Sexism in Comics

After already setting the comic world aflame with the relaunch of their entire line, DC Comics has already managed to unintentionally spur itself up yet another controversy. On September 21, DC released Catwoman #1 and The Red Hood and the Outlaws #1, both of which since their release have been accused of being sexist towards women. Catwoman #1 ended with Catwoman and Batman raaaannndomly hooking up towards the end, and we learn that this isn’t the first time, and they always “keep their costumes on.” The Red Hood and the Outlaws’ new interpretation of the Teen Titans mainstay, Starfire, was of an amnesic alien that could not distinguish one human from the next with an extremely high sex drive.

The main complaint against these books is obvious here: they are objectifying women in these portrayals. Catwoman went from barely escaping explosions, going undercover, and brutally taking down bad peeps to simply throwing herself at Batman, complete with the costume (which also bringing up questions regarding DC’s new continuity, as previously Batman knew Catwoman was really Selina Kyle, and Catwoman knew Batman was really Bruce Wayne. Not too mention how odd it is to think that someone as serious and professional as Batman would even go along with that…).

On the other hand, Starfire went from being a fully developed mainstay of the Teen Titans to a character that is not even really capable of having any type of relation with ANY DC character now, as she can’t even tell them apart. Somehow these types of accusations lead to long-standing accusations of sexism in comics based on the fact that pretty much every female comic book character has a miniature waist and extremely over-exaggerated other parts.

Now typically, this is the part where one would talk about how either sex is wrong and comic books are sexist, or attempt to disprove such claims that comic books are sexist. But at his point, every time I hear these types of claims, my first instinct is usually to assume that someone is overreacting. I think it's because one of my favorite hobbies is video games, and time and t ime again you hear claims that video games are causing violence, and that they are ruining our youth. Sexism in comics is not quite as prevalent an accusation as violence is with video games, but it is one that I hear enough that I've just become kind of numb to it and automatically don't think much of the claim.

But if you were to ask me if I thought these comics were in fact sexist, my answer would likely be….kinda. To me, they are just stories like in any other media. And in any other media, such as television or movies, these types of plot lines and characters prevail. Pretty much every television show oversexualizes its characters at some point (Even Sara from CSI makes sure she looks nice before going to see a dead body). With that in mind, doesn’t this make it likely that the writer of books such as Catwoman #1 did not have any sexist intent, but was merely trying to keep in line with the type of storylines and themes that are successful in other forms of media, which seems like a perfectly logical thing to do? Doesn’t that make it seem like maybe, just maybe, there was no sexism intended here, all that was intended was entertainment?

Starfire’s situation is a lot more precarious. It’s hard to defend a character that no longer can tell people apart and successfully beds two characters in the span of 22 pages. I still stand by my assumption that, creatively, writer Scot Lobdell did not sit down to write Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 with the intent of being sexist. Likely, he was just trying to emulate themes from other media in comic book form. The result is a pretty sexist portrayal of a character, but I cannot believe this to be the intent.

Nor should one jump to the conclusion that all comic books are sexist based on these two cases. In the past month DC Comics has offered other titles, such as Batwoman #1 and Batgirl #1 that portray strong, independent women that are plainly not being objectified. I don’t think comic books are sexist anymore than I think television is sexist for putting shows on such as Desperate Housewives or Jerseylicious. Maybe the shows themselves are sexist, whether intentionally or not, but one should not judge the entire medium that way.

So are these comics sexist? Well, yeah, kind of. Sexism in comics is nothing new, just as it is nothing new in any form of any media. However, are comics as a whole sexist? I wouldn’t say so, at least not more than, oh, anything else.

Comic Controversy

While DC Comics have been busy revitalizing their entire line of books, Marvel has been doing a relaunch of their own, albeit on a significantly smaller scale.  For the past ten years, Marvel has been offering a line of superhero books that take place outside of normal Marvel continuity, or the 616 universe.  These books take place in the Ultimate Universe, and for the past ten years this universe has served to update certain characters and stories while changing others completely.  For example, instead of Peter Parker being a photographer for the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker is portrayed as a fifteen year old that works as a web-designer for the Bugle.  Hulk went from being a monster that wants to be left alone to a horny cannibal that is jealous that Betty Ross would rather go out with Freddie Prince Jr. Wolverine successfully scored Jean Grey out from under Cyclops’ nose and then tried to kill Cyclops so that he would not have any competition.  Oh, and Nick Fury looks like Samuel L. Jackson. Indeed, the characters themselves were vastly different, and things just kept changing more as time went on.  Now, many major Marvel characters are dead in the Ultimate Universe, including Wolverine, Cyclops, Daredevil, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and most recently, Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-man himself.  

