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I went with Black Knight and Ms. Marvel. I like how Ms. Marvel has a Spider-Girl type story so I’ll stick with it for a while.

The All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe is here-yeah blah blah blah blah -marvel pro fan boys and staff dimwits strike out again.You call shit creativity ?I call it utter utter crap.me no buy-bye bye.See you at my blogs for intelligent stuff.Long Live Toreus and the gang.

It’s fanboy. It’s nostalgia. But it can still be fun. I loved the new Thor, and enjoyed Ms Marvel. Scanned the Black Knight in the shop and wasn’t impressed. Maybe on a slow week. Not touching Guardians.

Thanks for the reviews.

They aren’t paying these people are they? That seems like a terrible idea that would open a huge can of worms for Marvel. Such a bad idea.

Sarah Jean Maefs and Kevin Spooner look a lot alike in the pictures above.

Considering that the whole “Disney Princess” merchandise juggernaut began when a Disney exec saw girls in their homemade costumes and realized there was money to be made, how long before these people get slapped with C&Ds and Disney starts its own Marvel costume line?

This reminds me of how much I used to love the old Sandman Mystery Theatre covers from the 90’s. Or that old Ray ad from back in the day that looked like a bad FOX pilot waiting to happen.

Great idea.

Ms Marvel and Spider-Gwen FTW

I like that not every one of these is perfect, showing you don’t have to have a fortune or body builder body to have fun cosplaying. Cosplayers make cons a lot better with their presence and this feels like a nice celebration of that.

Amazing that it took them this long to pursue this idea. On the other hand, I’ve seen better costumes. I wonder how they came to select these particular photos.

A fun idea, though some of the costumes *do* look a bit on the droopy side. And as for a couple of the poses, would someone please get Doc Strange those two drinks he’s ordering.

Now Captain Marvel on the other hand — she wears her uniform with the right attitude!

Good to see Bisley do more Marvel. I know he did a story inside Thor: God of Thunder #25, but I’d love to see him do one of their graphic novels they’ve started putting out.

You mean Bianchi. Simon Bisley is a completely different beast altogether. Though he would be kickass on a Rocket Raccoon one-shot.

Oh jeez, complete brain fart. They’re not even doing similar styles.

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.

Not to degenerate the topic any further, and add insult to injury, but if you flip the picture upside down, Spiderwoman’s rump+bum resembles a cock + balls…

All Jessica Drew is missing is a tramp stamp and she’s good to go!

~

Coat

It looks like Minaj is completely in control of her sexuality and what she puts out there. She does as much as SHE wants to, and no more. It seems perfectly fine for a woman to want to display their sexuality.

The issue becomes when someone decides what sexuality is and isn’t acceptable; for example, someone have a tattoo on their lower back is looked down upon because…reasons.

As for the Manara drawing, he’s a good artist but the face is hanky and the suit is painted on. If he fixed those, I’d imagine defenders would have a much easier time with it. It’s not terrible perspective for being a T&A piece. Of T&A artists, he’s one of the better ones.

Land’s is just Landariffic. What are you gonna do? He’s under contract and I imagine they need to give him a certain amount of work to fulfill that contract.

Manara draws porno and cheesecake stuff. I’m not sure why the usual prudes would get shocked by this cover given Manara’s history combined with how Europeans like him don’t fear the human body to the extent some Americans do.

Got to laugh at the way people find an empowering message where they want one. The artist in a pop video has about as much control as a puppet on its strings.

There is nothing offensive in Manara’s cover, and he does erotic art not cheesecake, these last thing doesn’t exist on this side of the ocean, comics just don’t sexualize women, these are http://bit.ly/1vq3HNQ bit.ly/1ADuysT, for example, italian lead comic female characters. It’s a variant cover intended for collector of Manara’s art so I’d say it’s quite normal he does it in his style. I really don’t think Manara can be put on the same level of the american comic artists that exploit teenager sexual arousment depicting female super heroes as pornstar in exciting poses, he always made erotic art for mature readers and who knows his work knows that is not demented like a Sandler’s movie but meant to be surreal and funny; after all we are talking of someone that worked and works with people like Federico Fellini and Aleandro Jodorowsky, artists and directors some level above the average comic writer (and above average too one could say).

I don’t think it’s a misstep for Marvel neither, it’s not like they have Manara as regular cover artist for the book, it’s just one of many variants he did for them and I think it’s asinine to criticize everything at the same level, a book that systematically exploits woman sexuality and an alternative cover for collectors are not the same thing (but this is a common problem with americans and their attitude to social issues in general). While I am at it I also want to strike a blow for Land. I am not a fan or an expert of his work and I know in the past he used to trace from pornographic imagery and so on, but I’ve read the current Mighty Avengers’ run and I think it’s consciounsly trying to avoiding that behavior and style so I would give him a break by his past sins?

Heidi, given that women were 44% of the audience for Guardians of the Galaxy and given that women go to the movies on the whole more than men, it would be a questionable business move if the Manara cover was the result of Marvel deciding it needed to make Spider-Woman more “man friendly” (as well an an insult to a lot of males who are fine with women in PG-13 movies not being sexed up to the max) but then again they did decide to do this cover. I have no problem with Manara as an artist, as many people have said it has a time and a place. My issue as I stated the day these images first appeared is the why a company that is spending PR and marketing energy putting the new female Thor on the View and declaring in their press releases they are all in on the female reader would than burn PR capital with this. (Especially after they their decision to publish Manara’s “Women of X-Men”,which was one bikini top strap slip from soft porn, during their Marvel’s “year of the woman” didn’t go over so well).
You really have to wonder if one person within Marvel said – “you know we’re supposed to be all WOMEN AND COMICS just maybe we get another cover from Manara?”

