Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one to realize the "dress to distract the enemy" thing was crap. Does Powergirl figure she nees that critical edge to stop such incredible menaces as "Da Bomb?"
Oh...oh, god...this is just...I don't even understand this. I have heard of the guy who made this, and I agree that he has no right to create anything dealing with women. Having stuck mainly to niche independent comics (read my response to your New Guardians review to understand which kind of niche comics I'm talking about), and seeing plenty of bad ones in my time, I can safely say that this puts them all to shame. I mean, I'm assuming the subplot with Madame Rotundo and the demons was supposed to be important to the overall storyline. Possibly they are the "Vampires of Venus" that the narrator hinted at in the closing narration? Somehow I doubt it, just like I doubt the subplot of the alchemy machine would be carried on further than being how the Super-Foxes got their powers.
Another awesome review as always, Linkara. Can't wait to see what's coming up.
Actually VictorVernon, Powergirl was asked by Crimson Fox about her costume and Powergirl simply said she said her outfit was simply showing everyone who she was. Here's Powergirl's answer from the comic: "Female, healthy, and strong. If men want to degrade themselves by staring and drooling and tripping over themselves, that's their problem, I'm not going to apologize for it."
I think thats a good enough answer and, besides, since shes a total asskicker and chairwoman of the JSA, I'm not complaining.
"I think thats a good enough answer and, besides, since shes a total asskicker and chairwoman of the JSA, I'm not complaining."
It's really just a justification after the fact, and while it makes sense with the character, I wouldn't mind if one day she just decided to close it up and just leave it as a circle.
"It's really just a justification after the fact, and while it makes sense with the character, I wouldn't mind if one day she just decided to close it up and just leave it as a circle."
Just asking, but do feel that Woder Woman and other superheriones should show less skin? Also, what about characters who do like to wear revealing outfits. Should characters like Emma Frost cover up?
And if woman should show less skin, how about male superheroes?Shouldn't Namor officailly stop wearing just those green trunks and shouldn't flashbacks of Dick Grayson as Robin show him wearing pants, instad of showing his prepubescence legs? I'm certain there are female comic readers who sometimes like looking at superheroes the same way male comic readers sometimes like looking at superheroines. In fact, George Perez once mentioned that Dick Grayson had (and I'm sure still has) a following with women. And Perez mentioned this was back during the Wolfman/Perez Titan era and Robin still was a teenager who still showed off his legs.
I'm pretty sure the "woman with the yin-yang symbols all over her" was supposed to be the goddess Eris, complete with a Discordian Sacred Chao: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sacred-Chao.svg
As to how the presence of Eris meshes with anything else in this hideous comic, I remain baffled.
It's really just a justification after the fact, and while it makes sense with the character, I wouldn't mind if one day she just decided to close it up and just leave it as a circle.
Well, I did read one female comics blogger - who claimed to be reportedly rather well-endowed - defend the boob window as making sense give that the cleavage windows on tight-fighting clothing (like leotards and sports bras) helps ease tension in the fabric and decrease the chances of ripping elsewhere.
It's just more justification after the fact, but it does make an odd sort of sense.
By the way - nice video reviews! I just discovered them this past weekend and linked to them on my blog. Keep up the good work!
"Just asking, but do feel that Woder Woman and other superheriones should show less skin? Also, what about characters who do like to wear revealing outfits. Should characters like Emma Frost cover up?"
I wouldn't mind it so much if the designs weren't clearly made in order to make them more sexualized. With Namor, he lives at the bottom of the sea and frankly he was kind of a villain when he first started out, so no one was trying to objectify him and the majority of superheroines wore pretty conservative outfits, if poorly chosen (high heels, gaudy colors, and utility purses? Really?)
It's not that I'm a prude. I'm really not. But characters who are basically given two-piece bikinis to wear, or Emma Frost's fetish gear, reflect more on the creators who feel they need hawtness as a trait in their female characters more than they need actual characteristics, and Sultry Teenage Super-Foxes is a further extension of that. If they weren't drawing spandex that somehow rode up on women's asses so we could see every curve, or what is referred to as "boobsocks" that basically means the outfits were spray-painted on and then put them in pose where they're cocking their hips like in a fashion magazine or bending over, there wouldn't be nearly as much legitimate complaints about the outfits.
Hell, the only time I can think of when Dick Grayson ever bent over in such poses was a hologram simulation of him in Titans/JLA: Technis Imperative... and that's only because Flamebird, who still had a crush on him, was fantasizing about it, and it was actually pretty humorous in that regard.
Wow! I hate to admit it, but this comic makes the nonsense in Amazons Attack seem like Watchmen! So if this alchemy machine does work, does it mean that it can turn this pile of fecal matter (aka this comic) into gold?
So until someone finds out if US1's head implant will need a special upgrade to get the new digital signals, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
"Really, where do you find these comics? I am a fan of awful trainwreck movies, and I think this might be right up my alley."
Well, when I first started doing text reviews, someone recommended this one to me and my comic shop was lucky enough to have a copy. XD Seriously, just raid the back-issue bins of a comic book store and you'll find all sorts of crap put out there.
"With Namor, he lives at the bottom of the sea and frankly he was kind of a villain when he first started out, so no one was trying to objectify him "
True, but couldn't you say the same thing about Emma Frost? When she was first introduced she was part of the Hellfire Club (a club which had weird sexual fetishes, so it fits why she would wear such clothes in that group) and she was a villian, so no one was trying to to objecify her.
"Hell, the only time I can think of when Dick Grayson ever bent over in such poses was a hologram simulation of him in Titans/JLA: Technis Imperative... and that's only because Flamebird, who still had a crush on him, was fantasizing about it, and it was actually pretty humorous in that regard."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Wolfman and Perez show off their male character's bodies, the same way the women's bodies were shown off? Just something to add, but I remember reading on the website TitansTower (a really awesome site for Teen Titans fans) that had an interview where Perez said that when they created the character of Blackfire (Starfire's evil sister) he added some of his own fetishes (black leather and chains) to the character. He did this after the character's personality was written up and just added his fetishes to Blackfire for his own amusement. Would sexualizing a character like that be considered alright?
Admittedly this comic is laughably bad, but with all due respect, have you actually met any women before?
Plenty of women out there DO act just like these girls. They wear slutty revealing clothes, hang around talking about nothing but boys, and oogle handsome men. Young high school age girls are especially prone to this behavior (and the comic does say the Super-Foxes are in high school, so there you go). No one makes them do it, but they do it anyway. You can say it's wrong and women shouldn't act like that, but it's not like the guy who wrote this comic is just making this stuff up.
If it's sexist to show four girls dressing and acting like sex objects, is it also sexist to show men as dull-minded clods?
"Admittedly this comic is laughably bad, but with all due respect, have you actually met any women before?"
Yes, I have. NO ONE at my high school was ever this idiotic. None of them. Not even the cheerleaders. None of them were ever this boy crazy or had all of their discussions focus around men and scoring dates or doing remarkably idiotic things in order to score those dates. And they all had unique personalities, too. All of these girls, if you switched them around and put the same dialogue balloons to the switched characters, would seem absolutely no different, because they are all the exact same person but with different hair styles.
"If it's sexist to show four girls dressing and acting like sex objects, is it also sexist to show men as dull-minded clods?"
Only if the intent of showing them as dull-minded clods is to make them appear more sexually attractive, or that without women they revert to dull-minded clods (anyone remember Spock's Brain?).
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Wolfman and Perez show off their male character's bodies, the same way the women's bodies were shown off?"
