Not trying to be an ass here but how come men who read comics or write for comic sites never complain about how men are portrayed in comics? Every male superhero shown is built like a brick house and no one every complains or points that out. Also they are shown without shirts fairly often so you can’t say they aren’t shown in states of undress.

There may be larger issues at play, but the rating is all they needed to deal with that insipid blog post. If you think something is objectionable and troubling for a middle-aged woman, why would you intentionally give it to your seven-year-old to prove a point on the Internet?

Its not the issue that the comic is for older readers or that she is sexually liberated. Kory was always like that and, in her planet, sex was seen as something that all people did, freely. The difference was that it was done to show your care and love for another, that was why she did not sleep around with every guy she could find, she slept with those that she felt love for. This rebooted version is just sleeping around with anyone that will give her sex because in the writer’s opinion, she is a “sexually liberated woman”. That is BS and actual character assassination in my book. Reboot all you want but keep the core of what made the characters appealing to readers. That is all I ask. Or just give someone else the chance to write them.

Let’s be real…few of us would even be talking (or thinking)about Starfire if not for this particular controversy. Let’s not all act like fans were beating down the doors for her appearances before this.

I agree with Brandon.

The issue isn’t “GASP! Starfire had sex!” That’s always been a huge part of her alien personality. The outrage stems from:
1. she can no longer remember people, firedns, lovers, etc. So anyone she’s ever cared about or loved? Right out of her head. So what CAN she remember?
2. She can’t really tell one human from the next.
3. She doesn’t care about problems 1 or 2.

All of her compassion, empathy and strength of character has been stripped away so the fanboy writers can exploit the one piece of her personality they think will sell. Sex.

DC “empowered” this strong female character by taking her character away? Swing and a miss.

I don’t understand the controversy! Ha anyone seen other company’s comics? Take a look at bomb queen, hack/slash, wonderland!
Is the real problem that DC is considered mainstream so they’re juat a bigger target?

So it’s ok that the protagonists in this series shoot people with bullets and arrows but when they engage in a healthy, perfectly normal human activity it’s suddenly provocative?

DC is trying out fresh approaches. They’re taking risks. You’re not going to like every single choice they make. Some people need to get over themselves.

Strangely, our culture finds violence more acceptable than sex. Just watch prime-time TV one night – lots of cops and bad guys shooting, punching and kicking each other, not one scene of them shagging. Why?! Which one is more of an anti-social behavior?
I mean, we have a decapitated body on GL, an exploding baby on Demon. and yet people wont discuss this as much as the sex scene?

The problem is when a female character is just turned into a sex object for men to fantasize about. Comics are all about fantasy, and because most are written by men, and aimed at men, they generally cater to the male fantasy. Big strong men that we wish we were; voluptuous, sexually adventurous women that we wish we were with. Starfire as she is portrayed is not a sexually liberated woman, she is a man’s fantasy of what a woman is. You can have mature comics that deal with adult issues, without alienating all the female readers.

I cannot believe how many people are upset with the woman for giving a seven year-old a comicbook!

Sheesh, comics were originally produced for kids!

I think it’s outrageous to be so blatant about this “hypersexual” behavior in a comic that SHOULD be accessible to anyone from 5 to 55.

Wolfman wasn’t exactly one of my favorite writers, especially since he treated his TEEN titans like 20-somethings (e.g., Terra’s “romance” with Slade, Dick and Kory’s relationship, Roy and Cheshire’s fling, Donna’s marriage to Terry “Mary Sue” Long, etc.). But… At least he was never totally overt with anyone’s sexuality.

At Marvel, Claremont was pretty good at using inuendo, but leaving things vague enough that a child wouldn’t start asking too many questions. Ha.

Anyway, Lobdell is better than this.

And as a former ad exec, I have to say DC’s PR department is sh*t for simply responding with a “look at the label first, moron.”

One more thing! I’m glad Catwoman is doing Batman for all of us to see! It’s hard to defend Batman that he’s not gay, when I only have one book (All Star Batman and Robin) of Batman getting it on with a female (and it’s shadowed). And all the 64 graphic novels of Batman he’s hanging with dudes and lil boys… Granted many of the books are hint that he has sex with females, but never show it! Winick you are the man!

