DC Getting Flak for Crappy Redesign

[Mr. Analog]

For those out of the comic loop you may not be aware that DC has rebooted their universe (AGAIN!!), this includes new backstories and designs. One of the more unfortunate events has been the changes to Starfire (Teen Titans). Originally designed as a "a strong female alien character"¹ Kori has certainly gone through a few changes over the years and yes, she's always had a bit of a stripperiffic space bikini but the new design is downright nasty, not just in how she looks but in how she acts.

I really can't express it that well but everything a 7 year old girl says about the changes hold true for long time DC fans like myself:
http://io9.com/5844355/a-7+year+old-girl-responds-to-dc-comics-sexed+up-reboot-of-starfire

As one of my tumblr followers noted earlier:

I won?t lie

I love eye candy as much as the next heterosexual male

but in small doses and every once in a while

candy is a sometimes food!

[Darren Dirt]

I read that last night, and wow it was nice to see such an articulate youngster, she wasn't just focusing on the inappropriate wardrobe, she was saying the reason for loving and looking up to this character is now GONE. Nice one, DC!

[Mr. Analog]

They really crapped the bed on this one, and boy are they hearing about it!

[Darren Dirt]

"Do you think this Starfire is a good hero?"

"Not really."

"Do you think the Starfire from the Teen Titans cartoon is a good role model?"

*immediately* "Oh yes. She's a great role model. She tells people they can be good friends and super powerful and fight for good."

"Do you think the Starfire in the Teen Titans comic book is a good role model?"

"Yes, too. She's still a good guy. Pretty, but she's helping others all the time and saving people."

"What about this new Starfire?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because she's not doing anything."


"Is this new Starfire someone you'd want to be when you grow up?"

*she gets uncomfortable again* "Not really. I mean, grown ups can wear what they want, but...she's not doing anything but wearing a tiny bikini to get attention."

"I want her to be a hero, fighting things and be strong and helping people."

"Why's that?"

"Because she's what inspires me to be good."

"she's not fighting anyone. And not talking to anyone really. She's just almost naked and posing."

Sex sells, but over-sexing = obvious selling out and upsetting your audience. Or some alliteration-filled Life/Business Lesson.


It's like if some morons decided to have Superman blaze up all day playing Halo (tm) while reclining on an Ikea (tm) couch and eating Cheetos (tm) drinking Starbucks (tm) (and using his laser vision to re-heat his coffee) ... wtf, we are interested in this superhero because of what he does, not because of how "relateable/modernized" you make him!

[Mr. Analog]

All I know is that DC has been futzing up a lot lately, all in an effort to gain new readers.

Great Jorb so far...

[Darren Dirt]

A woman's point of view

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/22/starfire-catwoman-sex-superheroine/

Most of all, what I keep coming back to is that superhero comics are nothing if not aspirational. They are full of heroes that inspire us to be better, to think more things are possible, to imagine a world where we can become something amazing. But this is what comics like this tell me about myself, as a lady: They tell me that I can be beautiful and powerful, but only if I wear as few clothes as possible. They tell me that I can have exciting adventures, as long as I have enormous breasts that I constantly contort to display to the people around me. They tell me I can be sexually adventurous and pursue my physical desires, as long as I do it in ways that feel inauthentic and contrived to appeal to men and kind of creep me out. When I look at these images, that is what I hear, and I don't think I even realized how much until this week.



I'm so, so tired of hearing those messages from comics because they aren't the dreams or the escapist fantasies or the aspirations that I want to have. They don't make me feel joyful or powerful or excited. They make me feel so goddamn sad that I want to cry, because I have devoted my entire life to comics, and when I read superhero books like these I realize that most of the time, they don't give a sh*t about me.

I have been doing this for a long time, now. I have lived in the neighborhood of superhero comics for a long time. And frankly, if this is how they think it's ok to treat me when I walk down the street in a place that I thought belonged to me just as much as anyone else who lives here, then I'm not sure I want to live here anymore.

[Mr. Analog]

I really really hope DC is paying attention to all this.

[Darren Dirt]

related to the subject of unnecessary visual-hyper-sexuality...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/4719-Gender-Games

[Mr. Analog]

related to the subject of unnecessary visual-hyper-sexuality...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/4719-Gender-Games

That vid touches on the problem exactly, older comics generally showed female heroes doing stuff and not just arbitrarily posing. I think this started changing in the 80s but certainly came to a head in the 90s.

Either way you cut it though the writing, design and staging for lady heroes has been a race to the bottom for a good 20 years. Hopefully now someone is listening and can change this.

