I really want to like J. Michael Straczynski's current Thor series. There are some fantastic reworkings of Norse legend in these issues, really made to shine by Olivier Coipel's and Marko Djurdjevic's art, and great contrast and comic relief as the operatic Asgardians get to know their new neighbors in small-town Broxton, OK. Unfortunately, the book is hamstrung by two fatal flaws: wildly unbalanced characterization and rampant misogyny.
To his credit, JMS has come up with a genius twist on Thor's half-brother Loki. And I'm not talking about the boobs here. Yes, Loki now has the body of a woman, but that's just packaging to help the God of Lies sell his** newest scam: the trickster now speaks only truth. He's just as deceitful and manipulative as the Loki of old (however he may claim to have seen the error of his ways), but now accomplishes his ends by deploying the sharpest facts at the worst possible times.
Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that the writer finds Loki far more interesting than his actual protagonist. Thor spends way too much time (in the comic that bears his name) standing around, looking stoic, and failing to react as Loki schemes Asgard out from under him. Loki's truth-as-weapon schtick is clever, sure, but the execution is hardly so clever that Thor and his fellow Asgardians shouldn't see through it. They've endured how many of Loki's plots and betrayals by this point in their immortal lives? It's one thing to set your hero up for a thrilling comeback; it's something else again to make him look like a bland chump.
Far more disturbing, however, is the portrayal of women in the book. There's not a single female character here that gets to be anything more than an object of desire for the men.*** Thor's warrior-beloved Sif is trapped and helpless, imprisoned by Loki in a dying woman's body while he himself wears her form. Nurse Jane Foster, one-time flame of Thor's alter ego Dr. Donald Blake, announces she filed for divorce "for no good reason" on the day Thor returned from the dead, and expects to lose custody of her son over this. Clearly JMS sees Foster's marriage and child as mistakes to be corrected; he probably sees this as a perfectly old-fashioned and romantic way of going about that. It's not. It's ridiculous.
The Asgardian Lady Kelda carries on what should be an adorable courtship with a Broxton mortal, but when she invites the lad up to her city, does they share in the wonders of an ancient city? No. She takes him back to her room, lounges in scant clothing, and hurls provocative entendre. And don't even get me started on the two page spread of Prince Balder on his throne, surrounded by bikini-clad Asgardian women who apparently have nothing better to do with their time than pose around the latest royal endowment.
I know some comic fans still have a soft spot for the Conan tales of old: when men were men and women were gorgeous, undressed, and wanting to be with men. The artistic merits of Robert E. Howard and his illustrators is a whole other debate, but I for one don't feel this kind of wholesale belittlement of women deserves a place in the modern Marvel pantheon. And I must admit, I'm rather astounded that it's Straczynski who is failing so spectacularly in this way. A man who wrote Mary Jane Watson and Aunt May so well; the man who created Babylon 5 and gave the world Susan Ivanova****. This is the same guy, really?
But then I remember, he is also the man who gave Gwen Stacy her "Sins of the Past." Oy.
- JC
[*JC proposed the subtitle "More Merry Marvel Misogyny," but then changed his mind. I think it's well earned. - RD]
** Yes, I'm continuing to refer to him as a him, because a) consistancy makes my head less hurty and b) gender and biology are not necessarily the same thing. Loki may have changed the latter, but I'd argue the former remains the same. So he's still a he.
*** And no, Boob-Loki does not count.
**** Ivanova is God.
Showing posts with label hehe you said boobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hehe you said boobs. Show all posts
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
speaking of gender
There are probably many reasons girls don't read comics. For one, the stories get kinda samey, and it's a lot of money to spend each week that could better be saved for, I dunno, rent or groceries or ice cream. Better persons than I have no doubt explored all of the possibilities. But the one thing that makes me yell at the page and vow to swear off the entire genre? Boobs drawn by women.
I was reading the latest Runaways, which includes two short stories written and drawn by different people. The scripts are good to great; as long as you know the characters, Runaways isn't hard to write. Chris Yost ("Mollifest Destiny") threw a dozen X-Men/Molly gags together and had me laughing at every panel. James Asmus ("Truth or Dare") showed how much more interesting sleepovers might be if real teens had super powers. But the art in both stories didn't thrill me, and at one point was both annoying and disgusting.
In "Mollifest Destiny," the artist did a fine job with the boys, Molly and Klara, and most of the X-Men. Emma Frost, who is always drawn like a slut*, has a pose so physically improbable that I stared at the page, wondering if she'd had a few vertebrae removed for some reason. But the panel that made me scream and curse was a shot of Nico and her massive breasts, helpfully displayed by a corset.
