers!