Comic Critique leads to rape threats

[evilfarmer]

http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to...k-rape-threats

A person who happens to have XX instead of XY chromosom reviewed the new Teen Titans 1 cover art over here http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=52103

She picks apart the art on every aspect but devotes a paragraph or 2 to the rather disproportionate chest of the main female on the cover.

She then get the usual response we have come to sadly expect, that she made up her creditionals, feminazi, ect including trolls finding her through google and sending Rape fantasy threats.
.....and in the XO Jane article the questions rise again...

Personally I had a large chest as a teenager and would have loved to see some women superheros built like me but dressed in at least a leotard. The cover for TT 1 looks like a bad boob enhancement.

I am very tired of the argument being BOOOBs is all teenage boys will respond too. I am 26 years old and I teach 6-60yr olds how to play with swords *I teach fencing* and trust me teenagers are much more interested in a woman with a weapon or power then in the size of their chest.

[anakhouri]

My husband showed the cover and asked what I thought. I thought it looked fine. Then he showed me the critique...

I don't necessarily agree with the woman, but threatening to rape her for her opinion? That's so idiotic there's not even words. Pond scum could respond more rationally than some of those people.

[BlaqueKatt]

Credit to Kara for posting this on facebook-it's about this story
Fake geek guys: A message to men about sexual harassment

[Bloodsoul]

Looking at the cover there are two things that catch my eye: 1) I'm more worried about Wonder Girl's thigh-to-waist ratio than the size of her breasts. I can honestly believe her breasts could be as large as they appear, but her thighs/hips just look so… wrong. 2) As an unashamed admirer of the female form my eyes are drawn more towards that blue figure. What in the %*#@ is that person wearing on his/her/its head? What is that?!

With that out of the way… rape threats? That's considered to be a "civil" way to argue against one's opinion, now? Feel free to disagree with her, sure, but at least try and do so without the mentality of some lonely teenager (and this is coming from a guy who's as lonely as they get… although I'm also a fan of the "I'll cut your heart out with a spoon" threat, so my comment probably amounts to nothing).

In a weird round-about way I'm thankful for seeing this thread because it led me to this guide on drawing breasts which, as an "artist" who still needs a lot more practice, should honestly come in handy. It's the same reason why I've some 'guides' on feelings and emotions, as well as a composite image of other images giving me an idea of how I could (or shouldn't) draw a particular body. I should probably add some green check marks and red x's to that one.

I am 26 years old and I teach 6-60yr olds how to play with swords *I teach fencing* and trust me teenagers are much more interested in a woman with a weapon or power then in the size of their chest.

I haven't been a teenager in ages but I can definitely agree with this; it's why I love the SoulCalibur series' character creation mode, as it lets me recreate my female characters of all shapes and sizes kicking ass with a variety of weapons. It's just so much fun seeing a warrior swinging around a sword as big as she is and coldly saying to her opponent, "I'll break you…"

[siead_lietrathua]

1) omg beast boy is too cute on that cover. he's such a fun character.
2) i thiiink the one in blue is raven? but it's a weird look for her if it is. granted, not much into teen titans.

ok, onto the rape-threat thing. the only comment i feel is worth making on this is... she needs to not feed the trolls. and/or take advantage of the trolls.

see, the trolls do things they know will piss people off. they'll call men fags, whitenights, threaten to kick their asses. they'll call women cunts and make rape threats. why? effective tactics. it's what works to get under the skin of the people they're trolling.

as to taking advantage of the trolls... it's something i'm wondering about more and more lately. a woman makes a post about sexism, videogames, etc. gets very little attention. but as soon as she even vaguely infers about threats and hate shemight be getting from the comic/ videogame/ etc community, her hits go haywire. for a women to claim she is getting threatened basically explodes their 'internet points' as articles, like the one above, get posted around. the more haters, or knights, the further is spreads until something that was just some joe schmoe boob-ranting on their blog turns them into a common name.

i mean, look at anita sarkessian, who's kickstarter was going nowhere till she came out with being threatened, then the hit over 150,000$. (still hasn't delivered on promised content btw) she made bank she never would have if not for her talking about, what any sane internet user would see as, being trolled.

not saying rape threats are cool, ok, or anything else. just saying that telling people you've been threatened seem to be the new great way to gain hits.

[Panacea]

I looked at the cover, and read the review.

I agree with pretty much everything the reviewer said and think some things she didn't say. The cover SUCKS.

She's spot on about the thighs and the breasts. This is a TEEN superhero, and the artist drew her as if she were 24 or older. The costume didn't bother me so much; superhero costumes push the boundaries of what would really work in the real word.

But what I really didn't like about the cover is the fact it is STATIC. There is no action going on, the only movement is a paper airplane in the background. Nice nod to Raven's past in the new 52, but it does not create any action or movement to engage the reader. Robin reminds me to much of Nightwing, and I don't know what the hell that thing is on Raven's head, but it's a terrible costume concept (granted, that may not be the author's fault). Beast boy looks like the teenager he is, but he's just sitting there.

BO ring.

No matter what you think of the cover, though, threats of rape are no go.

What's with these assholes? Secret supervillains? Because that's how they're acting.

