Wal-Mart Superman Comic imagines torture and death of Lois Lane?

[Flash Gordon]

It actually is pretty cool - I'd like to see them more fully distributed in Walmart stores (and other stores), but since Walmart has such a huge share of the retail market (ymmv on how "good" that is) it's good to put Superman comics in front of the people who shop there.

That said... they really should be marketing these to all ages. Not *just* to kids, but it should be at least somewhat kid-accessible. A lot of us started reading as kids. I was 11. There's no reason these can't be done like that, and no good reason why they shouldn't.

Walmart will do the comic market no glory. It has contributed to the death kneel of a ton of markets.

I'm ALL IN for more visibility and a larger market base but I dont see Wally World doing the best job of that. I wouldn't be as opposed to it, if it was also being sold in other outlets- but this whole WALMART EXCLUSIVE stuff is too much.

[DochaDocha]

I feel like the obvious solution would be to put the comics next to the relevant toys, but I'm guessing that bit of real estate in the toy section isn't worth being utilized in selling comic books.

[Konja7]

Kids aside....at what point can we acknowledge that a reliance on violence against women to drive plot and conflict is damaging whether kids are present or not. This stuff is just as inappropriate aimed at adults because violence against women is not some adult right of passage.

Every time Lois and Clark have a sex scene in media there are cries of “think of the kids” or “this isn’t family friendly.” Every time. When Smallville was on the air and the Comic con preview aired with what was, yes, a fairly intense love scene for a PG-13 audience there were cries all over the place of it “looking like soft core p*rn” and “inappropriate.” Countless condescending articles were written about the infamous bathroom love scene in Batman vs. Superman when that scene was 100% consensual between two live in partners and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I am beyond tired of pearl clutching when two characters who have been an item for on and off 80 freaking years have sex and yet it’s a giant shrug from some of the same people when said woman is shot in the head.

Acts of violence (not only against women) seem to be pretty common in comics. Regarding violence in comics, I have seen much more horrible things that I would need to complaint before I can complaint about the imaginary deaths of Lois Lane in this comic.

Do not get me wrong, I understand the problem of sacrificing female characters to affect other characters. However, this does not seem to be the case, since she is perfectly fine and nothing has happened to her.

[numberthirty]

Wow... someone tried hacking into someone's bank account/etc over a review? That's messed up, and absolutely unwelcome. My condolences to the reviewer and her family - nobody deserves that. Even as much as I complain about Snyder's DCEU Superman direction, I'd never wish ill on him or his family, and I don't understand the mindset of anyone who would.


Back on topic(ish): not that it matters, but I'm in agreement about just talking about the work itself - I've liked King on Superman the few times I've read him, so this doesn't change everything for me... it was definitely a mistake, though. Even if they wanted to do something like this on a concept level, there are less graphic was to put Superman's anxiety across to the reader effectively. Sometimes less is more.

No.

My post doesn't make much sense out of context. I can edit it if anyone wants me to.

[numberthirty]

Yeah, Walmart had $500 BILLION in revenue last year. Not a bad place to sell if you want to give your comic some consumer visibility.

While it's getting off of topic a bit, you only get the visibility if customers will see it. Having asked in three Wal-Marts, I just got blank looks and guess where they might be(which turned out to be wrong).

[JAK]

Kids aside....at what point can we acknowledge that a reliance on violence against women to drive plot and conflict is damaging whether kids are present or not. This stuff is just as inappropriate aimed at adults because violence against women is not some adult right of passage.

Every time Lois and Clark have a sex scene in media there are cries of “think of the kids” or “this isn’t family friendly.” Every time. When Smallville was on the air and the Comic con preview aired with what was, yes, a fairly intense love scene for a PG-13 audience there were cries all over the place of it “looking like soft core p*rn” and “inappropriate.” Countless condescending articles were written about the infamous bathroom love scene in Batman vs. Superman when that scene was 100% consensual between two live in partners and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I am beyond tired of pearl clutching when two characters who have been an item for on and off 80 freaking years have sex and yet it’s a giant shrug from some of the same people when said woman is shot in the head.

I'm of two minds about the general concept (and I mean that in the most extremely general way possible), but I completely agree about the execution (which, given the subject, is a poor choice of words so I apologize in advance). I'm loathe to take the concept completely off the table in any instance ever, because worry (and getting carried away by it) can be part and parcel to love at times. It's a natural reaction. That said, the graphic depictions and having it be the sole focus of things isn't good for any age - completely agreed there. That it's such a trope should absolutely be called out, too, and I'm glad people have done that.

Also agreed on the pearl clutching during love scenes - but the U.S. especially has always been much more puritan on anything remotely sexual than it has on violence... something I've never really understood. The former should be considered much more natural than the latter, imo.

