Sex And Relationships In Comics

[ed2962]

That scene creeped me out, but not for the obvious reasons. Why did they feel the need to show her smoking and painted up in garish makeup in order to show that she's not a "good girl"? It seems like a weirdly outdated take, even considering that it was about 30 years ago. Having her in costume, looking like regular ol' Terra and talking about how she betrayed the team (or not, depending on your perspective) would have done the job just as well, and been more disturbing/heartbreaking in my book.

I think it was partially like you say, shorthand to say "this person is bad/edgy/hardboiled/whatever." And partially to contrast what she's really like opposed to how we were seeing her when she was around the other Titans which was most of the time. Slade even remarks on it in the comic, something like, "Get rid of that make up before you go back, cute girl heroes wouldn't get caught dead it that!"

[ed2962]

Thinking about it, a missed opportunity was Vision and Scarlet Witch raising babies. Marvel could have pushed the superhero genre in ways that haven't really been done much outside of the FF. The idea of balancing superheroics and science fiction with offbeat characterizations and family dynamics. Of course, there's also the strange love affair between the two of them that could have been pushed in a more thoughtful area.I wouldn't want to see Vish and Wanda get back together today just because they gone thru too much since those days, but it could have been interesting say in the same way that DC played Animal Man and his family.





Come to think of it, DC could have had an interesting thing with Roy Harper as a single dad.

[ed2962]

A comic that pushed the envelope during it's time, but gets largely overlooked by today's fans was the Sabre ongoing from the 80's. Written by Don McGregor with art by Paul Gulacy, Billy Graham, and Jose Ortiz, Sabre was set in the near future and told the story of a starry eyed adventurer fighting against an oppressive establishment.

It contained not only an interracial romance, but also a kinda graphic birth scene and possibly one of the first ( if not the first) on panel kiss between gay men.



Plus the hero sorta looks like Jimi Hendrix

[Mbast1]

A comic that pushed the envelope during it's time, but gets largely overlooked by today's fans was the Sabre ongoing from the 80's.

Something else I'll have to hunt down. Comics have long seen themselves as being the "bad boys" of publishing, doing the stuff the others won't. And, in the mainstream, superhero-obsessed comics, this really isn't true. The stereotypes lives quite nicely there. BUT, and I'm going back (and outwards, outside the US) to find all the independents where it IS true.
Thanks for another book to find.

[FanboyStranger]

A comic that pushed the envelope during it's time, but gets largely overlooked by today's fans was the Sabre ongoing from the 80's. Written by Don McGregor with art by Paul Gulacy, Billy Graham, and Jose Ortiz, Sabre was set in the near future and told the story of a starry eyed adventurer fighting against an oppressive establishment.

It contained not only an interracial romance, but also a kinda graphic birth scene and possibly one of the first ( if not the first) on panel kiss between gay men.



Plus the hero sorta looks like Jimi Hendrix

Sabre is great book. Probably the purest distillation of what Don McGregor wanted to do with comics. Still, very much a product of its times. It hasn't aged all that well-- mostly due to McGregor's (over)writing-- but a very important milestone in the history of comics. To be quite frank, I don't think we've seen another graphic birth in comics since Rick Veitch's issue of Miracleman a few years after this issue of Sabre.

Also, it doesn't count if it's not a superhero comic around here. That's why Young Avengers has more cred than Stuck Rubber Baby.

[ed2962]

Something else I'll have to hunt down. Comics have long seen themselves as being the "bad boys" of publishing, doing the stuff the others won't. And, in the mainstream, superhero-obsessed comics, this really isn't true. The stereotypes lives quite nicely there. BUT, and I'm going back (and outwards, outside the US) to find all the independents where it IS true.
Thanks for another book to find.

If you liked Don's run on Black Panther or Killraven in the 70's, I'd say definitely give it a try. But as Fanboy Stranger says, Don has a tendency to overwrite a bit. If you're used to the modern era of decompression, his style might be a bit of a challenge.

[ed2962]

Sabre is great book. Probably the purest distillation of what Don McGregor wanted to do with comics. Still, very much a product of its times. It hasn't aged all that well-- mostly due to McGregor's (over)writing-- but a very important milestone in the history of comics. To be quite frank, I don't think we've seen another graphic birth in comics since Rick Veitch's issue of Miracleman a few years after this issue of Sabre.