@hugueknot

The problem is they didn’t present it as “she’s brain damaged” (in which case Roy becomes a huge douchebag for taking advantage of Starfire AFTER Jason tells him about her mental capacity. “Hey, a brain damaged woman asked me to have sex! Clearly I can say yes without any negative consequences!”)

but that’s not what happened. It was presneted as “Starfire is an alien. This is just how she is now. Because she’s an alien. And aliens act differently than humans. Did I mention she’s an alien?”

This is a trumped up non issue. The book wasnt even a decent read. I also dont like Roy being drawn to look like he’s Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. This one I dumped—and added Red lanterns instead. It was a nice set up. Dex-Star and Atrocitus were much more enjoyable than Red Hood and his nymphos.

She can’t remember her lovers – maybe its because the universe was just rebooted?

I agree with Sam. Why don’t we see nerds like the Atom and Hank Pym all scrawny-like? They better start showing weight benches in the labs.

I’ll be blunt: the comic bloggers who are making this huge issue out of Starfire and Catwoman being portrayed as — GASP! — sexually active, aggressive women should be ashamed of themselves. (And good ol’ Rich Johnston over at Bleeding Cool is trying to do the same thing with Voodoo this week.) These are characters who have historically been portrayed in a highly sexualized light, right from their very beginnings. This is NOTHING NEW. There is no news here. These bloggers know precisely what they’re doing. They’re getting cheap, easy web hits and lots of comments that typically fall into three camps:

1. Stop making an issue where there is no issue. Comics have historically sexualized both female AND male characters (Hawkman flies around barechested in a leather-daddy harness; I don’t see anyone freaking out over his Hawk nipples). Male heroes in comics can bed female characters and nobody blinks. God forbid female characters show an active — and yet totally nonexplicitly rendered — interest in sex. You want to talk about misogyny? Take a hard look at the argument that these two female characters initiated sex on page, so now they are suddenly objectified. Even though they’ve been portrayed like that for years.

2. All of the “slut of the week” comments, which are really thoughtful and certainly reflect a general respect for women.

3. The people crying about how comics are for children, and WON’T DC THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!

That last one is the one that kills me. Fact: the vast majority of contemporary American mainstream comic readers are men in their 30s or older. Fact: these titles were clearly labelled as for teens or older. Fact: your child, or teen, could see markedly more flesh by tuning in the CW or ABC Family — channels explicitly marketed toward tweens and teens — in which primetime shows frequently feature characters having sex, doing drugs, drinking, getting pregnant, whatever. Crying that DC’s $2.99 comic book is somehow despoiling the youth of today when they can catch much worse on TV for FREE, on programs aimed specifically at teens, is ridiculous. It’s like when your mom tried to argue that Twisted Sister was turning you into a Satan worshiper or whatever.

The answer is very simple, as many people have stated. Don’t like DC treating its female heroines as sexually liberated women instead of the virgins/whores you’re used to? Stop buying those titles. But please, can we stop trying to make this into some social commentary about the DCNu is somehow turning several of its female characters into wanton harlots when they have ALWAYS BEEN PORTRAYED LIKE THIS? Starfire has always been a sex-positive alien wearing a tiny metal purple bikini. Catwoman has been a bondage fantasy come to life since her very first appearance. Voodoo was always a stripper who quickly abandoned her sex-work role once her true nature was revealed.

Get over it. There are real problems in the world. Cartoon characters having non-explicit sex is not one of them.

Thanks Mavrik, I’ve said “DC is a business” myself in several of my posts. Doesn’t mean I can’t disagree with their business decisions.

What a load of Crap. dc get off of your high horse and get with the times. If you don’t like sex and sexy stuff don’t read it.

Its sad it seems like many of you don’t understand comics are geared towards men and she’s a fictional character. Dc wants to reach more people and be more diverse which means they can’t sexualize woman because and I’m just guessing here they want women to be apart of that wider audience especially since DC comics has THE most recognizable superheroine in the world, who has had a cultural impact on this country as such.

