The sad thing is, I had this conversation elsewhere, and was told, “but Starfire needs to be naked! It’s a crucial part of her character, so it makes her deep!” And then I linked to the comic.
See, she comes from a planet with no naked taboo. In her culture, it’s perfectly fine to go commando. She was a pretty good romantic foil for the (at the time) stick-up-his-ass repressed Dick Grayson.
But having no naked shame doesn’t mean you want to wear stuff that looks ridiculous and is uncomfortable.
Exactly. The problem isn’t the skin showing, the problem is that the outfit is ridiculous. It wouldn’t physically work, especially on a girl built like Starfire.
The this that Jim Lee is a good ARTIST, but he’s not a good CREATOR. Having him be the one who designs the new costumes is a terrible idea – he may be able to draw costumes so they look awesome, he’s not good at creating original, iconic looks – especially not for an entire universe.
Jim Lee did indeed do all the redesigns. Apparently, he thinks Nehru-jacket collars are what all the kids are wearing these days, and that Superman needs visible seams and knee-pads.
I can tell at a glance that Liefeld didn’t do it. Not only does it not have enough pockets for him, but it looks like it doesn’t have any pockets at all!
That may be because there isn’t enough covered flesh to fit even one, but good old Rob would make room for ‘em =P.
That’s the thing I find so absurd at most of the 3D sites, where you can see hundreds of images of near naked women wearing utterly impractical outfits as they bludgeon dragons and trolls. “Oh, I’m showing them as empowered!” No, you’re showing them as Barbie had she been designed by Frazetta. “I’m not making them into sexual objects!” No, you’re making them into sexual pictures.
God knows, I’m no prude, but when dealing with these people, you can smell the desperation from miles away.
I was first exposed to Starfire in the Teen Titans cartoon, and I thought her costume was a little skimpy but not too bad.
Then I read a comic with her for the first time and I realized how much her costume was improved for the cartoon.
Then I read a comic where somebody referred to her costume as “armor” and then I had to go pick up the book from where it landed on the other side of the room.
I don’t understand DC trying to appeal to the demographic they *already appeal to*. Okay, yes, getting a few more of them, sure, but there has to be a way to diversify a bit more, or they’re going to be in this same damn position in 10-15 years.
While that sounds true enough, I was thinking more of the lines of the situation where they increase the fanservice at the cost of storytelling and characterisation.
You’re right. It’s that same thing that made me lose interest with current anime. Pointless fanservice for those weirdos that need to fap at something.
Well, I know it’s kinda late but I do find Shin Mazinger and Gurren Lagann pretty impressive. It’s nice seeing a full Super Robots series than OVA’s for a change.
Just another instance of Sturgeon’s Law in effect I suppose. The goal in a season is to have one good show, not twenty five. That’s not how it works. Not everyone is producing awesome at the same time. We get a great show maybe annually.
I wasn’t following along with anime on a season by season basis as it happened in Japan back in the nineties so despite the wealth of gems in that decade I retain skepticism that the actual ratio of quality items of worth to crap was any better back then. I also have to acknowledge that the nostalgia glasses makes the comparison a little unfair.
Off the top of my head I can name two that stood out last season but I can also see at least three that are absolute crap this season based on the first episodes.
My Top two which most likely will be the top two for the year?
Fractale, Gosick
Deadman wonderland is still on my “to be determined” list and there are a few new ones that may be on the “worth the time” list.
Personally I have found that if you can look *past* the fanservice, there’s actually decent characters and/or story within a lot of fanservicey anime. For example Divergence Eve has a very serious and philosophical story – if you can see it through all the sympathetic wincing you’ll be doing over the women characters’ back pain.
If you restrict yourself to anime that has *no* fanservice…well, at least it won’t take you long to watch it all.
That’s why Jason Todd has a visible boner on the cover!
….at least, I think they’re assuming that women are interested in that.
Heck – they’re even going RAHRAHGIRLPOWER by making Harley dress like a skank and uncrippling a strong female character who’d become a fairly empowering, well-rounded and liked character!
Whenever I see something like this, I always imagine asking the hypothetical audience “You guys are aware of a wonderful invention called pornography, right?”
I love DC Comics, I really do, and I look forward to seeing if this reboot thing is any good.
But if their only goal is appealing to new readers, I worry. You got to figure that along with new readers they are going to lose a few old ones because “They changed it, now it sucks!”, even if the new books are all well done.
DC has to know about these guys, right? I mean, some of them are now their editors (“Barry and Hal have to return! Silver Age was the best!”). The hope has got to be that they recruit more people than they alienate.
Which is worrisome because…well…have you heard anyone talking about the upcoming reboot that wasn’t already a comic book reader? Okay, there has been SOME media coverage, but this whole thing isn’t even going to be a blip on the radar for most people.
I’m afraid that even if they do this well, they’ll alienate a lot of their old readers while their prospective new readers won’t even notice or care.
Don’t tell me that there are still people who waste money buying more than one copy of a particular comic in the vain hope that it will be worth something someday?
Percieved collectibility is only one reason #1 issues sell better. Another is that it creates the illusion of a fresh start. For new or casual readers issues in the single digit numbers seem less intimidating than, say, #765.
It’s actually exactly this reason why multiple covers were reserved for #2 issues, at least at Marvel, for a while during the late 1990s/early 2000s, to offset the readers that dropped the series after the first issue.
Agreed. I’ve always felt digital comics are the future and it’s great to see DC finally embracing it. I honestly don’t think it’ll hurt shops as much as people think it will.
I’ve never been an avid reader of modern day comics, but I’m hoping to use this as a jumping in point. That’s kind of close. I mean, I already had an interest in the product so it’s not quite what you’re asking about but I’ve never kept up with the publications and I’m gonna be looking into how to subscribe to Nightwing and a couple others.
Though admittedly their website doesn’t seem to have an option to get it delivered to my house and I’m not gonna commit to making the trip to one of the comic shops every month so it’s possible nothing will come of that. I’d be willing to do their digital thing but it’s unwieldy as all fuck.
I don’t know much about comics but I DO know that trying to over appeal to a new audience and just assume your old audience will follow can have dire consequences. Basically I am referring to “Wizards of the Coast” here who have decided that people who always played pen and paper RPGs will follow them like sheep anywhere (an odd thought to my mind) and that they need to focus all their energy on getting people who don’t play interested. This is mostly alienating old players and the fact that it still has the D&D label is causing non gamers to shrug it off and pass on by.
If you do it right then you don’t need the old audience. Look at Nintendo. They shed their old fanbase like a snake with the Wii but it doesn’t matter because their new fanbase is bigger and better than ever. Pretty sure it’s not the first time they’ve done that either.
If DC actually successfully grabbed their demographic it wouldn’t matter how many of the older dwindling readers they lost. You try and grab a new demo because the old wasn’t working out anyway.
Of course I’m not saying that’s gonna happen. There’s optimistic and then there’s blatant refusal to acknowledge the situation. Do it right is a really important component of this. First step in claiming a new demographic properly is to make sure this new demographic isn’t your old demographic. Cannot emphasize how vital that is enough.
They’ve made enough of a habit of it that I’m not at all convinced it’s unintentional. They’ve been right in there with the young people since the eighties. That’s not madness, that’s design.
Well marketings idea with the DnD 4th edition was to push product – in this case the product was miniatures in “surprise box?” and lots of addendum’s to the core books – The Players Handbook has how many volumes now?
At this point, I’m half convinced they’re just making it for themselves – Johns, Didio, Lee, Morrison – and if anyone else likes it, great. (But why wouldn’t everyone like it? It’s AWESOME!!)
I hate the DC reboot thing. It seems so ridiculous in many ways. Perhaps some good will come of it, but I mainly see the whole thing being re-rebooted in a few years…
That cover…YIKES! Don’t think I’d even want to touch that if I saw it in a comic shop. That belongs in the…Adult section with the Playboys. Seriously, DC ought to just do a Starfire pictorial in Playboy. If Marge Simpson did one Kory can do one.
I’ still scratching my head about DC’s insane marketing plan. With the average comic reader being 35-46, these days, DC’s idea of younger readers is going for 18-24. A demographic that is outgrowing comics and going into novels.
Targeting this audience will have them in the exact same position they’re in now in two years or less. This marketing plan makes so much more sense than trying to developing content for those 7-16 year olds who would actually buy comics for the next 10-15 years.
And I won’t get into how there won’t be any comics in places kids actually go like er…supermarkets and grocery stores. Yeah, e-comics will be the next big thing. Like the Coleco Adam. I love the comic book industry. Do the exact same things for 20 years and expect a different result. Where’s Jim Shooter When you need him?
The convinience store I work at has comics! Though our chain is the only convinience store chain in the country with ‘em. We got a deal going.
Also saw some back issues being sold at a Zellers.
Also isn’t doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results a sign of madness? Marvel has a pretty decent kids line but the ‘REAL’ comic book fans look down upon it and won’t get it for their own kids because ‘it’s not the comics I used to read’ or some crap like that. There was a whole rant about the subject once. I actually prefer the kids line…less bullshit.
Eh, for a show that Dan Didio reportedly asked not be any ties to previous canon, there sure were a buttload of ties to previous canon. I feel that the alleged horror that he held over the series is overstated.
Beast Machines’ problem was the crunched time that it took to make the show, not any of the content.
Yeah, way to much filler in that season, and I liked the ties to previous canon. But in the end, this show deviated so much from the original concept of Transformers that it didn’t feel like a Transformers show at all. I hate this show as part of Transformers, but I did find it decent and deep when all ties to the previous series are severed from my mind. Oh, and all Beast Machine toys sucked.
Funny thing, I like the rest of the Transformers franchises, even Energon (awesome toys, lame show) and Robots in Disguise because it feels like a splash of fresh water in the face when compared to some depressingly bad shows. TRUKK NOT MUNKY and RUINED FOREVER doesn’t work with me, but I don’t like this show in particular.
I do like homages in other series though, like Animated Strika (obviously ignoring what Colombians did to her).
I’m not sure how it deviated much from the “original concept of Transformers” any more than Beast Wars did. It was good guy transforming robots fighting bad guy transforming robots, and as a bonus, it was on Cybertron without any humans, just like how everyone always wants things.
That’s why comics in novel form are becoming more popular, so you can have your comics without strangers giving off that ‘you are a loser’ vibe at you.
Look up “Elseworlds”. There have been a few that are pretty well regarded, like “Superman: Red Son” (What if baby Kal-El landed in Russia?), “JLA: The Nail” (What if the Kents got a flat tire and never found Kal-El, leaving him to be raised by the Amish?…or something), and “Gotham By Gaslight” (Victorian-era Batman).
Really, of all the things to Lampoon about DC’s nu52, you pic the Red Hood title? That’s one of the most interesting looking titles in their new line-up, and Starfire’s costume is in-line with her past costume incarnations anyway. However you may feel about her costumes, there’s nothing really “new” about it.
They are taking Stephaine Brown’s Batgirl-who is the best person every to wear the moniker-and rebooting her book so Barbara can take over once more.
Barbara was fine as Oracle. She doesn’t NEED to be Batgirl again. The DCU needs her as Oracle more than as Batgirl.
Thank you for taking a wonderful but underused character, giving her a chance and making something interesting only to yank it from under her (and her fans) in order to give the same old ‘all new, all different here we go again’ crap and kick all the good Stephanie’s done to the curb because she’s not the ‘newest and trendiest’ thing.
This pretty much sums up my feelings. I haven’t followed the Batman comic serial 100% of the time, but I thought that the concept of Oracle was really appealing and interesting — a support character who was fully realized, sympathetic and important despite not punching bad guys in the head.
There’s also the fact that Oracle is easily the most net-savvy character in the DCU (that’s kinda her whole theme –she’s a superhero for the digital era), and they’re getting rid of her just as they’re launching online comics (as opposed to, say, finding some good cyberpunk-inspired writers and giving Oracle her own original series).
I am crossing my fingers and wishing very, very hard that the BatGirl run with Barb back in the cape is some sort of weird prequel thing where they’re going to redo her origins up to Killing Joke, which I believe is still (semi-)canon post-reboot. Also hoping that the implied recruiting of Renee in the latest issues of Birds of Prey continues through because we need more Montoya.
