"Finally, comic book women get a real bodies make-over"

Title in quotation marks because redraws have been going on for years.

I am referring to this article which has been doing the rounds.  A facebook friend asked me what I thought of it so I thought I'd tidy up and post it here.

The motivations of the team behind this are explained as follows:
When the team at bulimia.com saw Buzzfeed's Disney princess makeovers, they decided they should take these super-human ladies and give them some super human bodies. Their hope is that when viewers see these realistic waistlines, they will be able to better relate to the characters. After all, being powerful doesn't have to correlate with being a double-D, size 2 cat lady,

I'll admit that I'm more inspired by men's physiques in comic books than I am by women's physiques.  I'm not sure if this is because I have a fairly relaxed attitude to gendered bodies or because men are shown as being more muscular than women, but if I think about who I most want to look like it's hook handed Aquaman, every time.  I know I'll never look exactly like him, I know his physique is caricatured, but when I think of visual motivation for working out and getting a six pack he's who I think of.

I don't lady comic characters unrelatable because they can be drawn ridiculously.  I think the world of Wonder Woman, even when she's drawn by Mike Deodato.  Relatable doesn't just mean 'looks like me'.

Having said that, I like the idea of re-drawing characters to look more normal.  It made me realise that some art which I consider realsistic really isn't - the thigh gaps for example.  I think that some of the redraws aren't quite right though - they aren't athletic enough.  There's a difference between tits an ass, normal realistic bodies and athletic.  I don't think there's a problem with making superheroes (and villains) look atheltic if their power set and skills demand it.  For example, the Flash should look like a runner.  Guy Gardner is an ex PE teacher, John Stewart is an ex marine.  I'd be surprised if they didn't keep fit, but they shouldn't look like triangular beefcakes.  Aquaman and Mera should look like swimmers.  Batman and Black Canary should look like martial arts experts.  Wondy should look like a gladitorial athelet.

Some of the redraws don't look right.  Black Widow doesn't look as fit as a physically active spy should be.  Her spying is a core part of her character, and if she doesn't look right I can't relate to her.  If she looks like she spends more time behind a desk than out in the field I'm not interested.  Catwoman, Ivy, Power Girl and Phoenix work for me.  Rogue doesn't.  Given the amount of time the X-Men spend training she shouldn't be as soft as that around the middle.  The same goes for Storm.

In making these characters look like normal everyday women that we can now supposedly relate to, they've taken away some of the power fantasy.  If I'm going to be inspired by a superhero I'll be inspired by their strength of character, their morals and what they can do with their bodies and how capabel their bodies are - but I'm someone interested in fitness and what exercise and training can do to the body.  Not everyone is.

To simplify, often lady superheroes are drawn to be fancied by men, and male heroes are drawn to be power fantasies for men.  Female characters should be power fantasies for women too, but to dot hat, you have to understand how bodies and exercise work.

Super Sexy Saturday

Today's Super Sexy Saturday posts are brought to you courtesy of Jennie Gyllblad, Swedish illustrator and artist, based in bath, UK:

So for those that don't know the characters, clcokwise from top left they are Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Oliver Queen Green Arrow and Loki.

Here's a full version of Ollie:

Jennie has given him the perfect dirty look.  Humina!

Her Ivy has also got a lovely taint of filthyness.  Humina indeed.

*fans self*

Jennie tweeted about these as she is offering pre-show commissions for Edinburgh's Hero Conventions show taking place on 12th to 13th April.  Paintings cost £27 each.  Contact details are listed here.

Comixology comic reviews

I am SO behind.  These may be very short.  Since it's been a while since I read them I'll just have to skim them again, oh no, the horror! ;)

Spoilers ahead for: Power Girl 13, Batman L’il Gotham 4/5/6, Green Arrow 16/17, Justice League 16 and Aquaman 16.

Coming out in comics: Poison Ivy

From Gotham City Sirens 24, I present to you:

In seperate pages, to make it easier to embiggen:

The whole point of this arc is that Harley knows exactly what buttons to push to get the reaction she needs.  She knows people's inner truths and she knows how to present them in the most hurtful manner.  So when in the last panel she says to Ivy "Is it because you loves me?" you know she's telling the truth, Harley does love her.

As far as I'm concerned that's incontrovertible proof that Ivy likes women, making her lesbian or bisexual.

One up for us!

No Mans Land - other art part 2

The last of my No Mans Land series, and the rest of the notable art.

From legends of the Dark Knight 125.

Detective Comics 727.  Tim looks more like Connor Hawke here.