[Thorin]

The real question: will people vote with their wallets and stop buying DC comics?  That's pretty much the only way to really change this.

[Mr. Analog]

The real question: will people vote with their wallets and stop buying DC comics?  That's pretty much the only way to really change this.

When I heard there was a total reboot I phoned the comic shop up and told them to stop putting the "New 52" DC stuff in my file, I wanted to see where they were going with all this change before committing $$$ to it.

I mean I like reading fantastic one-shot stories and I certainly enjoy it when they change things up a bit but in the last 25 years they've rebooted the universe 3 times only to watch the same mistakes get made and interesting continuity scrapped.

So, I am sitting on the sidelines watching this with a very jaded eye to begin with, there IS a high degree of schadenfreude in watching them twist in the wind over some of the bad decisions.

I wasn't really all that bent out of shape until now though. The first rumblings I had heard (beyond Wonder Woman getting trousers and basically getting reconned into a more Donna Troy-like character) were the changes to Catwoman. I mean I had seen that the costume change and some other elements were "over the top", but she's almost always been portrayed as a bit of a vamp so it *somewhat* fit. Starfire on the other hand would be the "Betty" to Catwoman's "Veronica", opposite in every way. She shares more with Superman in that she's an alien, the most powerful member of her various affiliations (Teen Titans, Outsiders, etc), struggling with a lot of complex (for comics) relationship issues but always persevering through it all with an inner strength. She had joys, fears, ups, downs, she was so much more than just some vapid male fantasy. I mean when I first started reading Titans I wasn't prepared for the depth of it all, and Star quickly became my favourite character (I identified with her being a bit of a clueless outsider).

Yeah she wore a skimpy outfit, but that wasn't what made the character, she was WAY more than that, and so when I began reading more about this whole Red Hood nonsense I started getting pretty upset (nerd rage!) this was a character I cared about being replaced with something far more base, something downright ugly and pernicious.

At this point I feel as though dropping the New 52 before it landed was a smart move, as well I'm considering dropping my other DC subscriptions out of protest (Green Lantern, thankfully, has been unchanged by all this malarky). So yes, I for one am voting with my hard earned cash.

I feel encouraged to draw classic Star doing what she does best (kickin' butt)

[Darren Dirt]

When I heard there was a total reboot I phoned the comic shop up and told them to stop putting the "New 52" DC stuff in my file, I wanted to see where they were going with all this change before committing $$$ to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_DC_Universe_reboot#Reception

[Darren Dirt]

I for one am voting with my hard earned cash.

http://it-sparkles.blogspot.com/2011/09/stop.html
"Support the books that do it right. Stop calling attention to all the offensive material, because seriously? What you're really doing is helping the very things you hate find a wider audience. So, stop."


http://www.comicvine.com/news/sexism-in-comics-is-not-new-heres-what-you-should-do-about-it/143649/
"if you're offended by the portrayal of women in these comics, that's the best recourse: Ignore them. Starve them out. Stop supporting them."


some other perspectives...

http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/hexthis/the-month-dc-brought-sexy-backsorta/87-74047/
"All that I would personally ask is that women are afforded the same comfort with their sexuality that men are. You don't see a lot of male superheroes who are exhibitionist, who try to lean in a way that perfectly accentuates their arse, who are put into conveniently overtly sexual positions on a routine basis. That is comfort with one's sexuality, the ability to insert it into situations cleverly and believably not dressed as a Scores employee fighting crime on a cigarette break. Nudity, sexuality, discussion of sex...it all has a place but when it begins to define a character or diminish a character it just devalues their worth to something far more superficial and I don't believe banking on that is a long term solution for comics in the state they're in."


http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/kelvin_oh89/dcs-sexy-new-sexy-comics-of-sexiness/87-73986/
"C'mon DC! You have to realize, most of the people who know of Starfire only know her from her time in the Teen Titans animated series. Instead we get...Slutty McSlutSlut of the Planet SluttySlut. And you guys can make the case that this is simply an artist's rendition of her but the problem is its not who she is as a character. Starfire's defining trait is her love for everyone in an honest and emotional way."

[Mr. Analog]

All excellent points, the last one is exactly how I feel.

Now here's Starfire as I will always remember her...



Said I was gonna draw her today

[Tom]

I was just browsing a blog I subscribed to a while back (I may have gotten it from a link Mr.A posted at some point) but I think you'll all get a kick out of this:

http://boobsdontworkthatway.tumblr.com/post/11072477397/drawology-if-harry-potter-were-rebooted-by-dc