Apparently the story is that she still got paralyzed in the killing joke and was the oracle, but after the reboot she’s just recently gone through physiotherapy and been healed. This is supposed to make her “A whole new Batgirl the likes of which we’ve never seen before” or something to that effect. I guess she’s gonna be smarter, more of a thinker or something.
I’ll have to see it to figure out exactly what their plans are but even if she was the best Batgirl ever it wouldn’t excuse getting rid of the Oracle.
What’s frustrating to me is that they’re being rather evasive about the issue of what is in continuity anymore–for instance, did Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown -ever- have the Batgirl mantle? And the things that they’re definitely keeping in continuity appear to be the major crises and such, but those are actually the MOST convoluted pieces of continuity that don’t work without the years and years of stories around them. It’s not like writers don’t occasionally ignore continuity anyway (speaking of Cass…), so one wonders why they need to get rid of it at all.
On the whole the thing has been really annoyingly vague… and it seems to have pissed a lot of people off but that’s the general state of the internet. I suppose I should be happy that we’re getting a new Blue Beetle series, and that they’re finally doing Batwoman (also The Shade, didn’t see that one coming). But it seems kind of cruel to dangle “we’re retconning some stuff out of existence” without even revealing what it is.
I will have to take your word on those, all my personal info on recent western comics are based on chit-chat I had with people at the comic place I buy my manga from.
In the last 20 years we transitioned from all comics being printed on pulp with inked-and-ziptone to 4-color full-bleed printing of meticulously computer-colored pages designed to resemble painting. This is now the norm.
Because comics with higher production costs sold better, now all comics are produced this way.
(Also they frequently look like crap and are hard to follow. Rich-color is hard to do well, and photorealistic artists often have poor layout skills necessary to convey action– something pretty much ALL classic-style comic artists had to master.)
I find it mindblowing that My Little Pony, a show that only exists to sell super-girly toys to girls under the age of six, spawned a show that appeals to boys and girls from wee young ‘uns all the way to folks in their 20′s, or even older… and DC comics can’t figure out how not to actively drive women away.
It’s like…they don’t even have to court us, not really. They don’t have to make “girl’s titles” (especially because, by implication, that means only girls should be reading that title, and that all other comics are “boy’s titles.”) They just have to Not Horrify Us. It would take so little, really. Just a bit of thought before designing a costume or writing a character. So little.
Well, it’s at a recursive stage at the moment, where (most of the) the creative, independent women that complain about the sexism/gender inequality refuse to become part of that business, meaning that the men who run it can effectively stretch the limits with no opposition. There are plenty of women in webcomics, and a few in print comics, but for the most part, DC and Marvel are white/hispanic guys writing/drawing white guys punching other white guys and poor minorities.
I don’t care what the writer/artist is, I care how it’s done. If you can find me a female writer that has the guts of a Mark Waid, or the talent of a Mark Miller, or an Ivan Reis, or a Jock, or even a Ron Marz, then I will buy that comic before it hits the shelf Wednesday morning.
As everyone knows, becoming a major shaping force in comics/hollywood/any other traditionally “boy’s club” industry is simply a matter of being willing to do it. There certainly aren’t any barriers towards entering, advancing in seniority, or getting your ideas accepted by the publishers, and there certainly is not any resistance to change. And that’s why there are so many nationally acclaimed female film directors selling movies to the public today!
I mean, I’m sure you knew that, and I’m sure there are others, but the way you phrased that last bit just sounded like you were implying that there aren’t any women writers with the daring, creativity, and skill of the male writers and that’s just plain not true, even in such an exclusively little boys club as Marvel/DC. Gail Simone. Secret Six. And everything else. But really Secret Six.
But yes, I think most of the women in the talent pool would much rather go ahead and make their own comics because really, who wants to work for years and years and years trying to make it into a company that by its very product repeatedly says that it doesn’t even value you as a customer? Forget that–there’s plenty more comics to be made.
Yeah, the speed at which that title went into the toilet was astounding. It even beat out Blue Beetle in the lets-eliminate-everything-enjoyable-about-this-series race.
Sorry, that wasn’t what I meant to imply at all. I was trying to say (through heavy sarcasm) that there are still heavy barriers towards women being able to succeed in the same numbers as men in the same fields; and that it’s no use to say “well, if women want to see better portrayals of females, then they should just do it themselves, otherwise they have no room to complain!” because it’s not that simple.
I’ve never read a Wonderwoman comic in my life but I think she looks better with pants. It’s not even like they increased the sex factor there. Just made her look sillier.
Harley’s done good as an antihero before. She’s best as a sort of chaotic neutral-leaning-toward-evil.
I’d say I’m reserving my judgement on her characterization until I read the book, but I flat out refuse to spend my money on a book where Harley Quinn is wearing THAT. They could get Gail Simone to write it and Mark Buckingham to draw it, and I still would not give DC one red cent of my money as long as Harley is in that outfit.
I get that comic gals have a long history of wearing stupid things. But Harley…Harley was one of the most sensibly dressed spandex girls in the DC universe. A simple, elegant costume. It looked nice, it was iconic (if DC really wanted to appeal to new readers of that age group, you’d think they’d keep Harley in the get-up that even the non-comic-readers of my generation could recognize her in). Harley can be pretty sexy, but she’s never really been slutty. Even her tarted up Arkham Asylum outfits were still…elegant, I guess, in that Gothic Lolita way.
Based purely on visuals, no. Harley is one of the DC characters with a HUGE female following, and it’s just a slap in the face to take a character with no history of nearly-nude costume choices (unlike Starfire, who sure likes being naked) and putting her in that on the off chance that it’ll appeal to some horny 20-year-old (I guess DC is also buying into the whole “guys who like comics don’t date real women” idea).
I think the only reason I’m not more upset about her outfit is that I have no faith it will last. It’s like removing the stars and stripes from wonder woman’s outfit. You know full well they’ll be back.
But yeah, Harley had a great outfit and this new shit just doesn’t cut it. I’d go on about all that’s wrong with it but that’s everything. It’s all wrong in every conceivable way. You could not make it more wrong if you put a team together with the sole intent of just making it wrong a la wheatley. There’s nothing they did right with this outfit.
I was going to say “it’s Jason Todd,” but considering Mike, that might actually work for her. (Though she probably doesn’t want to be caught with that on public transport, either.)
Y’know, DD talking about how they want to bring in new readers while simultaneously flat-out saying that they’re marketing to 18-24-year-old MALES (implied: straight, probably white) would be hilarious, if it weren’t so sad.
I don’t think I’ve been capable of the kind of shame that would prevent that kind of stuff in a long time. I mean, who exactly am I trying to impress? On the bus no less.
People were already drawing conclusion from me sitting on the bus reading manga, munching on some pocky with fruity Jpop in my mp3 player. Starfire’s hardly gonna hurt my image.
You do know that you are all defending a character that was inspired by George Perez’s visit to a strip club, right? (Yup–true story.)
As for all the anti-90′s talk, it might interest you to know that Starfire actually wore her least revealing outfit in THE TITANS title (which focused on the Wolfman/Perez Titans who are all in their 20′s at that point) that started in the late 90′s. The outfit sported no cleavage and she had PANTS.
i love yet another skimpy starfire outfit, but what i really love you you neglected the fact that Jason Todd’s penis is clearly visible on the top half of the picture through the tights… as mentioned …, too bad this isn’t the only … to be honest it is kinda scary
I wouldn’t be embarassed to read that on the bus. Well, something like that anyway. You wouldn’t catch me reading that, not because of embarrasment but because I just don’t want to read that comic.
I really don’t get embarrased anymore. Not over something as dumb as comic books.
I notice that her outfit is at least passable in the Teen Titans animated series. Not like there’s no exposed skin. She’s got a bare midriff, a little bit of something something between her skirt and her far past thigh high boots, and she’s predominantly sleeveless but overall it seems tasteful.
Perhaps that could be an attitude worth investigating the merits of? Designing outfits as such that they would not cause a parent to faint. I’m not saying we gotta cover up our women like nuns or anything (though that kind of seems to be what we do to our men), but maybe not be shockingly offensive either. Despite what some would claim sex appeal isn’t inversely proportionate to the amount of cloths worn so there’s plenty of room to appeal to those who want it while still maintaining a certain amount of tastefulness.
Or at the very least perhaps we could consider having clothes that could actually be worn. I can’t help but notice that starfire’s breast coverings aren’t actually affixed to her in any way. I mean, it’s nice that she’s got a telekinetic hiding behind a bush somewhere keeping that purple… I don’t know what that is. Can’t be fabric. Anyway that someone’s behind the scenes keeping that pressed up against her with his mind powers, but perhaps a simple strap of some form would be more practical. We could extend that garment all 360 degrees around her person that it might support itself. Maybe design the garment to actually support her ample bosom as well. The current outfit would have them bouncing and swaying violently and painfully throughout any combat which seems so terribly counterproductive for a member of such a proud warrior race. Heck, she could plausibly bap herself in the face with one of those during the extreme movements of the battlefield. That’s no good at all, though I suppose that might not be an issue if said telekinetic is also keeping her breasts level and restricting their movement, but there are still so many better ways to do that. How badly must one desire to have barely concealed nipples in order to solicit such services from some poor metahuman who surely must have better things to do.
Her shoulder dealies seem like they would actually restrict her movement remarkably, which is odd since it’s entirely the opposite problem of the rest of the outfit. Perhaps trade that in for a more malleable material and connect it down to her breast covering apparatus that it might stay in place and continue to protect while still allowing for a full range of movement. If the breast apparatus has been adjusted to the above specifications then that would leave us with a sleeveless sports shirt of some form, leaving her entire midriff bare and allowing for a chest window if she desires but being a functional garment suitable for a woman who calls the battlefield home and cares not for issues of modesty.
I mean, that’s how I’d handle it anyway. We’d no longer have an image that would have parents covering their children’s eyes to shield them from profanity, but we’d also maintain an outfit that would neither restrict the movement nor cause undo pain, and which could be worn without deliberate bypass of the laws of gravity, but which also enhances the sex appeal even further beyond what the current outfit does.
Another summer, another DC reboot. This doesn’t really effect me since the only DC comic I actively read was Red Robin. Pretty sure they’re cancelling that after the reboot too. It is now my hope that 26 years from now, one of those 18-35 readers that they alienated with this Crisis on Infinite Earths Redeux will advance to DC Editor In Chief and then bring things back to where they were before Barry Allen-point…
But then again I am still waiting on that 90s revival…
I am quite frankly ashamed and appalled at you Willis, for failing to in any way take into account the vitally important fact that Jason Todd’s Penis can be seen straining through his tights on that cover.
Also Ethan and Amber’s failure to violently assault Didio because of his involvement in the cancellation of ReBoot, but mostly the Todd Wang thing.
Well, I found out the owner of my comic shop was going to be meeting with DiDio and some other DC honchos, so I made up an Excel spreadsheet showing my actual orders for May and August side-by-side with my projected September order based on the solicitation info that had been released the previous week. I went from 38 books in May, adding up to over $130, to 17 in September adding up to $52.
Basically, I nixed books based on creative teams: Can Francis Manapul write? Has he ever? No Flash #1 for me, thanks. Who’s Kyle Higgins? Oh, he wrote that mini I didn’t buy? Tony Daniel writing Hawkman? Pass. Rob Liefeld drawing Hawk and Dove? Does it look like the 1988 mini (his best work)? Nope, same crap he’s been doing for 20 years. Pass.
I caved on one additional book, so my September DC order was 18 items, less than half what I ordered for May or August.
I liked the artwork in the Hawk and Dove mini too! I’ve since come to the conclusion that it was probably actually Karl Kesel’s inking I liked so much.
Well, Starfire’s been running around half-naked pretty much since she first showed up in the 80s, so nothing new there. Still think one of the best SP strips was her bit with Grayson (“I no longer give you ‘The Boner’?” )
The artist on this is Kenneth Rocafort, and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read by him. Good to see he’s equal opportunity – boobs AND units – when he’s working on covers.
I’ll pick this up AND read it on the bus. Hell, I used to have to review Yaoi books and I’d take them on the bus. Why would I hand-wring and fret about an unexposed tit?
I sincerely hope you all that have a problem with this had a problem with Emma Frosts costume change a few years back. I’d also like to note that I’ve seen the cover for this comic more than a few times and until I saw it detailed in this strip I had no idea her costume had changed at all. So yea…Don’t think it’s all that huge of a deal
You mean the one where Emma’s trashy clothing was made trashy in a slightly different way? Her “X” costumes? They pretty much reverted that a while back. Now she just looks like a regular hooker.