More from the Fruits of the Earth storyline.  I'm not sure which issue this is from, apologies.

From Legends of the Dark Knight 125.

From Legends of the Dark Knight 126. Batman is looking for the Joker.

From the issue where Barbara discovers the other Batgirl.

Shadow of the Bat 85.  A more cartoonish penguin.

Shadow of the Bat 77.  A more odl fashioend rendering of Batman.

There you have it.  The end of my No Mans Land series.  Tons of different things were covered in these 80+ issues and there were tons of different art styles.  God knows what it would be like to come into these blank, reading the trades.



It's polling time!

No Mans Land - other art part 1

Ah, here's where I just post a load of scans and revel in the loveliness of them all.  Issue numbers are underneath each picture

From Azrael 54.  A plot line that reminds me of the Buffy musical episode given that there's a demonic dancer involved.

From Batman 23.  Finale of the Underground Railroad story.  I like that it's a normal, non caped guy here, in a pose that is referencing Batman's usual iconic lookout.  It infers that we can all be Batmen, even if we're normal and have no special training.

Batman 568, from the Fruits of the Earth arc (also written about here).

From Detective Comics 738, A Bat/villain pile up. Haw!

Also Detective 738.  Cass actually looks small here.  For a lot of NML she looked more atheltic than waifish.

Detective Comics 741. How to tell a story without words.

Also Detective 741.  The end of NML and Batman gets to be tender again.

Do you remember about my poll?

No Mans Land

I've been reading Cataclysm, Aftershock, Road to No Mans Land and No Mans Land.  They were surprisingly good, even for a Batman hater like me.
For those of you that don't know, Cataclyscm deals with a massive earthquake destroying Gotham.  Aftershock is the immediate aftermath of said earthquake, and No Mans Land covers the year following the earthquake.  The US government, pushed by various malign influences, decide to annex Gotham city, cut it off from the rest of the country and leave it to rot as a no mans land.  The inhabitants are given the opportunity to leave but some, for varied reasons, decide to stay.  Chaos ensues and the Batclan and the remnants of the GCPD try to restore order to Gotham city.

No Mans Land ran over 85 issues and 40 of these were collected into 4 trades.  I've been lucky enough to get hold of the whole run, so I discovered that the 80+ issues were arranged around various small story arcs and a few standalone issues, each focusing on one particular area of Gotham city or one character.  It's been really interesting to read all of these and I'm planning to do posts on the things I found most interesting.

Given that this story crossed many different DC titles there is a huge variation in the art styles and ways of drawing each character.  The Penguin was particularly interesting to see, as some artists caricatured him to become a short, squat figure with a very pointy news, and others drew him more human like.  Depictions of Two Face also varied enormously.  But to start with, lets take a look at the cover issues.  Click to embiggen.

This is from the Aftershock storyline and I think it's just a beautiful picture.  I'm a big fan of using similar tones and shades to create moods in artwork, and I feel that this is just a very powerful picture.

Whereas the image above is isolating and shows Batman as somewhat inconsequential when compared to the plight of the city this cover is crowded and claustrophobic, and even more desperate.  The firey colours used are, I assume, meant to remind you of hell.

This is the cover to part 2 of a 3 part arc and ran in Shadow of the Bat 88, Batman 568 and Detective Comics 735.   Poison Ivy has set up in Gotham's Robinson Park and has made it her own.  Anyone going in doesn't come out again.  Clayface enters and makes her a deal.  Unfortunately for Ivy, he reneges on it and imprisons her, feeding her salt and denying her water and sunlight.  Ivy has also adopted various (human) children and Clayface captures them forcing them to work for him tending and selling the produce Ivy grows.  Batman and Robin investigate, help Ivy out and can't quite believe that the children are happy and want to stay with Ivy.  Score 1 for environmentalists, score nothing for pompous know it all crimefighters.

No Mans Land is a harsh place and people survive any way they can.  In this issue, an enterprising couple are promising a way out of Gotham in return for jewellery and other shiny goods.  However their way out is actually a tunnel full of starved, crazed people who attack and eat anyone tricked into entering.  It's noteworthy because the starved cannibals are drawn to resemble zombies, making this an interesting take on the survival of the fittest theorem.  If it weren't for the sanctimonious ending this would be a really good issue.

What can I say.  Any cover stating that Robin tastes like chicken is gonna get a mention from me. Mmmm, chicken!