Yes they are fictional characters with long rich histories, itals entertainment sure but to be entertained you have to care any many people have grown to care about kory and selina. Dc took a risk and controversy will definitely get attention as it seems to be the point as I’m sorry to say.

The argument about how men are shown in comics are not usually the pin-up sexy pose style that female characters shown to be. No dc male character I can think of is not almost completely covered. (Not true Robin I and Martian Manhunter and hawk man) where star sapphire is nearly completely naked, power girl and her weird breast window, starfire’s new look supergirl short skirt, nearly all female heroines except bat people mostly legs and thighs are exposed its to give us some eye candy their costumes mostly seem impractical and unrealistic for the kind of work they do

Starfires new personality seems to be the writers idea of a liberated woman who sleeps with everyone she meets becuz that’s wat she is use to and a lot of people believe that its sexist myself included

I didn’t think the issue was particularly well written and not sure if I’ll be back or not, but I thought it was pretty obvious that the Starfire acting out of character, and amnesia, was the point of the issue. It seem to be Checkov’s gun in act one. I figured that the point was that the other 2 “heroes” were so self absorbed and too busy high-fiving each other to notice something was not right. I could be reading to much into the issue but that was the impression I got before I ever logged onto the internet. This whole thing seems to be more typical internet rage over a conflated “scandal.”
What we should be discussing is the fact that:
1. For a first issue there was no hook.
2. none of the characters were likable or interesting
3. whether or not the dialogue was any good.
Those were the things that jumped out at me and why, although I think a more focused comic on Jason Todd could be great, I am not sure I will purchase issue 2.

I would have loved to have seen Starfire-crotch portrayed like this as an oversexed slutbag on the old CTNW Teen Titans cartoon. It would have given a whole new meaning to the show every time she called Robin by his real name.

“You know what Raven, I really do love Dick… a lot.”

My only problems are that they made her an emotionless robot. And you’re telling me she doesn’t remember Dick Grayson? Balderdash! The sexed up part’s always been there, so that’s no big deal.

*Controversy Still Sells Print Magazines….HUZZAH!!!*

That’s…. that it? That’s all they had to say? Wow. Like watching paint dry.

Many of you jumping on this woman’s case who let her daughter “read” the comic did not read the article in question before you started vomiting your opinion everywhere. She did not give it to her to read. In fact, in the article, she states she wouldn’t dare do that. She explained that Starfire had been a positive heroine to her daughter for a while, yet in simply showing her the images of how Starfire is now being portrayed, her daughter was instantly made uncomfortable and turned off, stating that this Starfire just seems interested in skimpy-clothed posing and has no real character. From the mouths of babes.

DC seems to be trying to turn the tables and blame the woman for being a bad parent, when they are, in fact, being bad parents of their beloved characters, in this case.

“why would you intentionally give it to your seven-year-old to prove a point on the Internet?”

The point is that DC is making sure that this particular 7-year old is never going to read another of their comics down the road. That DC is doing little to think about the next generation of readers.

Between this story, and the web-comic, it shows that DC just doesn’t get it. Marvel doesn’t either.

But then, comic books have been hemorrhaging readers for years now, so maybe it doesn’t matter.

@ JohnnyBlazeDCU

F I had been reading a Harlequin romance series that introduced in the early 80′s a character named “Chad” who was a loyal friend with compassion and empathy (if a bit of a horn dog) to the leading lady and THEN decided 30 years later to one day announce “Oh, this is Chad. He can’t remember his friends or anyone he’s loved. Or even tell one woman apart from the next. But he’ll sleep with anybody” then yeah, I’d be pissed at that publisher, too.

Did you get the memo?

IT IS A REBOOT.

Yes that means the relationships you know means Zilch. Just say you’re pissed with the reboot and enough with the moralizing.

People throwing tantrums cause they are so important. DC listen to you all and there would be no DC.

