Snoopy dance.  Love it.

As to the gals... eh.  A little "much", but to each their own, right?

You know, there are SOME of us who enjoy reading comics and don't even regard a cover like this as 'doom and gloom/darkest days' kind of things.  I for one am really looking forward to this issue and the whole JLA/JSA crossover in general.

It's a fricking comic book, for crying out loud.

No one is going to force you to buy it if you don't want to.

And as far as Power Girl's 'portrayal' goes, she was visually created by Wally Wood back in the 70's.  Blame him if you want to put the blame somewhere.

Thanks for the words of encouragement there, Sarita.  It's true what they say that there are none who are as blind as those that will not see.

I find it interesting though that so far the people who have proclaimed that this image is demeaning to women have been men.

Here's a direct quote from your DC employee who finds it 'demeaning:'

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Friday, March 16, 2007

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It Will Never Change(the cover of Justice League #10 brought to my attention by Sammy)

Look, recent strides in the emancipation of Supergirl aside, there are two things that will never change about DC superheroines:

1) Power Girl's breasts
2) Wonder Woman in bondage

They will never ever ever ever ever change. Power Girl will always have huge mammaries, and Wonder Woman will always find her way into the chains of Mars, dig it?

I'm not saying it's right or wrong .

 

Yeah, real close to what you're trying to say.  Great job there, pal.  Thanks for helping me out.

"Yeah, real close to what you're trying to say.  Great job there, pal.  Thanks for helping me out."

mmm, perhaps you'd have a better appreciation of why her attitude towards this kind of thing is so jaded if you read this. Oh wait, I forgot, you won't read any links posted in case they happen to clash with your opinion. Whoops.

I haven't gone to any of the links you posted because I happen to have a life that exists offline.

Unlike you, I do not have a point that I am trying to convince anyone to believe.  All I said when this little war started was that you have your opinion and I have mine.  You can quote whoever's blog you want to.  That's fine.  I am not going to read them because at the end of the day I am still going to believe what I believe.  And that is fine too.

You believe that the cover is one of the most offensive pieces of art that you've ever seen in your life.  Bully for you.  I happen to believe that it isn't.  Instead of just letting it go that I might have an opinion that's different than yours, you have to go an post a link to Person X's blog and Person Y's blog and this poerson's blog.

I'm sorry but I could really care less about stuff like that.  It is not going to change my opinion.

So good luck to you.  Have a good life and no that nothing you can say is going to make me agree with anything you have to say on this matter.  Just like nothing I say is going to make you agree with me on this matter.  I don't win and you don't win. 

Like I said.  You are entirely obliged to your opinion.  Just like I'm obliged to mine.  I still don't think it's an offensive or badly drawn piece of art.  It's just one artist's interpretation of the character.  Regardless of how badly drawn you might think it is.  or how badly other bloggers might think it is.  People on this blog have liked the cover.  Some of them have even been women.

First of all, I am in no way saying that I am a fan of the Power Girl is protrayed, now or then.  That being said, I don't think it is 'bad art.'  That is a personal opinion for everyone.

You go on and on about the corporate mentality of DC Comics and attacking them for their 'diversity.'  Yet you are attacking them simply because there is a cover coming out featuring one of their characters with large boobs.  I for one think this is ridiculous when in the body of their universe as a whole, there is lots of diversity.  All encompassing gender, race, creed, etc.

You don't like the cover, then fine. 

See, whereas you're looking at Wonder Woman's ass, Power Girl's boobs and Supergirl's mid-section, there are some readers like myself who prefer to ignore that sort of stuff to watch Wonder Woman rescue abused women (Wonder Woman #5) or Power Girl recruit new members of a team she believes in (JSofA #1) or Supergirl try to figure out her place in the world (Supergirl #12)

Just because you disagree with the way a character is drawn does not diminish a message that can be conveyed.

Don't judge a comic book by its cover.

have you never heard of context? maybe its offensive because its

a) demeaning

Dude, lighten up and take that flagpole out of your buttocks.  So far the only person that has complained about the image being demeaning has been you.  A few women have even commented and not ONE of them have said anything remotely close to what you have said.

I think if you scour the magazine racks you'll find images and pictures that are far worse than this one.

Dude, lighten up.  You talk about how you want comics to be taken more seriously in conversation, yet we keep having this 'debate' about whether or not a drawing of Power Girl's hooters are offensive or demeaning to women or whatever the @#$% you want to call it.

Usually the extent of my 'geek talk' is whether or not Hulk can beat Superman in a fight or whether or if the JLA could beat the Avengers (and I think Kurt and George did an awesome job with the JLA/Avengers crossover.  Easily one of the best comics 'events' I have ever read in my lifetime)

This 'debate' has, in my opinion, has led to more thinking of Power girl than I have ever cared to do.  The only point I kept trying to make is that you have your opinion and that I have mine.  I could really care less about how many people you can find to back up what you have to say.  The fact of the matter is, they have not been complaining here. 

Brad Melzer was kind enough to give his fans and readers of his blog an advanced look at a cover that was to be coming out in a few months.  You made a comment, I disgareed with it and commented on it.  I still stand by what I say.  I do not think it is a bad drawing nor do I think that Michael Turner is a bad artist.  I don't think one 'bad drawing' is the end of comics as we know it or whatever it was you were trying to say.