[otakuneko]

I knew there was a reason I disliked big, circle-shaped boobs. Even putting the boobs aside, WTF is with Red Robin? He's a giant or something?

And the linked BOOBIES image totally explains why Shmion Sonozaki...sucks.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, rape threats... well shit, it's uncouth and shouldn't be tolerated but that's what the moderation button is for. If she thinks any of them are serious there are ways to deal with that as well. As for the rest they're just trolls. It happens. Ignore the fuck out of 'em til they go away. Can't load the xojane site but I can imagine it's full of exactly the wrong response to the situation.

[siead_lietrathua]

i really don't see the big deal with comic book boobs. it's stylized art. if we're gonna complain that natural boobs don't really look like that (cuz, ya know we've all seen implants lol) , should we also gripe about giant man-pecs, hair that defies gravity, or the giant eyes in anime?
not everything needs to be realistic.

[TheHuckster]

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, rape threats... well shit, it's uncouth and shouldn't be tolerated but that's what the moderation button is for. If she thinks any of them are serious there are ways to deal with that as well. As for the rest they're just trolls. It happens. Ignore the fuck out of 'em til they go away. Can't load the xojane site but I can imagine it's full of exactly the wrong response to the situation.

A lot of them were not in the comments section, but in the anonymous survey she has for her blog.

[Kheldarson]

i really don't see the big deal with comic book boobs. it's stylized art. if we're gonna complain that natural boobs don't really look like that (cuz, ya know we've all seen implants lol) , should we also gripe about giant man-pecs, hair that defies gravity, or the giant eyes in anime?
not everything needs to be realistic.

There's a bit of a difference though. Stylized art (like in anime) means that you accept the style choices of the art form. Modern Western comic books tend to be going for a more realistic art style, so, therefore, we have an expectation of realistic forms. I can accept the costume (that's part of the nature of the comics) but the art style leads to it being a more realistic form. Therefore, her proportions should be realistic.

[KabeRinnaul]

i really don't see the big deal with comic book boobs. it's stylized art. if we're gonna complain that natural boobs don't really look like that (cuz, ya know we've all seen implants lol) , should we also gripe about giant man-pecs, hair that defies gravity, or the giant eyes in anime?
not everything needs to be realistic.

Thing is, stylistic choices are choices, and generally made for particular reasons. The giant eyes in anime are in part to help indicate emotion in an art style that doesn't tend to have as much motion as Western animation, and also indicate when a character is a good, kind, or innocent person. Case in point: compare Goku and Vegeta in Dragonball Z. Goku is a good, kind, and heroic character - his eyes take up most of his face. Vegeta is a reformed villain, and still a very harsh and cruel person - he has narrow eyes and more realistic proportions.

The giant muscles are similarly a conscious choice. They're wish-fulfillment, a power fantasy. And yeah, sometimes we object to those, too. (image courtesy of googling "Rob Liefeld Can't Draw", not explicit but should still probably be considered NSFW)

Thing is, this "stylized" female body is still wish-fulfillment, but not for women. It's more wish-fulfillment for men; in this case, a sexual fantasy. Comic artists draw ridiculous, unrealistic masculinity so the reader says "I want to be that." They draw ridiculous, unrealistic females so the reader says "I want my dick in that."

Which isn't to say female comic book character can't be sexy. There are female characters who are absolute sex goddesses who still show strength on their own, and aren't wholly defined by their sex appeal. Emma Frost in Marvel, for example, or Catwoman in DC.

But that drawing is only intended to appeal to men, and really just to a particular part of their anatomy.

Nevermind it's just an awful drawing to begin with. Those go beyond implants or a push-up bra - they're perfect hemispheres. It's like two rounded lumps of plastic glued to her chest. And it almost looks like they hang from her collarbone instead of her actual chest.

[Gravekeeper]

It is just a bad piece of art in general. Not individually, but as a composite piece its bad. For a comic cover its really bad. And thats before you even get into the whole unrealistic porn star fantasy figure on a teen girl thing. The worst part about it though is that even the brief market research in the article indicates half the audience is female.

I take that back. The worst part about this is that if you had Linkara read this entire article outloud verbatim without mentioning its source he would be applauded for it. >.>

[wolfie]

As for the rest they're just trolls. It happens. Ignore the fuck out of 'em til they go away.

Ignoring trolls won't make them go away. You need to kill them with fire or acid - other types of damage will regenerate at 3 HP/round, even if the troll is "dead" - and you'll be dealing with it again. [/AD&D]

[siead_lietrathua]

Nevermind it's just an awful drawing to begin with. Those go beyond implants or a push-up bra - they're perfect hemispheres. It's like two rounded lumps of plastic glued to her chest. And it almost looks like they hang from her collarbone instead of her actual chest.

oh yeah, not justifying that cover, that cover is just a nightmare of random. it would suit better as a splash-page or one of those random pics in the back of a tradeback. but as a cover it's just blah.
i was just rambling about boobs in general....(heh)

and wolfie: thanks for the early morning giggle

[otakuneko]

Was just sayin'... Shmion's badly-drawn boobs are probably what caused this incident.