this: http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/ and this: http://fernacular.tumblr.com/post/17814450235/welcome-to-if-... Good article. I actually think most of the drawings included in that article are ridiculous, they don't look like people full stop (obviously that's not the point of the article), but most of the drawings are actually quite shit. The best comics I've read are V for Vendetta, and Maus, one has a superhero and supervillain, one doesn't really, and they didn't need to use hyper masculanised or sexualised imagery to sell the comics. I think the whole super comic image is pretty far down the path of the absurd (and that's in the context of a man who can shoot lasers from his eyes), and they should just calm down a little in all areas. Obviously a lot of people would disagree with me on this, but the imagery is just so childish in some of those I couldn't read them seriously. Watchmen still has a surreal narrative or context but still manages to take itself more seriously. I wonder if this is part of the 300/Sin City/Frank Miller popularity phase? I'm not really versed in comics so I don't know.
I'm versed in comics. One of my good friends used to draw The Uncanny X-Men, used to draw Spawn. Studied under the serious muthafuckas like Juan Gimenez. I was repped as a comic book writer at William Morris (never got to write one, though). Know the founders of seven or eight different indie comic companies. Here's the thing: DC estimates the entire comic-buying pubic at 250,000 people (as of 2009). Of the comic-buying public, "superheroes" are a small percentage of that. Superman and Batman and all the rest definitely have cultural cachet, but it sure as hell isn't from comics. it used to be. There was a time when comics reached more people than movies, television and radio combined. "Responsible adults" got a bug up their ass and witch-hunted all the comics houses, though, so now that's done. And back then, their complaint was "morals." Wanna see some sexist comics? Take a look: https://www.zenescope.com/ I know these guys. Almost did a book for them. Know what they're proud of? The fact that more girls read their comics than any other publisher. yeah, the art is sexy. That's related to the fact that 95% of comic book readers in the US are male. Thing is, if you've got a story in which women aren't objectified, the Zenescape readers, at least, are willing to put up with the art. My cousin's kid draws anime. Went to school for it - makes money at it part-time. Anime is hella more sexist than comics - including superhero comics. Yet that's what the girls wanna draw - her husband doesn't even think it's weird. Know what else objectifies women to a ridiculous extreme? Trucker mudflaps. Know which is more culturally relevant? Trucker mudflaps.
[Ctrf + F this and read from then on to know what I'm talking about: Whatever your opinion about Frank Miller's skills as a prose writer or crafter of plots, he was, at the very least, in tune with the mechanics of a comics page]
I was always under the impression that superheo comics like the ones described here were supposed to be both heteroerotic and homoerotic. I mean, the stories in this genre are pretty light aren't they? I completely agree that it's not equal. I'm surprised that the argument can be made otherwise. There are many other genres of comics where this isn't the norm, right?
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/17-03/... Their basis is in pulp and luridness; however, when congress went after the comic book industry, the only two genres that escaped censorship were superhero comics and Archie. http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Cent-Plague-Comic-Book-Changed-Ame...
There are indeed other genres! I spend most of time on the superhero subgenre, however, so I couldn't give you a fair suggestion on what's out there. With that said, Top 10 is one of my all-time favorite superhero comics. It's about a police precinct in a city where everybody is a superhero. Think NYPD Blue meets The Justice League. And it's only twelve-issues long. And it doesn't have pointless titillation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_10_(comics) There's also Ghost World, which is about the friendships of two adolescent girls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_world * * * [1]However, there is this. Some of those images are from the actual comic. And some are NSFW. http://fuckyeahdickgraysonsass.tumblr.com/