Needed to find a bigger pic for....further inspection.
Posted on 07/15/2009 2:46:29 AM PDT by tlb
Last week, we learned about a man possessed of a bold and praiseworthy vision.
DC Comics editor Matt Idelson. The pronouncement he issued ...
"I never want to see Supergirl's panties again."
And with that, the character of Supergirl ... started wearing red shorts under her skirt.
1. The decision suggests that superhero comics may at long last stand ready to evolve beyond the adolescent objectification of the female form in which they have so gleefully wallowed for long decades; and
2. Supergirl flies, duh. She hovers over people's heads. In a skirt.
As the girl-wonder folks note, when Supergirl was reintroduced into continuity back in '04, she wore an outfit that might as well have been designed by a committee of pimps and 14-year-old boys, complete with a miniskirt that was somehow permanently stuck in Seven-Year-Itch mode.
It was little more than a thin bolt of blue fabric — the comic-book equivalent of those long white banners that forever fluttered in the air above Renaissance Italy to keep folk from glimpsing the full cherubim monty.
She was also drawn in a manner openly defiant of the physical laws of human anatomy: Girlfriend was basically an esophagus with hip bones.
But things have been looking up for her of late. In her current series...downplaying some of the vampy-trampy aspects she got saddled with upon her return.
Meanwhile, artist Igle has given her a real, physiologically plausible body, outfitted in a costume that is growing steadily less, in the artist's words, "hoochie."
We salute DC Comics editor Matt Idelson and his creative team, for their dedication to creating something that's proven maddeningly elusive, something we've needed for years: a Supergirl comic you can recommend to a teenage girl without feeling the least bit "To Catch a Predator" about it.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I have two daughters, but I give most people credit for being able to distinguish fantasy from reality (unless the topic is economics).
It was the Justice Society of America and the artist was Wally Wood.
/comic geek
LOL. Thanks. Wouldn’t know the difference even if I HAD known the difference!
Make Mine Marvel!
I don’t think he’s against marketing to males. But by and large Supergirl has always had a female audience, most female heroes that are in a standalone book don’t really appeal to guys. No matter how... enjoyable the art would be for a male audience female lead characters are generally considered to be for a female audience and teenage guys are going to get a lot of flack from their nerd friends if they catch them with Supergirl books.
This is why there’s only a handful of female lead books, with 95% of the audience being male, and most of them feeling they get enough crap for being comic book nerds without being seen with girlie books, there isn’t much market for them. BUT if they can make female characters that actually appeal to females... And that probably means making female characters that aren’t drawn to 14 year old boy fantasy specs. So really it all makes sense.
“adolescent objectification of the female form”
As opposed to the ADULT objectification of the female form.
Maybe she should be wearing a Hillary pantsuit instead?
She should look like a liberal too. Take your pick, Clinton, Napolitano, Reno, McKinney, Ginsberg, etc.
As they say, Holy Moly!
I first read about Supergirl nearly fifty years ago, and here’s how she was depicted:
1. She was fifteen and beyond the pale, sexually. A potential suitor backed away when he learned her true age.
2. She was Superman’s cousin and you don’t mess with the Man of Steel.
3. Her Supergirl outfit covered her from neck to feet with a modest cheerleader skirt in between.
4. Her secret identity included a brunette wig with braids.
This current version is, well, ZOWEEIE!! The original Supergirl was depicted standing or flying, not sitting!
BTW, does Supergirl remind any FReepers of `Belly Girl’ circa 2003?
You never knew where she might turn up. Always on the good guys’ side, tho.
That had an appeal all its own.
Unlike Supergirl, Belly Girl is a real woman.
Shall we ever know her secret identity (sigh)?
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