Fair enough, but showing off bodies is one thing and putting them into strictly sexualized positions is another. I could do an analysis of some of the times Perez has faulted in that regard (particularly with Starfire), but they're few and far between. Perez is a master of the craft, and knows when to focus on the storytelling aspect of sequential art and not the cheesecake.
And you'll notice that even if he did add those elements to Blackfire, it didn't undermine her as a villain and in fact I would've never known that if it hadn't been pointed out.
"True, but couldn't you say the same thing about Emma Frost? When she was first introduced she was part of the Hellfire Club (a club which had weird sexual fetishes, so it fits why she would wear such clothes in that group) and she was a villian, so no one was trying to to objecify her."
I do say it about Emma Frost. In fact, the idea of the Hellfire club as a sex and stripper place seems to be a retcon, since when I read the initial Dark Pheonix saga, White Queen (and subsequently Jean Grey) are the ONLY ones in such attire. Everyone else just is running around in 17th century outfits. And really, WHY the corsets and panties? Why? And you'll notice that it's rare indeed to find a modern depiction of Emma Frost in any costume that doesn't make her look either like a stripper, or in clothes that are completely implausible to stay up without tape.
"And you'll notice that even if he did add those elements to Blackfire, it didn't undermine her as a villain and in fact I would've never known that if it hadn't been pointed out."
Thats true. I guess I wanted to point out an example where a character is sexualized to a degree, but still has a great characterzation. And man, did Blackfire have a good characterzation. I read a little of Starfire's story from the Tales of Teen Titans mini and couldn't believe how much of a bitch she was to Kory.
"And you'll notice that it's rare indeed to find a modern depiction of Emma Frost in any costume that doesn't make her look either like a stripper, or in clothes that are completely implausible to stay up without tape."
My favorite example of what your saying is this picture: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IVuxkTDh_cc/SI5Bq8HpgYI/AAAAAAAABlQ/2-3Hy4SNc88/s400/Emma+Frost.jpg
I don't know how those two clothes that cover her breasts don't fall down. I'm guessing its her telepathy.
Good review by the way, Linkara. Though there weren't many changes from the text review the changes improved it and made the review even funnier (though, IMO the Maxwell Lord joke should have stayed). This comic doesn't even need a page turn to initiate the "FAIL senses" but you actually went in and showed it's complete rottenness.
I think it would have been a much better comic if the characters were turned to gold and the scientists melt the statues and sold the gold to fund more dog poop experiments...all while wondering what happened to the four girls...I would have at least found it funny.
As for the costume debate...I'm not gonna touch that one...though I've always wondered if being a superhero who wore a revealing costume came with cold resistance as a "gimme" (like enhanced speed and strength)
"I do say it about Emma Frost. In fact, the idea of the Hellfire club as a sex and stripper place seems to be a retcon, since when I read the initial Dark Pheonix saga, White Queen (and subsequently Jean Grey) are the ONLY ones in such attire. Everyone else just is running around in 17th century outfits."
Um, the Hellfire Club being a fetish club is actually not a retcon, that's what it was actually based on; the real Hellfire Club (upon which the comics version was based) actually was a Victorian England underground fetish club, most members of which were highly active in the political world (so the X-Men Hellfire Club being a group for elite mutants bent on conquering the world wouldn't be too far off the mark). And, since the X-Men Hellfire Club is based on this historical Hellfire Club, they "honor" the original by dressing up in period-appropriate attire (though if they really wanted to respect the original club, they should've dressed up as characters from the Bible or Greek Mythology, as the original members did from what the research I've done about the group tells me).
Link to the Wiki article of the original club, for posterity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_Club
This is refreshing. I found your site a few days ago and literally read every single review of yours since then. It's pretty amusing to hear your text analysis pretty much read out loud.
I'm curious, though. Are you going to only do videos from this point on, or are you going to do more text analyses in the future?
I said this in the text review, but that was made forever ago, so I may as well make it more recent.
I love how the power of growing stronger when touching the earth was originally used by Hercules' enemy Antaeus. Congratulations, Sultry Teenage Super-Foxes: you lost your chance to be original THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
@Synjo: What's funny is that even the real Hellfire Clubs were pretty tame for the most part. What I meant when I said it was a retcon was that there's no evidence in the original Dark Pheonix saga that the place was also a strip club and brothel, just a high-society spot with goofy fashion.
@Lotus: Most likely not, if only because it takes so much time to write a review and all that.
Sheesh, I've seen hentai (doujinshi and anime) that portray women better than this, no joke. It's too bad you missed an oppurtunity for a Full Metal Alchemist reference with the alchemy machine and a Captain Planet reference with the girl's powers being introduced. Just curious, but how many other comics did the author of this "thing" make? And, God forbid, is he still making more comics? Finally, are you planning on roasting anymore of this guy's work?
On a side note, has anyone told you that when you're doing your German accented voice, occassionally you sound a bit like the dub voice for Major Montana Max from Hellsing Ultimate?
"@Synjo: What's funny is that even the real Hellfire Clubs were pretty tame for the most part. What I meant when I said it was a retcon was that there's no evidence in the original Dark Pheonix saga that the place was also a strip club and brothel, just a high-society spot with goofy fashion."
There's actually no real proof that I can find through my own research to suggest how tame or extreme they went; most of the records and objects associated with the society have disappeared, and they were big on spreading rumors about what actually went on in their club to both scare away those who would shut them down and entice potential members. Seems like most scholars agree, though, that their activities were pretty intense.
The only thing I can think of for why that part of the club wasn't featured as prominently during the Dark Phoenix Saga, was that they were focusing more on the Inner Circle and their political motives, which also fit the real club, since it's been theorized most of the members were heavily involved with politics and could've discussed their own political plans and shared political favors with each other.
So it's not really a retcon, more like a part of the group that they acknowledged was there but didn't see important enough to expand upon in the story itself. I mean, having the characters dress like that, as I said, was done as a deliberate homage to the real Hellfire Club, and as such gave the readers a visual clue as to the origins of the club, but if they focused a bit more on the sexual aspect of the group instead of the political aspect during the Dark Phoenix Saga...the story wouldn't have done so well. Besides, wasn't the entire point of the Dark Phoenix that the Phoenix Entity was addicted to human emotion and sensation, and refused to give it up? And didn't the Hellfire Club control the Phoenix with those same sensations? What better way of doing that than to have the Phoenix join what's essentially a fetish club, where she can feel all the sensations she wants, both pleasurable and painful?
Well plenty of them were at mine. They did it when I was a student and they do it now that I'm a teacher. Just go to almost any popular hangout for teenagers in the country (a public high school, a shopping mall, etc.) and you can see it for yourself.
I agree that this comic is utterly terrible. The characterization of the "heros" is boring and 1-dimensional, the artwork is bland and awkward, and the writing wouldn't pass muster in an 8th grade English class. But saying it's "sexist" to have a female character dress like a whore and act constantly boy-crazy is simply wrong. (If Brodsky had somehow said or implied that all women act like this, then it would be sexist. But unless there's a lot more to this comic that you were unable to show, I'm not seeing it.)
"Only if the intent of showing them as dull-minded clods is to make them appear more sexually attractive, or that without women they revert to dull-minded clods (anyone remember Spock's Brain?)."
First, sexism is defined as "prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination on the basis of sex or gender". Making a character sexually attractive is not, in and of itself, sexism. Nor is it necessarily sexist to want a character to be sexually attractive (if that were true then merely having a sex drive would itself be sexist).