And yes, it’s been noted; see the very first issue of Whedon’s run. Also, Emma has some serious issues.
Just because Starfire’s been walking around for decades without much clothing… or any clothing… doesn’t mean you have to feel shame about reading those comics.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my bunk. (grabs handcloth. why waste kleenex?)
Err…that top… Now, I am not a woman, but wouldn’t that be uncomfortable, to have to depend on the nipple area to keep from popping out of your top while all the rest of the chest area would jiggle about while getting hit or running or something?
Also, this thing about Jason Todd’s penis, there is not a properly magnified image of the cover for me to determine if he is really wearing tights (in which case, penis!), or just cliché overly skin-tight leather pants that just have a seam casting some shadow.
Everything else I would want to say in response to what I’ve heard about this reboot has already been said. I don’t even really read a lot of paper comics and I know that Oracle was a good character how she was.
Well that sounds like it would be painful to remove at the end of the day. I’m thinking that her breasts have no physical sensation either from years of misuse or just because tamaranian physiology is like that. It would also explain a lot else about her set up there.
Yes, that almost perfectly sums up my feelings about Dan Didio and DC comics in general over the last ten or so years. Dan Didio specializes in the recurring and presentation and slow destruction of hope. And not in an artistic way.
Just : “Hey guess what? It’s going to get good again! oh…noooo.waaaaaaiiiit…iiiitt’ss ssssttilllll ccrrrraaaaapp. LOL.”
And I started reading comics again in the last ten years (I think I first stopped first around 1991 or so?) and then stopped again in 2008. I sort of keep track of what’s happening in comics mostly because it makes me laugh or shake my head.
Starfire was created as a naive, teen aged, former “slave,” space stripper/warrior, with rocket hair but no pupils character by a dude in is forties for the new teen titans in an effort to get some of that sweet ‘Oh wow! the X-men are blowing up right now!’ money. There’s not a lot of brilliance to treasure there. She’s essentially more of a mid life crisis wet dream than a character.
In my opinion the best thing that ever happened to her was the cartoon Network Teen Titans show redesign that dialed the space stripper stuff down and just made her a slightly whacky but fairly normal normal teen aged girl who just happened to have super powers and be from space.
They had her do the kiss-language thing, what, once or twice in five whole seasons? And I seemed to recall Robin being noticeably discomfited by this strange hot girl kissing him.
Talking about the comics here. She was great in the cartoon.
After that initial moment in which she even admits that she didn’t have to get the language that way as any physical contact would do, but it was just “More fun that way” she went on to have a lot of these types of moments http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/NewTeenTitans008-21.jpg?t=1310825508
while exploring an keen interest in earth sexuality and in Robin in particular.
Starfire was nothing but awesome for every moment of the animated series. I have no criticisms for animated starfire.
This is the book I’m looking forward to the most, admittedly its not as cool as say Jason Todd joining the Suicide Squad but him being the leader of his own comic book team is pretty coool.
I just hope he will be done right, Tony Daniel did awful awful things to the character that weren’t helped by Grant Morrison.
Oh man, if Jason Todd joined the Suicide Squad and had to take orders from Amanda Waller, that would be the best book ever. I’d love to see those two butt heads.
What is this, FOX NEWS? Starfire is the exception to DC’s new rule. Look at all the other DC covers and costume redesigns. All the girls get pants, even Zatana!!! With the exception of Starfire DC is actually doing the opposite of what you guys are all complaining about. Yet you guys are taking this one cover and acting like it represents the entire DC line.
On the flip side the company wide dress code police isn’t necessarily a good thing. They are actually going over board with with it. (see Zatana)
Harley Quinn doesn’t get pants. And Wonder Woman lost hers.
But that’s not really the issue. Whether somebody’s being drawn as an embarrassing objectification does not depend on whether they’re wearing pants. It can help! But it’s merely a symptom of a problem, not the actual disease.
I’d like to point out that very few people complain about the fishnets of Zee, in my experience. Especially since actual female magicians, like Misty Lee, dress like that.
I’ve always thought Zatanna had one of the best superhero costumes in comics. Well, used to. (It’ll be back. Paul Dini will strangle one hostage every hour until it is so.)
If your referring to DC properties in general like the now dead Wonder Woman TV show… Star Spangled Panties were hardly the problem with that mess. Your dealing with WB executives and not DC Comics editors. Ultimately DC is making an effort to cut down on the fan service and over sexualising of characters with the reboot. I rip of Didio all the time, but other than Starfire DC Comics is at least attempting to do the opposite of what you and a lot of people in the comments are accusing them of.
This reminds me of when the movie Chasing Amy came out and GLAD massively protested the movie with out having seen it. Due to the line in the trailer “All a lesbian needs is some good deep dick” they started attacking the movie before they knew what the movie was really about without all the evidence. Chasing Amy may seem quaint by today’s standards, but for the time it was revolutionary. I would credit it with deprogramming a lot of a generation that got most of their information about gays from Sam Kinison and pre Safe For Work Eddie Murphy.
DC isn’t there yet, but they are starting to make an effort. And it’s not like any of us guys are ever going to have Hal Jordon’s abs.
And, no, what comics often does with female characters has nothing to do with how ripped dudes are in comics. The balance for women being treated as disposable sex props in comics is not that guys get to have great abs. That is not an equal trade.
Ok I missed that bit of WW news, but “Disposable Sex Props”? Almost all of 90′s comics sure, but I’m really not seeing it in the DC reboot other than this one cover for Red Hood and the Outlaws. Bad costume design yes and I don’t think the book will last more than 12 issues. I think every one is focused on this one bad cover that’s not really representative of the entire line.
I disagree. Even trade or not is 1.) besides the point and 2.) debatable as society expects different things from its sex objects depending on their gender/sex. A man doesn’t sell himself as sexy in the same way that a lady does. You can argue about which side has more dignity but there is no dignity perceived once you put a foot wrong. The individual is not valued as much as the surface and deviation from surface specs is cause for being rapidly dismissed from attention or even mocked and abused.
Romance novels are pretty porny and warped and comics borrow just as much from them as they do glamour/body-building magazine photos.
People love to bitch and then make their bitching exclusive but it’s pretty apparent that Devin Grayson WAS trying to titillate slash fans any chance she got. That was an attempt to bring in female readers and make super-hero comics multi-faceted and more grown up. And trying to make comics more complex and grown up is in my opinion what makes them so prone to being REALLY stupid and kind of offensive. Not that I’m always upset when I’m offended but there does come a point where you have to ask all the super hero comics editors, writers, and illustrators what they are reacting to anymore since the thing they wanted to subvert and change (all ages comics, the code, boy-scout superhero ” good clean fun”jingoism) is now practically extinct expect on television. Now, it’s practically all stunts, bad characterization, shock attempts, and puerile, bellicose, snarky, tacky humor trying to one up the last guy on the book. That’s the new status quo.
The rule for males and females is that real people are ugly and boring (Etta Candy lol!)and “comics people” generally don’t want to buy super-hero comics about them.
That’s why puny Bruce Banner is often drawn ripped like a 285 lb. boxer when they find him in the desert in his ripped shorts and if they don’t do it like that then illustrators are generally told that they are bad at art.
I love hearing how comics don’t respect women and mess up writing females, but they don’t much respect men either and they mess up writing males. Superhero comics don’t like humans period. And NOW they don’t even like superhumans much and so we now have a preponderance of antiheroes (many of whom are not labeled as such) and increasingly sad attempts at super-powered noir. And you can’t have noir without hopelessness and a coat of sleaze that can never go away without changing the genre.
To put it another way, too many superhero books these days try to be sexy, shocking, violent cable cop dramas with super powers and robots.
No, most guys won’t be as ripped as Hal Jordan, but then, Hal Jordan is rarely posed spread eagle or in whatever super sexy pose almost ever female hero gets put into. That’s a big problem people have with the big two: Male characters get IDEALIZED, but female characters get SEXUALIZED.
Everything exaggerated in the male characters tends to emphasis their power, their strength, their manliness. With female character, you still get that sometimes, but you get oodles of emphasis on their sexiness. One of the reasons Secret Six had such a large female following was that at least Catman and Deadshot were used for fanservice as often as Scandal and Jeannette. But mostly, no, it’s a pretty uneven representation. Women are sexy, men are powerful. Awkward.
The comparison to the trailer isn’t exactly accurate. Chasing Amy was Smith’s, what, second movie? Third? Either way, most of the public hadn’t seen much of his work, and what we had seen gave no indication that he actually held such unfortunate views. Sadly, female characters being put in utterly ricockulous get-ups for the sake of being “sexy” is par for the course in DC (and Marvel) comics. It happens a lot, and it’s something that needs to stop happening. A character can be dressed in a sexy costume and look sexy without also looking like a pole dancer at a cheap strip club.
Super sexy for male is not super sexy for female. He IS Drawn coming out of the shower though or gritting his teeth and sweating next to other male heroes. It’s still a form of tame, structured, ritualized, role-enforced smut. It is still prurient and intended to be attractive because of it. If he did do a spread legged ass in the air pose it would NOT pass as sexy or attractive for most of the audience. They would think it was trying to be funny. Instead they have him put on douche-bag sun glasses and climb in a jet with his pressure suit not done up. Then when the plane gets in trouble he’ll probably take his stupid helmet off or something. And it has nothing to with actual male behavior, it’s MALE(TM) behavior. It’s still a sexual display that has nothing to do with the plot but is just trying to put him over as sexy and powerful and not a pot bellied hairy balding guy who drives a used Honda and wears flipflops all the time.
Powerful is sexy and comic book men generally can’t be sexy without the illusion of it. Except in comics power is superficial and so you see people portrayed as powerful and decisive who if you look at their actual actions are actually weak willed, flighty, easily bored, and highly impulsive. In short they are wrecks dressed up as powerful.
Maybe if we had a Power Man who had a big “cock window” on the crotch of his costume, I’d believe you. Or if all the dudes stood around with their hips swayed all the time. But they don’t. No, dudes get to stand upright and powerful, and girls get to arch their back so we can see their tits more. Guys in comics are rarely sexualized, other than in the context of their sexual power over women.
Laura, above you, is right, and you are wrong. You’re trying to compare two incredibly unequal things.
Each kind of covers one end, but the guys get phallic imagery placed on and around them. The women don’t have mammarian imagery associated with them. They have the actual item in a far greater state of exposure than is really classy.
You show me a well dressed starfire standing in front of a backdrop of two giant cannonballs just about to collide and I’ll be looking at the situation we seem to have with the men.
I don’t read a lot of the modern stuff, but have the guys started getting inwardly pointed crotch mounted cameras yet? I always find that one funny for the sheer lack of subtlety or discretion. I’d love to see the cinematography class where they cover the applications of that particular camera angle.
DC is trying to appeal to the Males 18-35 demographic? Isn’t ALREADY THEIR MAIN DEMOGRAPHIC? If they want to appeal to… people that already find them appealing, they might want to stop changing things at every opportunity.
Seriously. For quite a few years now, at least as far as I can tell, the pattern in comics writing has been thus: A new writer comes along, changes things back to the way the comic was when they were a fan, and then a new writer comes along and changes it back to when THEY were a fan, repeat ad infinitum. There is no comic anymore, just a writer obsessively wanking over how THIS version is the TRUE version of the character.
The only demo DC is pandering to is those people who haven’t already given up and left over the last 20 years for whatever reason(either they like it the way it is, or they hope it will get better).
And it doesn’t really count as demography if they don’t understand demographics or age appropriate content well enough to actually target and REACH different groups of people .
Jim Lee did the character designs for the Batman Arkham Asylum game and they were “popular” among people who don’t know what the Dini version of Harely was supposed to look like, so now he’s sticking with it as a”realer” look. Might as well accept it, she’s gonna be a goth/punk thing for a while.
Oh and the whole “Wildstorm” collection of borrowed and intensified ideas is back in the proper Dc universe/multiverse/whatever again. Y’know, where super heroes are all sexually dysfunctional “Bourne agenda” black ops atrocity ninjas/whores with hot cars who kill each other several times a day and ‘bloody mist’ anyone who gets in their way.
