GOOD News About Womens in Comix.

Since I’ve spent much of May complaining about sexism in recent comics, I thought I’d take a second and point out a portrayal of a female in comics I look forward to.

Tony Bedard is taking over on Supergirl
in August.

Some of his comments from the interview made me all but want to have his puppies:

“I’m just sticking to the basics: Kara is from Krypton, she’s insanely powerful, but she wants to be good. I also happen to think she needs to eat a sandwich and cover up a bit, but then I’m a father.”

“I have basic expectations about what’s appropriate for a character with the “S” on her chest. I don’t think that’s a limitation — it points the way toward the proper area in which to search for fresh material. She’s not a dark avenger or Goth punk. She’s a strange visitor from another planet who should embody all that’s best in humanity and in America. That’s right, America. The land of immigrants who make good.”

Then there’s the ART!


Wow. The costume is still ugly (bare midriffs do nothing for me), but she actually looks like she has internal organs. Her breast/head ratio is actually not out of wack. In fact, one of the images go so far as to show she has shorts under her skirt (which is now long enough to be considered a mini skirt, whereas before it was more of a frilly belt of some kind).

Remember how I said that those offended by the Heroes for Hire cover should speak with their wallets? I’m going to be speaking with my wallet on this comic. I’m a trade-waiter (yes, I know, I’m killing comics), but I intend on opening a pull account just for this one comic. It looks to be a step in a very right direction.

When it does come out (#20, in the current PREVIEWS), I may post a review.

(link should be fixed)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled WWTT, posted below this one.

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32 responses to “GOOD News About Womens in Comix.”

  1. km Avatar
    km

    I’d’ve been just as happy if they’d dropped the pleated miniskirt altogether – it so obviously has no purpose other than cutesiness.

    Still, though…this is a very cool development. What I love above everything else is the intelligence and humour – hence, maybe, genuine control of her own destiny – that shines through even in these preliminary sketches.

  2. jgordon9 Avatar
    jgordon9

    The sad thing is that art is of person with normal proportions, which will make here obese and flat-chested by comic book standards…

  3. MacQuarrie Avatar
    MacQuarrie

    The skirt is a holdover from the original costume, which was modeled on a figure-skater’s outfit circa 1959.

    As my friend Fly on the Wall once said, “A flying girl, in a skirt? Look! Up in the sky! I see England, I see France…”

  4. Charles RB Avatar
    Charles RB

    That can’t be the modern-age Supergirl, she’s anatomically accurate! It must be an evil imposter.

  5. Powers Avatar
    Powers

    Link broken?

  6. Conor E Avatar
    Conor E

    Heh, I love your description of her old skirt. This is the best the “new” Supergirl has ever looked.

  7. HellRazor Avatar
    HellRazor

    I hate to say it but…

    …that’s the most frumpy, hideous Supergirl I’ve ever seen. I hope the finished art is better than these sketches.

  8. jgordon9 Avatar
    jgordon9

    The link to the article isn’t working, but I found it earlier. They have more pictures, some of which are less “frumpy”. Overall design is the same, but some of the facial expressions are a bit more playful and even a bit flirty.

  9. km Avatar
    km

    “”…that’s the most frumpy, hideous Supergirl I’ve ever seen.””

    [grin] Yeah, because as we all know, how good they look in the costume is the pre-eminent test of any superbeing…

    …OK, OK, I’ll stop now. But seriously. Frumpiness – grunge, goth, whatever – is as much a part of the teenage female culture as anything else, and it makes total sense that Supergirl would gravitate to that end of the spectrum.

  10. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    Thanks, Hellrazor, for proving jgordon9’s point.

    “I can’t masturbate to it? It’s *frumpy*!”

  11. Scott Haley Avatar
    Scott Haley

    I want to buy a comic with this new version of Supergirl. No more Super Brittany! I never liked “The Stupid Girl from Krypton.”

  12. Charles RB Avatar
    Charles RB

    …FRUMPY? Going from skinnier-than-Judge-Death to normal teenage proportions while having the same costume/hair length is frumpy?

  13. Powers Avatar
    Powers

    http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=006315

    I think she looks good. Very appropriate for the direction Bedard apparently wants to take her.

    Powers &8^]

  14. HellRazor Avatar
    HellRazor

    Um…I don’t masterbate to comic book characters, thank you very much. 😛

    And don’t make ASSumptions as you all climb over yourselves to jump on the politically correct bandwagon. I would apply the same standards to Superman if someone were to draw him ugly and frumpy looking. It doesn’t fit the accepted norm for that character and I don’t want to see a frumpy, ugly Superman, I want to see a muscular handsome Superman. For the same reasons I don’t want to see a “Goth” “Grunge” or (insert latest fad) Supergirl either. Now if you want to create a new character called “Frumpy Girl”, then I have no issues with that.

    Hey, what’s next, let’s make Wonder Woman flat chested, overweight and give her some acne – after all, that’s realistic too. Or let’s give Supergirl an eating disorder. We really need more realism in comics today after all. Less “flying around using super strength on bad guys” and more frumpy clothes and plain-jane looking characters, that’s what we need.

    But for the record, I don’t care too much for “airhead Britney Supergirl” either. I thought Supergirl was at her best and was most interesting in the early 70’s when she had her own series in Adventure Comics.

