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I think Parker needs a good chiropractor. Some serious Scoliosis going on there.

The major issue isn’t that we’re scandalized by seeing women (or men) in sexualized poses, it’s the tragic void of women in poses that serve any other primary purpose.

It’s a problem of primacy. In the representation of men, sexuality is not primary, for women, it is.

Call it the Primacy Paradox.

the reason they pose women like that is because it looks hot!!! a woman sticking her butt up and showing you her meat, is just dam hot

Although that Spidey cover looks like some gay erotica to me, that’s not heroic.
That’s not webbing he’s got those guys wrapped up in, that his spider-spunk.
:P

Actually there is a big difference. His sternum is on the ground and so is the front of his pelvis. Her sternum is on the ground but her pelvis is way up at a much higher altitude. Her pelvis is so high she’s kneeling. His pelvis is so low he has to do a split and the insides of his thighs, not his knees, are touching the ground.

I wish people would stop presenting these poses as if they are the same.

One thing the two poses have in common us that they are incredibly impractical. Peter’s legs are so far apart they couldn’t possibly propel him forward. Jessica’s legs are positioned to throw her into the ground.

Peter doesn’t look quite as much like he’s presenting, though, so you’re definitely right about that.

Yeah. When women complain about the ypersualization of women in comics there’s always one guy who pipes up, “But all the superheroes with all their muscles and perfect bodies in tight spandex — they’re fantasies for the girls.” Of course they are not women’s fantasies — they are fantasies for the little boy and for the 30 year old guy who’s really still a little boy. And those women you draw guys, I would not call them perfect, but rather insulting and sometimes painful. What I find sexy in men: intelligence, a sense of humor, and a guy who is not morbidly obese and who bathes regularly.

Spidey’s pose is also: more active, actually spider like, and is on a ball of what I am assuming of trapped criminals. It conveys some sense of story, tone, and character. Even Spidey’s face, which is covered in a mask, has personality. It conveys, at the very least, a sense of menace.

The Spiderwoman cover…doesn’t. The pose she’s in is generic “look at my butt!” The cityscape, also generic. Her face has no expression. Unless the ledge she’s on has some deep story meaning we’re all missing, all that cover convey is “LOOK AT MAH BUTT”. Which, you know, if that’s what the comic is about…ok. But otherwise, it’s just not engaging other than the obvious.

Marvel mad Manara have absolutely done their jobs. Sales of Spider-woman have easily increased compared to sales with only the Greg Land cover.

Outrage/controversy = $$$

I’d argue that there’s nothing terribly wrong with Manara’s picture as such (though being familiar with his work I’d say it’s a pretty weak effort as well as anatomically improbable). But why in the name of dog did Marvel hire an artist of erotic comics to do the cover for Spider Woman? This kind of imagery just doesn’t belong in what is ostensibly a non pornographic superheroine comic. I don’t blame Manara for this, not one bit. It’s a sign of editorial sexism and boneheadedness.