And if you agree that the second example is sexist, where is the condemnation for the literally hundreds of sitcoms and tv commercials that do portray men as brainless dunces who can barely feed or dress themselves without their wives or girlfriends around? If sexism is wrong then it's wrong in every context and situation, yet it seems condemnation is only reserved for sexism against women while sexism against men is largely ignored.
"mighty samurai: have YOU talked to any women?"
Have you? It's not like comic book writers are making this stuff up, you know. Plenty of women DO voluntarily objectify themselves by dressing like sluts and acting boy-crazy (why do you think school dress codes almost always forbid short skirts and exposed midriffs?). Nobody makes them do it, but they still do. Admittedly there are also plenty of women who don't objectify themselves and harshly criticize women that do, but there are also women who not only have no problem with it but actively encourage it. (Some of them even self-identify as feminists, which is a whole other debate in itself.)
You can say it's wrong, you can say they shouldn't do it, but it's hardly sexist for a man to show a small group of women doing exactly what some women do in real-life.
You included Ivan Drago in a review? Wow, you're my new hero.
Also, love how at the end of every review your auto-focus blurs the camera at the end. I'm assuming it was accidental, but it's cool it does it every time. Almost like a trademark or something...
This is not strictly on-topic, but since you're talking about sexual objectification of women...
Has anyone else noticed a rather strange tendency (in Marvel comics, at least) to turn male villains into attractive female counterparts? Are they deliberately trying to get people with genderbending fetishes to read comics?
Examples: first, Ultron turned into a sexy female robot. Then Loki turned into a sexy female goddess. Then Mister Sinister became Miss Sinister. Most recently, Bullseye acquired a female counterpart in Lady Bullseye (I guess she's not as bad as the others, but I would still argue that Ed Brubaker missed the point of the 'Lady Snowblood' film).
It wouldn't be so much of an issue if all of these new female villains hadn't been drawn in a way that is clearly intended to titillate the reader (with the possible exception of Lady Bullseye); the Ultron femme-bot is completely naked in her first appearance, Miss Sinister is dressed up in revealing bondage gear and Loki's new costume reveals a lot of cleavage.
All I can say is that Marvel's writers seem to be very lonely men with some very weird fetishes.
Ok now this comic actually makes Amazons Attack look good…. Well provably not… I could clearly see just by the title that something was awfully wrong with that comic. I mean sultry! Come on!! Almost as if they wanted the comic to be on the conditioned section with a black cover plastic bag. Oh wait… with a publisher like that is not surprise. How to use black magic to dominate woman? Damn I wander if Satana may say something about that book…
Btw subtle advertisement there with the black and white comics…
"And if you agree that the second example is sexist, where is the condemnation for the literally hundreds of sitcoms and tv commercials that do portray men as brainless dunces who can barely feed or dress themselves without their wives or girlfriends around? If sexism is wrong then it's wrong in every context and situation, yet it seems condemnation is only reserved for sexism against women while sexism against men is largely ignored."
It's largely ignored because it's not nearly as prevalent or as bad, and there's a longer history of sexism against women with ingrained attitudes that continued well into the 1990s. Remember - that law that said women weren't allowed to be in active combat in the air force lasted UNTIL 1993.
Of course sexism is bad in all forms, of course sexism demeans men as much as women - but when people bring that fact up, it's usually a method of detracting away from the main point - the sexism against women.
And as for why I'm not calling it out in all forms, this Blog is about comic books and occasionally an extension of geek culture, which is why you don't see more posts from me about video games or TV shows, much as I am often tempted to go into rants on some subjects. Sometimes something just gets on my mind so much that I have to talk about it, hence the VLOG about Pokemon games.
And allow me to point out that just because I don't talk about it doesn't mean I don't think about it and don't consider it. Combatting sexism anywhere is a good thing, even if it's in the pages of funny books.
If you wany epitome-level stupid from Solson Publications, then you REALLY need to check out Samurai the 13th. It's where a samurai ends up taking the "cook" position at Camp Crystal Lake on the same night that Jason comes back.
Also, more boob-sized plot-holes can be found in Jade, another Solson comic.
I used to think so too. Then I read it through again and realized that it is really not good. Just mindless violence and fourteen parts all doing exactly the same thing.
Venom: We have to kill Carnage Spider-Man: We are not killing Carnage
Lather, rinse, repeat over and over again.
Now I like Carnage, but let's face it, the only reason he was created was to make Venom look good in comparison.
Plus, it would be fun to watch Linkara rip into this series.
Yeeeaaah, sorry to say I've also read it again recently and I still like it. Maybe the situations were repetitive, but the individual fights all had their own purpose behind them and ultimately the message was great.
^Yeeeaaah, sorry to say I've also read it again recently and I still like it. Maybe the situations were repetitive, but the individual fights all had their own purpose behind them and ultimately the message was great.
Yeah, but did you need FOURTEEN parts to tell us that?
What the blazes are all those F/A-18s and A-4s doing at an *Air Force* Base? Only the US Navy and Marine Corps operated both those types——and by that point in the 80s, it probably would have been only the Marines, unless the A-4s were "Aggressors."
"And you'll notice that even if he did add those elements to Blackfire, it didn't undermine her as a villain and in fact I would've never known that if it hadn't been pointed out."
Ok, but if characters, like Blackfire, can ear revealing clothes and creators, like George Perez, can get away with in putting their own fetishes into the characters, but still have strong, intresting, chracters that don't pose sexually to the reader, then whats the harm in having them wear revealing clothes? I mean, when Powergirl was first introduced she didn't pose sexually, all the artist (Wally Wood) did was make her wear a costume that showed off her breasts. He did this (much like Perez) for his own amusement, but it didn't compromise her character. She was still someone who killed ass, strong, and was interesting. If a character can be like that, I feel that its all right for characters to wear revealing clothes. So long, as the costumes, themselves, are too sexual and that the characters pose sexually.
Well, it's BETTER if they're in revealing outfits but never get put into sexualized posing, but one wonders why they need to be in revealing outfits to begin with OTHER than titillation.
Well, one could wonder why Cyborg, in his original costume, had to wear a costume that only covered his upper and lower torso, while it showed off his muscular legs and powerful arms. Or why Robin, even though he was a teen, decided to show off those long supple legs. Or why Trigon had to wear a loincloth and a pretty revealing costume that showed off his muscules and lower body. I wonder why these characters would be dressed this way, for no other reason besides titallation.
Cyborg's skin showed because they wanted to show that he still had some flesh.
Robin's costume started that way when he was created because of the circus performance outfits.
Trigon was an evil demon.
And since the majority of comic book readers, especially around the time of the creations of each character were and are heterosexual males, I sincerely doubt their legs were put their for titillation purposes.
Point being do you honestly think they put him bare-chested because they wanted people to be attracted to the big monster that froze most of the world in a constant nightmare?
Yes, as it goes for many other female villians who did terrible things and yet wore revealing clothing for the sake of titallation. Emma Frost, Invisible Woman (when she turned evil), Raven (when she wore those elastic bands), etc. All these villians did terrible things, but they still wore revealing outfits for the purpose of titallation. Much like Trigon. And lets remember that Trigon still wore a pretty revealing costume that showed off his body besides his bare-chest.
"And since the majority of comic book readers, especially around the time of the creations of each character were and are heterosexual males, I sincerely doubt their legs were put their for titillation purposes."
Did you forgot my point about Dick Grayson still having a big fanbase with women readers? There were (and still are) woman who read comics. The proof of this is a blog called Green Lantern Butts where the female blogger posts picts of Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, etc. because she likes to look at their asses. Plus, she talks about the latest issues of GL. This is a woman who likes to look at male superhero butt and reads comics. If creators, like Prez, can show off their male heroes bodies and female readers can look at male superheroes bodies, wheres the harm in giving revealing costumes to female heroes and having male readers look at female heroes' bodies?
