DC Comics Cancels "Batgirl" Joker Variant at Artist's Request

[hunter_peterson]

I grew up on comics — Batman, Superman, Captain America, and Spiderman pretty much taught me ethics and social responsibility — and I want her to love them like I do. Speaking strictly as a parent, I want a recognizable mainstream featured character that's age-appropriate for my kid. She's a girl, she wants to follow female characters, but a lot of the covers for the comics I read outright scare her. I want to trust Batgirl, Ms. Marvel, etc., will be safe for my kid from cover to cover. It's not censorship to understand that if you're going to write an all-ages book that you need to make sure the "all ages" includes some very young readers.

The variant wasn't made by the same creative team at all and is not the standard cover. The audience for the variant and the audience for the cover are not the same. Your daughter would only see this if you had hunted it down and specifically showed it to her. That isn't the issue.

And why is it that others can't make the choice whether or not e want the cover for themselves? Nobody has any obligation to buy something they don't want, so whose hands it could end up in is irrelevant.

And there's no evidence that seeing a man creepily standing next to a woman and holding a gun is harmful to anyone in any way.

[Claude]

So it wasn't Albuqueque who got the threats, it was people who complained about the cover.

People who complained about the cover got Death Threats?

Obviously, that cannot be allowed to stand. I imagine that everyone who's posted in this thread worried about censorship and intimidation will now be 100% behind the decision not to use the cover, because We Can't Let People Get Their Own Way With Violence!

Right?

[dzub]

I'm looking forward to Joker's sensitivity training seminar.

let's start a petition to bring the 60s Adam West Batman show Joker back.
the face cutting on the current one makes me uncomfortable

The funny thing this book also a had a bunch of problems with one issue do to a male villain that dressed up as a woman.

This type of thing is infuriating. I strongly favour toward disliking the joker and I will probably never read the Killing Joke, but this is not fair to the artist or DC.

I was thinking about making a thread for this also, but there was another artist recently who pulled his webcomic down over complaints he was 'fetishizing' Japanese culture. The problem with appealing to this 'tumblr' culture (which is what Batgirl is designed to appeal to) is they are incredibly thin skinned and if you dare step outside their comfort zone they freak out.

i'm not too familiar with that incident ..but the book is still churning out new issues?
jeez

the joker is'nt my favourite character too but i do understand at the core, he's insane.
if he can't be insane and do sadistic things then..his value as a character is gone IMO

culture is a different topic altogether and if you wish, you could PM me on that.
i don't wish to de-rail the topic :^)

Especially these days where many times the covers (particularly with Marvel) don't even reflect what happens inside. Or, vaguely so.

yeah i was disappointed deadpool did'nt freestyle in that siege variant

What exactly is off limits in art? Are these people gonna flip their lids every time a female character is brutalized in a comic? DC is spineless for yielding to the pressure.

the joker manipulated wonder woman in batman #36/37
no fuss about that?

[AcesX1X]

So I just heard about this:

Cameron Stewart said that the threats the DC statement was referring to were the ones made against people objecting to the cover.


Imagine that.

do you have a source? i'm very interested to follow this.

[Kid A]

So I just heard about this:

Cameron Stewart said that the threats the DC statement was referring to were the ones made against people objecting to the cover.


Imagine that.

Time to knock down a lot of high horses in this thread.

Good god.

[brandnewfan]

This is all so stupid.

Where was the social outcry when Jason Todd, who was a child at the time, was literally being murdered by the Joker?
Where were these people when Damian Wayne, another male, another child, was murdered?

And to top it all, this is a VARIANT cover, which won't be sold or on display as much as the regular cover. It's basically a specialty item. If you don't like it, buy the regular cover. And if you really are so bothered then drop the book altogether. Use your money to make your point, don't ruin things for everyone else. Geez people!

Another thing....art is mostly interpretation. You see it one way, another fan sees the art a different way. I never once looked at that cover and saw a defenseless female who wasn't fighting back like some of these people are saying.

[Cipher]

Actually, that's one of the problems. People just forget about that.