Are you serious, there was actually controversy around this?! Wow. Society has been sexualizing their children over the last decade or 2 now, and the mainstream public has no problem accepting this. Seriously… kids (I mean KIDS as young as 7 and 8 now) dress like prostitutes and talk about having sex now, and most kids are already “doing” it with multiple partners by the time they’re 12 or 13. I’m not saying its right or anything, but its the truth.
The media plays a HUGE role in this also, and people embrace it, so that’s just the way it is. Don’t give me that crap about how the adults really care or take offense to that. Bullshit! If they gave a damn, then they would stop breeding because society will simply continue to deteriorate and become more vile and racy as time progresses.
This is a new DC Universe, one that is finally starting to modernize things. It’s violent, darker, “sexy”, and it reflects the current state of society today. I don’t want to read stories that take place in a universe where everything is prim and proper, and everyone has strict morals, because that doesn’t exist in our world. Red Hood & The Outlaws was a pretty entertaining read. The script was actually quite good! It was the artwork that was horrid. Get a new artist and I’ll definitely stick around!

I honestly cannot believe the number of callous comments in this thread.

I swear, it’s apparently not just the comicbook reading demographic that’s changed; the psychographics have flipped as well.

Comparing Hawkman’s bare chest with Starfire basically saying to Roy Harper, “You want to have sex? I don’t care about you or your friends or any of the other guys I’ve had sex with. I just like to have sex.” Seriously?!?

What kind of world do we live in where comicbook readers do NOT see a problem with that kind of dialogue? Especially in a book with a character most recently seen in a kids cartoon and another currently starring in a kids cartoon.

The DC reboot SHOULD have been aimed at the junior high age group. Otherwise, it’s accomplished NOTHING.

Continue to bleed your aging fanbase dry, DC, and welcome to your own extinction. (But hey, it’s all about licensing now anyway, isn’t it?)

I’m not really that aware of Starfire, but I can see why people would be upset.

Starfire aside, I dropped this book from my pull for the simple fact that it sucked. All of it. Not just the Starfire stuff.

What a crappy issue.

@Harlock999

You should know better than to bring up a poor representation of a comic book character on a comic website (seriously, Teen Titans Starfire was much less like Kori than this new one, and it was awful). I didn’t like the dialogue or character changes either, but that isn’t, nor has it been, the argument to this issue.

We all hate the changes made to Starfire and the dialogue. But that doesn’t mean we need to change the industry because of a couple bad comics. TONS of movies and TV shows are millions of times worse but that doesn’t mean all movies are awful and we should get rid of the writers and replace them with women who are never sexist(Twilight didn’t have any sexual pandering directed at teen girls or mid-thirties women, right?). And it doesn’t mean little kids should be exposed to them (Hence the ratings). All I’m saying is hate the player (who is usually good) not the game.

@Krazyman, not at all the same. She showed the girl the new image of Starfire that was for public consumption in order to get her opinion on it. What would be the point of showing her images of an actress that were meant to be private?

Love the fact that fanboys are falling all over themselves to cover DC’s ass. Bill Engvall needs to start passing out signs: Here’s STUPID!

How come a sexy woman is an issue but a murder in front of a child and then some more mutilations are not in a Batman book?

Another gd fake controversy. People complaining about something just to hear themselves talk.

The point here is not the violence or the sex in the story. The problem is not if Starfire have sex with one or ten men. The point is that her name is the only thing in common with the character we knew. Change is not bad per se, but when change means lose one character to gain a sex/death machine, its dificult to see the positive. The visceral reactions to this can be hard to understand to anyone not familliar with the character, but to someone who has learn to know and care for them, is normal, even when we know is not real people we are talking about.
To like a character is to identify with him or her on some level. When this identification vanishes because the change is so radical that surpasses even the widest horizon of expectations, it’s normal that a lot of people could feel betrayed
(I’m sorry if I’m not clear, my natural language is not english )

I am offended and appalled. NOT. I will be getting issue 2 and 3. This “controversy” rolls over my back like water. DC doesn’t have to respond to this issue. They just make sure everyone knows that the book is not meant for those under 12, well-written or crap writing doesn’t matter. Not every book is gonna make it. If this fails they have something to take it’s place. If it succeeds despite this, then you guys dropping it got outvoted

I agree with Russ’ comment. The article itself should be a bigger controversy. If a journalist in Time were to make her kid watch a movie with sexually explicit content and then comment on it then – following the crap-storm of media attention – she would never work again, and her editor would be lucky to keep her job, as well. This is a major violation of journalistic ethics, and the author is only getting away with it because it flew under the radar since it was a blog that has little editorial control. I would also be willing to question whether the kid was coerced into making certain comments.