You brought up the point that Namor is alright in wearing his green trunks because he lives under-water and hes a villian. Fair enough, but you could say the same thing about Shanna the She-Devil, a woman who lives in the jungle and wears only a binki and is a superheroine. These are characters who both wear revealing clothing because of their environments and because of what they do. So, if it fits the character's characterazation, where and how they live, and their role as hero or villian, then is it ok for them to wear revealing clothes? Even if, sometimes creators sexualize them (both male and female). And if its, for example, only male characters that wear revealing clothes and female characters that don't, where is the fairness in that? And even if the creators weren't trying to sexualize the character when they created them (Even though Wonder Woman wore a pretty revealing cotume, her creator still was a femenist) were is the harm in female and male characters wearing revealing outfits?
There's a disproportionate amount of it, with more women in revealing or bare outfits and more porntastic posing. And while that woman may of course enjoy Hal's posterior, I sincerely doubt the creators framed any panels in such a way that's supposed to be what the reader looks at.
"There's a disproportionate amount of it, with more women in revealing or bare outfits and more porntastic posing."
Fair enough.
"And while that woman may of course enjoy Hal's posterior, I sincerely doubt the creators framed any panels in such a way that's supposed to be what the reader looks at."
My point was that women like to look at male heroes and that they're women readers. I wasn't trying to prove that artists made any of Green Lanterns pose sexually for the reader.
The aircraft from the cover is closest to one XF-30 series of technology demonstrators, but its single engine proves the guy didn't have a reference.
The jets taking off from the base are F/A-18s. The twin tails with the outward cant give them away. THESE ARE NOT USED BY THE AIR FORCE. THEY ARE NAVY AIRCRAFT.
The aircraft in the foreground are A-4s. These are also Navy aircraft; however the Air Force did use them in very small numbers as aggressor aircraft for training since their performance characteristics were very similar to MiG-19s and MiG-21s. They were based at...Nellis, Nevada.
The aircraft the mechanics are working on is also apparently one of Heinmann's Hotrods, but it's been very poorly drawn so I can't swear to anything.
The jet that's covered in tarps is, weirdly enough, not the jet from the cover. (You'd think it would be.)
...in fact, I'd know those next-to-the-cockpit canards and that bell-shaped twin tail configuration anywhere. It's an F-19A Ghostrider. As such, it never actually existed; the F-19A was what people THOUGHT the stealth fighter looked like and was called before the real one, the F-117 Nighthawk, was publically revealed.
So the comic is revealing its own ignorance in every plane you see. How appropriate.
I looked up John Norman and man, that guy is pretty creepy. I can understand power fantasies, but having every mainstream book he wrote with every woman being like this and constantly soap boxing about it is something different.
Overall, I don't have a problem with women superheroes wearing revealing costumes, so long as they aren't in any suggestive poses and as long as they are given good characterization.
Speaking of which, Linkara, our discussion of whether John Byrne and Chris Claremont were trying to titillate readers with the Hellfire Club's costumes in The Dark Phoenix Saga is false. I read on Comics Should Be Good's Urban Legends Revealed that Bryne and Clarmont were paying homage to an episode of the Avengers where the villains were dressed in 18th century bondage gear.
You could still make the case that Claremont and Bryne were still trying to titillate readers with Storm in her undies. But, they played fair since they also had Colossus and Wolverine in their undies as well.
1:15: “… now I'm a capitalist, so he [Gary Brodsky] is free to publish whatever the hell he wants, but on that same note I'm free to criticize the hell out of him for doing so” Agreed, and more power to you. But that's not capitalism, that's freedom of speech. Freedom of speech has been defended by capitalists, socialists, communists, anarchists, what-have-you, and it's been repressed by capitalists, socialists, communists etc.
4:08: “… Girl With Hair From Thundercats sighs and proclaims she misses one of the guys already. Eighties Hair rolls her eyes and says 'That is so high school …'” Who cares about their hair? Look at their EYES, man! It's like they have the opposite of Youngblood's Disease. They look like Dark Willow on a bad hair day for Zark's sake. Head for the hills!
5:55: “Sheena's father reads her the riot act …” Ack! Her expression in that lefthand panel is creepy. She looks like she's just opened the closet door to find Yog-Sothoth feasting on her best friend's soul. Ahh!
This is a year late, but rewatching this for the n'th time, I just noticed something:
"You just need a friggin Arial font [...]"
And it struck me... it's Helvetica, not that cheap knockoff Arial! As one can clearly see from the horizontal lines on the end of the Cs and the non-straight leg on the R.
There will be debates over which comic is the worst -- Superman at Earth's End, Spider-Man Clone Saga, Spider-Man One More Day, Chuck Austen's X-men stories, Neutro, Amazons Attack, DC Countdown -- but there is only one company that could call itself the WORST COMIC PUBLISHER ever, Solson Publications. This title is one of the worst I've ever heard, even worse than oh say Amazon Attack. I mean, I like hot super heroines but Gary Brodsky is nothing but a misogynist idiot with a track record of epic fails and this is proof.
So, you plan on doing other comics from Gary Brodsky?
I swear I read "Slutty Super Teenage-Foxes" whenever my eye caught the title while playing previous videos, and AFTER I started watching noticed that the first word isn't "slutty". It would've made more snese if it was, at least the comic would've been honest from the start :B
Well, given the intelligence they show in the comic, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually *were* in their mid-twenties but still in high school...
ReplyDelete*sigh* Where's Wonder Woman when you need her?
Great job, though I'm sad that you left out my favorite joke in the comic:
ReplyDelete"Barry takes off his glasses and, shockingly, he’s a dead ringer for the recently-deceased Maxwell Lord from DC comics."
Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one to realize the "dress to distract the enemy" thing was crap. Does Powergirl figure she nees that critical edge to stop such incredible menaces as "Da Bomb?"
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great review!
Oh...oh, god...this is just...I don't even understand this. I have heard of the guy who made this, and I agree that he has no right to create anything dealing with women. Having stuck mainly to niche independent comics (read my response to your New Guardians review to understand which kind of niche comics I'm talking about), and seeing plenty of bad ones in my time, I can safely say that this puts them all to shame. I mean, I'm assuming the subplot with Madame Rotundo and the demons was supposed to be important to the overall storyline. Possibly they are the "Vampires of Venus" that the narrator hinted at in the closing narration? Somehow I doubt it, just like I doubt the subplot of the alchemy machine would be carried on further than being how the Super-Foxes got their powers.
ReplyDeleteAnother awesome review as always, Linkara. Can't wait to see what's coming up.
I saw this in a history book about comics. I was just flipping through it so I don't know what it had to say about it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway great episode. So did Madame what her daugther or revenge?
Dunno. I should really get the second issue. XD
ReplyDelete"*sigh* Where's Wonder Woman when you need her?"
She's too busy trying to get her mother to kill her in Amazons Attack.
Actually VictorVernon, Powergirl was asked by Crimson Fox about her costume and Powergirl simply said she said her outfit was simply showing everyone who she was. Here's Powergirl's answer from the comic: "Female, healthy, and strong. If men want to degrade themselves by staring and drooling and tripping over themselves, that's their problem, I'm not going to apologize for it."
ReplyDeleteI think thats a good enough answer and, besides, since shes a total asskicker and chairwoman of the JSA, I'm not complaining.
You know I was baiting a response from you with that, right?
ReplyDelete"I think thats a good enough answer and, besides, since shes a total asskicker and chairwoman of the JSA, I'm not complaining."