I actually like how she looks (and i don’t mean the sluttiness), I mean the fact that she was supposed to be an evil-ish character when she worked for the joker, while also totally in love with him. She could do the evil words in the stories, but to me her look just didn’t work when she tried for evil. Outside of costume, Harleen Quinzel was a good look for her (when she was a doctor, and in Gotham City Sirens), in Suicide Squad 1 http://girlsgonegeek.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/suicide-squad-1.jpg i could actually see her kill someone and not feel like a 15 year old is doing it
I dunno, the disconnect between her innocent looks and her evil acts was the only interesting thing about her. Now she’s just a jerk with a sledgehammer.
Fits with her relations with the joker too, who has a similar theme going. An insane clown with a deadly sense of humor. Has an arsenal of gag shop items retooled towards destruction.
Admittedly though it’s not quite the same with the joker. He’s an entirely different brand of crazy and there’s nothing innocent about him. There’s less of a disconnect with him since his innocent themes aren’t really matched by his general looks or personality at all.
Even on day one it wasn’t really a situation of deceptive appearances or anything like that. That is not a clown you would hire for a children’s party.
Not a good look for Harley. Didn’t even recognize that she was Harley till you pointed this out, but the design would make a good Typhoid Marry. Especially the way the shadow is drawn on her face. Almost looks like the half makeup.
If you like Harleen Quinzel, consider watching the Joker Blogs a series of videos showing what happened to the Joker after The Dark Knight. The actors are really good even though its fan-made. Here’s the first one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtIPi0Nb60
Perhaps this shows how cheep death feels to readers these days. I think that goes double for Spiderman titles. I think the only characters to stay dead are Uncle Ben and Captain Stacy.
So, who wants to start a bet on how long it will be before Spiderman has a pulse again? Or was that a non-canon thing to start with? I’ve lost track.
It depends. Did he stay in the main universe/timelinethingy after the story? Then ‘yes.’
\
If it was just a visit from one dimension to another, then I’d go with ‘no.’
doesn’t look too bad, though. But “She’s got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman – and none of his affection for the people of Earth. So don’t piss her off!” doesn’t bode well. To me, that makes it sound like a male writer is taking Superman and giving him a gender switch + PMS.
Personally, I’d like to see a a bloke wearing only a casual kilt (and shorts/undies). I’m not even wanting it for a oggling purposes (straight male), I just think it has the potential to be a simple, but cool outfit . And would balance out the exposure levels a minuscule bit.
I don’t mind “sexy” being part of someone’s characterization, no, especially not when it’s somebody like Catwoman, who’s like the center of a fetish Venn Diagram. But I think it kind of falls flat unless they’re written as believable people, first and foremost. Sometimes Catwoman is, sometimes she isn’t.
As my comment said before the chunk disappeared, pouring what looks like drops of white stuff over her breasts is a bit beyond displaying part of her character. They could have used gems of a different colour, and in my opinion that would have made for a stronger cover, more clearly communicating the thiefy side of her.
Its just one of those details that takes the overall picture a step in the wrong direction. It may just be me, and I can see the alternative interpretation of it, but the current version alludes to being a money shot, and is unnecessary.
Nekked Starfire with Jason Todd’s penis… I don’t know why but this makes me happy. In other news I don’t mind the silly “sexy” outfits. Hyper masculine men and hyper feminine women are kinda what comics are about I thought,
teenage power fantasy.
Regarding teenage power fantasy I simply must refer to “Males age 18 to 35″. Also, I don’t know what the heck your power fantasies looked as a teenager, but having a visible raging hard on and being naked in public weren’t ever mine.
Mine were more along the lines of all this other shit they do. Beating up the dark and criminal representations of all the people that cause me grief with my badass gunning and knifery or super strength. Flying above all the mere mortals and letting them see I’m better than them. Running so fast that no one can ever touch me again. Seems to me like having the flying fantasy, watching as the city gazes upon me in fascination, and then suddenly realizing I’m nakeder than my underwear and everyone’s been photographing my boner would kind of kill it. I’m like 90% sure that’s actually a persistent nightmare for a significant number of people in that demographic.
Yah that is pretty much it. Hyper masculine beat up all the people who wrong you adolescent fantasy’s. A young girl interested in the power fantasy will likely also want her hero’s hyper feminized. Sexual power for both girls and boys is going to be important for the fantasy. In other words “sexy” outfits on someone like Powergirl would be part of the female power fantasy. I use Powergirl because Starfire might just be to silly.
Also Jason Todd’s battle ready penis right there in the picture! Artist sneaking it in or have they stopped making all the men ken dolls?
I can certainly buy that a power girl type outfit could be part of a power fantasy. Imma be honest, I still dream about being able to pull off the “Roy Harper” look. I mean fucking look at him. I don’t think there’s a single part of me that doesn’t wish I looked like that.
Starfire’s current outfit does seem to kind of lose sight of where it empowers and where it just demeans. Her outfit is like something a terrible sorority might force you to wear during an initiation ritual.
I got no fucking idea what’s going on with Jason’s wang, but I’m assuming that once we open up the cover it’s not gonna be clearly outlined in every panel so I’m going with the “Trick of the light” theory. Just a few unfortunately placed wrinkles. Did some artist get a chuckle out of that? Maybe. I don’t know how that works. Certainly could’ve been intentional I guess.
Emma Frost dresses in about that and I know more then a few women who really like her and would dress up as her for conventions.
As for unfortunately placed wrinkles…. There is absolutely zero chance of it being anything else — not a fold in his tights, not a seam, not a trick of the light. It’s just Jason Todd’s dick. http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/07/yet_another_crisis_on_infinite_reboots_trifecta.php#Comments
I don’t see a knee or how that pose would work in the picture. I could see harness or something but after 4!!! covers with amusingly placed phallic objects…
I have seen all of these images you’ve linked. You’re not showing me anything new.
But when you zoom in on his “crotch”, the top tip of what is his knee eclipses the bottom boundary of his belt. The belt is being partially (very partially) obscured by his lifted leg. Plus the thing you think is a “penis” is just the contour lines that run up and down his pantlegs, as seen on the previous cover.
It’s not a dick. It’s funny to say it’s his dick, but it’s not really.
Really, now, which is the more likely? That an artist drew and DC approved a big fucking dick on their cover or it’s a trick of light? Also, that this artist can’t draw dicks, ‘cuz wow, that is an oddly shaped dick. They usually don’t look like exclamation marks, and they usually don’t grow out of inside of one’s thigh. Let it go, Indiana.
would you believe that I have a much bigger problem with Starfire’s characterization than her outfit? I don’t CARE if she’s a habitual nudist because of the nature of her power, that doesn’t mean she’s supposed to act like a WHORE!
Starfire’s outfit makes me feel like forcing everybody who works at D.C. Comics to read HArk! A VAgrant’s Strong Female Characters.
And then kick them in the face anyway.
Can you do me a favor and throw in her version of Lois Lane?
The sad thing is, I had this conversation elsewhere, and was told, “but Starfire needs to be naked! It’s a crucial part of her character, so it makes her deep!” And then I linked to the comic.
it didn’t help.
Being naked makes you deep? It’s just as ridiculous as being emo makes you deep.
P.S: I’m not bashing emos or anything.
Emos are an acceptable target to make fun of, as acceptable as rich white guys.
So, it’s OK then?
Yup! People who only wear and listen to emo are OK, its the actual wrist-slitting emos who need to stop indulging their ‘woe is me’ mentality.
That’s why it’s AOK to verbally bash Emos.
or Gingers
Please do, it’s helpful when idiots broadcast their mental defect. Although something tells me you wear a slightly different helmet IRL…
just a note, the wrist slash emos are reffered to as crazy emos, and there is nothing wrong with bieng a ginger.
But you died… And the sads!
See, she comes from a planet with no naked taboo. In her culture, it’s perfectly fine to go commando. She was a pretty good romantic foil for the (at the time) stick-up-his-ass repressed Dick Grayson.
But having no naked shame doesn’t mean you want to wear stuff that looks ridiculous and is uncomfortable.
Exactly. The problem isn’t the skin showing, the problem is that the outfit is ridiculous. It wouldn’t physically work, especially on a girl built like Starfire.
Did they hire Rob Liefeld to create their new look or something?
I thought Jim Lee was in charge of all the redesigns.
If so, you’re close. And I like Jim Lee. XD
The this that Jim Lee is a good ARTIST, but he’s not a good CREATOR. Having him be the one who designs the new costumes is a terrible idea – he may be able to draw costumes so they look awesome, he’s not good at creating original, iconic looks – especially not for an entire universe.
Jim Lee’s good, but he’s still stuck in the 90s. Also, he likes to design women he can masturbate to.
Two words: Heroes Reborn.
Jim Lee did indeed do all the redesigns. Apparently, he thinks Nehru-jacket collars are what all the kids are wearing these days, and that Superman needs visible seams and knee-pads.
Totally agree. if you need someone design a new costume for you, talk to guys like David Finch or Ethan van Scivier.
I can tell at a glance that Liefeld didn’t do it. Not only does it not have enough pockets for him, but it looks like it doesn’t have any pockets at all!
That may be because there isn’t enough covered flesh to fit even one, but good old Rob would make room for ‘em =P.
That’s the thing I find so absurd at most of the 3D sites, where you can see hundreds of images of near naked women wearing utterly impractical outfits as they bludgeon dragons and trolls. “Oh, I’m showing them as empowered!” No, you’re showing them as Barbie had she been designed by Frazetta. “I’m not making them into sexual objects!” No, you’re making them into sexual pictures.
God knows, I’m no prude, but when dealing with these people, you can smell the desperation from miles away.
But she’s not naked.
Naked would actually be less overtly sexual than this. This is like Donald Duck walking out of the shower with a towel.
Is it still supposed to be armor?
I was first exposed to Starfire in the Teen Titans cartoon, and I thought her costume was a little skimpy but not too bad.
Then I read a comic with her for the first time and I realized how much her costume was improved for the cartoon.
Then I read a comic where somebody referred to her costume as “armor” and then I had to go pick up the book from where it landed on the other side of the room.
There’s a difference between not being ashamed of your naked body and being a sex object.
For all the criticisms fans of the comic had of the animated Teen Titans series, at least it put Kory in a sensible outfit.
When the cartoon has more sensible costume designs than the series, something’s wrong.
Many of editorial already read Beaton’s work.
I doubt they’d catch the irony.
I don’t understand DC trying to appeal to the demographic they *already appeal to*. Okay, yes, getting a few more of them, sure, but there has to be a way to diversify a bit more, or they’re going to be in this same damn position in 10-15 years.
But isn’t the comic market saturated with almost naked babes already?
Yes, but so few of them have orange skin.
I mean, who else are the cast of Jersey Shore supposed to get off to?
They can READ???
Look at the picture of Starfire up there and tell me that literacy is a quality required of the target consumer.
Point taken.
Years ago getting the heroine to wear a lot less used to be awesome, now it is more likely to trigger my ‘crapdar’.
My dad used to say that if you wear less, you’d rather not wearing anything at all.
While that sounds true enough, I was thinking more of the lines of the situation where they increase the fanservice at the cost of storytelling and characterisation.
You’re right. It’s that same thing that made me lose interest with current anime. Pointless fanservice for those weirdos that need to fap at something.
There is still worthwhile anime been made, but you have to sift through a great deal of drek to find it.
Well, I know it’s kinda late but I do find Shin Mazinger and Gurren Lagann pretty impressive. It’s nice seeing a full Super Robots series than OVA’s for a change.
Just another instance of Sturgeon’s Law in effect I suppose. The goal in a season is to have one good show, not twenty five. That’s not how it works. Not everyone is producing awesome at the same time. We get a great show maybe annually.
I wasn’t following along with anime on a season by season basis as it happened in Japan back in the nineties so despite the wealth of gems in that decade I retain skepticism that the actual ratio of quality items of worth to crap was any better back then. I also have to acknowledge that the nostalgia glasses makes the comparison a little unfair.
Off the top of my head I can name two that stood out last season but I can also see at least three that are absolute crap this season based on the first episodes.
My Top two which most likely will be the top two for the year?
Fractale, Gosick
Deadman wonderland is still on my “to be determined” list and there are a few new ones that may be on the “worth the time” list.
Personally I have found that if you can look *past* the fanservice, there’s actually decent characters and/or story within a lot of fanservicey anime. For example Divergence Eve has a very serious and philosophical story – if you can see it through all the sympathetic wincing you’ll be doing over the women characters’ back pain.