The news that Marvel decided to kill off its most iconic character is shocking in and of itself, but what came next was also much unexpected.  Peter Parker was to be replaced by a thirteen-year old half black, half Hispanic teenager by the name of Miles Morales.  Marvel canceled its Ultimate line only to relaunch it the next month, with the titles Ultimate Comics: the Ultimates, Ultimate Comics Hawkeye, Ultimate Comics: X-men, and of course Ultimate Comics: Spider-man. Fans have been split on the topic of Miles ever since his announcement as Peter’s replacement this past August.   

           
The main complaint that fans have is that the idea of a mixed-race Spider-man is well, gimmicky.  They feel that there is only one true Spider-man, Peter Parker, and that Miles Morales seems to be more of a publicity stunt designed to generate sales rather than the natural progression of the storyline.  Truth be told, in part this is actually true.  Marvel has went on the record to say that Miles was chosen as the new Spider-man because they hoped to appeal to a new demographic.  They also stated that since we live in a day and age where we have a President who is himself of a mixed heritage, and our culture is now one filled with such cultural diversity, this type of multi-raced character is long overdue to portray one of the most popular and well-known superheroes in all of comicdon.

It’s understandable why fans my cry afoul to this; after all, the writer of the comic Brian Michael Bendis himself has acknowledged that the idea for Miles Morales came from external sources rather than the natural progression of the story itself.  Me personally, I was not to upset by this.  Compared to most comic book nerds, my attitude is MUCH more lax, as it seems comic nerds love to complain and nitpick about the silliest things, and change is usually met with fear and skepticism in the land of comics.  

My attitude with most things it to just wait and see how it turns out, and that extends to comics as well.  I’ll give it a shot, and if I don’t like it I won’t read it (unlike those that say they will never buy an issue of Ultimate Spider-man again).  So I waited, and when Ultimate Comics: Spider-man #1 finally came out, I put it at the top of my comics pile and read it as soon as I got home.  While it wasn’t as good as the first issue of the original Ultimate Spider-man when it debuted ten years ago, it was still a very exceptional comic.  

Similar the aforementioned first issue of Peter’s title, there is no action whatsoever in this book.  Rather, it’s a gateway and introduction to the life of Miles Morales.  In the first issue we learn how Miles gets his powers, his connection to Norman Osborn, and that his parents are still alive and happily married (such a novel idea in the world of comics….that the husband or wife or both does NOT get killed in some horrible accident, or go missing, or abandon their child….).  We even meet an Uncle Ben type figure that couldn’t be more different from Uncle Ben.   

The writer of the book, Brian Michael Bendis, has been writing Ultimate Spider-man’s adventures since issue #1, and the quality of his work has been consistent throughout.  Just like the past ten years, where the focus of the book has been on Peter and his life rather than his misadventures as Spider-man, it looks as if Miles and the going-ons and his life are about to be pushed to the forefront.  It’s a good thing, then, that Miles himself is a very likeable character.  Already we are given a similar sense of guilt, responsibility, and good-heartedness that has always made Peter so likeable, while at the same time it is clear that Miles is a very different character.  He is still thirteen, and very much in his adolescence.  He hasn’t had to take responsibility for his actions and be forced to understand the way the world works like Peter has, so it will be interesting to see how his view and understanding of the world develops.

I still remember reading Ultimate Spider-man #1 when I got out of school when I was eleven years old, and to this day it remains one of my favorite single issues of a comic book ever.  While this issue was not quite as groundbreaking in my opinion, it was still a satisfying introduction to a new character.  It would seem I’m not the only one that feels this way as well.  The week of the comic’s debut, Ultimate Comics: Spider-man #1 made its way to the very top of the digital sales chart on the day of its release.  It seems controversy or not, fans have flocked towards this new Spider-man and seem to be digging it.  (See, I told you comic books fans overreact about everything…)

Superman shouldn't wear a dress

Comic books are a dying beast.