ReplyDeleteIt's really just a justification after the fact, and while it makes sense with the character, I wouldn't mind if one day she just decided to close it up and just leave it as a circle.
"It's really just a justification after the fact, and while it makes sense with the character, I wouldn't mind if one day she just decided to close it up and just leave it as a circle."
ReplyDeleteJust asking, but do feel that Woder Woman and other superheriones should show less skin? Also, what about characters who do like to wear revealing outfits. Should characters like Emma Frost cover up?
And if woman should show less skin, how about male superheroes?Shouldn't Namor officailly stop wearing just those green trunks and shouldn't flashbacks of Dick Grayson as Robin show him wearing pants, instad of showing his prepubescence legs? I'm certain there are female comic readers who sometimes like looking at superheroes the same way male comic readers sometimes like looking at superheroines. In fact, George Perez once mentioned that Dick Grayson had (and I'm sure still has) a following with women. And Perez mentioned this was back during the Wolfman/Perez Titan era and Robin still was a teenager who still showed off his legs.
I'm pretty sure the "woman with the yin-yang symbols all over her" was supposed to be the goddess Eris, complete with a Discordian Sacred Chao: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sacred-Chao.svg
ReplyDeleteAs to how the presence of Eris meshes with anything else in this hideous comic, I remain baffled.
It's really just a justification after the fact, and while it makes sense with the character, I wouldn't mind if one day she just decided to close it up and just leave it as a circle.
ReplyDeleteWell, I did read one female comics blogger - who claimed to be reportedly rather well-endowed - defend the boob window as making sense give that the cleavage windows on tight-fighting clothing (like leotards and sports bras) helps ease tension in the fabric and decrease the chances of ripping elsewhere.
It's just more justification after the fact, but it does make an odd sort of sense.
By the way - nice video reviews! I just discovered them this past weekend and linked to them on my blog. Keep up the good work!
"Just asking, but do feel that Woder Woman and other superheriones should show less skin? Also, what about characters who do like to wear revealing outfits. Should characters like Emma Frost cover up?"
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind it so much if the designs weren't clearly made in order to make them more sexualized. With Namor, he lives at the bottom of the sea and frankly he was kind of a villain when he first started out, so no one was trying to objectify him and the majority of superheroines wore pretty conservative outfits, if poorly chosen (high heels, gaudy colors, and utility purses? Really?)
It's not that I'm a prude. I'm really not. But characters who are basically given two-piece bikinis to wear, or Emma Frost's fetish gear, reflect more on the creators who feel they need hawtness as a trait in their female characters more than they need actual characteristics, and Sultry Teenage Super-Foxes is a further extension of that. If they weren't drawing spandex that somehow rode up on women's asses so we could see every curve, or what is referred to as "boobsocks" that basically means the outfits were spray-painted on and then put them in pose where they're cocking their hips like in a fashion magazine or bending over, there wouldn't be nearly as much legitimate complaints about the outfits.
Hell, the only time I can think of when Dick Grayson ever bent over in such poses was a hologram simulation of him in Titans/JLA: Technis Imperative... and that's only because Flamebird, who still had a crush on him, was fantasizing about it, and it was actually pretty humorous in that regard.
I'd be interested in hearing more of your opinions on Gary Brodsky and other mysoginistic asswipes.
ReplyDeleteWow! I hate to admit it, but this comic makes the nonsense in Amazons Attack seem like Watchmen! So if this alchemy machine does work, does it mean that it can turn this pile of fecal matter (aka this comic) into gold?
ReplyDeleteSo until someone finds out if US1's head implant will need a special upgrade to get the new digital signals, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
Awesome video! I haven't laughed out loud so much in a long time!
ReplyDeletegood point Lewis about the female costumes. I wouldn't have guessed though, about looking2thestar's comment. But there is logic in it.
These reviews just get better and better.
ReplyDeleteReally, where do you find these comics? I am a fan of awful trainwreck movies, and I think this might be right up my alley.
You can pretty sum up this entire comic mathematically...
tits + no clothing + barely put together plot / comic stereotypes = rob liefeld...i mean sts-f
"Really, where do you find these comics? I am a fan of awful trainwreck movies, and I think this might be right up my alley."
ReplyDeleteWell, when I first started doing text reviews, someone recommended this one to me and my comic shop was lucky enough to have a copy. XD Seriously, just raid the back-issue bins of a comic book store and you'll find all sorts of crap put out there.
"With Namor, he lives at the bottom of the sea and frankly he was kind of a villain when he first started out, so no one was trying to objectify him "
ReplyDeleteTrue, but couldn't you say the same thing about Emma Frost? When she was first introduced she was part of the Hellfire Club (a club which had weird sexual fetishes, so it fits why she would wear such clothes in that group) and she was a villian, so no one was trying to to objecify her.
"Hell, the only time I can think of when Dick Grayson ever bent over in such poses was a hologram simulation of him in Titans/JLA: Technis Imperative... and that's only because Flamebird, who still had a crush on him, was fantasizing about it, and it was actually pretty humorous in that regard."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Wolfman and Perez show off their male character's bodies, the same way the women's bodies were shown off? Just something to add, but I remember reading on the website TitansTower (a really awesome site for Teen Titans fans) that had an interview where Perez said that when they created the character of Blackfire (Starfire's evil sister) he added some of his own fetishes (black leather and chains) to the character. He did this after the character's personality was written up and just added his fetishes to Blackfire for his own amusement. Would sexualizing a character like that be considered alright?
Where's the list?
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly this comic is laughably bad, but with all due respect, have you actually met any women before?
ReplyDeletePlenty of women out there DO act just like these girls. They wear slutty revealing clothes, hang around talking about nothing but boys, and oogle handsome men. Young high school age girls are especially prone to this behavior (and the comic does say the Super-Foxes are in high school, so there you go). No one makes them do it, but they do it anyway. You can say it's wrong and women shouldn't act like that, but it's not like the guy who wrote this comic is just making this stuff up.
If it's sexist to show four girls dressing and acting like sex objects, is it also sexist to show men as dull-minded clods?
Wait, so they have the powers of earth, fire, wind, and water? They're a heart away from summoning Captain Planet... then each try to seduce him.
ReplyDelete*sigh* Pass the bottle.
"Admittedly this comic is laughably bad, but with all due respect, have you actually met any women before?"
ReplyDeleteYes, I have. NO ONE at my high school was ever this idiotic. None of them. Not even the cheerleaders. None of them were ever this boy crazy or had all of their discussions focus around men and scoring dates or doing remarkably idiotic things in order to score those dates. And they all had unique personalities, too. All of these girls, if you switched them around and put the same dialogue balloons to the switched characters, would seem absolutely no different, because they are all the exact same person but with different hair styles.
"If it's sexist to show four girls dressing and acting like sex objects, is it also sexist to show men as dull-minded clods?"
Only if the intent of showing them as dull-minded clods is to make them appear more sexually attractive, or that without women they revert to dull-minded clods (anyone remember Spock's Brain?).
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Wolfman and Perez show off their male character's bodies, the same way the women's bodies were shown off?"
Fair enough, but showing off bodies is one thing and putting them into strictly sexualized positions is another. I could do an analysis of some of the times Perez has faulted in that regard (particularly with Starfire), but they're few and far between. Perez is a master of the craft, and knows when to focus on the storytelling aspect of sequential art and not the cheesecake.
And you'll notice that even if he did add those elements to Blackfire, it didn't undermine her as a villain and in fact I would've never known that if it hadn't been pointed out.