But given that Greg Land whose female comic characters have channeled women in porn is the main artist for the book and whose cover image seems to be lacking limbs in its attempt to have the women pose both “strong and sexy”, probably not.

I just can’t get over Spider-Woman’s massive nose!

Compare and contrast with his X-woMen story.

Surprisingly, his variant cover for Nightcrawler would have been a good composition for Spider-Woman.

Wow… he’s done quite a few variant covers for Marvel!

As for Land… well… this is a lazy design.
There’s almost no background.
The effect of the cover seems like interior art was taken and then Photoshopped. (Compare to Land’s painted covers on Marville and She-Hulk.) The logo is badly placed.
Since this ties in with the Spidey-verse epic currently running, wouldn’t it have been more interesting to crowd the cover with Spider-Woman surrounded by the variant (HA!) “spider women”? (Silk, Spider-Gwen (?!), Araña…) THAT would grab reader’s interest! (Especially if branded to coincide with the Spider-Man story.)

I’d like to see a page of embarrassing Spider-Man poses, both on covers and interiors.
There could even be a special page featuring McFarlane’s extremes.

There is nothing offensive in Manara’s cover, and he does erotic art not cheesecake, these last thing doesn’t exist on this side of the ocean, comics just don’t sexualize women

Uh…you might want to rethink this statement a little.

from the above article “In contrast, Nicki Minaj is reclaiming a song (Baby Got Back) that was made by a Black male rapper who celebrated (but also objectified) Black female bodies. ”

I thought it was an answer to the people who were saying that women with big butts are gross, and that the ‘barbie doll type’ of woman we see on magazine covers isn’t the ideal. He even mentions in the lyrics
“I’m tired of magazines
Sayin’ flat butts are the thing”

Even the beginning of the song is two FEMALES commenting on how gross they think big butts are. I took the song as a celebration of a woman who isn’t so petite or phony “I ain’t talkin’ bout Playboy
‘Cause silicone parts are made for toys
I want ‘em real thick and juicy”……

“So I’m lookin’ at rock videos
Knock-kneeded bimbos walkin’ like hoes
You can have them bimbos
I’ll keep my women like Flo Jo”

“So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, playin’ workout tapes by Fonda
But Fonda ain’t got a motor in the back of her Honda
My anaconda don’t want none
Unless you’ve got buns, hun”

He is making fun of the playboy/Jane Fonda Fitness cookie-cutter women that he saw at the time. Where, back then were the models on covers with big beautiful butts?

You would think that ‘The Rogue Feminist’ would CELEBRATE the fact that a man is loving a large woman, instead of perpetuating the myth that only skinny, rock-video women are what everyone should be. Of course, they only see it as ‘objectifying’

So, if a guy does it, its ‘objectifying’, but when Minaj does it, its ‘reclaiming’ something. The part you quoted states “The target of mockery and disparagement in Nicki’s video is men and the male gaze, and the video works to reclaim agency ”

So, can’t the same be true for Sir Mix-A-Lot, whose target of mockery and disparagement is men and women who feel that only skinny and petite is the ideal…?

@ Johnny Memeonic

I don’t have to rethink the sentence but you should familiarize with european comics to understand what I mean.

In America you have these super hero comic books, obviously developed (and rated) for children and teenagers where artists whose style you call “cheese cake” make what you call “fan service”, that is depicting women characters in a hyper sexualized way to titillate the above said readers.

About Manara I can tell you that: he makes erotic art, clearly intended and rated for mature readers, he doesn’t use ill-concealed sexual imagery to sell other genres of comics to teenagers in heath. He also worked with world renowned genius like Federico Fellini, Aleandro Jodorowsky and Hugo Pratt, credits I doubt american “cheesecake” artists can boast honestly. His art becomes “cheesecake” only in the context of american super hero comics due to the phenomenon described above.

Regarding european comics, I challenge you to find in italian or french comics the equivalent of what happens in american super hero comics. We have erotic comics, we have pornographic comics but we miss comics intended for teenagers where the female characters dress or pose like in american super hero comics. We miss that for more mature comics too honestly, that here are mainly realistic or underground graphic novels. In all the italian and french comics that I know (quite a lot) you can be sure that if a woman is in bikini than the scene is set at the beach :)

Regarding european comics, I challenge you to find in italian or french comics the equivalent of what happens in american super hero comics.

Go look through any Metal Hurlant/Heavy Metal cover gallery. I win.

It’s clear that is Manara a misogynist that doesn’t respect women, and this is how you empower women:

“Yeah, he love this fat ass
Yeah, this one is for my bitches with a fat ass in the fucking club
I said, where my fat ass big bitches in the club?
Fuck the skinny bitches, fuck the skinny bitches in the club
I wanna see all the big fat ass bitches in the motherfucking club
Fuck you if you skinny bitches WHAT?

I got a big fat ass
Come on”

Complete lyrics: http://www.metrolyrics.com/anaconda-lyrics-nicki-minaj.html