If you restrict yourself to anime that has *no* fanservice…well, at least it won’t take you long to watch it all.
Well, Japan had that Ganguro fad, but it’s been over for years now.
Media: Bringing Yesterday’s fads to Today’s audiences.
That explains a lot of horrible remixes of old songs and horrible remakes of classic movies.
They need to put a “bump” in her hair first.
DC’s still trying to appeal to the single female!
That’s why Jason Todd has a visible boner on the cover!
….at least, I think they’re assuming that women are interested in that.
Heck – they’re even going RAHRAHGIRLPOWER by making Harley dress like a skank and uncrippling a strong female character who’d become a fairly empowering, well-rounded and liked character!
….what?
Oh noes! Weinergate in the funnypages!
Hey that’s the cover that shows off Jason’s junk in detail, right? Strange that that didn’t get a mention.
Oh come now, we all know that’s what 4chan is for.
Whenever I see something like this, I always imagine asking the hypothetical audience “You guys are aware of a wonderful invention called pornography, right?”
Who needs boring old porn when there is plenty of hentai out there in the internets.
I hear Zone makes some very convincing Teen Titan vids :p
Yes I seen those Flash videos. (Appropriate name that’s for sure)
I love DC Comics, I really do, and I look forward to seeing if this reboot thing is any good.
But if their only goal is appealing to new readers, I worry. You got to figure that along with new readers they are going to lose a few old ones because “They changed it, now it sucks!”, even if the new books are all well done.
DC has to know about these guys, right? I mean, some of them are now their editors (“Barry and Hal have to return! Silver Age was the best!”). The hope has got to be that they recruit more people than they alienate.
Which is worrisome because…well…have you heard anyone talking about the upcoming reboot that wasn’t already a comic book reader? Okay, there has been SOME media coverage, but this whole thing isn’t even going to be a blip on the radar for most people.
I’m afraid that even if they do this well, they’ll alienate a lot of their old readers while their prospective new readers won’t even notice or care.
I doubt they’ll lose many readers. If anything, all the #1s will give them a month or two sales boost. Then it’s back to normal.
Now, it’s the DIGITAL RELEASE stuff that I find interesting. I want to see how that goes. It’s way more promising than any paradigm shift.
Don’t tell me that there are still people who waste money buying more than one copy of a particular comic in the vain hope that it will be worth something someday?
Didn’t the 1990s teach them anything?
Percieved collectibility is only one reason #1 issues sell better. Another is that it creates the illusion of a fresh start. For new or casual readers issues in the single digit numbers seem less intimidating than, say, #765.
It’s actually exactly this reason why multiple covers were reserved for #2 issues, at least at Marvel, for a while during the late 1990s/early 2000s, to offset the readers that dropped the series after the first issue.
Agreed. I’ve always felt digital comics are the future and it’s great to see DC finally embracing it. I honestly don’t think it’ll hurt shops as much as people think it will.
I’ve never been an avid reader of modern day comics, but I’m hoping to use this as a jumping in point. That’s kind of close. I mean, I already had an interest in the product so it’s not quite what you’re asking about but I’ve never kept up with the publications and I’m gonna be looking into how to subscribe to Nightwing and a couple others.
Though admittedly their website doesn’t seem to have an option to get it delivered to my house and I’m not gonna commit to making the trip to one of the comic shops every month so it’s possible nothing will come of that. I’d be willing to do their digital thing but it’s unwieldy as all fuck.
I don’t know much about comics but I DO know that trying to over appeal to a new audience and just assume your old audience will follow can have dire consequences. Basically I am referring to “Wizards of the Coast” here who have decided that people who always played pen and paper RPGs will follow them like sheep anywhere (an odd thought to my mind) and that they need to focus all their energy on getting people who don’t play interested. This is mostly alienating old players and the fact that it still has the D&D label is causing non gamers to shrug it off and pass on by.
If you do it right then you don’t need the old audience. Look at Nintendo. They shed their old fanbase like a snake with the Wii but it doesn’t matter because their new fanbase is bigger and better than ever. Pretty sure it’s not the first time they’ve done that either.
If DC actually successfully grabbed their demographic it wouldn’t matter how many of the older dwindling readers they lost. You try and grab a new demo because the old wasn’t working out anyway.
Of course I’m not saying that’s gonna happen. There’s optimistic and then there’s blatant refusal to acknowledge the situation. Do it right is a really important component of this. First step in claiming a new demographic properly is to make sure this new demographic isn’t your old demographic. Cannot emphasize how vital that is enough.
Well, in Nintendo’s case they’d already inadvertantly shed a lot of those old fans with the N64 and Gamecube.
They’ve made enough of a habit of it that I’m not at all convinced it’s unintentional. They’ve been right in there with the young people since the eighties. That’s not madness, that’s design.
If they “shed their old fanbase like a snake,” then who was buying Super Smash Bros and New Super Mario Bros?
Well marketings idea with the DnD 4th edition was to push product – in this case the product was miniatures in “surprise box?” and lots of addendum’s to the core books – The Players Handbook has how many volumes now?
Three, I believe. Pretty few compared to 3/3.5 I feel.
Then again, I was never a big fan of 3.5.
3.5 had two.
At this point, I’m half convinced they’re just making it for themselves – Johns, Didio, Lee, Morrison – and if anyone else likes it, great. (But why wouldn’t everyone like it? It’s AWESOME!!)
Nakeder than ever? Nakeder than the times she’s actually naked? Come on.
I hate the DC reboot thing. It seems so ridiculous in many ways. Perhaps some good will come of it, but I mainly see the whole thing being re-rebooted in a few years…
a lot of the new costumes are just… horrible.
That cover…YIKES! Don’t think I’d even want to touch that if I saw it in a comic shop. That belongs in the…Adult section with the Playboys. Seriously, DC ought to just do a Starfire pictorial in Playboy. If Marge Simpson did one Kory can do one.
I’ still scratching my head about DC’s insane marketing plan. With the average comic reader being 35-46, these days, DC’s idea of younger readers is going for 18-24. A demographic that is outgrowing comics and going into novels.
Targeting this audience will have them in the exact same position they’re in now in two years or less. This marketing plan makes so much more sense than trying to developing content for those 7-16 year olds who would actually buy comics for the next 10-15 years.
And I won’t get into how there won’t be any comics in places kids actually go like er…supermarkets and grocery stores. Yeah, e-comics will be the next big thing. Like the Coleco Adam. I love the comic book industry. Do the exact same things for 20 years and expect a different result. Where’s Jim Shooter When you need him?
The convinience store I work at has comics! Though our chain is the only convinience store chain in the country with ‘em. We got a deal going.
Also saw some back issues being sold at a Zellers.
Also isn’t doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results a sign of madness? Marvel has a pretty decent kids line but the ‘REAL’ comic book fans look down upon it and won’t get it for their own kids because ‘it’s not the comics I used to read’ or some crap like that. There was a whole rant about the subject once. I actually prefer the kids line…less bullshit.
Really? I’ve heard nothing but good things from comic readers about the Marvel Adventures line.
Wait, Ethan’s gay?
Well, I NEVER would’ve realized that.
I didn’t realize he was gay in this universe.
Don’t be ridiculous of course he’s not gay. That’s just his pickup tactic. Shame DiDio can’t pick up on flirtation.
Hahaha, I know it’s unrelated, but it’s very funny you didn’t make a jab at beast machines.
Eh, for a show that Dan Didio reportedly asked not be any ties to previous canon, there sure were a buttload of ties to previous canon. I feel that the alleged horror that he held over the series is overstated.
Beast Machines’ problem was the crunched time that it took to make the show, not any of the content.
Beast Machines’ problem was the crunched time that it took to make the show, not any of the content.
…
David, have you been drinking?
I liked Beast Machines. I just don’t like a lot of the repetitive filler that most of Season 1 was.
So you liked the premise and setting, you just didn’t like… the content?
Yeah, way to much filler in that season, and I liked the ties to previous canon. But in the end, this show deviated so much from the original concept of Transformers that it didn’t feel like a Transformers show at all. I hate this show as part of Transformers, but I did find it decent and deep when all ties to the previous series are severed from my mind. Oh, and all Beast Machine toys sucked.
Funny thing, I like the rest of the Transformers franchises, even Energon (awesome toys, lame show) and Robots in Disguise because it feels like a splash of fresh water in the face when compared to some depressingly bad shows. TRUKK NOT MUNKY and RUINED FOREVER doesn’t work with me, but I don’t like this show in particular.
I do like homages in other series though, like Animated Strika (obviously ignoring what Colombians did to her).
I’m not sure how it deviated much from the “original concept of Transformers” any more than Beast Wars did. It was good guy transforming robots fighting bad guy transforming robots, and as a bonus, it was on Cybertron without any humans, just like how everyone always wants things.
(The toys were great.)
CURSE YOUR RATIONAL LOGIC!
Willingness to be seen reading it on public transport is a subtle but important factor in my weekly comic-buying decison.
I can’t say the same. I can’t read in a moving vehicle or I get motion sickness.
That’s why comics in novel form are becoming more popular, so you can have your comics without strangers giving off that ‘you are a loser’ vibe at you.
I got this Batman/Superman novel called “Enemies & Allies” set during the cold war, its pretty cool. I’m wondering if there is more in that line.
Look up “Elseworlds”. There have been a few that are pretty well regarded, like “Superman: Red Son” (What if baby Kal-El landed in Russia?), “JLA: The Nail” (What if the Kents got a flat tire and never found Kal-El, leaving him to be raised by the Amish?…or something), and “Gotham By Gaslight” (Victorian-era Batman).
Really, of all the things to Lampoon about DC’s nu52, you pic the Red Hood title? That’s one of the most interesting looking titles in their new line-up, and Starfire’s costume is in-line with her past costume incarnations anyway. However you may feel about her costumes, there’s nothing really “new” about it.
They are taking Stephaine Brown’s Batgirl-who is the best person every to wear the moniker-and rebooting her book so Barbara can take over once more.
Barbara was fine as Oracle. She doesn’t NEED to be Batgirl again. The DCU needs her as Oracle more than as Batgirl.
Thank you for taking a wonderful but underused character, giving her a chance and making something interesting only to yank it from under her (and her fans) in order to give the same old ‘all new, all different here we go again’ crap and kick all the good Stephanie’s done to the curb because she’s not the ‘newest and trendiest’ thing.
DC is the new Marvel.
This pretty much sums up my feelings. I haven’t followed the Batman comic serial 100% of the time, but I thought that the concept of Oracle was really appealing and interesting — a support character who was fully realized, sympathetic and important despite not punching bad guys in the head.
There’s also the fact that Oracle is easily the most net-savvy character in the DCU (that’s kinda her whole theme –she’s a superhero for the digital era), and they’re getting rid of her just as they’re launching online comics (as opposed to, say, finding some good cyberpunk-inspired writers and giving Oracle her own original series).
I am crossing my fingers and wishing very, very hard that the BatGirl run with Barb back in the cape is some sort of weird prequel thing where they’re going to redo her origins up to Killing Joke, which I believe is still (semi-)canon post-reboot. Also hoping that the implied recruiting of Renee in the latest issues of Birds of Prey continues through because we need more Montoya.
Apparently the story is that she still got paralyzed in the killing joke and was the oracle, but after the reboot she’s just recently gone through physiotherapy and been healed. This is supposed to make her “A whole new Batgirl the likes of which we’ve never seen before” or something to that effect. I guess she’s gonna be smarter, more of a thinker or something.
I’ll have to see it to figure out exactly what their plans are but even if she was the best Batgirl ever it wouldn’t excuse getting rid of the Oracle.
Though I suppose that technically doesn’t negate the possibility of reparalyzation…
What’s frustrating to me is that they’re being rather evasive about the issue of what is in continuity anymore–for instance, did Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown -ever- have the Batgirl mantle? And the things that they’re definitely keeping in continuity appear to be the major crises and such, but those are actually the MOST convoluted pieces of continuity that don’t work without the years and years of stories around them. It’s not like writers don’t occasionally ignore continuity anyway (speaking of Cass…), so one wonders why they need to get rid of it at all.
On the whole the thing has been really annoyingly vague… and it seems to have pissed a lot of people off but that’s the general state of the internet. I suppose I should be happy that we’re getting a new Blue Beetle series, and that they’re finally doing Batwoman (also The Shade, didn’t see that one coming). But it seems kind of cruel to dangle “we’re retconning some stuff out of existence” without even revealing what it is.
