So firstly, I obviously believe that the comics industry (well, the superhero part at least) has a weird double standard going against females. But of course I think that. I wouldn't have written the essay otherwise. But I'm just going to talk around the issues a bit. This probably won't be that coherent but there should be some interesting stuff.
Firstly I just want to say how impressed I am about superhero comics at the moment. Whilst I tore them apart a lot in the essay, things are really improving at the moment. Thanks to having a new female Thor, and the increasing prominence of Captain Marvel, Marvel comics has a really awesomely diverse avengers team. It's also really great that we have a female Wolverine, as the character that took his place was so much more interesting than the real deal. Great stuff Marvel!
DC's also doing OK but most of that's coming from a small handful of titles. Gotham Academy and Batgirl are doing the rounds as usual but Black Canary and Supergirl have also been getting attention recently. And thankfully DC's big Rebirth even isn't changing much in terms of the important female cast. So well done DC for not screwing that up I guess.
Sadly things are still going ahead with the Killing Joke movie, but voice actor Mark Hamill has suggested that it's more of an adaption than a direct copy, so there's room for positivity, but I have a lot of doubt about it. The Killing Joke is still a shining beacon that attracts the worst parts of the comic community and I'll be happy once it's dead and buried but it's looking like a while until that happens. More positively though Alan Moore, the writer, has actually expressed distaste some of the book's events, and says that his editor should have reigned him in a bit. So that's good.
It's also been really interesting watch Kate Leth's twitter feed over the past few days. She recently did a post talking about how bizarre female costumes are. She discussed how strange it is that artists accentuate female breasts individually, and says how the outfits would have to have 'boob socks' to achieve this effect. It's not just sexualising, it's just a bit ridiculous. Like, harking back to my previous points in my visual appendix (which you've probably not read), my main criticism of female comic outfits are that most the people who wear them would never choose to dress in that regard. Ms Marvel is a prime example of this.
It's also strange to note how uninspired female costumes have been until recently. The original Ms Marvel costume is probably the least interesting costume I've ever seen. Whilst it's visually striking with the lightning bolt on black, it says nothing about the character, her powers, or her really interesting alien origins. It's just a bit sexualising and really uninspired. I was so happy to see the new costume in effect.
It's surprising how many people still stand by the belief that male and female superheroes recieve identical treatment, and defend the 'boob sock'. I can't believe nerd culture sometimes. And also amusing was how many people accused Kate Leth of knowing nothing about comic books. KATE LETH, one of the most successful female comic book writers of the 21st century. This fake geek culture really has got to end at some point soon. It's doing the world any good at all.
One thing I have gleamed from my trips to comic cons is just how localised the issue is. Pretty much every other genre has no such problems, and webcomics have taken things to such a level that there won't be a lack of diversity in the medium for twenty years even if they stopped now. It's a wonderful world out there. It's just that superhero comics have existed in this strange vacuum for far too long. Thankfully, things do seem to be changing.
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