Also, it doesn't count if it's not a superhero comic around here. That's why Young Avengers has more cred than Stuck Rubber Baby.

I'm aware of Howard Cruz but I've never read Stuck Rubber Baby. This is the semi-autobio about growing up in the 60's that deals with race as well as sexuality right?

Have you ever read Enigma? It's "sorta" a cape comic, but not really...


When I read it, I thought it was really ground breaking. People talk about comics they would like to see done as live action, I think this would work really nicely as a mini-series

[ed2962]

Chessecake and Beefcake

An artist that I think is great but gets overlooked is Dave Stevens. He's great because he not only has a grasp on anatomy but also understands how fashion works which some times gets ignored when some artists try to draw "hot" women.



Not enuff people understand beefcake. It's not having an illustration of Logan with multiple bullet and sword wounds. It's men being portrayed as sexy and attractive. One guy I think gets it right is Oliver Coipel.



anyone else have opinions of artists who can do sexy yet tasteful?

[Mbast1]

If you liked Don's run on Black Panther or Killraven in the 70's, I'd say definitely give it a try. But as Fanboy Stranger says, Don has a tendency to overwrite a bit. If you're used to the modern era of decompression, his style might be a bit of a challenge.

I don't know his work that well. Born in '67 so aware of a lot of the 1970s stuff, but haven't read it because the really good stuff wasn't where I could get to it, and by the time I could, it was out of my price-range. So one of the things I want to do is go find it now. We'll see.
I like the writing of a lot of the eras, I do enjoy decompression, but I grew up reading different things. I think I can handle it.
Thanks!

[Mbast1]

I'm aware of Howard Cruz but I've never read Stuck Rubber Baby. This is the semi-autobio about growing up in the 60's that deals with race as well as sexuality right?

I started it, and never finished it. Not the book's fault, in that I went back to school and just never found the time to finish it before I sold it for food money, but it was good as far into it as I got.

[FanboyStranger]

Have you ever read Enigma? It's "sorta" a cape comic, but not really...


When I read it, I thought it was really ground breaking. People talk about comics they would like to see done as live action, I think this would work really nicely as a mini-series

I love Enigma. It's probably the best comics mini-series ever done. (With some love for The Adventures of Luther Awkwright and Grendel Tale: Devils and Death.) It's really brilliant in pretty much every way, from confounding expectations about a superhero can be to the reveal about the disinterested narrator. There's more originality and creativity in Enigma than any other superhero comic that's come along in the past 20 years. I'm glad that DC is finally going to reprint it soon. It needs to be read!

[Greg]

I'm aware of Howard Cruz but I've never read Stuck Rubber Baby. This is the semi-autobio about growing up in the 60's that deals with race as well as sexuality right?

Have you ever read Enigma? It's "sorta" a cape comic, but not really...


When I read it, I thought it was really ground breaking. People talk about comics they would like to see done as live action, I think this would work really nicely as a mini-series

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!! This has to be one of my absolute favorite comic books. I really wish they would reprint this in trade. I had to find the issues at a comic convention. I'm glad I found the single issues, though, it's also great to read the letter pages of it. But yeah, it's so imaginative and raw in it's surrealism. I was hooked from page one and it's such a great character study on the main character. Books like this is why I have so much fun and love for the medium.

[Billy Batson]

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!! This has to be one of my absolute favorite comic books. I really wish they would reprint this in trade. I had to find the issues at a comic convention. I'm glad I found the single issues, though, it's also great to read the letter pages of it. But yeah, it's so imaginative and raw in it's surrealism. I was hooked from page one and it's such a great character study on the main character. Books like this is why I have so much fun and love for the medium.

The reprint is coming out in December.
http://www.amazon.com/Enigma-New-Pet...nigma+milligan

[FanboyStranger]

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!! This has to be one of my absolute favorite comic books. I really wish they would reprint this in trade. I had to find the issues at a comic convention. I'm glad I found the single issues, though, it's also great to read the letter pages of it. But yeah, it's so imaginative and raw in it's surrealism. I was hooked from page one and it's such a great character study on the main character. Books like this is why I have so much fun and love for the medium.

Greg, a new deluxe edition is coming out next month. Buy yourself a nice Christmas present!

[Billy Batson]

Greg, a new deluxe edition is coming out next month. Buy yourself a nice Christmas present!

It seems to be a just a regular trade, not a deluxe one.