Well said. Characterize female superheroes with less boob tissue falling out of their bustiers and more lean muscle tissue filling out their forms, portray them with empowered dignity, and more females will be lured into buying comics.

Pretty reasonable, well-thought out response to the biggest thing in comics this week. It’s not dripping with anger or the feeling that the comics are out to personally insult the writer, so I’ll go ahead and say this here:

There’s no such thing as bad PR. No matter how angry people get, or how strongly you excoriate a comic, the creative team involved, or the company that wrote it, the simple fact is this: You’re still giving it press.

I’m told Supergirl and Wonder Woman were pretty well-written comics featuring two characters who should ACTUALLY be perceived as positive female role models/postive female representations. But I’m not hearing NEARLY as much about them as I am about Catwoman or Red Hood and the Outlaws. Seriously, if those two comics outsell SG and WW, I’ll scream.

The best thing to do for a bad comic is to ignore it. No reviews. No discussion. Just let it fade into obscurity. Because businesses only care about two things: Did it sell, and are people talking about it. If the answer to the latter is no, the answer to the former is probably no too. They won’t do that again. Promise.

Agreed. Regarding the Wonder Woman image, though, I don’t think it’s sexual in the least. Nudity does not equal sex. I think it’s more of a primal thing there.

Thanks for the comments everyone, as I said, art is subjective.

Joe, you hit the nail on the head. I was just telling someone a few minutes ago we all (myself included) need to make a conscious effort to publicize the positive things and give them their due credit as well.

@ CK: What’d Jill do to you? She posted her opinion. It’s a valid one. What’s the problem?

@ Jan: Should I have a daughter, if her response to someone sneaking in her bedroom uninvited/unannounced is to grasp them by the throat, I’ll be quite proud. That scene in WW gets the message across: Diana’s not to be f’d with. I like that. She’s a warrior and a superhero; portray her as such.

@ Joe: Laura’s entitled to quit comics if she feels unwelcome by some of DC’s poorer decisions. I can’t say how I’d feel if they suddenly made black people adhere to every negative stereotype in the book. (My problem instead is that outside of like, three books I can’t find any.)

But I’ve seen her post, and posts like it, retweeted by the people I follow on Twitter several times over. Good press on WW/Batwoman/Supergirl? One or two times. This trend of spending more time talking about what isn’t good has got to end.

OK, one more thing!

I am Middle-Eastern. I have had ample opportunities to get offended, bent out of shape, & knee-jerk ‘Blog about quitting comics due to what I have just read, even at DC.

But I don’t.

And I still love comics.

That’s kinda where I am coming from.

–J.

On another tangent – what about male sexuality in comics – male costumes mostly don’t show as much skin but they’re certainly as form-fitting. And I’ve seen and heard enough comments about Nightwing to know it dosn’t go unnoticed. And I’ve seen a panel from “Hood” which dosn’t leave Roy Harper too far away from being full frontal.

If we’re going to protect people from being exploited, shouldn’t we give everyone equal protection?

Wonder Woman would.

I’m with Chaka Sidyn, It is just a comic book. Who cares why Wonder Woman sleeps nude, Hell, why is superman wearing a cape. Why would I care that much for fantasy characters that are make-believe, because it is just make believe? We should keep public opinion and politics out of the comics so one can truly escape and enjoy. Once the Political correctness shows it’s ugly head, it’s no longer FAN-tasy, it’s just Fancy.

So, what… those of us who sleep nude are weird somehow? I don’t get it.

Comics are a visual medium. Artists want to show off their skills. The female form is a great way for them to show off their skills and is visually appealing. I see nothing wrong with it.

…….Comics have never been a great place for women characters, so its really not any surprise women have no interest. The Boob thing has always been there, its a part of comic books, and if you thing the boob thing alone is enough to keep a book going, you are an idiot.
If the book is good it will survive, and if not, well, full frontal nudity won’t save it……

I meant isn’t out of…. Isn’t

Sexy costumes for female super-heroes is an interesting topic. I’ve been reading comics a long time and I’ve heard the word “sexist” several times usually coming from women who don’t read comics. It’s a point I disagree with for the most part. To me the term sexist has more to do with how the character is portrayed than how she dresses. Most modern age super heroines are not just love sick girlfriends and sidekicks for the males like they were in the sixties. They are intelligent, strong willed and can kick ass as well as the guys. However, in recent years I would agree their has been a sexualization of many characters which has often been reflected in costume designs. Pop icons like Madonna and Lady Gaga had obvious influence, and even renewed interest in pin up models like Bettie Page and Dita Von Teese. These Icons set an example of sexual empowerment as well as strength and independence. These women, as far as I can tell they are more popular with women than men. So fish nets and corsets are back as evidenced in Birds of Prey #1. I loved BOP, more than I thought I would. The characters were sexy without being sexualized to the point distraction from the story, and when the bad guy steals a kiss from Black Canary, you see the surprise on her face before she punches him in his face.