In a day and age where everything is becoming much more technologically focused, colorful twenty two page stories that use words like “POW” and “SHAZAM” are losing their place in the world.  DC Comics in particular has been relatively struggling in sales figures, being beat out by Marvel month after month after month.  There could be a variety of reasons for this: perhaps DC’s major characters such as Superman and the Flash feel out of date to readers in today’s era, for instance.  Superman’s quest for “Truth, Justice, and the American Way,” although classic and iconic, feels goofy and does not really hold up in today’s popular culture.

 Or perhaps it could simply be that Marvel is more organized and together editorially and simply is able to put out higher quality books more consistently, which in my humble opinion is exactly the case.  Over the past few years I have gone from avidly reading both Marvel and DC Comics on a weekly basis to reading almost entirely books offered by Marvel. 

DC Comics hope to invigorate its sales by launching an initiative called “The New 52.”  You see, last month DC Comics put out its last issue of an event mini-series called “Flashpoint.”  The series, which saw the Flash waking up an upside down world due to tampering in the timeline, ended with the debut of a new continuity for the DC Universe, and 52 new issue #1's to launch this new continuity. 

That means that over the month of September there are going to be 52 new series debuting(Or rather 51, as Justice League #1 debuted the last week of August along with Flashpoint), from the icons such as Action Comics and Detective Comics(which feature Superman and Batman respectively, and which both have not had a new issue one since the 1930’s!), cult classic characters such as Animal Man and Swamp Thing, and brand new series such as Batwoman and All-Star Western.  The new issue #1 are a perfect jumping on point for new readers, either readers such as myself that have strayed away from DC Comics or readers entirely new to comics, these issues are completely accessible. 

With these new issue #1's, DC is taking this opportunity to update and revamp their characters for a modern audience.   For instance, in Action Comics #1 that debuted last week, Superman, though very much still Superman was a very different beast.  Brash, inexperienced, unable to fly, and at odds with the government, this was a different Superman than readers were used to.  In the old continuity, Barbara Gordon, the first Batgirl, was shot and crippled by the Joker and aided the superhero community under the guise of Oracle, providing Intel and using computer hacking skills to monitor other heroes of the DC Universe.   In the new continuity, she is no longer crippled, and is once again roaming the streets as Batgirl (though there still is mention of her being shot by the Joker).

Changes such as these were found in nearly every characters, some subtle and some major.  However, the characters are still very much their iconic self’s.  Green Lantern is still arrogant and overconfident,   Green Arrow still patrols Star City, and Batman is still a badass.  Fans may have cried afoul after hearing of the new continuity, but it seems that for the most part, their fears were naught, especially given the quality of a lot of these books.  Admittedly, some have been subpar (not everything can be perfect after all) but many such as Swamp Thing, Detective Comics, O.M.A.C. and Animal Man have been fantastic, some of the best books put out last week by any publisher.

In terms of sales figures, the New 52 have been very much working out for DC, and are in fact challenging established sales records.  According to an article posted on Newsarama.com, every book with a new #1 that DC has put out has gone back for either second or third printings.

However, DC is also hoping to modernize itself by making every book that it publishes available in digital form the same day that it is available in stores.  Prior to this, both Marvel and DC have offered some of their books online and via ipod apps, but this could potentially be a huge step towards having comics be sold sole in digital form, like some are speculating may happen with books, newspapers  and video games.  Personally, I would much prefer to be able to read an actually comic with my hands, but that’s just me.  Still, it’s a huge step forward, and the DC app ranked in the top five of highest grossing apps during the first week of the New 52.  Combined with the excellent sales figures of the initial DC books, the New 52 may very well help bring the comic books themselves back towards the mainstream.

And for people who have never read a comic but have always wanted to...check this out! it's the perfect opportunity for new readers to jump on board.  Here's the trailer that DC has released for the New 52, cause it's so cool.

Oh and Superman shouldn't wear a dress.