It's absolutely smart business to expand the distribution beyond the hobby shops. The direct market will be the death of us if a workaround isn't found. And selling to Wal-Mart is a great option, for brick-and-mortar retailers. No offense to those who shop there a lot, but Wal-Mart doesn't always attract the....wealthiest.....of customers. Those parents might not have the extra $60 for a new video game, but they might have an extra $4-$5 for a comic. And, of course, Wal-Mart is the nation's biggest retailer. Last I knew, they employed 10% of Americans. It's a great place to get your product a lot of visibility, and the comics are within the price range of the average Wal-Mart shopper (again, no offense).

I really don't agree with *how* they've decided to distribute the comics though. Sticking them in the collectibles aisle seems painfully redundant. That aisle attracts people already involved in geek culture, and the potential of pulling in readers seems limited. If Wal-Mart was stocking these things in the toy section or in electronics, it'd have been better. More kids go through that section than the others, and in electronics you could put the comics next to the superhero movies. Far more likely to pull in new eyes and attract more readers that way, I would think.

Perhaps Wal-Mart was willing to stock the comics, but didn't want them taking up valuable space in those sections though.

Yeah, that one I don't get, either. Maybe DC thought they could get Wal-Mart to do more if things went well? But they need to be better distributed and better presented. Not to mention better edited.

Walmart will do the comic market no glory. It has contributed to the death kneel of a ton of markets.

I'm ALL IN for more visibility and a larger market base but I dont see Wally World doing the best job of that. I wouldn't be as opposed to it, if it was also being sold in other outlets- but this whole WALMART EXCLUSIVE stuff is too much.

It's better than just the comic shops. Especially the way they're done now, there's no danger to the direct comics market. Only helps, imo.

Though, I do agree that there should be other retailers involved. Maybe, whenever this Walmart contract runs out, they'll do that (citing poor presentation or something).

No.

My post doesn't make much sense out of context. I can edit it if anyone wants me to.

Actually, I was responding to something that was in the article link you posted, and I was commenting on how messed up that was.

[numberthirty]

Actually, I was responding to something that was in the article link you posted, and I was commenting on how messed up that was.

Ah, copy that.

I thought that you might have been under the impression that it happened somehow in this instance. I could see how my post might have seemed that way.

As for the piece in the link, yeah. What they heck are people thinking about sometimes?

[JAK]

Ah, copy that.

I thought that you might have been under the impression that it happened somehow in this instance. I could see how my post might have seemed that way.

As for the piece in the link, yeah. What they heck are people thinking about sometimes?

OH! I should have been clearer, my bad.

Yeah, I don't get people who'd want to hurt someone over a review. I'm a massive fan, but that's just waaay too much attachment to a property (or perhaps they have problems in other areas, I suppose that's a likely cause too).

Speaking of Jonah, seeing the name takes me back to when I was (for a VERY brief time) the moderator of the Justice League board (which is why it says "formerly Superman" under my name - that was my old name here, I'd have just used that account but I don't have or even remember my old email, lol). I had so many ideas, and then so much happened and I got too busy to do any of them, lol.. I hated leaving, but still.. good times.

[Miles To Go]

The Rev Jerrod Hugenot writes for Bleeding Cool,

Tom King and Andy Kubert’s fifth chapter of “Up in the Sky” had immediate criticism for its multiple depictions of Lois Lane meeting her end in distressing, if not violent, situations.

I read about the reaction long before I was able to find a copy of Superman 100-Page Giant, #7, thanks in part to the maddening distribution of said comic at local stores. (This time around it was nearly two weeks after DC announced the “shelf date” before I found a copy lovingly jumbled in the haystack of older issues. Anyone need to insulate their house this year? The DC holiday special issue may be a lower cost alternative.)

The issue does indeed involve the many deaths of Lois Lane. They are the fevered imaginings of Superman far from home. He tried calling Lois back on Earth, and she didn’t answer. After a long stretch away, his idle thoughts get amped up by his fatigue and anxiety, and the “what if—?” scenarios plague him.

On one hand, this chapter fits into the overall storyline where the search for an abducted child is secondary to King’s interest in pondering how even the superhuman can struggle with being resilient yet subject to reality.

I see this theme in his other writings, whether Scott Free, Bruce Wayne or the Vision, all trying to do the heroic while being caught short by the emotional burdens of mundane mortals (or the hubris that follows when not dealing with your baggage). There is a comic element this image of the strongest person on Earth falling apart in waiting room hell for his number to be called and stewing in his lack of peace of mind.

Nonetheless the creative choices of depicting that emotional journey are at the expense of Lois, treated as a victim over and over.

Frankly, we need storytellers to think through the optics of what they write, draw and edit. One would hope times had changed. Early on in my own comics reading history, DC itself allowed a story beat years ago during the Ron Marz Green Lantern run that rightfully remains infamous and deeply disturbing.

A more considerate style of storytelling is needed so we are not also tacitly depicting unchecked violence against women. Lois is served poorly here as the damsel in distress at best and cannon fodder at worse.

We should expect better stories!

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/02...ubert-walmart/