What massive breasts, you say? Nico is a teenager. She doesn't have massive breasts. And even if she did, she's usually covered from elbow to knee at least. She makes her own clothes, remember? Her outfits often feature long coats, skirts with pants underneath, and big boots. I SAID BIG BOOTS.
So imagine my total dismay when I learned that the artist of this short piece is named Sara Pichelli. A woman.
It's bad enough that most comic artists pander to their audience, drawing women with impossibly large and bouyant breasts, painfully small waists, and body fat ratios so small they would never menstruate. (Not that geek boys, or any boys for that matter, think much of menstruation.) But when women do it, it's somehow worse. Especially for a book about young people, I would think an artist could say, for once I don't have to sketch proportions that would make Da Vinci cringe! Hooray! But no, Pichelli seems to think that it ain't a comic book unless it has boobs, so let's make sure the geek boys have something to think about later, in bed, alone.**
I'm not saying that images of beautiful women are bad or wrong or don't belong in comics. I can appreciate a good female form (and did so plenty before I hooked up with JC***), and I understand that a little cheesecake is expected in comics, even more so than on TV and in movies. But when even women bow to the convention of drawing characters with exaggerated features, what makes us think men won't have unreasonable expectations for women in their lives? When Wonder Woman, who has been wearing a bustier for almost 70 years, can't get a decent script or an artist willing to draw her some pants, where can comic fans who are more interested in the story than the skin find a decent book?
It looks like I'll have to raise my kids on old Power Packs and Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Even Archie screwed up by picking the wrong girl. And I trust that their father will stand as proof that not all men want the supermodel body type. Which is lucky for me, and JC seems to be happy as well. ****
- RD
*And that's a valid lifestyle choice, but f#ck Emma Frost. It's not necessarily about zomg she's taking Jean's place, it's just that I've never seen anything to make me think she doesn't suck as a leader.
**Which is also a valid lifestyle choice. And if they keep looking for women who look like the ones in comics, they'll stay that way for a very long time.
***A very valid lifestyle choice. Ask any of my ex-girlfriends.
****To be fair, I do have big boobs.
I was reading the latest Runaways, which includes two short stories written and drawn by different people. The scripts are good to great; as long as you know the characters, Runaways isn't hard to write. Chris Yost ("Mollifest Destiny") threw a dozen X-Men/Molly gags together and had me laughing at every panel. James Asmus ("Truth or Dare") showed how much more interesting sleepovers might be if real teens had super powers. But the art in both stories didn't thrill me, and at one point was both annoying and disgusting.
In "Mollifest Destiny," the artist did a fine job with the boys, Molly and Klara, and most of the X-Men. Emma Frost, who is always drawn like a slut*, has a pose so physically improbable that I stared at the page, wondering if she'd had a few vertebrae removed for some reason. But the panel that made me scream and curse was a shot of Nico and her massive breasts, helpfully displayed by a corset.
What massive breasts, you say? Nico is a teenager. She doesn't have massive breasts. And even if she did, she's usually covered from elbow to knee at least. She makes her own clothes, remember? Her outfits often feature long coats, skirts with pants underneath, and big boots. I SAID BIG BOOTS.
So imagine my total dismay when I learned that the artist of this short piece is named Sara Pichelli. A woman.
It's bad enough that most comic artists pander to their audience, drawing women with impossibly large and bouyant breasts, painfully small waists, and body fat ratios so small they would never menstruate. (Not that geek boys, or any boys for that matter, think much of menstruation.) But when women do it, it's somehow worse. Especially for a book about young people, I would think an artist could say, for once I don't have to sketch proportions that would make Da Vinci cringe! Hooray! But no, Pichelli seems to think that it ain't a comic book unless it has boobs, so let's make sure the geek boys have something to think about later, in bed, alone.**
I'm not saying that images of beautiful women are bad or wrong or don't belong in comics. I can appreciate a good female form (and did so plenty before I hooked up with JC***), and I understand that a little cheesecake is expected in comics, even more so than on TV and in movies. But when even women bow to the convention of drawing characters with exaggerated features, what makes us think men won't have unreasonable expectations for women in their lives? When Wonder Woman, who has been wearing a bustier for almost 70 years, can't get a decent script or an artist willing to draw her some pants, where can comic fans who are more interested in the story than the skin find a decent book?
