I was looking at the last issue of Blackest Night: Titans (a good reason to CHECK your subscription folder before you pay for it, but that's another story) when my five year old wandered by. Looking over my shoulder, he saw the following panel:
The following dialog then transpired....
"Daddy, that lady has a butt."
"Most ladies do, guy."
"Why is she dressed like that?"
"That's her costume, and...well, that's about it."
He considered this for a moment, and then shrugged. "It's not very good."
And off he went, to go get into a fight with his brother over possession of their wooden trains.
I'm not sure if he even noticed the zombie, frankly.
__________________ "Yes, Arthur, it is I. I am happy to see you all grown up into a profoundly odd adult. And what a fine bird Number Seventy-three has become! She is one of my finest superchickens, and I am proud of her."
-- Daniel Pinkwater, Looking for Bobowicz
"That's her costume, and...well, that's about it."
He considered this for a moment, and then shrugged. "It's not very good."
Your son is wise. With the wide variety of pornography available to today's adolescents via the internet, I really don't see why female comic book characters all still need to double as masturbatory aids. In fact, I think young girls might have an easier time identifying with female superheroes if they didn't tend to look like they just got off a double shift dancing for tips at the Golden Banana. Food for thought.
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(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
My son had only seen the Teen Titans cartoon. When I showed him a picture of Starfire from the comics, he laughed and laughed.
In most respects, I think that the cartoon is superior to all but certain parts of the comic, and even then those parts seem to be concentrated in the Geoff Johns run.
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Clayton is working on an Arkham Horror expansion. "Hey, don't blame the PCP just because those schoolgirls can't handle their shit." - ExNihilo Laugh Points: 12 (arxhon, Bahama'at, Caudex, Flying Tiger, J Arcane, James Gillen, Kai Tave, Nick the Lemming, Random Code, Robot King, Semah, toomuchtoabsorb) Kaufman Points: 2 (Redforce), Factually Correct Points: 1 (Gringrim)
Took one for the amusement of the team Points: 1 (Pilgrim)
In most respects, I think that the cartoon is superior to all but certain parts of the comic, and even then those parts seem to be concentrated in the Geoff Johns run.
As mediocre as Marv Wolfman's writing is, I still find it superior to most of what the cartoon has to offer. The cartoon was amusing at times, but hardly up to Timmverse levels of quality, much less the comics.
And though I agree that there's a lot of over-sexualizing characters in comics, Starfire's one of the characters where that's part of the point. Slapping a pair of double-Ds on Cassandra Cain or Barbara Gordon? Focusing on panty shots for Supergirl or turning every member of the Star Sapphires into strippers? Yeah, that should be knocked off.
Starfire, though? That's part of who the character is. The problem in comics isn't so much that that type of character exists, insomuch as that artists too often seem to draw every character like Starfire, no matter who it is. Pixie leaps immediately to mind.
Of course, questionable anatomical poses are worth pointing out as...well, questionable.
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