With that said, DC still hasn’t addressed the major issue, which is that the content is offensive to a good number of adults, their fans key among them. They spent a bunch of money to relaunch the line and did the whole, “Hey baby, I know I did some bad things in the past, but I’ve really changed this time” thing and then they put out some books the encapsulate what was wrong to begin with. It’s like curing someone’s terminal lung cancer by giving them terminal throat cancer. The line has the same good-to-crap ratio as before, but there’s just new, exciting crap that people are actually noticing.

@rickshaw1 “Comics are stories of adventure, action, fantasy and wish fulfillment.”

No. No they’re not
Some comics can feature stories that have adventure.
Some comics can feature stories that have action.
Some comics can feature stories that have fantasy.
Others can have humor.
Or drama.
Or …. well, I think you get the point. NOT all comics are superhero comics. Or fantasy worlds comics. Comics can cover all types of genres and stories.

I get so tired when a great type of visual storytelling form like comics are ALWAYS assumed that they’re only about super people dressed in suits doing god knows what.

I think the problem is comics need to reach out to a new generation of fans but they seam to be painting themselves into a market aimed at teenage boys as their main source of income . What really needs to happys if comics to become child friendly again . I was 6 when i first got into marvel comics and its something thats stayed with me into my 40s but these days my tastes tend to wider than just marvel . The other major problem is price that also need to come down by anything upto a 1/2 to 2/3 and be more in line with the prices (taking inflation into consideration) we saw in the 70s and 80s . these days you’ve got to be pretty well off to collect on any type of reasonable scale . Stan Lee got it right he knew the importance of catching the interest of children . Thats been lost .

@Krazyman

“Okay, I’ll change my argument because you make a valid point. How about a female actress in a kids movie who later goes on to do a nude scene in another movie?.”

True but you could argue what if that actress decided to do a porn movie . Would that still be acceptable ?

I seriously wish that the bloggers on this site would pull their bottom lips over their head and start sucking their heads down their throats when it comes to the recent “shocking” revelation that the girly books at DC are featuring sexied up characters who have ALWAYS BEEN sexied up!!!

Doesn’t the chick who wrote this article have a personal blog called “HAS BOOBS, READS COMICS”?

I mean aren’t you drawing attention to your own anatomy with your provactive blog title? Don’t the pictures of the boobs all around your blog’s logo kind of seem gimmicky and tongue-in-cheek? Does that mean you were sexualizing your own blog for the sake of attention?!

You disagree with DC’s tactics but yet you do the same thing for yourself to get hits on the web.

::Face Palm::

Wait.

Weren’t you also the same Op/Ed writer on this site who went into business for themselves when you pandered in an article about having one of the Big 2 hire you as their “smiling face press person”? You won’t get that gig by pointing your finger and yelling “Sexist” at them; I’ll tell you that much.

I gotta say that between you and a few of the other non-writers on Blog@; you people have RUINED this website’s credibility.

Looking over your writing, your work here is nothing but a series of trite pseudo-intellectual abortions that all border on mindlessly droning self-reflexivity. You’re completely self-important and a legend in your own mind. I’m done with this site and the meanderings that you people call “news”.

I have seen Starfire in many different comics. I saw her sleep with Nightwing a couple of times. I saw her naked hanging out at Animal Man’s house a couple time. I get that some people have never read a comic book with Starfire it, they maybe saw the show that was intended for children, and they didn’t like what they saw and maybe they are realizing this book isn’t for them. But honestly for those people Starfire as a character may not have been for them. She isn’t a character that was suddenly oversexualized by the DC relaunch, she is a character that was incredibly sexualized to begin with but they made her a little bit more alien because now she isn’t as good at telling people apart, which is probably a more scientifically accurate depiction of her.