But while pop icons have been taking female empowerment forward, many video games have been taking it backward. I enjoyed the popular “Arkham Asylum” but I absolutely hated the whorish costume worn by Harlequin. But the game was very popular and so now we get a similar look for Harley in Suicide Squad. I’ll pass, thank you. I’ve never Liked Starfire’s strange cosmic swimsuit, but back in the eighties she was drawn differently. She was equally as cute as she was sexy, with none of the glaring T&A type poses that we see In “Red Hood”. She didn’t sleep with every guy on the team and you could instantly understand her every emotion by the look on her face. The costume was bad though. The more recent painted on Star Sapphire costumes are similarly distasteful. The characters may as well be stark naked if they are going to go that far with the costume design. I still like the Star Sapphires, but I wouldn’t like them any less if their belly button and the space between their breasts had a few more inches of cover. But in “Red Hood and the Outlaws” Starfire’s sexually idiotic and emotionless portrayal was far more offensive to me. The Idea of free love died out in the early seventies because the “Live for today” hippies began to learn what terrible emotional damage it caused to couples and families. For me the sexual three way is neither fun nor interesting. Fortunately I didn’t buy the book, I learned all I needed to know by flipping through the pages in the comic shop.

Art is subjective so I tend to overlook the often impossible functionality of female costumes as long as they are not too slutty. I’m also willing to overlook disproportionate figures within reason. Starling may have the right size breasts and appropriate costume support, and that’s fine but I think comic book Women should be of all shapes and sizes. I like the fact that Powergirl has large breasts and Supergirl has small breasts. I like the fact that Amanda Waller is fat. To me whether or not the characters costume has enough breast support or if their swimsuit like costume can stay on during combat without some sort of wardrobe malfunction is about as important as the fact that their heads are disproportionately too small for their bodies. I don’t expect comics to be realistic, I expect them to be fun and entertaining. Sexy is fine if that’s what the creative team wants to do, but I want the characters to be interesting and well rounded. I would rather read about interesting heroines than controversial ones. I realize I may be in the minority, but I hope that most women who read comics, whether new to the hobby or old, understand that not all guys want their favorite Super women to behave like Catwoman and Starfire.

When I was younger I met a woman in art school and while chatting about something I can’t remember, I found myself distracted by her physique, She had ample breasts and wore a tight white T-shirt with some sort of graphic on it. “Hey, my eyes are up here” she said. I was mortified, I hadn’t even realized I had been looking. But later I felt the comment was somewhat unfair. Perhaps I had been unwittingly rude, but Its human nature for guys to look. All we can do is try to be aware of it and be as discreet as possible. It is, after all, quite natural to admire the human figure for both sexes but in that moment maybe that young woman shouldn’t have assumed I was lusting for her body when I was merely distracted. Any one who has studied advertising understands that there are certain things in any image that the eye simply can not resist. Faces or anything that looks like a face will draw attention, graphics and the written word. If an image has a word or partial word in it that will be the first place the eye goes, and yes of course sex sells, but so does violence. Physiologically men are more visually oriented than women, and women tend to be more audibly oriented, which is probably why men are more likely to watch Baywatch and hide centerfolds under their mattress and women are more likely to read romance novels and weep while screaming their lungs out at a boy band concert. If a man sees a woman wearing a tight T-shirt with a graphic or slogan on it, it’s almost impossible not to look. Sorry ladies, that’s just the way it is. It doesn’t necessarily mean we care any less about you, but truthfully, sometimes it does. Comics like Red Hood and the Outlaws and Catwoman are disappointing to me because they are aimed towards a less mature yet perhaps more marketable audience, young male adults who may have more virtual relationships than real ones and who tend to be more impressed with graphic violence and overt sexual imagery than quality story telling with multi dimensional characters. But we’re only talking about comics here so perhaps it’s wrong to wish or even expect a higher standard when the majority of fans will simply buy anything with Batman or Wolverine in it or a sexy comic featuring a female heroine. If the Market is there, why should DC rely on quality story telling when they can rely on highly sexualized imagery. It’s a cheap and easy way to increase sales.