Ahh, this cover is just lovely.  The story concerns an cop and a veterinarian and their struggles to care for the people they come across.  The cop ponders the value of his soul and wonders what the daily fight is doing to him, and the veterinarian is worn out to the point where she will make a deal with the penguin to help the kids in her charge to get out of Gotham.  This story ran in Legends of the Dark Knight 123 and Shadow of the Bat 91.

I find this cover giggle inducing.  So sue me, but it doesn't look like he's grieving, it looks like he's muttering 'I'm Batman! I can breathe in space!' or something similar.

This is just lovely.  The composition, the softness of the background colours compared with the dark of Batman, the fact he's not brooding, but is simply ready.  Lovely.

Comics Reviews!

Featuring spoilers for the Batman 80 page giant, Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2, Superman: WONK #11, Suicide Squad: Blackest Night # 67 (resurrected title), Weird Western Tales: Blackest Night # 71 (resurrected title), Red Robin #8.
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Batman 80 page giant
This wasn't quite what I expected.  It's a collection of rather unusual stories.

• The Dick/Damian one was a bit heavy handed and obvious for my tastes.
• Alfred acts like an absolute dick - he must know full well the position he was putting the young woman in, taking her to a fancy do like that, with her prostitute clothes on.  He doesn't come across like a good person, he comes across as a controlling, greedy man who likes to believe he is good. I do not want to read about this Alfred.
• The Saint story was good and took a couple of surprising turns.
• Veil in reveiled shows a lot of promise.  Although this story was a bit weak - too much of the damsel being saved by the man for me - I'd love to read more about Milicent Mayne.
• The Catwoman story, written by ivory Madison, is why I bought this issue.  The art is all photo realistic, which I found unusual, but is good nonetheless, and the story was completely unexpected.  An old couple had been hiding underground for the last 40 years, and just come up so the wife could be admitted to hospital.  This was touching and well executed.
• Poison Ivy's tale takes it's inspiration from the concept of mother nature and the maiden/mother/crone triumverate.  Intriguing.
• Mr Freeze and the Commisioner did nothing for me.
• The final one page story was a nice ending to the collection.
  

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2
The idea and layout of the cover is fantastic:

Unfortunately Mera's face ruins it for me.  In my head that's not what Mera looks like.

This book filled in thsoe moments between Mera taking on Diana, and Diana getting the Star Sapphire ring (in Blackest Night #6).  It worked for me.  As for the Bruce/Diana smooch - I reckon she's just pleased to see him, and a kiss is far more expressive than a hug.  And she's a wee bit stressed anyway.

Superman: WONK #11
Very suggestive cover:

Good issue.  Enjoyable and bringing this particular part of the story to an end.  I look forward to Krypton: The Last Stand and War of the Supermen.


Suicide Squad: Blackest Night # 67 (resurrected title)
OK, I really don't like reading Simone's individual issues.  I'll get Secret Six next month and I'll probably enjoy both together, but individually?  I can't be doing with them.

Weird Western Tales: Blackest Night # 71 (resurrected title)
Waste of time.  I don't like the Western genre and I care nothing for the characters.  Not even the Ray.

Red Robin #8
Ahh, to end on a high note!  Loved it :)
We get to see Tim's battle strategy and pretty much just how awesome he is, in everything.  Great end to the arc, neatly executed and very smooth.  You shoudl all be reading this.

I also bought the Kingdom Come Aquaman figure.  A review will be going up shortly.  In summary, it's nice looking but has a lot of faults.

More Goddamn Batman

This cracks me up.



Found here while stumbling

Poison Ivy cheescake and the She Hulk

First up, Poison Ivy in Worlds Finest - Superboy and Robin. Total cheesecake, but good cheesecake!

Gratuitous? Why yes, but also in keeping with Ivy’s character, so it works. I love that picture. very pin up style.
Also, this last picture with Metallo’s big threatening face makes me smile:

Both are cheesecakey, sure, but c’mon it’s Ivy! She exists to be sexy cheesecake. That's pretty much her point, she's a dangerous sexy femme fatale. So long as not all female characters are like this I have no problem with this.

EDIT: Bellatrys pointed out in the comments that this second picture isn't really cheesecake, I'm inclined to agree with her. I should think things through more.

Speaking of cheesecake I recently got a bundle of She Hulk comics from a friend. The Savage She Hulk - Vol1, numbers 1, 2 and 3, and the Sensational She Hulk Vol 2, number 11, 32 and 50. Very good fun, especially vol2, number 32 as Jen keeps making wise cracks about Marvel comics swimsuit issues and the laziness of her writer (John Byrne in this case).
I'm now keen on reading the rest of her adventures, which is just typical as they've gone and cancelled her bleedin' series. Grr.