Distorted Anatomy

So, I was looking through the Escher Girls Tumblr last night, and I was kind of... disturbed.

Honestly, I've gotten really good a completely blocking out all that fetish/exploitive stuff, thanks to those Fantasy MMO ads everywhere, so I'd never even noticed "Boobs and Butt" before.

But, really, I wonder whether the guilty artists took anatomy and they're just ignoring it, or they derive their understanding of the female body from aforementioned MMOs.

I like comics. I even like some mainstream comic titles. (Ultimate Spider-Man, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, and Action Comics come immediately to mind.) And there's nothing I like more than when a female character gets a decent design and writer.

Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel has all the characterization you could want in a comics lead, courtesy of Kelly Sue DeConnick, and a totally awesome costume to go with it.

And this a big step up from this

Carol's old look

I don't know about you, but as an artistic, somewhat geeky girl, I'd actually want to be the character in the first picture. Not so much the second.

I mean, fanservice may help sell comics to boys, but it's the last thing I'm looking for.

I think if a female character's a lead in a comic title, then she should be less "in charge of her sexuality by wearing pasties" and more concerned with being relevant.

Because this is not okay...

Starfire from Red Hood and The Outlaws. Apparently, being an alien female means you have no sense of self-respect or ability to adapt to the modesty standards of a different culture

I don't mean to come off as judgmental or anything here, but characters like Catwoman, Emma Frost, and Starfire have the potential to be strong, important, and hold their own in any situation. But instead that potential is overshadowed by their sex icon status. That distortion is something that needs to change in people's attitudes about women in general.

You don't have to be androgynous to have gender equality in fiction.

Alice from Pandora Hearts is an awesome character who holds her own. Even though she's in a shonen title, she's treated with all the individuality she deserves.

I don't think it's too much to ask for that the action/adventure stuff I enjoy isn't chock full of centerfold-type stock characters. I mean, it's not hard. Just look at the Young Justice cartoon. Wonder Woman and Black Canary are both in "classic looks" without looking like role-playing tramps.

See what I mean? That's a "normal" looking heroic body type. Take note!

So, that's about it. This rant went on longer than I thought, but I guess I've put some thought into this.