I bought Catwoman number one primarily for the gorgeous art by Guillem March. I am not a big fan of Judd Winick but I decided to give the book a shot anyway. I don’t plan to pick up the second issue. Overall I enjoyed the art, admittedly, I even enjoyed the Cat on Bat soft porn image at the end. But there’s something wrong about it too. in the previous pages, I understand why women don’t like the headless shots of Catwoman half dressed and I can certainly empathize with how women feel about it, but I’m less bothered by the art and the way the character is framed, than I am about the way the character is portrayed. Perhaps women are not the intended audience for this book, and thats a real shame since there is a lot about the character that women could enjoy. This book is a real step down from the Catwoman envisioned by Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke. I want Catwoman to be a sexy character, but I want her to be strong willed and smart too. I want her to be the kind of character that both men and women can enjoy. It bothers me that she has a Batman fetish but doesn’t care who he really is. That’s not a loving action, it’s more like scratching an itch. It’s nothing more than a shallow impulse that was spent too early in the run and would likely rob the reader of a potentially far more interesting relationship. It reminds me of When Black Cat was Dating Spider-man, but never wanted to hear anything about Peter Parker. I remember thinking what a fool Parker was to pour his heart and soul out to such a selfish mental case that only cared about her own sexual superhero fetish and wasn’t above using her good looks and low cut costume to get what she wanted. The last page of Catwoman #1 should not have been included in the book. It’s the “Oh crap!” moment of the book. An “Oh crap” moment is the one shock and awe page in a comic that thrills or titillates the less mature reader to such an extent that they mistake the thrilling often controversial surprise for good story telling when most of the time it’s just a cheap gimmick to sell more copies.The effect is the same as if they put a full frontal nudity page in every issue. They would sell a lot of comics but after a while the readers would start to say “Writer?, what writer, I just buy it for the pictures”.
I for one really hope this book doesn’t indicate a trend.

I’m a guy, so I don’t claim to understand the female perspective on all of these issues, but I empathize. For those Women out there who were so offended by their first issues of “Catwoman” or “Red Hood” you are certainly free to stop reading comics forever, but I have another suggestion. There are a lot more than two comics out there, try something else. “Birds of Prey” for one has a long history of portraying female characters well, (thanks to writers like Gail Simone). And I would have no problem recommending Wonder Woman, Batwoman or Batgirl to any of my female friends. Find other female fans and ask what they read. Find comics by women writers and artists. Or better yet, complain. Write a blog about it. Find the facebook pages of DC writers and editors and give em hell. I would think DC wants you to read their comics, so if enough of you do that they are going to listen to you. And remember, your purchase is a vote.

@Johnny-Criticism has it’s purpose. Being able to specifically describe your likes, and perhaps more importantly, your dislikes has a value by way of market feedback. As consumers we have a voice and it should be heard. Sure you can register your displeasure with a book by simply not buying it but I think a more specific description of exactly what works or doesn’t work, what is a little creepy or even offensive is valuable to both the creators and other readers. Personally I had a much stronger negative reaction to these two books than any others. DC’s new 52 has been overall very good and although some of the books have not been to my liking, for the most part I have felt no need to publicly comment on them if it was merely a matter of personal taste or preference. These two books may indicate a disappointing trend so I really hope that DC takes note of comments like these and makes a change. This is specific information that they are not going to know by simply looking at the sales figures.

For some odd reason the women complaining about this don’t find anything wrong with the physiques of the men – skintight spandex over physiques far beyond the grotesque dreams of bodybuilders.

That said I’m not sure what the point is of drawing these characters sexy when they’re only drawings. Is a guy going to fire off some knuckle children to these things? I don’t think so.

A very late comment: The blogger apparently feels that any physical idealization amounts to a “degradation” of the character in question. I would just like to say that I find that completely ludicrous. Superhero comics have *always* been about idealized physical figures; it’s part of the concept of superheroes. They are idealized in body as well as in spirit. I do agree that oversized breasts ought to be shown receiving appropriate support through the outfit, but that’s as far as my agreement goes. I do not accept that sexual objectification (which is never the only point, but part of a larger set of points) is necessarily a bad thing; all normal/natural human beings *are* sexual objects. They’re also *more* than that, but they’re *also* sexual objects. Idealized characters like superheroes are so all the more. Idealizations are nothing less than evolutionary guide-lines, and signposts of out culture’s standards of beauty and sexiness. These are good things. If you want them to be different that what is portrayed in superhero comics, point us to whichever ideal you happen to like and maybe we’ll like it, too. And maybe not. Different ideals are part of our cultural activity, and we should discuss openly why we have them. Just making knee-jerk critiques of conservatively and obsoletely “immoral” depictions is merely to display your own lack of thought on the subject.

Sex is here to stay, sex sells, sex is a progressive force for cultural change, and sex and sexualization should be accepted and embraced (yes, within limits, of course, but the limits are wide, and rarely exceeded in mainstream comics). Prudishness leads to bitterness and will end up as an evolutionary blind alley.