DC totally missing the point. it’s not about how sexed up Starfire is in the issue, it’s about her forgetting Dick and the rest of the Titans and being completely out of character.

@TeenTitans_fan

She can’t be written “out of character.” Canonically speaking this is her first appearance. You may have heard that DC rebooted its whole line; I think there were a few articles about it here and there on the internet.

I’ve just recently read the following article which is much about this discussion: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/hey-thats-my-cape-catwoman-starfire-110928.html. The journalist starts by stating what “comics should be” simply based on what she believes is the popular opinion. According the the article, popular opinion is based on people that don’t read comics, and these people have the right to direct what comics should be: that every comic printed should be for everyone, child and adults alike. The journalist read the first issues of Catwoman and Red Hood & the Outlaws and did not like the depiction of characters she’s gotten used to reading as they are astranged from the characters she’ gotten used to and according to what popular opinion thinks comics should be.
My humble opinion about this matter is that comics ARE for everyone, but not every single comic printed should target all-ages. There SHOULD be kid books and adult books and books that come in between. There should be, and there are, comics for everyone. Of course everyone of us will have an opinion about the comic they read, but that doesn’t meen that there is only one way of writing comics and telling stories. Or that we are right. That can only happen if each of us sits down and writes the kind of book they want to read, but that is not happeing any time soon.
Also, nobody should base their full opinion about book by it’s first issue. Even amongst ourselves, the first impression is always important, but it’s what you learn from that person following that first impression is what matters. I nice guy or a beautiful woman will turn out to be the worst people there can be, and vice versa.
It just scares me when a journalist has the chance to write an article based on her opinion while at the same time seems to be trying to influence and force hes/his opinion on the readers. It’s freedom of speech and all, and if that influence is effective depends on the readers’ ability to judge what he reads, but I for one like to say that such subjectice opinions by such people need to be taken seriously and with great prejudice.
I will agree that Kory is not depicted in the way I’ve gotten used to, and I figure that she maybe be NOT the Kory I knew and loved (any who remember her first appearence in NTT she’d gotten away from captivity and her intruduction to the NTT made her what she is today. If the new continuity does not include that first meeting and the history thereafter there may be differences in her personality). For now I’m all to getting to know this Kory better before I pass judgment. I will give these comics a try and I will decide if I’ll continue buying them based on my own tastes and values. According to my values (please forgive me for stating them) I will not judge these comics based on popular opinion or because there is too little or too much violence or sex. I will base continue or drop these comics based on my own views and what I consider a good or poor execution by the creative department.

Wait, wait, wait! When did it ever make a difference that a character was once on an animated cartoon series aimed at kids. Batman’s been having sex with women all over the place and he’s had more runs at animation than Mickey Mouse. Let us not forget, since sex is apparently the ultimate sin here, that there are several other things that occur in the movies and comic books. There’s cursing, violence, mayhem, cigarette smoking, drug use. But no one ever talks about those things. It seems as long as someone has an opinion about sex that (women especially. Come on. We all know how you hate to be “objectified,” whatever that means.) they ought to be ashamed of themselves unless female characters have 1)smaller boobs, 2)bigger hips, 3)not distinguishably more beautiful (or less beautiful) than the person who issues the complaint is, 3)is wearing a costume with her legs (and butt) fully covered with no cleavage (small boobs takes care of this, by the way) showing.
I can’t speak for the men who complain about these arguments. Honestly, I have no idea what makes adoration for beautiful women, who also enjoy sex as much as men do, MYSOGENY! Seriously! If I hated women, I’d hit them, curse them, burn them with my cigarette ash and otherwise mistreat them. I certainly wouldn’t have sex with them.
Simply put–and everybody pay attention–SEX DOES NOT EQUAL HATE! It does not always have to be about procreation. If she’s consenting and he’s consenting, then it’s a social contract they both enter into willingly.

Eric, no I wasn’t.