It looks like I'll have to raise my kids on old Power Packs and Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Even Archie screwed up by picking the wrong girl. And I trust that their father will stand as proof that not all men want the supermodel body type. Which is lucky for me, and JC seems to be happy as well. ****
- RD
*And that's a valid lifestyle choice, but f#ck Emma Frost. It's not necessarily about zomg she's taking Jean's place, it's just that I've never seen anything to make me think she doesn't suck as a leader.
**Which is also a valid lifestyle choice. And if they keep looking for women who look like the ones in comics, they'll stay that way for a very long time.
***A very valid lifestyle choice. Ask any of my ex-girlfriends.
****To be fair, I do have big boobs.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Marvel Gender Benders
So I've been catching up on Mike Carey's X-Men: Legacy this week ("Sins of the Father" in trade paperback, the "Original Sin" crossover with Wolverine: Origins in hardcover), and just learned that there is now a female clone of X-Men arch-foe Mr. Sinister running around the universe called, wait for it, Miss Sinister.
Really, Marvel? Really?
She boasts Mr. Sinister's trademark pasty complexion/red forehead diamond, but displays none of his mystique (no pun intended) or scientific prowess. Where Mr. Sinister was a grand manipulator, playing a mad game of destiny dominoes to suit some vaguely Darwinist agenda - a cloning here, a misfit massacre over there - his feminine successor seems so far to be little more than a third-rate telepath in thrall to the Hellfire Club's Sebastian Shaw.
Of course, she's hardly unique; these trans-gendered villains are popping up all over the place. Spider-Man has recently been targeted by a new Kraven the Hunter, who happens to be the 12-year-old daughter of the original. Another old X-Men villain, the illusionist Mastermind, has two daughters running around, both having inherited his powers and squabbling over his name. Daredevil is sparring with a Lady Bullseye, and Thor's trickster-god brother Loki has actually become a woman himself.
Some of these characters feature in some very well-told stories. But looking at the trend on the whole, I can't help but wonder what message Marvel thinks it's sending by replacing a bunch of aging male villains with female proxies. Do they think this is fine feminism, to show sisters doing it for themselves just like the boys did it before them, with the boys' borrowed identities? If Marvel has a Femme Fatale quota to fill, wouldn't they get more points by creating some villainesses that are actually unique, with their own abilities and backstories? Or do they think the fans won't get excited about a new villian if she doesn't have some familiar hook, a connection to what's gone before?
Tell me your thoughts. I'd love to know what others are making of all this. In the meantime, I'll be over here trying to guess who Marvel will boobify next. Victoria Von Doom? The Queenpin? Magneta*?
- JC
*In fanfic she would be called Magenta and she would spend all her time hanging with her BFF Rouge.
Really, Marvel? Really?
She boasts Mr. Sinister's trademark pasty complexion/red forehead diamond, but displays none of his mystique (no pun intended) or scientific prowess. Where Mr. Sinister was a grand manipulator, playing a mad game of destiny dominoes to suit some vaguely Darwinist agenda - a cloning here, a misfit massacre over there - his feminine successor seems so far to be little more than a third-rate telepath in thrall to the Hellfire Club's Sebastian Shaw.
Of course, she's hardly unique; these trans-gendered villains are popping up all over the place. Spider-Man has recently been targeted by a new Kraven the Hunter, who happens to be the 12-year-old daughter of the original. Another old X-Men villain, the illusionist Mastermind, has two daughters running around, both having inherited his powers and squabbling over his name. Daredevil is sparring with a Lady Bullseye, and Thor's trickster-god brother Loki has actually become a woman himself.
Some of these characters feature in some very well-told stories. But looking at the trend on the whole, I can't help but wonder what message Marvel thinks it's sending by replacing a bunch of aging male villains with female proxies. Do they think this is fine feminism, to show sisters doing it for themselves just like the boys did it before them, with the boys' borrowed identities? If Marvel has a Femme Fatale quota to fill, wouldn't they get more points by creating some villainesses that are actually unique, with their own abilities and backstories? Or do they think the fans won't get excited about a new villian if she doesn't have some familiar hook, a connection to what's gone before?
Tell me your thoughts. I'd love to know what others are making of all this. In the meantime, I'll be over here trying to guess who Marvel will boobify next. Victoria Von Doom? The Queenpin? Magneta*?
- JC
*In fanfic she would be called Magenta and she would spend all her time hanging with her BFF Rouge.
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