Diana Bennett
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Diana Bennett |
| Occupation: | |
| Relationships: | see article |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Diana Bennett is a Beauty and the Beast character who appears in the third season of the show after Catherine Chandler's death.
She is a character of intense fannish opinion. See Beauty and the Beast: The Classic vs. Season 3 Fandom Split.
When she is portrayed in fanworks at all, she is either a focus of discord, or is referred to what fans came to call Diana Appears as a Friend, the latter to let fans know that Vincent Wells, the beast, has no romantic or sexual interest in her.
There are roughly 600 titles of (the numbers of volumes is many, many more) of Beauty and the Beast zines. Diana as a romantic or sexual partner appears in very few.
From a fan in 2003:
I don't watch TV at home, but when I visited a friend last year, I consented to sit through The X-Files with him. I hadn't seen it in a few years, so I was blown away by Scully: beautiful, smart, capable, assertive. I immediately thought, "I gotta slash her!"
But with whom? She doesn't have an attractive sidekick or an archvillainess in canon. An original character would be suspected of being a Mary Sue, and probably with some justice, because I do want Scully for myself. (No, Spooky can't have her. She's mine.) I stewed for a long time, and finally ended up writing crossovers, slashing her with Emma J. Russell from the movie The Saint and with Detective Diana Bennett from Beauty and the Beast, the latter despite the attendant difficulties of pairing a redhead named Dana with a redhead named Diana.
So that's the big problem: finding a fandom that has not only one, but two interesting, complex female characters. In most fandoms, we're lucky to get just one. [1]
Pairings
Some Fiction
One controversial story is "Night Moves" by Beth Blighton in Castles in the Air #2 (1991)
Another one is Unfinished Symphony in A Secret Place #6 (1990).
Portrayed in Fan Art
It appears that the same one or two photo references inspired much of the Diana Bennett fanart.
1990
from A Different Dream. #1, Phyllis Berwick
from Wishes and Dreams #2, artist is Shirley Leonard
from Wishes and Dreams #2, artist is Barbara Gipson
P.S. Nim from The Absurd Season (1990)
from Wildheart (1990), artist is Beth Blighton
from The Dreamer Returns #1 (1990)
Anna M. Deavers from In a Moonless Sky: "Midnight Tears" (1990)
Anna M. Deavers from In a Moonless Sky: "Gunslinger" (1990)
unknown artist, from The Memory Flame #1
unknown artist, from The Memory Flame #1
Phyllis Berwick, from The Memory Flame #1, portrays Diana Bennett and Devin Wells
J. Ley, from The Memory Flame #2
J. Ley, from Shadow Knight #2
Holly Riedel, from Shadow Knight #2
Jan Durr, from The Spiral Staircase #2
Sandra Parker, from The Spiral Staircase #2
Pam Tuck, from The Spiral Staircase #2
1991
from Threshold to Dreams #1, Phyllis Berwick portrays Diana Bennett and Joe Maxwell
from Threshold to Dreams #1, artist is Barbara Gipson
from Though They Sink Through the Sea...., artist is Holly Riedel (1991)
Jan Durr, from All Things are Possible #2 (1991)
inside issue #1, Diana Bennett and Elliot Burch, from Renascence #1, artist is Victoria Monteleone (1991)
Barbara Gipson from Acquainted with the Night #2 (1991)
from Between Two Worlds #3, artist is Barbara Gudlauski (1991)
from A Love for All Seasons, Jan Durr (1991)
1992
from Flame and Shadow #4, artist is Jacqueline Kapke
from From the Tunnels #2, artist is Lisa Stubblefield
from Mask: Tales from the Underground #4, artist is Janet Meehan
from Mask: Tales from the Underground #4, artist is Janet Meehan
from To Dream Again, artist is Kerin Rose Houseburg
from Huntress #1, artist is Barbara Gipson
from The Legend of the Soul, artist is Rhonda Collins
from The Legend of the Soul, artist is Rhonda Collins
from The Legend of the Soul, artist is Rhonda Collins
from The Legend of the Soul, artist is Rhonda Collins
from Threshold to Dreams #2, Bruce Holroyd portrays Diana Bennett and Joe Maxwell
from Threshold to Dreams #2, artist is Amy Bechtel
1993
Jan Durr from Phoenix #3 (1993)
front cover of Once Upon a Time...Is Now #47 (June), Rosemarie Hauer (1993)
from Legacy, artist is Sandy Chandler Shelton (1993)
from The Mirror of Our Dreams, artist is Jan Durr (1993)
from The Mirror of Our Dreams, artist is Jan Durr (1993)
from The Mirror of Our Dreams, artist is Jan Durr (1993)
1994
from Dreams in Amethyst #3 (1994)
Jan Durr from Huntress #2 (1994)
from Beauty and the Bast Trilogy, artist is Rhonda Collins
from Beauty and the Bast Trilogy, artist is Rhonda Collins
from Beauty and the Bast Trilogy, artist is Jan Durr
from Shadow Dancers, artist is Rosemarie Hauer
from Shadow Dancers, artist is Jan Durr
from Shadow Dancers, artist is Jan Durr
from Shadow Dancers, artist is Jan Durr
from Shadow Dancers, artist is Rhonda Collins
from Shadow Dancers, artist is Rhonda Collins
1995
Kevin Barnes, from Legacy of Love
unknown artist, Touch of Love #5
Rosemarie Hauer, from Denying the Dark
from Dark Thresholds, artist is Lena Wood
Pam Tuck, from Labyrinth Dance
from LifeSongs, Jan Durr
from LifeSongs, Jan Durr
1998
from Flame and Shadow #14, artist is Anna Kelley (1998)
Fan Comments
If Diana is to be the new "love interest", she needs a shot of adrenaline to spruce her up. As is her look is so bland and unemotional. Her voice is a boring monotone. She needs a wardrobe that doesn't look like it came from the trash can behind that ramshackle loft where she lives. Once she has been made presentable and worthy of Vincent, the relationship must be developed slowly and very gently. [2]
I really like Diana and I wish people would stop making comparisons. She's an individual and should be treated as such. She vent to Catherine's apartment to do her job. I liked her down-to-earth qualities, like the baseball cap she wore while waiting in the cemetery, her not-to-perfectly-clean loft and her jeans with the holes in the knees. I found her very easy to relate to. (May 1990) [3]
References
- ^ from Kadorienne in Some Thoughts on Femslash
- ^ from Once Upon a Time...Is Now #22 (May 1990)
- ^ from Once Upon a Time...Is Now #22 (May 1990)