As a woman reading comics, I have to say giving your 7 year old something you know is full of questionable material, is stupid and irresponsible. The fact that it was done to prove a point could possibly be grounds for child abuse. So leave it as “bad mom is bad” and please if you know this child in real life please give her a copy of something more her age, most comic book shops have a children’s section now (May I suggest Darkwing Duck?).
Catwoman I thought was amazing, Selina always was an upscale escort in my mind. Not to mention, how many fan-fictions does Catwoman have costumed sex with Batman? Answer: ALOT. It was the perfect comic intro for her and I loved it! I’m not a big teen titans fan to begin with, so I’ll leave that one alone.
To be honest, Amanda Waller was the only one I had issues with. Not because she was over sexualized, but because she’s supposed to be an fat ‘wall’ of a woman. Its in her name!

I also agree that the overwhelming amount of violence and bloodshed is a much bigger problem than one case of consentual adult sex.

well it’s true that the issue was rated “T”, but, as far as I saw, the majority of the reboot issues are, at least, the one I picked, with the exception of catwoman, rated T plus.
Besides…with due respect, in the last few years, every time Kori showed up, Justice league included, she was naked. as in kaked, not “wearing extremely little clothes that are even too small to be called underwear”, and open about her sexuality 8and it has a sense in this context. starfire doesn’t feel like ebing bounded to anyone in any way, including her body, sex is just another way to display the possession of her body, doing what she wnast with whom she prefers, as opposite of her previosu condition as a slave) so, I don’t see this as a big deal.
the big deal is that:
1. you don’t give your seven years daughter a comic that has writeen on the cover that shoudl be red by Teen, first.
second: let’s be hoenst here. a amn is open about his sexuality, is forward about ssex, in out society is pretty ok, but, when a woman does that, it’s morally unaceptable.

Not sure where these people have there heads, but Starfire’s character and her manner of dress is spot on target. More importantly, as was stated in earlier post, she was sexier in Teen Titans #1, when the series was started over and she made her first appearance. The only difference now are the politically correct yahoo’s who think she shoul be covered from head to toe, and no doubt become a femi-nazi lesbian!
Starfire, alien from another planet, strong willed, strong character, strong female and extremely confidant is an awesome portrayal of the female form! If these weasels who call themself women, don;t like it, go back to your femi-nazi bunker!

Not saying the issue was well-written or anything, but can we just bottom-line this…

If it were a MAN portrayed as “an amnesiac drawn to emotionless sex,” we wouldn’t be this conversation.

Period. End of story.

@Mario, I believe you missed the point of my op/ed. I’m not writing for public opinion, I’m writing my own opinion just like you are. And yes, I spoke about the people who don’t read comics. You know, the ones DC is attempting to get to read comics. That’s the point of the relaunch. If you’re still marketing to your secured readership you aren’t going to get new readers.

And if everyone could stop reiterating that Starfire was *always* sexy, that would be great since her being sexy is not the problem everyone is having. It’s her being devoid of emotion, personality or the ability to remember anyone she’s slept with.

@Jill, if you only read carefully my opinion you’d clearly see I did not base your article simply on what you say is public opinion. I’m being fair with you and I state in different sentences (like the last of my first paragraph and elsewhere) that you base your arguement both on what people who don’t read comics think it should be and on YOUR own opinion.
Also, DC has clearly stated that not only do they hope to get more readers to read their comics, but to get new stories. Comics are a business and as a business they are ALWAYS trying to get new readers in, and the reboots are not one just one of them (yearly events and deaths or major stories being some).
I will repeat that as much as I am astranged from the Kory I know and love, you will not be so prejudice based only on the first issue of a montly comic. There can only be presented so much information in a 20page comic. First impressions are important, but not definite.
This new move from DC has a lot of us hoping for the best and fearing for the worst. Lets just hold out to see how it will turn out in the long run.

The puritans have taken over America. Sad to say, this is a society that condemns and represses any liberated sexual behavior. There’s a world outside the U.S.A that would have no issues with catwoman or starfire. And guess what, the lowest % of teen pregnancy and drug use by teens in the world is….HOLLAND.
I offer Catwoman and Starfire a huge high five. work it, sisters.
In a society that strictly enforces the binary of MAN over WOMAN, i say huzzah to Catwoman who uses her sexuality to subvert the culture. Catwoman get’s what she wants and doesn’t take a dude’s Bullshit. That’s a strong female protagonsit.