"True, but couldn't you say the same thing about Emma Frost? When she was first introduced she was part of the Hellfire Club (a club which had weird sexual fetishes, so it fits why she would wear such clothes in that group) and she was a villian, so no one was trying to to objecify her."
I do say it about Emma Frost. In fact, the idea of the Hellfire club as a sex and stripper place seems to be a retcon, since when I read the initial Dark Pheonix saga, White Queen (and subsequently Jean Grey) are the ONLY ones in such attire. Everyone else just is running around in 17th century outfits. And really, WHY the corsets and panties? Why? And you'll notice that it's rare indeed to find a modern depiction of Emma Frost in any costume that doesn't make her look either like a stripper, or in clothes that are completely implausible to stay up without tape.
"And you'll notice that even if he did add those elements to Blackfire, it didn't undermine her as a villain and in fact I would've never known that if it hadn't been pointed out."
ReplyDeleteThats true. I guess I wanted to point out an example where a character is sexualized to a degree, but still has a great characterzation. And man, did Blackfire have a good characterzation. I read a little of Starfire's story from the Tales of Teen Titans mini and couldn't believe how much of a bitch she was to Kory.
"And you'll notice that it's rare indeed to find a modern depiction of Emma Frost in any costume that doesn't make her look either like a stripper, or in clothes that are completely implausible to stay up without tape."
My favorite example of what your saying is this picture: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IVuxkTDh_cc/SI5Bq8HpgYI/AAAAAAAABlQ/2-3Hy4SNc88/s400/Emma+Frost.jpg
I don't know how those two clothes that cover her breasts don't fall down. I'm guessing its her telepathy.
mighty samurai: have YOU talked to any women?
ReplyDeleteGood review by the way, Linkara. Though there weren't many changes from the text review the changes improved it and made the review even funnier (though, IMO the Maxwell Lord joke should have stayed). This comic doesn't even need a page turn to initiate the "FAIL senses" but you actually went in and showed it's complete rottenness.
I think it would have been a much better comic if the characters were turned to gold and the scientists melt the statues and sold the gold to fund more dog poop experiments...all while wondering what happened to the four girls...I would have at least found it funny.
As for the costume debate...I'm not gonna touch that one...though I've always wondered if being a superhero who wore a revealing costume came with cold resistance as a "gimme" (like enhanced speed and strength)
"I do say it about Emma Frost. In fact, the idea of the Hellfire club as a sex and stripper place seems to be a retcon, since when I read the initial Dark Pheonix saga, White Queen (and subsequently Jean Grey) are the ONLY ones in such attire. Everyone else just is running around in 17th century outfits."
ReplyDeleteUm, the Hellfire Club being a fetish club is actually not a retcon, that's what it was actually based on; the real Hellfire Club (upon which the comics version was based) actually was a Victorian England underground fetish club, most members of which were highly active in the political world (so the X-Men Hellfire Club being a group for elite mutants bent on conquering the world wouldn't be too far off the mark). And, since the X-Men Hellfire Club is based on this historical Hellfire Club, they "honor" the original by dressing up in period-appropriate attire (though if they really wanted to respect the original club, they should've dressed up as characters from the Bible or Greek Mythology, as the original members did from what the research I've done about the group tells me).
Link to the Wiki article of the original club, for posterity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_Club
This is refreshing. I found your site a few days ago and literally read every single review of yours since then. It's pretty amusing to hear your text analysis pretty much read out loud.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, though. Are you going to only do videos from this point on, or are you going to do more text analyses in the future?
I said this in the text review, but that was made forever ago, so I may as well make it more recent.
ReplyDeleteI love how the power of growing stronger when touching the earth was originally used by Hercules' enemy Antaeus. Congratulations, Sultry Teenage Super-Foxes: you lost your chance to be original THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
@Synjo: What's funny is that even the real Hellfire Clubs were pretty tame for the most part. What I meant when I said it was a retcon was that there's no evidence in the original Dark Pheonix saga that the place was also a strip club and brothel, just a high-society spot with goofy fashion.
ReplyDelete@Lotus: Most likely not, if only because it takes so much time to write a review and all that.
Sheesh, I've seen hentai (doujinshi and anime) that portray women better than this, no joke.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad you missed an oppurtunity for a Full Metal Alchemist reference with the alchemy machine and a Captain Planet reference with the girl's powers being introduced.
Just curious, but how many other comics did the author of this "thing" make? And, God forbid, is he still making more comics? Finally, are you planning on roasting anymore of this guy's work?
On a side note, has anyone told you that when you're doing your German accented voice, occassionally you sound a bit like the dub voice for Major Montana Max from Hellsing Ultimate?
You mention the series only lasted two issues. Any chance you could review #2? I'd dearly like to know how the trainwreck ended...
ReplyDelete"@Synjo: What's funny is that even the real Hellfire Clubs were pretty tame for the most part. What I meant when I said it was a retcon was that there's no evidence in the original Dark Pheonix saga that the place was also a strip club and brothel, just a high-society spot with goofy fashion."
ReplyDeleteThere's actually no real proof that I can find through my own research to suggest how tame or extreme they went; most of the records and objects associated with the society have disappeared, and they were big on spreading rumors about what actually went on in their club to both scare away those who would shut them down and entice potential members. Seems like most scholars agree, though, that their activities were pretty intense.
The only thing I can think of for why that part of the club wasn't featured as prominently during the Dark Phoenix Saga, was that they were focusing more on the Inner Circle and their political motives, which also fit the real club, since it's been theorized most of the members were heavily involved with politics and could've discussed their own political plans and shared political favors with each other.
So it's not really a retcon, more like a part of the group that they acknowledged was there but didn't see important enough to expand upon in the story itself. I mean, having the characters dress like that, as I said, was done as a deliberate homage to the real Hellfire Club, and as such gave the readers a visual clue as to the origins of the club, but if they focused a bit more on the sexual aspect of the group instead of the political aspect during the Dark Phoenix Saga...the story wouldn't have done so well. Besides, wasn't the entire point of the Dark Phoenix that the Phoenix Entity was addicted to human emotion and sensation, and refused to give it up? And didn't the Hellfire Club control the Phoenix with those same sensations? What better way of doing that than to have the Phoenix join what's essentially a fetish club, where she can feel all the sensations she wants, both pleasurable and painful?
Too bad that alchemy machine in the comic can't turn this piece of crap into gold.
ReplyDelete""*sigh* Where's Wonder Woman when you need her?"
She's too busy trying to get her mother to kill her in Amazons Attack."
Wasn't she busy destroying that garbage?
"Who are the Vampires of Venus? How can I join??"
Apparently, the narrator is a poor man's version of Deadpool.
Boy, that narrato
EcchiOtaku's right. There are hentais that are more conservative.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I have another request. I only have two words for you.
Maximum.
Carnage.
"NO ONE at my high school was ever this idiotic."
ReplyDeleteWell plenty of them were at mine. They did it when I was a student and they do it now that I'm a teacher. Just go to almost any popular hangout for teenagers in the country (a public high school, a shopping mall, etc.) and you can see it for yourself.
I agree that this comic is utterly terrible. The characterization of the "heros" is boring and 1-dimensional, the artwork is bland and awkward, and the writing wouldn't pass muster in an 8th grade English class. But saying it's "sexist" to have a female character dress like a whore and act constantly boy-crazy is simply wrong. (If Brodsky had somehow said or implied that all women act like this, then it would be sexist. But unless there's a lot more to this comic that you were unable to show, I'm not seeing it.)
"Only if the intent of showing them as dull-minded clods is to make them appear more sexually attractive, or that without women they revert to dull-minded clods (anyone remember Spock's Brain?)."