  15. Charles RB Avatar
    Charles RB

    But she doesn’t LOOK frumpy. She looks like a normal girl of her age – and as I’m 20 and have spent most of my life in full-time education, believe me when I say that’s the average body weight.

    I’m not getting “flatchested” either. She’s still drawn with a chest. It’s quite visible.

  16. Luke Avatar
    Luke

    I liked this new look when I saw the article in question. The style of the art really expresses, to me, just how ridiculous having a bare midriff on a superhero costume really is. It’ll be interesting to see both 1) how this art style works in a narrative setting and 2) how long it lasts before it’s back to the older style.

    Also, I’d like to point out that calling on comic book readers to “vote with their wallets” regarding “Heroes for Hire” goes both ways. You may hate the cover (I don’t really care one way or the other), but if you want to vote for a good comic book to read, then you should be buying “Heroes for Hire.”

  17. km Avatar
    km

    Yeah, I’m a little startled by the vehemence here myself. Granted, I’m not the target demographic…but other than the uniform not being skin-tight – which as I pointed out is totally normal, Supergirl in RL likely not being the type to worry over it – that seems to me a remarkably attractive young girl.

    At any rate, yes, we do need more realism in comics today, at least on the female side of the spectrum. No, superheroes by their fantasy nature likely will never be flat-out homely people; but I don’t see much wrong with a character who can kick universal butt on a good day actually LOOKING like she can.

  18. HellRazor Avatar
    HellRazor

    I don’t know. It just looks off to me for Supergirl.

    Maybe it’s just the costume that I don’t like.

  19. Anderson Avatar
    Anderson

    Renato Guedes, the artist, is brazilian – and so am i.

    That´s a brazilian girl.

  20. Darren J. Gendron Avatar
    Darren J. Gendron

    Um, I think the last version of Supergirl (artistically) DID have an eating disorder. And a cape that wanted to feed on living brains.
    Now we get a normal-looking, actually good body for Supergirl. Something that, I don’t know, women might actually want to read. I showed the images to my wife, and she was excited that bloomers finally became part of the design. Bedard is a favorite writer of both of us, so I’m finally back on the Supergirl bandwagon (loved the character and the writing, but the art was THAT bad that I just felt dirty buying it).
    And again, please please please remember the difference between her and Wonder Woman – age. Supergirl is 16.

  21. TMM Avatar
    TMM

    This is a remarkable character study, and it actually makes me want to read Supergirl, which is no small feat. I think this version of the character looks attractive, even by superheroes comic books standards. That being said, that skirt really is ugly and inelegant. It should be longer or shorter, but nobody has worn that kind of abomination since the early 1980’s.

  22. Maker Avatar
    Maker

    I have to say, I don’t see anything wrong with the skirt. What’s to say Supergirl’s fashion sense isn’t as bad as mine? That’d add another bit of realism. . . or not, since my fashion sense is so bad it’s like a superpower.

  23. jgordon9 Avatar
    jgordon9

    I’m going to jump to HellRazor’s defense a bit – if someone doesn’t like the design, that doesn’t automatically means they prefer the anorexic bimbo look. It might just mean he doesn’t like the design….

  24. typolad Avatar
    typolad

    I agree with jgordon. People are free to like/dislike whatever they want.

    Free will, baby.

  25. Richard Avatar
    Richard

    I love the proportions of the heroine herself. I don’t like how heavy her hair and her cape look. A little more curls in the hair, and maybe a slightly shorter cape would help.

  26. Richard Avatar
    Richard

    I also wanted to add that many of the images in the comicon link do better at that.

  27. HellRazor Avatar
    HellRazor

    Tanx guys! Yeah, I’m not a fan of anorexic Supergirl either. But then, I haven’t really liked any incarnation of Supergirl since they killed off the original.

    Good writing will offset any reservations I have about the artwork. It’s not THAT bad. I just don’t care for the look. The finished artwork could be a lot different tho.

  28. Lea Avatar
    Lea

    Aww, she’s adorable. I’ll have a look at some previews and see where the plot seems to be going. I used to love Tony Bedard’s stuff, but I read a couple of issues of Exiles and was sorely disappointed.

  29. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    It’s crazy how used we all are to the disproportionate leg length that is standard on superheroines… I was trying to figure out why her legs looked so strange to me! They’re just a normal length relative to her torso…
    I would like to see that skirt either about three inches shorter so it would look less droopy, or replaced by shorts altogether, but the character looks great, very appealing and natural with lots of personality showing in the art.

  30. Matt Algren Avatar
    Matt Algren

    I like the style of the art, but this Kara just looks uncomfortable in the bare midriff costume. The artist should be allowed to put her in a better costume that suits the body-type he’s given her. (You know, the realistic one.)

    Still and all, anything’s better than “Paris Hilton, Supergirl”.

  31. Tremaine Avatar
    Tremaine

    I never liked Kara. Ever. No matter the art (Which doesn’t determine if I buy the comic anyway) or writer, I cant like Kara. 70’s,80’s or even 00’s she doesnt do anything for me. Give me another Linda Danvers series or even better, a PG one

  32. Blog@Newsarama » Just Past the Horizon: Positively Depressing Sometimes

    […] when your reaction to the art for Supergirl #20 is “She looks like an actual teenage girl!” and “She’s actually wearing undershorts!” are […]

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