The REAL problem is that there isn’t a New 52 Comic to give to an intelligent 7 year old. Most “kids” that come into my store are looking for Batman not Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon book, they want Deadpool and Wolverine, Gears of War, Halo, but there isn’t an ALL AGES book for any of these properties.

ALL AGES doesn’t mean Tiny Titans and Sonic the Hedgehog. Those books are aimed at KIDS. Where are the books that a 7-12 year old can read? I’ve read all 52 of the new #1 and ONLY Static Shock (and Maybe Blue Beetle – though really violent) fit the bill of what I’ll recommend a parent let their child read.

In my Opinion there should be 4-8 books (2 per week) featuring major characters that are safe for a 7 year old to read. They don’t need to be dumbed down (I read Lord of the Rings when I was they just need to be free of blood and gore and objectification of women.

All that being said, as a responsible adult male, I liked Catwoman #1. It was fun, action packed, and sexy. If that had been an Angelina Jolie movie it would have been #1 at the box office. I found Red Hood to be a satirical look at the Buddy Film. And I liked how “alien” Kori is. And I’m not giving it to me young daughter to read.

SO DC – Look at your Young Justice Line and see about toning down a few of those books to All Ages. And while your at it, consider making Red Hood and Detective T+. You may also want an All Ages Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern book since those are your current big licensing properties that kids are fully aware of.

Plus…Catwoman # 1 was great.

I wasn’t shocked to see a leather wearing, whip striking babe who calls herself ‘catwoman’ getting down with a dude who calls himself ‘batman’.

You still miss my point. Her sexuality was never an issue.who she is a charicter is so off the mark it is not even funny!You can try to make the issue solely about sex put it is not.Sure how she is potryed sexualy is a problem but it is just one of many! And as for having the power over the men,this is verry questionalble.

The issue with a sexually promiscuous woman, if that is all she is portrayed as, is that it reinforces the stereotype of women as nothing but sex toys. No one hopes for that for their daughter, so why be ok with that character type being reinforced in the minds of mostly male readers?

I have zero respect for Dan “The Egomaniac” DiDio… He has no respect for the fans, or the legacy of DC Comics… This no-response to something very serious, and he wants to sweep it under the rug… I say don’t let DC do it, keep reminding DC that crap like this won’t be tolerated… Dan DiDio needs be fired…

Why should DC care? They’re a company, trying to sell a product. And it’s selling like crazy. This is a complete success to them. And the lesson they’ve learned from this is: If a book’s sales start to decline, do something that starts a controversy!

Lots of different readers, lots of different opinions.
Like commercials on TV, the “badder” the commercial, the more talk it gets. Just saying…

I think part of the problem with the response is technically the 7 year old child is comparing apples and oranges. The Starfire of the DCnU is not the Starfire of the old Teen Titans cartoon, and vice versa. As much as her child enjoyed that one interpretation of the character, it’s not the only one.

Superhero comic books are one of the few domains feminists couldn’t get a hold of yet. Thats the thing that pisses them off, and thats why DC receives the flak. Feminists believe that everywhere men are gathered, there has to be a secret paradise they have to break into. But once it turns out, there is hard work at play, and not anything just wonderful und cute, they loose interest. Thats why feminists never fight for the right to do hard and dirty work but rather have a foothold in any place other people, mostly men, build from the ground. Feminists are basically thieves who ramble about the “liberation” of women, while pressing them in an even tighter corset. You know, if you just have a husband and kids and you don’t work, you are worthless for feminists. Feminists want women to be like men with tits. Yeah, some great liberation.

Starfire is just an excuse to attack DC, a male domain, nothing else.

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Did you know this?
Following the science-fiction innovations of the Silver Age, the comics of the 1970s and 1980s would become known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more naturalistic and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by the Comics Code Authority, explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics’ The Amazing Spider-Man in early 1971, and after the Code’s updating in response, DC offered a drug-fueled storyline in writer Dennis O’Neil and artist Neal Adams’ Green Lantern.

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