Eroticism in Comics
I’ve been reading comics books for as long as I can remember since about the late 1970’s.
Reading such titles as The Warlord drawn by Mike Grell, X-men drawn by John Byrne, and the Teen Titans drawn by George Perez just to name a few off the top of my head.
Now I’ll admit when I was much younger to having lusted after a few comic book hotties as I thumbed through the pages of my favorite titles. The women drawn were classic, proportionate, and believable in their beauty.
As time goes on and I grow older and I discover new titles. Marvel and DC were the first. Then came such comic publishers as Warp Graphics, Dark Horse, Harris comics, Epic and Heavy Metal magazine.
The latter two titles introduced me to a whole new world of comics from European artists. Some of which blatantly use the sexuality of its female Antagonist / Protagonists to drive the story along.
Time marches on and the artists of the old guard gives way to new artists who’s influence can be traced back to those European and Japanese comics.
Women become disproportionate with emphasis on their busts, waists, and hips. Where their male counter parts look down right ridiculous with musculature so outrageous that only in comics could they stand on their own two feet.
After a short tumultuous period of change in comics a status quo seems to have been achieved with female characters still standing out as sex symbols with their impossible beauty.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m as big a fan of comic books now as I was back then. I just can’t help but wonder what the current atmosphere in comic books would be like if comic book artists put as much emphasis in eroticizing their male characters as they do the female?
M'chelsMusings 