I was going to quote the lesser Motels hit of the Eighties by the same title, but there is really no point.
If they want to appeal to the younger readers, they should take some notes from the My Little Pony:FiM such as characterization and so forth.
But I bet if they did, they will come up with all the wrong conclusions and create new definitions of FAIL instead.
Like what they did with Countdown? Or Superboy Prime?
I will have to take your word on those, all my personal info on recent western comics are based on chit-chat I had with people at the comic place I buy my manga from.
Well, I got my info on western comics from the Internet. Western comics are kinda expensive and rare in Malaysia.
They’re expensive in the US too.
In the last 20 years we transitioned from all comics being printed on pulp with inked-and-ziptone to 4-color full-bleed printing of meticulously computer-colored pages designed to resemble painting. This is now the norm.
Because comics with higher production costs sold better, now all comics are produced this way.
(Also they frequently look like crap and are hard to follow. Rich-color is hard to do well, and photorealistic artists often have poor layout skills necessary to convey action– something pretty much ALL classic-style comic artists had to master.)
*sigh*
I find it mindblowing that My Little Pony, a show that only exists to sell super-girly toys to girls under the age of six, spawned a show that appeals to boys and girls from wee young ‘uns all the way to folks in their 20′s, or even older… and DC comics can’t figure out how not to actively drive women away.
It’s like…they don’t even have to court us, not really. They don’t have to make “girl’s titles” (especially because, by implication, that means only girls should be reading that title, and that all other comics are “boy’s titles.”) They just have to Not Horrify Us. It would take so little, really. Just a bit of thought before designing a costume or writing a character. So little.
And yet so much, apparently.
Shoujo manga has a lot of embedded problems with it, but you can’t deny that Japan has figured out how to sell comic books to girls.
As a guy who reads Shoujo, I can tell you the main reason why I like them, the well developed characters.
Well, it’s at a recursive stage at the moment, where (most of the) the creative, independent women that complain about the sexism/gender inequality refuse to become part of that business, meaning that the men who run it can effectively stretch the limits with no opposition. There are plenty of women in webcomics, and a few in print comics, but for the most part, DC and Marvel are white/hispanic guys writing/drawing white guys punching other white guys and poor minorities.
I don’t care what the writer/artist is, I care how it’s done. If you can find me a female writer that has the guts of a Mark Waid, or the talent of a Mark Miller, or an Ivan Reis, or a Jock, or even a Ron Marz, then I will buy that comic before it hits the shelf Wednesday morning.
As everyone knows, becoming a major shaping force in comics/hollywood/any other traditionally “boy’s club” industry is simply a matter of being willing to do it. There certainly aren’t any barriers towards entering, advancing in seniority, or getting your ideas accepted by the publishers, and there certainly is not any resistance to change. And that’s why there are so many nationally acclaimed female film directors selling movies to the public today!
Gail Simone.
I mean, I’m sure you knew that, and I’m sure there are others, but the way you phrased that last bit just sounded like you were implying that there aren’t any women writers with the daring, creativity, and skill of the male writers and that’s just plain not true, even in such an exclusively little boys club as Marvel/DC. Gail Simone. Secret Six. And everything else. But really Secret Six.
But yes, I think most of the women in the talent pool would much rather go ahead and make their own comics because really, who wants to work for years and years and years trying to make it into a company that by its very product repeatedly says that it doesn’t even value you as a customer? Forget that–there’s plenty more comics to be made.
Personally, I thought All New Atom was her most entertaining work before Remender came on and made the book depressing.
I miss that title.
Yeah, the speed at which that title went into the toilet was astounding. It even beat out Blue Beetle in the lets-eliminate-everything-enjoyable-about-this-series race.
Sorry, that wasn’t what I meant to imply at all. I was trying to say (through heavy sarcasm) that there are still heavy barriers towards women being able to succeed in the same numbers as men in the same fields; and that it’s no use to say “well, if women want to see better portrayals of females, then they should just do it themselves, otherwise they have no room to complain!” because it’s not that simple.
I’ve never read a Wonderwoman comic in my life but I think she looks better with pants. It’s not even like they increased the sex factor there. Just made her look sillier.
I’m reserving judgement on antihero Harley Quinn.
Harley’s done good as an antihero before. She’s best as a sort of chaotic neutral-leaning-toward-evil.
I’d say I’m reserving my judgement on her characterization until I read the book, but I flat out refuse to spend my money on a book where Harley Quinn is wearing THAT. They could get Gail Simone to write it and Mark Buckingham to draw it, and I still would not give DC one red cent of my money as long as Harley is in that outfit.
I get that comic gals have a long history of wearing stupid things. But Harley…Harley was one of the most sensibly dressed spandex girls in the DC universe. A simple, elegant costume. It looked nice, it was iconic (if DC really wanted to appeal to new readers of that age group, you’d think they’d keep Harley in the get-up that even the non-comic-readers of my generation could recognize her in). Harley can be pretty sexy, but she’s never really been slutty. Even her tarted up Arkham Asylum outfits were still…elegant, I guess, in that Gothic Lolita way.
Based purely on visuals, no. Harley is one of the DC characters with a HUGE female following, and it’s just a slap in the face to take a character with no history of nearly-nude costume choices (unlike Starfire, who sure likes being naked) and putting her in that on the off chance that it’ll appeal to some horny 20-year-old (I guess DC is also buying into the whole “guys who like comics don’t date real women” idea).
I think the only reason I’m not more upset about her outfit is that I have no faith it will last. It’s like removing the stars and stripes from wonder woman’s outfit. You know full well they’ll be back.
But yeah, Harley had a great outfit and this new shit just doesn’t cut it. I’d go on about all that’s wrong with it but that’s everything. It’s all wrong in every conceivable way. You could not make it more wrong if you put a team together with the sole intent of just making it wrong a la wheatley. There’s nothing they did right with this outfit.
Didio might’ve gotten a better reaction if it was Faz and Lesley at the front desk.
There’s something there for Amber too. If you look closely, you can can clearly see Jason Todd’s very obvious and quite possibly erect, dick.
I was going to say “it’s Jason Todd,” but considering Mike, that might actually work for her. (Though she probably doesn’t want to be caught with that on public transport, either.)
Wait is it Jason Todd or Dick Greyson?
Definitely Jason. Here, take a look.
http://www.comicvine.com/jason-todd/29-6849/red-hood-and-the-outlaws-2-solicit/92-622900/
I hate you, Dan DiDio.
So… Are we gonna talk about Jason Todd’s penis or not?
Cause I approve.
Y’know, DD talking about how they want to bring in new readers while simultaneously flat-out saying that they’re marketing to 18-24-year-old MALES (implied: straight, probably white) would be hilarious, if it weren’t so sad.
Hope it’s not a problem for anyone (and if it is, I don’t care), but I will not only carry that comic cover in public, I will make it into a shirt.
I don’t think I’ve been capable of the kind of shame that would prevent that kind of stuff in a long time. I mean, who exactly am I trying to impress? On the bus no less.
People were already drawing conclusion from me sitting on the bus reading manga, munching on some pocky with fruity Jpop in my mp3 player. Starfire’s hardly gonna hurt my image.
You should paint it on the side of a van instead! One with shag carpet all over the interior!
that’s the kind of shirt i’d wear to work
You do know that you are all defending a character that was inspired by George Perez’s visit to a strip club, right? (Yup–true story.)
As for all the anti-90′s talk, it might interest you to know that Starfire actually wore her least revealing outfit in THE TITANS title (which focused on the Wolfman/Perez Titans who are all in their 20′s at that point) that started in the late 90′s. The outfit sported no cleavage and she had PANTS.
How fitting, I just made a comment about how badly she is dressed in a conversation about Double Standards. Now she is dressed even worse.
i love yet another skimpy starfire outfit, but what i really love you you neglected the fact that Jason Todd’s penis is clearly visible on the top half of the picture through the tights… as mentioned …, too bad this isn’t the only … to be honest it is kinda scary
I believe it’s traditional to keep such material in a brown paper bag when carrying it in public.
I wouldn’t be embarassed to read that on the bus. Well, something like that anyway. You wouldn’t catch me reading that, not because of embarrasment but because I just don’t want to read that comic.
I really don’t get embarrased anymore. Not over something as dumb as comic books.
I notice that her outfit is at least passable in the Teen Titans animated series. Not like there’s no exposed skin. She’s got a bare midriff, a little bit of something something between her skirt and her far past thigh high boots, and she’s predominantly sleeveless but overall it seems tasteful.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/Starfireoutfit2.png?t=1310726986
Perhaps that could be an attitude worth investigating the merits of? Designing outfits as such that they would not cause a parent to faint. I’m not saying we gotta cover up our women like nuns or anything (though that kind of seems to be what we do to our men), but maybe not be shockingly offensive either. Despite what some would claim sex appeal isn’t inversely proportionate to the amount of cloths worn so there’s plenty of room to appeal to those who want it while still maintaining a certain amount of tastefulness.
Or at the very least perhaps we could consider having clothes that could actually be worn. I can’t help but notice that starfire’s breast coverings aren’t actually affixed to her in any way. I mean, it’s nice that she’s got a telekinetic hiding behind a bush somewhere keeping that purple… I don’t know what that is. Can’t be fabric. Anyway that someone’s behind the scenes keeping that pressed up against her with his mind powers, but perhaps a simple strap of some form would be more practical. We could extend that garment all 360 degrees around her person that it might support itself. Maybe design the garment to actually support her ample bosom as well. The current outfit would have them bouncing and swaying violently and painfully throughout any combat which seems so terribly counterproductive for a member of such a proud warrior race. Heck, she could plausibly bap herself in the face with one of those during the extreme movements of the battlefield. That’s no good at all, though I suppose that might not be an issue if said telekinetic is also keeping her breasts level and restricting their movement, but there are still so many better ways to do that. How badly must one desire to have barely concealed nipples in order to solicit such services from some poor metahuman who surely must have better things to do.
Her shoulder dealies seem like they would actually restrict her movement remarkably, which is odd since it’s entirely the opposite problem of the rest of the outfit. Perhaps trade that in for a more malleable material and connect it down to her breast covering apparatus that it might stay in place and continue to protect while still allowing for a full range of movement. If the breast apparatus has been adjusted to the above specifications then that would leave us with a sleeveless sports shirt of some form, leaving her entire midriff bare and allowing for a chest window if she desires but being a functional garment suitable for a woman who calls the battlefield home and cares not for issues of modesty.
I mean, that’s how I’d handle it anyway. We’d no longer have an image that would have parents covering their children’s eyes to shield them from profanity, but we’d also maintain an outfit that would neither restrict the movement nor cause undo pain, and which could be worn without deliberate bypass of the laws of gravity, but which also enhances the sex appeal even further beyond what the current outfit does.
So there goes the rumors about all the female characters having to wear pants.
I have a question wasn’t Didio responsible for Beast Machines?
There are lots of people responsible for Beast Machines.
Another summer, another DC reboot. This doesn’t really effect me since the only DC comic I actively read was Red Robin. Pretty sure they’re cancelling that after the reboot too. It is now my hope that 26 years from now, one of those 18-35 readers that they alienated with this Crisis on Infinite Earths Redeux will advance to DC Editor In Chief and then bring things back to where they were before Barry Allen-point…
But then again I am still waiting on that 90s revival…
I am quite frankly ashamed and appalled at you Willis, for failing to in any way take into account the vitally important fact that Jason Todd’s Penis can be seen straining through his tights on that cover.
Also Ethan and Amber’s failure to violently assault Didio because of his involvement in the cancellation of ReBoot, but mostly the Todd Wang thing.
Didio hate is too mainstream, man. We’re underground here!
We got mad hipster rep down here!
The Kids Show ‘Oh My Gosh” joint cry killed it for me.
BTW what promo is that from?
Well, I found out the owner of my comic shop was going to be meeting with DiDio and some other DC honchos, so I made up an Excel spreadsheet showing my actual orders for May and August side-by-side with my projected September order based on the solicitation info that had been released the previous week. I went from 38 books in May, adding up to over $130, to 17 in September adding up to $52.