First, sexism is defined as "prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination on the basis of sex or gender". Making a character sexually attractive is not, in and of itself, sexism. Nor is it necessarily sexist to want a character to be sexually attractive (if that were true then merely having a sex drive would itself be sexist).
And if you agree that the second example is sexist, where is the condemnation for the literally hundreds of sitcoms and tv commercials that do portray men as brainless dunces who can barely feed or dress themselves without their wives or girlfriends around? If sexism is wrong then it's wrong in every context and situation, yet it seems condemnation is only reserved for sexism against women while sexism against men is largely ignored.
"mighty samurai: have YOU talked to any women?"
Have you? It's not like comic book writers are making this stuff up, you know. Plenty of women DO voluntarily objectify themselves by dressing like sluts and acting boy-crazy (why do you think school dress codes almost always forbid short skirts and exposed midriffs?). Nobody makes them do it, but they still do. Admittedly there are also plenty of women who don't objectify themselves and harshly criticize women that do, but there are also women who not only have no problem with it but actively encourage it. (Some of them even self-identify as feminists, which is a whole other debate in itself.)
You can say it's wrong, you can say they shouldn't do it, but it's hardly sexist for a man to show a small group of women doing exactly what some women do in real-life.
You included Ivan Drago in a review? Wow, you're my new hero.
ReplyDeleteAlso, love how at the end of every review your auto-focus blurs the camera at the end. I'm assuming it was accidental, but it's cool it does it every time. Almost like a trademark or something...
This is not strictly on-topic, but since you're talking about sexual objectification of women...
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else noticed a rather strange tendency (in Marvel comics, at least) to turn male villains into attractive female counterparts? Are they deliberately trying to get people with genderbending fetishes to read comics?
Examples: first, Ultron turned into a sexy female robot. Then Loki turned into a sexy female goddess. Then Mister Sinister became Miss Sinister. Most recently, Bullseye acquired a female counterpart in Lady Bullseye (I guess she's not as bad as the others, but I would still argue that Ed Brubaker missed the point of the 'Lady Snowblood' film).
It wouldn't be so much of an issue if all of these new female villains hadn't been drawn in a way that is clearly intended to titillate the reader (with the possible exception of Lady Bullseye); the Ultron femme-bot is completely naked in her first appearance, Miss Sinister is dressed up in revealing bondage gear and Loki's new costume reveals a lot of cleavage.
All I can say is that Marvel's writers seem to be very lonely men with some very weird fetishes.
Seriously, what is up with that?
^But Maximum Carnage is actually GOOD.
ReplyDeleteOk now this comic actually makes Amazons Attack look good…. Well provably not…
ReplyDeleteI could clearly see just by the title that something was awfully wrong with that comic. I mean sultry! Come on!! Almost as if they wanted the comic to be on the conditioned section with a black cover plastic bag. Oh wait… with a publisher like that is not surprise. How to use black magic to dominate woman? Damn I wander if Satana may say something about that book…
Btw subtle advertisement there with the black and white comics…
"And if you agree that the second example is sexist, where is the condemnation for the literally hundreds of sitcoms and tv commercials that do portray men as brainless dunces who can barely feed or dress themselves without their wives or girlfriends around? If sexism is wrong then it's wrong in every context and situation, yet it seems condemnation is only reserved for sexism against women while sexism against men is largely ignored."
ReplyDeleteIt's largely ignored because it's not nearly as prevalent or as bad, and there's a longer history of sexism against women with ingrained attitudes that continued well into the 1990s. Remember - that law that said women weren't allowed to be in active combat in the air force lasted UNTIL 1993.
Of course sexism is bad in all forms, of course sexism demeans men as much as women - but when people bring that fact up, it's usually a method of detracting away from the main point - the sexism against women.
And as for why I'm not calling it out in all forms, this Blog is about comic books and occasionally an extension of geek culture, which is why you don't see more posts from me about video games or TV shows, much as I am often tempted to go into rants on some subjects. Sometimes something just gets on my mind so much that I have to talk about it, hence the VLOG about Pokemon games.
And allow me to point out that just because I don't talk about it doesn't mean I don't think about it and don't consider it. Combatting sexism anywhere is a good thing, even if it's in the pages of funny books.
If you wany epitome-level stupid from Solson Publications, then you REALLY need to check out Samurai the 13th. It's where a samurai ends up taking the "cook" position at Camp Crystal Lake on the same night that Jason comes back.
ReplyDeleteAlso, more boob-sized plot-holes can be found in Jade, another Solson comic.
^But Maximum Carnage is actually GOOD.
ReplyDeleteI used to think so too. Then I read it through again and realized that it is really not good. Just mindless violence and fourteen parts all doing exactly the same thing.
Venom: We have to kill Carnage
Spider-Man: We are not killing Carnage
Lather, rinse, repeat over and over again.
Now I like Carnage, but let's face it, the only reason he was created was to make Venom look good in comparison.
Plus, it would be fun to watch Linkara rip into this series.
Yeeeaaah, sorry to say I've also read it again recently and I still like it. Maybe the situations were repetitive, but the individual fights all had their own purpose behind them and ultimately the message was great.
ReplyDeleteOy, no one gets New Orleans.
ReplyDelete^Yeeeaaah, sorry to say I've also read it again recently and I still like it. Maybe the situations were repetitive, but the individual fights all had their own purpose behind them and ultimately the message was great.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but did you need FOURTEEN parts to tell us that?
I just have one thing to say...
ReplyDeleteWhat the blazes are all those F/A-18s and A-4s doing at an *Air Force* Base? Only the US Navy and Marine Corps operated both those types——and by that point in the 80s, it probably would have been only the Marines, unless the A-4s were "Aggressors."
Bah. It's really the little things, y'know?
Brodsky's a money-whore, eh? BTW, I know of a bad manga I heard about called Wounded man.
ReplyDeleteAh, man; why didn't he just have the guts to make this an outright pr0n comic, at least then I would have a little more respect for it! :-)
ReplyDelete"And you'll notice that even if he did add those elements to Blackfire, it didn't undermine her as a villain and in fact I would've never known that if it hadn't been pointed out."
ReplyDeleteOk, but if characters, like Blackfire, can ear revealing clothes and creators, like George Perez, can get away with in putting their own fetishes into the characters, but still have strong, intresting, chracters that don't pose sexually to the reader, then whats the harm in having them wear revealing clothes? I mean, when Powergirl was first introduced she didn't pose sexually, all the artist (Wally Wood) did was make her wear a costume that showed off her breasts. He did this (much like Perez) for his own amusement, but it didn't compromise her character. She was still someone who killed ass, strong, and was interesting. If a character can be like that, I feel that its all right for characters to wear revealing clothes. So long, as the costumes, themselves, are too sexual and that the characters pose sexually.
See, Blackfire's outfit isn't revealing at all.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's BETTER if they're in revealing outfits but never get put into sexualized posing, but one wonders why they need to be in revealing outfits to begin with OTHER than titillation.
Well, one could wonder why Cyborg, in his original costume, had to wear a costume that only covered his upper and lower torso, while it showed off his muscular legs and powerful arms. Or why Robin, even though he was a teen, decided to show off those long supple legs. Or why Trigon had to wear a loincloth and a pretty revealing costume that showed off his muscules and lower body. I wonder why these characters would be dressed this way, for no other reason besides titallation.
ReplyDeleteCyborg's skin showed because they wanted to show that he still had some flesh.
ReplyDeleteRobin's costume started that way when he was created because of the circus performance outfits.
Trigon was an evil demon.