I am not trying to debate you.  All I am saying is that for someone who thinks so little of the drawing in question you really are putting way too much effort into this.  I don't have the time nor the inclination to devote to looking into every little thing you have linked in your arguements.  maybe I didn't make that clear in what I was trying to say.  For that and only that, I apologize.

I still think you need to relax.  Devote your energies to more important matters than a 'bad drawing' of Power Girl.  At the end of the day, it's just another comic book cover.  Like I said, I don't think it's a bad drawing.  I am really looking forward to the issue as I always loved the JLA/JSA crossovers as a kid.  Obviously you are a comics fan too, otherwise you wouldn't feel as passionately as you do about what you believe as I do about mine.

That's really the only point I've been trying to make.  Sorry this has been a lot longer than I emant it to be or that I repeat myself.  I do tend to do that sometimes.

"I could really care less about how many people you can find to back up what you have to say.  The fact of the matter is, they have not been complaining here."

Hi Randy!  I'm one of those outside voices and I'm officially complaining here.  This is substandard art.  Compositionally, it's boring.  Centered images like this are totally inert, without dynamism.  Comics art should have dynamics.  Look at anything by an actual good artist, such as John Romita, Sr. or Jack Kirby or Alex Toth or Al Williamson or Steve Rude.

But even when those guys turn to a static pose- like this one which is a real snoozer and would have been rejected by Carmine Infantino if he were still art director over at DC (and, incidentally, by Stan Lee when he was the top dog at Marvel)- they at least have some sort of internal consistency or logic to their anatomy.  Even Kirby, whose drawings were very idiosyncratic.  He internalized a personal anatomical theory and gave his characters power and heft.  But I guarantee before he did that, he mastered the fundamentals.  And I think this is borne out if you go back and read some of his work with Joe Simon.

Whereas Turner's female characters look as though they weigh 10 feathers and a rubber eraser.  Or they have the physical characteristics of a rubberized bendy toy or salt-water taffy.

But most tellingly, it's totally lazy.  A top pro coasting on a totally undeserved reputation for drawing "sexy" ladies.  It's motionless, inert, undynamic, boringly posed 3/4 figures with hands and feet cut off.  Anything to spare having to draw those most difficult areas of the body.  Granted I've seen Turner do that from time to time, but mostly he churns out these cropped images with those parts cut out.  Less work for himself, I guess and less chance to reveal that he really can not draw.

The anatomical proportions are hideous.  If you've ever studied art you'd understand that.  Become an educated comics consumer... go look up Andrew Loomis.

And have you ever touched an actual female breast?  I have and let me tell you- they don't behave anything like the ones in this drawing.  Actual breasts are soft and somewhat squishy.  These look like partial bowling balls inserted under the skin, hard as rocks.  Their attachment to the chest musculature is suspect at best and for some reason the costume material is having no effect on them whatsover.  For a view of how actual sexy large breasts work when covered with clingy spandex, I suggest you turn to Adam Hughes.  He draws cheesecake poses with real human anatomy, albeit idealized and exaggerated.

Turner has gone to the all-black background well... oh... about 20 times too often.  More laziness.

While I'm sure Turner is a nice guy- and interviews with him I've read suggest he's a prince of a human being- I can't for the life of me see why anyone goes ga-ga over his art.  It's amateurish.  The only thing professional quality about it... that elevates it beyond some second rate copy of Mark Silvestri or Jim Lee or J. Scott Campbell is the overly modeled computer color job.  Most of the anatomical unity that's contained in this image- and there's not much of it- comes from the coloring.

I'm shocked no editor at DC has had the guts to tell Turner to go back and redraw this stuff, or just to turn it down flat.  Infantino would've ripped it to shreds.  Maybe in a nice way... I don't know.  I'm sure if Alex Toth were alive to comment on it, he'd blow it out of the water with a vehemence that makes Paperghost's critical raging seem like mild praise!

God, how I wish Alex Toth were still alive!  Or Jack Kirby!  Or quality comics at DC!

I am also complaining. This cover sucks.

The characters are just standing there, no action or emotion of any sort. No background to show where the story happens, no emotions on their faces to show how the characters feel during the story, no dynamic poses to show what the characters do during the story. Black Canary is a martial artist, one of the DCU's best. She couldn't have her fists up in a fighting stance? Power Girl has superpowers. She couldn't be flying or lifting a car or something along those lines? Presumably at some point during this crossover, one or both of them will feel an emotion. They couldn't have some emotions on their faces? Apparently not. Instead, we get this. No indication that they're heroes or even characters. Just a couple of inflatable dolls standing around.

The anatomy on Power Girl is downright awful. The breasts are attached too low on the chest, her waist is smaller than her head, and her neck isn't even centered between her shoulders! And he drew her belt buckle from the wrong perspective.

Look, I've seen Turner's art before. It's pretty much all about the cheesecake. When you only draw women being cheesecake, you're telling women all they can be is eye candy. The cover of a sueprhero comic is supposed to be about heroes.

To read a more thorough critique of the artwork by people who can phrase it a lot better than I can, go here. They've got a quite a bit to say, and it's mostly negative.

And the reason why there aren't more negative comments here is because most people don't come here. Heck, fifteen minutes ago I didn't even know Meltzer had a MySpace page.

Well, thank you.  It IS nice to see someone else finally comment other than me and one other person.

I am not saying that Turner is my favorite artist.  Just something about his art appeals to me.  Again, this is all opinion.  I don't know art, but I know what I like.  Cliche? Maybe.  But it's a cliche because it's accurate.  For me, at any rate.

Thanks for commenting to me though.