Basically, I nixed books based on creative teams: Can Francis Manapul write? Has he ever? No Flash #1 for me, thanks. Who’s Kyle Higgins? Oh, he wrote that mini I didn’t buy? Tony Daniel writing Hawkman? Pass. Rob Liefeld drawing Hawk and Dove? Does it look like the 1988 mini (his best work)? Nope, same crap he’s been doing for 20 years. Pass.
I caved on one additional book, so my September DC order was 18 items, less than half what I ordered for May or August.
I liked the artwork in the Hawk and Dove mini too! I’ve since come to the conclusion that it was probably actually Karl Kesel’s inking I liked so much.
Well, Starfire’s been running around half-naked pretty much since she first showed up in the 80s, so nothing new there. Still think one of the best SP strips was her bit with Grayson (“I no longer give you ‘The Boner’?”
)
The artist on this is Kenneth Rocafort, and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read by him. Good to see he’s equal opportunity – boobs AND units – when he’s working on covers.
I’ll pick this up AND read it on the bus. Hell, I used to have to review Yaoi books and I’d take them on the bus. Why would I hand-wring and fret about an unexposed tit?
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/LargeNewTeenTitansv102-00fc.jpg?t=1310746279
There’s half naked and then there’s blatantly nonfunctional gravity defying garments that cover less than a censorship bar would.
I don’t actually know how long she’s been in the second category. Just throwing in a comparison with her early works.
I think most recently she’s been seen wearing actual pants and a midriff-baring but cleavage-covering top.
I sincerely hope you all that have a problem with this had a problem with Emma Frosts costume change a few years back. I’d also like to note that I’ve seen the cover for this comic more than a few times and until I saw it detailed in this strip I had no idea her costume had changed at all. So yea…Don’t think it’s all that huge of a deal
I don’t really do a whole lot of Marvel. Her outfit seemed alright in Wolverine and the X-Men. What’s she look like now?
I don’t think Emma ever showed up in my Ultimate Spider-Man, which is the only Marvel book I ever read. (ha ha past tense!)
Wait. I also read Age of the Sentry.
I don’t think she was in that, either.
You mean the one where Emma’s trashy clothing was made trashy in a slightly different way? Her “X” costumes? They pretty much reverted that a while back. Now she just looks like a regular hooker.
And yes, it’s been noted; see the very first issue of Whedon’s run. Also, Emma has some serious issues.
Does “get her Jason and Roy on” mean “wants Jason and Roy to get it on”?
0.0
Okay.
I might read that.
(I would totally read that.)
Just because Starfire’s been walking around for decades without much clothing… or any clothing… doesn’t mean you have to feel shame about reading those comics.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my bunk. (grabs handcloth. why waste kleenex?)
Err…that top… Now, I am not a woman, but wouldn’t that be uncomfortable, to have to depend on the nipple area to keep from popping out of your top while all the rest of the chest area would jiggle about while getting hit or running or something?
Also, this thing about Jason Todd’s penis, there is not a properly magnified image of the cover for me to determine if he is really wearing tights (in which case, penis!), or just cliché overly skin-tight leather pants that just have a seam casting some shadow.
Everything else I would want to say in response to what I’ve heard about this reboot has already been said. I don’t even really read a lot of paper comics and I know that Oracle was a good character how she was.
I’m just trying to figure out HOW that bra stays on Starfire.
Crazy Glue and double sided duct tape.
Well that sounds like it would be painful to remove at the end of the day. I’m thinking that her breasts have no physical sensation either from years of misuse or just because tamaranian physiology is like that. It would also explain a lot else about her set up there.
This tells me that there’s only one place this can go from here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFa0K06D2-o
Every time I turn around, they rejustify my decision to give up comics.
Yes, that almost perfectly sums up my feelings about Dan Didio and DC comics in general over the last ten or so years. Dan Didio specializes in the recurring and presentation and slow destruction of hope. And not in an artistic way.
Just : “Hey guess what? It’s going to get good again! oh…noooo.waaaaaaiiiit…iiiitt’ss ssssttilllll ccrrrraaaaapp. LOL.”
Dan Didio = YOINK
And I started reading comics again in the last ten years (I think I first stopped first around 1991 or so?) and then stopped again in 2008. I sort of keep track of what’s happening in comics mostly because it makes me laugh or shake my head.
If dan didio wasn’t like a totally hot daddy bear I’d have walked away at identity crisis, but that man…..
And your version if him….
mfw Starfire has the healthiest body attitude of anyone.
Starfire was created as a naive, teen aged, former “slave,” space stripper/warrior, with rocket hair but no pupils character by a dude in is forties for the new teen titans in an effort to get some of that sweet ‘Oh wow! the X-men are blowing up right now!’ money. There’s not a lot of brilliance to treasure there. She’s essentially more of a mid life crisis wet dream than a character.
In my opinion the best thing that ever happened to her was the cartoon Network Teen Titans show redesign that dialed the space stripper stuff down and just made her a slightly whacky but fairly normal normal teen aged girl who just happened to have super powers and be from space.
Agreement!
She could’ve been great if they’d just had more of this
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/LargeNewTeenTitansv102-24.jpg?t=1310780834
and less of this
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/LargeNewTeenTitansv102-09.jpg?t=1310780835
They had her do the kiss-language thing, what, once or twice in five whole seasons? And I seemed to recall Robin being noticeably discomfited by this strange hot girl kissing him.
Talking about the comics here. She was great in the cartoon.
After that initial moment in which she even admits that she didn’t have to get the language that way as any physical contact would do, but it was just “More fun that way” she went on to have a lot of these types of moments
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/NewTeenTitans008-21.jpg?t=1310825508
while exploring an keen interest in earth sexuality and in Robin in particular.
Starfire was nothing but awesome for every moment of the animated series. I have no criticisms for animated starfire.
This is the book I’m looking forward to the most, admittedly its not as cool as say Jason Todd joining the Suicide Squad but him being the leader of his own comic book team is pretty coool.
I just hope he will be done right, Tony Daniel did awful awful things to the character that weren’t helped by Grant Morrison.
Oh man, if Jason Todd joined the Suicide Squad and had to take orders from Amanda Waller, that would be the best book ever. I’d love to see those two butt heads.
What is this, FOX NEWS? Starfire is the exception to DC’s new rule. Look at all the other DC covers and costume redesigns. All the girls get pants, even Zatana!!! With the exception of Starfire DC is actually doing the opposite of what you guys are all complaining about. Yet you guys are taking this one cover and acting like it represents the entire DC line.
On the flip side the company wide dress code police isn’t necessarily a good thing. They are actually going over board with with it. (see Zatana)
Harley Quinn doesn’t get pants. And Wonder Woman lost hers.
But that’s not really the issue. Whether somebody’s being drawn as an embarrassing objectification does not depend on whether they’re wearing pants. It can help! But it’s merely a symptom of a problem, not the actual disease.
I’d like to point out that very few people complain about the fishnets of Zee, in my experience. Especially since actual female magicians, like Misty Lee, dress like that.
I’ve always thought Zatanna had one of the best superhero costumes in comics. Well, used to. (It’ll be back. Paul Dini will strangle one hostage every hour until it is so.)
So I’m not the only one who liked her costume? That’s good to hear.
Then agien, I kinda have a thing for fishnets, so who knows?
Don’t get me wrong, I have a loooot of problems with the reboot. This seems to be the one area that DC Comics is starting to make an active effort to improve on. I have a lot of the new covers in these images. Those look like pants on WW to me on the cover of both her book and the new Justice League.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ProzacMan/PP56_Banner_02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/ProzacMan/PP57_Banner_04.jpg
If your referring to DC properties in general like the now dead Wonder Woman TV show… Star Spangled Panties were hardly the problem with that mess. Your dealing with WB executives and not DC Comics editors. Ultimately DC is making an effort to cut down on the fan service and over sexualising of characters with the reboot. I rip of Didio all the time, but other than Starfire DC Comics is at least attempting to do the opposite of what you and a lot of people in the comments are accusing them of.
This reminds me of when the movie Chasing Amy came out and GLAD massively protested the movie with out having seen it. Due to the line in the trailer “All a lesbian needs is some good deep dick” they started attacking the movie before they knew what the movie was really about without all the evidence. Chasing Amy may seem quaint by today’s standards, but for the time it was revolutionary. I would credit it with deprogramming a lot of a generation that got most of their information about gays from Sam Kinison and pre Safe For Work Eddie Murphy.
DC isn’t there yet, but they are starting to make an effort. And it’s not like any of us guys are ever going to have Hal Jordon’s abs.
http://blog.newsarama.com/2011/07/13/so-wonder-woman-might-not-have-pants-in-dcnu/ <–Wonder Woman lost her pants. She had them, but now she doesn’t. They were edited out. Which is fine. It doesn’t suddenly make her solely a sexual object. That depends on how she’s drawn and written.
And, no, what comics often does with female characters has nothing to do with how ripped dudes are in comics. The balance for women being treated as disposable sex props in comics is not that guys get to have great abs. That is not an equal trade.
Ok I missed that bit of WW news, but “Disposable Sex Props”? Almost all of 90′s comics sure, but I’m really not seeing it in the DC reboot other than this one cover for Red Hood and the Outlaws. Bad costume design yes and I don’t think the book will last more than 12 issues. I think every one is focused on this one bad cover that’s not really representative of the entire line.
I disagree. Even trade or not is 1.) besides the point and 2.) debatable as society expects different things from its sex objects depending on their gender/sex. A man doesn’t sell himself as sexy in the same way that a lady does. You can argue about which side has more dignity but there is no dignity perceived once you put a foot wrong. The individual is not valued as much as the surface and deviation from surface specs is cause for being rapidly dismissed from attention or even mocked and abused.
Romance novels are pretty porny and warped and comics borrow just as much from them as they do glamour/body-building magazine photos.
People love to bitch and then make their bitching exclusive but it’s pretty apparent that Devin Grayson WAS trying to titillate slash fans any chance she got. That was an attempt to bring in female readers and make super-hero comics multi-faceted and more grown up. And trying to make comics more complex and grown up is in my opinion what makes them so prone to being REALLY stupid and kind of offensive. Not that I’m always upset when I’m offended but there does come a point where you have to ask all the super hero comics editors, writers, and illustrators what they are reacting to anymore since the thing they wanted to subvert and change (all ages comics, the code, boy-scout superhero ” good clean fun”jingoism) is now practically extinct expect on television. Now, it’s practically all stunts, bad characterization, shock attempts, and puerile, bellicose, snarky, tacky humor trying to one up the last guy on the book. That’s the new status quo.
The rule for males and females is that real people are ugly and boring (Etta Candy lol!)and “comics people” generally don’t want to buy super-hero comics about them.
That’s why puny Bruce Banner is often drawn ripped like a 285 lb. boxer when they find him in the desert in his ripped shorts and if they don’t do it like that then illustrators are generally told that they are bad at art.
I love hearing how comics don’t respect women and mess up writing females, but they don’t much respect men either and they mess up writing males. Superhero comics don’t like humans period. And NOW they don’t even like superhumans much and so we now have a preponderance of antiheroes (many of whom are not labeled as such) and increasingly sad attempts at super-powered noir. And you can’t have noir without hopelessness and a coat of sleaze that can never go away without changing the genre.
To put it another way, too many superhero books these days try to be sexy, shocking, violent cable cop dramas with super powers and robots.
No, most guys won’t be as ripped as Hal Jordan, but then, Hal Jordan is rarely posed spread eagle or in whatever super sexy pose almost ever female hero gets put into. That’s a big problem people have with the big two: Male characters get IDEALIZED, but female characters get SEXUALIZED.
Everything exaggerated in the male characters tends to emphasis their power, their strength, their manliness. With female character, you still get that sometimes, but you get oodles of emphasis on their sexiness. One of the reasons Secret Six had such a large female following was that at least Catman and Deadshot were used for fanservice as often as Scandal and Jeannette. But mostly, no, it’s a pretty uneven representation. Women are sexy, men are powerful. Awkward.
The comparison to the trailer isn’t exactly accurate. Chasing Amy was Smith’s, what, second movie? Third? Either way, most of the public hadn’t seen much of his work, and what we had seen gave no indication that he actually held such unfortunate views. Sadly, female characters being put in utterly ricockulous get-ups for the sake of being “sexy” is par for the course in DC (and Marvel) comics. It happens a lot, and it’s something that needs to stop happening. A character can be dressed in a sexy costume and look sexy without also looking like a pole dancer at a cheap strip club.