And since the majority of comic book readers, especially around the time of the creations of each character were and are heterosexual males, I sincerely doubt their legs were put their for titillation purposes.
You didn't say anything about Trigon.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see your comment about Trigon. I thought you didn't respond to it. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteThough just because Trigon was an evil demon, didn't mean he had to wear a revealing costume.
Point being do you honestly think they put him bare-chested because they wanted people to be attracted to the big monster that froze most of the world in a constant nightmare?
ReplyDeleteYes, as it goes for many other female villians who did terrible things and yet wore revealing clothing for the sake of titallation. Emma Frost, Invisible Woman (when she turned evil), Raven (when she wore those elastic bands), etc. All these villians did terrible things, but they still wore revealing outfits for the purpose of titallation. Much like Trigon. And lets remember that Trigon still wore a pretty revealing costume that showed off his body besides his bare-chest.
ReplyDelete"And since the majority of comic book readers, especially around the time of the creations of each character were and are heterosexual males, I sincerely doubt their legs were put their for titillation purposes."
Did you forgot my point about Dick Grayson still having a big fanbase with women readers? There were (and still are) woman who read comics. The proof of this is a blog called Green Lantern Butts where the female blogger posts picts of Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, etc. because she likes to look at their asses. Plus, she talks about the latest issues of GL. This is a woman who likes to look at male superhero butt and reads comics. If creators, like Prez, can show off their male heroes bodies and female readers can look at male superheroes bodies, wheres the harm in giving revealing costumes to female heroes and having male readers look at female heroes' bodies?
You brought up the point that Namor is alright in wearing his green trunks because he lives under-water and hes a villian. Fair enough, but you could say the same thing about Shanna the She-Devil, a woman who lives in the jungle and wears only a binki and is a superheroine. These are characters who both wear revealing clothing because of their environments and because of what they do. So, if it fits the character's characterazation, where and how they live, and their role as hero or villian, then is it ok for them to wear revealing clothes? Even if, sometimes creators sexualize them (both male and female). And if its, for example, only male characters that wear revealing clothes and female characters that don't, where is the fairness in that? And even if the creators weren't trying to sexualize the character when they created them (Even though Wonder Woman wore a pretty revealing cotume, her creator still was a femenist) were is the harm in female and male characters wearing revealing outfits?
There's a disproportionate amount of it, with more women in revealing or bare outfits and more porntastic posing. And while that woman may of course enjoy Hal's posterior, I sincerely doubt the creators framed any panels in such a way that's supposed to be what the reader looks at.
ReplyDelete"There's a disproportionate amount of it, with more women in revealing or bare outfits and more porntastic posing."
ReplyDeleteFair enough.
"And while that woman may of course enjoy Hal's posterior, I sincerely doubt the creators framed any panels in such a way that's supposed to be what the reader looks at."
My point was that women like to look at male heroes and that they're women readers. I wasn't trying to prove that artists made any of Green Lanterns pose sexually for the reader.
Wow. Someone who sucks more than Chuck Austen without actually being a black hole. The impossible has become the possible!
ReplyDeleteThis comic is like UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie, nipples and fanservice ho!
ReplyDeleteMilitary aircraft rant mode engaged.
ReplyDeleteThe aircraft from the cover is closest to one XF-30 series of technology demonstrators, but its single engine proves the guy didn't have a reference.
The jets taking off from the base are F/A-18s. The twin tails with the outward cant give them away. THESE ARE NOT USED BY THE AIR FORCE. THEY ARE NAVY AIRCRAFT.
The aircraft in the foreground are A-4s. These are also Navy aircraft; however the Air Force did use them in very small numbers as aggressor aircraft for training since their performance characteristics were very similar to MiG-19s and MiG-21s. They were based at...Nellis, Nevada.
The aircraft the mechanics are working on is also apparently one of Heinmann's Hotrods, but it's been very poorly drawn so I can't swear to anything.
The jet that's covered in tarps is, weirdly enough, not the jet from the cover. (You'd think it would be.)
...in fact, I'd know those next-to-the-cockpit canards and that bell-shaped twin tail configuration anywhere. It's an F-19A Ghostrider. As such, it never actually existed; the F-19A was what people THOUGHT the stealth fighter looked like and was called before the real one, the F-117 Nighthawk, was publically revealed.
So the comic is revealing its own ignorance in every plane you see. How appropriate.
Apart from a man who gets his powers from snorting cocaine, nothing will ever top an alchemy machine that turns dog poop into gold.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the Jackal
Future Five
Quicksilver being head over heels for the Scarlet Witch
Smokescreen
On second thought, there is a lot of things that tops an alchemy that turns dog poop into gold.
Canohji
I looked up John Norman and man, that guy is pretty creepy. I can understand power fantasies, but having every mainstream book he wrote with every woman being like this and constantly soap boxing about it is something different.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I don't have a problem with women superheroes wearing revealing costumes, so long as they aren't in any suggestive poses and as long as they are given good characterization.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, Linkara, our discussion of whether John Byrne and Chris Claremont were trying to titillate readers with the Hellfire Club's costumes in The Dark Phoenix Saga is false. I read on Comics Should Be Good's Urban Legends Revealed that Bryne and Clarmont were paying homage to an episode of the Avengers where the villains were dressed in 18th century bondage gear.
You could still make the case that Claremont and Bryne were still trying to titillate readers with Storm in her undies. But, they played fair since they also had Colossus and Wolverine in their undies as well.
1:15: “… now I'm a capitalist, so he [Gary Brodsky] is free to publish whatever the hell he wants, but on that same note I'm free to criticize the hell out of him for doing so”
ReplyDeleteAgreed, and more power to you. But that's not capitalism, that's freedom of speech. Freedom of speech has been defended by capitalists, socialists, communists, anarchists, what-have-you, and it's been repressed by capitalists, socialists, communists etc.
4:08: “… Girl With Hair From Thundercats sighs and proclaims she misses one of the guys already. Eighties Hair rolls her eyes and says 'That is so high school …'”
Who cares about their hair? Look at their EYES, man! It's like they have the opposite of Youngblood's Disease. They look like Dark Willow on a bad hair day for Zark's sake. Head for the hills!
5:55: “Sheena's father reads her the riot act …”
Ack! Her expression in that lefthand panel is creepy. She looks like she's just opened the closet door to find Yog-Sothoth feasting on her best friend's soul. Ahh!
This is a year late, but rewatching this for the n'th time, I just noticed something:
ReplyDelete"You just need a friggin Arial font [...]"
And it struck me... it's Helvetica, not that cheap knockoff Arial! As one can clearly see from the horizontal lines on the end of the Cs and the non-straight leg on the R.
That password thing isn't too implausible, actually. For the longest time, the launch code for the Nuclear Football was "0000"
ReplyDeleteThere will be debates over which comic is the worst -- Superman at Earth's End, Spider-Man Clone Saga, Spider-Man One More Day, Chuck Austen's X-men stories, Neutro, Amazons Attack, DC Countdown -- but there is only one company that could call itself the WORST COMIC PUBLISHER ever, Solson Publications. This title is one of the worst I've ever heard, even worse than oh say Amazon Attack. I mean, I like hot super heroines but Gary Brodsky is nothing but a misogynist idiot with a track record of epic fails and this is proof.
ReplyDeleteSo, you plan on doing other comics from Gary Brodsky?
I swear I read "Slutty Super Teenage-Foxes" whenever my eye caught the title while playing previous videos, and AFTER I started watching noticed that the first word isn't "slutty". It would've made more snese if it was, at least the comic would've been honest from the start :B
ReplyDelete