While that sounds like a baffling move and I actually wasn't aware of it to begin with, yeah; there needs to be a middle ground between treating those issues with weight and having them be (unfortunately) one of the defining elements of a character, especially one of the relatively few prominent female superheroes.

Maybe the lesson is to just not tread into those waters unless you're ready to treat them with a weight and respect I don't think most serialized superhero comics are structured for.

[hunter_peterson]

The artist requested it be cancelled, and the writer was glad.

So, who was it working on the book who wanted that cover to be used?



So, things can't be demeaning to women so long as their isn't actual physical violence and it's Comics Canon?

Leaving aside the idea that Comics Canon has never been demeaning to women, I'd point out again that this cover features a crying Batgirl having a gun pointed between her legs as the Joker just finishes smearing a "smile" over her face.



I'm aware. I didn't want it "banned".

Probably Albuquerque did want it published, but pulled it because people complained. If he would've pulled it without the complaints, then he could be said not to have been censored. But it's specifically been pulled because "dozens" of comments about it were negative. That's an utterly insignificant number of people.

EDIT: Forgot to point out that "down" doesn't equal "between the legs." Between the legs would obviously be an entirely different pose than that. If anything, it's pointed at her feet. And it's perfectly in character for the Joker to do something like this. And if it were in a story, I could very easily see this situation happening in a dream sequence. The art doesn't support your opinion.

[numberthirty]

Pretty sure Cameron Stewart is going to be keeping a much closer eye on the Batgirl variants from now on.

That's kind of where I'm going. This never should have wound up where readers are in a position to discuss it.

[Scymiral]

So I just heard about this:

Cameron Stewart said that the threats the DC statement was referring to were the ones made against people objecting to the cover.

Imagine that.

All of a sudden, this story becomes very familiar in a very dirty way.

[macattack]

People who complained about the cover got Death Threats?

Obviously, that cannot be allowed to stand. I imagine that everyone who's posted in this thread worried about censorship and intimidation will now be 100% behind the decision not to use the cover, because We Can't Let People Get Their Own Way With Violence!

Right?

Honestly I don't care if it was cover supporters threatening non-supporters or vice versa. My position remains the same. Keep the cover.

Threats are wrong in all circumstances.

[teddyeatsyourface]

Before I even read some of the more detailed posts and reasonings as to why the variant was in poor taste and offensive, I thought the variant was inappropriate and alarming. The cover is of Batgirl standing in absolute fear with a tear coming down her face while the joker is standing behind her and touchin her face. Like, that's some creepy, nightmare rapist crap right there. I love Rafa's art, but that was a pretty dark variant to make regardless of the new "tone" in the Batgirl books. And look at the other variants they're all either slapstick or artfully scary. Batgirl's variant was just creepy and uncomfortable.

I'm glad both Rafa & DC decided to take this opportunity to listen to the criticism of the variant and made an effort to handle the situation in a respectable manner.

[Kid A]

"Something to clarify, because DCs statement was a little unclear. @rafaalbuquerque did not get threats. People OBJECTING to the cover did."

[Coal Tiger]

You'd rather not get into telling the artist what art they should be making..but then go and do it anyway.
To answer your qestion, it is very simple, that's not what Albuquerque wanted to do. There is no mystery to it.

And pretty sure the other guy who talked about CCA harming comics was talking about comics as an art form, not the industry.

I'm pointing out that there are options. You can show Joker terrorizing Batgirl without taking the most obvious and least creative route.


And whoever was talking about the CCA should be more specific, since I'm not sure you can find a person who's been reading comics since the 70's who would say that comics are better now than they were in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. What was the most "classic" Spider-Man story? Probably "the night Gwen Stacy died" or "If this by my destiny/the final chapter" and guess what was on the cover of those books? Year One had the code on it, as did The Laughing Fish. And before you think I'm arguing in favor of "censorship" what I'm saying is that the comics code was irrelevant. It didn't hurt anyone.

[Pinsir]

Dear god, don't let this spin out to a video game mess.

I'm on a thread on 4chan about this and when GG was brought up and how it might spawn 'Comicgate' those comments were immediately shut down with a resounding no. No one wants a comic version of gamergate.