Super sexy for male is not super sexy for female. He IS Drawn coming out of the shower though or gritting his teeth and sweating next to other male heroes. It’s still a form of tame, structured, ritualized, role-enforced smut. It is still prurient and intended to be attractive because of it. If he did do a spread legged ass in the air pose it would NOT pass as sexy or attractive for most of the audience. They would think it was trying to be funny. Instead they have him put on douche-bag sun glasses and climb in a jet with his pressure suit not done up. Then when the plane gets in trouble he’ll probably take his stupid helmet off or something. And it has nothing to with actual male behavior, it’s MALE(TM) behavior. It’s still a sexual display that has nothing to do with the plot but is just trying to put him over as sexy and powerful and not a pot bellied hairy balding guy who drives a used Honda and wears flipflops all the time.
Powerful is sexy and comic book men generally can’t be sexy without the illusion of it. Except in comics power is superficial and so you see people portrayed as powerful and decisive who if you look at their actual actions are actually weak willed, flighty, easily bored, and highly impulsive. In short they are wrecks dressed up as powerful.
To put it another way, Romita’s idea of Spider-Man replaced Ditko’s awfully quickly.
Maybe if we had a Power Man who had a big “cock window” on the crotch of his costume, I’d believe you. Or if all the dudes stood around with their hips swayed all the time. But they don’t. No, dudes get to stand upright and powerful, and girls get to arch their back so we can see their tits more. Guys in comics are rarely sexualized, other than in the context of their sexual power over women.
Laura, above you, is right, and you are wrong. You’re trying to compare two incredibly unequal things.
He’s no Powerman, but hide your word balloon in panel three and zoom in on Red Hood’s crotch. Not too much or you’ll get poked in the eye.
…yeah, the reason I don’t mention that is because it’s obviously a trick of shadow. It’s not actually his damn penis. It sooooooooo doesn’t count.
This made me think of the humorous nature of the comparison between these two posts.
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/7555171618/boobtober
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/07/dc_is_more_penis-y_than_i_remember.php
Each kind of covers one end, but the guys get phallic imagery placed on and around them. The women don’t have mammarian imagery associated with them. They have the actual item in a far greater state of exposure than is really classy.
You show me a well dressed starfire standing in front of a backdrop of two giant cannonballs just about to collide and I’ll be looking at the situation we seem to have with the men.
I don’t read a lot of the modern stuff, but have the guys started getting inwardly pointed crotch mounted cameras yet? I always find that one funny for the sheer lack of subtlety or discretion. I’d love to see the cinematography class where they cover the applications of that particular camera angle.
DC is trying to appeal to the Males 18-35 demographic? Isn’t ALREADY THEIR MAIN DEMOGRAPHIC? If they want to appeal to… people that already find them appealing, they might want to stop changing things at every opportunity.
Seriously. For quite a few years now, at least as far as I can tell, the pattern in comics writing has been thus: A new writer comes along, changes things back to the way the comic was when they were a fan, and then a new writer comes along and changes it back to when THEY were a fan, repeat ad infinitum. There is no comic anymore, just a writer obsessively wanking over how THIS version is the TRUE version of the character.
BTW, is Bruce Wayne back yet?
Yes, batman has returned. He then founded the legion of Batmen which I guess will be seeing an overhaul after the reboot.
The only demo DC is pandering to is those people who haven’t already given up and left over the last 20 years for whatever reason(either they like it the way it is, or they hope it will get better).
And it doesn’t really count as demography if they don’t understand demographics or age appropriate content well enough to actually target and REACH different groups of people .
I find it hilarious that the person who redesigned Harley Quinn doesn’t know what a pun is. Harley Quinn is a pun on Harlequin, not Harlot you silly!
Jim Lee did the character designs for the Batman Arkham Asylum game and they were “popular” among people who don’t know what the Dini version of Harely was supposed to look like, so now he’s sticking with it as a”realer” look. Might as well accept it, she’s gonna be a goth/punk thing for a while.
Oh and the whole “Wildstorm” collection of borrowed and intensified ideas is back in the proper Dc universe/multiverse/whatever again. Y’know, where super heroes are all sexually dysfunctional “Bourne agenda” black ops atrocity ninjas/whores with hot cars who kill each other several times a day and ‘bloody mist’ anyone who gets in their way.
I actually like how she looks (and i don’t mean the sluttiness), I mean the fact that she was supposed to be an evil-ish character when she worked for the joker, while also totally in love with him. She could do the evil words in the stories, but to me her look just didn’t work when she tried for evil. Outside of costume, Harleen Quinzel was a good look for her (when she was a doctor, and in Gotham City Sirens), in Suicide Squad 1 http://girlsgonegeek.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/suicide-squad-1.jpg i could actually see her kill someone and not feel like a 15 year old is doing it
I dunno, the disconnect between her innocent looks and her evil acts was the only interesting thing about her. Now she’s just a jerk with a sledgehammer.
Fits with her relations with the joker too, who has a similar theme going. An insane clown with a deadly sense of humor. Has an arsenal of gag shop items retooled towards destruction.
Admittedly though it’s not quite the same with the joker. He’s an entirely different brand of crazy and there’s nothing innocent about him. There’s less of a disconnect with him since his innocent themes aren’t really matched by his general looks or personality at all.
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv60/gangler52/jokerfirst.jpg?t=1310913042
Even on day one it wasn’t really a situation of deceptive appearances or anything like that. That is not a clown you would hire for a children’s party.
Not a good look for Harley. Didn’t even recognize that she was Harley till you pointed this out, but the design would make a good Typhoid Marry. Especially the way the shadow is drawn on her face. Almost looks like the half makeup.
If you like Harleen Quinzel, consider watching the Joker Blogs a series of videos showing what happened to the Joker after The Dark Knight. The actors are really good even though its fan-made. Here’s the first one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtIPi0Nb60
I find it a little odd that The death of Spiderman came and went and it hasnt been commented on here or the fact it was better than One More Day.
Perhaps this shows how cheep death feels to readers these days. I think that goes double for Spiderman titles. I think the only characters to stay dead are Uncle Ben and Captain Stacy.
So, who wants to start a bet on how long it will be before Spiderman has a pulse again? Or was that a non-canon thing to start with? I’ve lost track.
Do we count Uncle Ben as having stay dead even though an alternate Demenytion Uncle Ben appeared from a Universe where Aunt May had died instead?
It depends. Did he stay in the main universe/timelinethingy after the story? Then ‘yes.’
\
If it was just a visit from one dimension to another, then I’d go with ‘no.’
….My boyfriend wants that book so he can get his Roy on… should I be concerned? Then again… Roy IS awesome….
I know sexualisation is actually part of Catwoman’s character (isn’t it?), but I think having her is a little too much
Also, the last sentence from the blurb for book two of probably sums up this latest reboot. Sexier and Edgier :rolleyes:.
doesn’t look too bad, though. But “She’s got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman – and none of his affection for the people of Earth. So don’t piss her off!” doesn’t bode well. To me, that makes it sound like a male writer is taking Superman and giving him a gender switch + PMS.
Personally, I’d like to see a a bloke wearing only a casual kilt (and shorts/undies). I’m not even wanting it for a oggling purposes (straight male), I just think it has the potential to be a simple, but cool outfit
. And would balance out the exposure levels a minuscule bit.
Dammit, I failed with linkiness
.
I don’t mind “sexy” being part of someone’s characterization, no, especially not when it’s somebody like Catwoman, who’s like the center of a fetish Venn Diagram. But I think it kind of falls flat unless they’re written as believable people, first and foremost. Sometimes Catwoman is, sometimes she isn’t.
As my comment said before the chunk disappeared, pouring what looks like drops of white stuff over her breasts is a bit beyond displaying part of her character. They could have used gems of a different colour, and in my opinion that would have made for a stronger cover, more clearly communicating the thiefy side of her.
Its just one of those details that takes the overall picture a step in the wrong direction. It may just be me, and I can see the alternative interpretation of it, but the current version alludes to being a money shot, and is unnecessary.
Admittedly, I am a bit sleep deprived right now, so that may be part of it.
Nekked Starfire with Jason Todd’s penis… I don’t know why but this makes me happy. In other news I don’t mind the silly “sexy” outfits. Hyper masculine men and hyper feminine women are kinda what comics are about I thought,
teenage power fantasy.
“Nekked Starfire with Jason Todd’s penis”
There’s no way that wasn’t intentional.
Regarding teenage power fantasy I simply must refer to “Males age 18 to 35″. Also, I don’t know what the heck your power fantasies looked as a teenager, but having a visible raging hard on and being naked in public weren’t ever mine.
Mine were more along the lines of all this other shit they do. Beating up the dark and criminal representations of all the people that cause me grief with my badass gunning and knifery or super strength. Flying above all the mere mortals and letting them see I’m better than them. Running so fast that no one can ever touch me again. Seems to me like having the flying fantasy, watching as the city gazes upon me in fascination, and then suddenly realizing I’m nakeder than my underwear and everyone’s been photographing my boner would kind of kill it. I’m like 90% sure that’s actually a persistent nightmare for a significant number of people in that demographic.
Yah that is pretty much it. Hyper masculine beat up all the people who wrong you adolescent fantasy’s. A young girl interested in the power fantasy will likely also want her hero’s hyper feminized. Sexual power for both girls and boys is going to be important for the fantasy. In other words “sexy” outfits on someone like Powergirl would be part of the female power fantasy. I use Powergirl because Starfire might just be to silly.
Also Jason Todd’s battle ready penis right there in the picture! Artist sneaking it in or have they stopped making all the men ken dolls?
Ah. Yeah. Fair enough.
I can certainly buy that a power girl type outfit could be part of a power fantasy. Imma be honest, I still dream about being able to pull off the “Roy Harper” look. I mean fucking look at him. I don’t think there’s a single part of me that doesn’t wish I looked like that.
Starfire’s current outfit does seem to kind of lose sight of where it empowers and where it just demeans. Her outfit is like something a terrible sorority might force you to wear during an initiation ritual.
I got no fucking idea what’s going on with Jason’s wang, but I’m assuming that once we open up the cover it’s not gonna be clearly outlined in every panel so I’m going with the “Trick of the light” theory. Just a few unfortunately placed wrinkles. Did some artist get a chuckle out of that? Maybe. I don’t know how that works. Certainly could’ve been intentional I guess.
Emma Frost dresses in about that and I know more then a few women who really like her and would dress up as her for conventions.
As for unfortunately placed wrinkles…. There is absolutely zero chance of it being anything else — not a fold in his tights, not a seam, not a trick of the light. It’s just Jason Todd’s dick.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/07/yet_another_crisis_on_infinite_reboots_trifecta.php#Comments
Also it is not the first one. I think it might be some sort of artist protest of the reboot or maybe al of them just having a joke…. but I like it.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/07/dc_is_more_penis-y_than_i_remember.php
Yes. I have seen bigger pictures.
What you’re looking at is the side of his knee. Jason Todd is not jumping spread-legged.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/07/12/jason-todd-red-hood/
Yah I have seen bigger :snicker: as well
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/reverendsmooth/pinga.png
I don’t think he is jumping spread-legged. I think he has about the same pose as Roy, one leg up and the other extended. A common action pose used by lots of artists.
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/3/583433_front.jpg
I don’t see a knee or how that pose would work in the picture. I could see harness or something but after 4!!! covers with amusingly placed phallic objects…
I have seen all of these images you’ve linked. You’re not showing me anything new.
But when you zoom in on his “crotch”, the top tip of what is his knee eclipses the bottom boundary of his belt. The belt is being partially (very partially) obscured by his lifted leg. Plus the thing you think is a “penis” is just the contour lines that run up and down his pantlegs, as seen on the previous cover.
It’s not a dick. It’s funny to say it’s his dick, but it’s not really.
Really, now, which is the more likely? That an artist drew and DC approved a big fucking dick on their cover or it’s a trick of light? Also, that this artist can’t draw dicks, ‘cuz wow, that is an oddly shaped dick. They usually don’t look like exclamation marks, and they usually don’t grow out of inside of one’s thigh. Let it go, Indiana.
would you believe that I have a much bigger problem with Starfire’s characterization than her outfit? I don’t CARE if she’s a habitual nudist because of the nature of her power, that doesn’t mean she’s supposed to act like a WHORE!