Martha Thomases: Transgender Mindbender?

Martha Thomases

Martha Thomases brought more comics to the attention of more people than anyone else in the industry. Her work promoting The Death of Superman made an entire nation share in the tragedy of one of our most iconic American heroes. As a freelance journalist, she has been published in the Village Voice, High Times, Spy, the National Lampoon, Metropolitan Home, and more. For Marvel comics she created the series Dakota North. Martha worked as a researcher and assistant for the author Norman Mailer on several of his books, including the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Executioner's Song, On Women and Their Elegance, Ancient Evenings, and Harlot's Ghost.

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3 Responses

  1. Pennie says:

    Thank you Martha.
    As an Intersex, gendered woman, I’ve been fascinated by this publication, which has received boatloads of attention in the queer press.

    Martha, I remember a conversation we had years ago. We were talking about how to gain acceptance by the American public for Trans people. You confidently related that acceptance would flow from an increased presence in pop culture, like the impact TV shows “Will and Grace,” among others, had for gay people.
    With Trans characters appearing with an increasing positive presence on TV, in books (Pulitzer Prize winner “Middlesex” for an example)’ and in comics, there is not-so-coincidental acceptance, just as you predicted so long ago.
    Smarty!
    Hopefully the day will soon come when familiarity breeds not contempt, but acceptance.
    Thank you again for decades of support!
    And Happy Anniversary of your 29th birthday today!

  2. George Haberberger says:

    I don’t think Sir Tristan would qualify as transgendered because she was fine with being a woman until the spell that revealed all the previous incarnations of the characters was enacted. It was not a situation she had lived with from childhood the way true transgender people have.

    And Pennies’ post explains something that I had questioned here:
    http://mdwp.malibulist.com/2013/03/pretty-in-pink-by-martha-thomases-brilliant-disguise-mdworld/

    No one answered my query, but if I had presumed that Martha was talking about Pennie… well how would that have looked?

  3. Bieeanda says:

    My biggest concerns are that this character could easily become a crime statistic, have her identity retconned, or get added to the Rogue’s Gallery when Simone moves on or is removed from the book. Given the at-best gloomy tone of Gotham stories and the real-world statistics regarding crimes against transpeople, it’s not hard to be worried.