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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!brl-tgr!jeffh
From: jeffh@brl-tgr.ARPA (Jeff Hanes )
Newsgroups: net.comics
Subject: (small) Flame:  Women (what more can I say?)
Message-ID: <5737@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 13-Nov-84 10:10:59 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.5737
Posted: Tue Nov 13 10:10:59 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Nov-84 01:49:45 EST
References: <551@pucc-k> <456@uwmacc.UUCP>
Reply-To: jeffh@brl-tgr.ARPA (The Fantome Straynger)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab
Lines: 66
Summary: 

All right, everybody.  I've got a bone to pick.

I have seen a trend lately that is starting to get on my
nerves in a major way.  Why is it that we are being flooded
with ultra-powerful, female-type superheroes (superheroines?
What is the proper form of adress, here? ) while the already
established male-types are stagnating or (worse yet) turning
into wimps?

Specifically, I'm thinking of the X-men/NM saga, although this
trend seems to be prevalent throughout Marvel and strongly
present at DC.  Let me explain what I mean.

When was the last time we saw an X-men issue that had much 
character development for Kurt, Logan, Scott or Peter?
(One in recent memory: the Juggernaut issue.  Much appreciated,
but too little, I'm afraid).  Now, oppose this to all the
stuff lately about Rogue, Storm, and Kitty (we are seeing
less of her lately than at one point, thank the Living Lord).
And the New Mutants are even worse, Sam and Roberto just blunder
impetuously through everything, while Danielle and Illyana
are the only ones who show any competence.  There, we have not
seen one new male character since the inception of the comic.
BUT, we've added Amara, Illyana, and (sort of) Rachel to the
team.  (Warlock doesn't count: though they refer to him/her/it
in the masculine, nothing in the origin story indicates that
this race has (or even needs) any sexual polarity at all).
In the Teen Titans, it's a little more fair, but it seems
that Starfire and Wonder Girl (or Raven, when she's not
meditating) can do the work of the rest of the team put
together (and then some), and often do.  I don't have time
to go on about any other titles, but I do see this sort of
thing elsewhere, and it seems that the newer the comic is,
the more likely they (writers, artists, editors) are to do
this sort of thing.  

The reasons for it are simple:  sexy women in body suits
sell better than muscle-bound men in body suits when the
majority of the audience consists of adolescent males.
However, if they (see previous parenthetical remark for
definition of the infamous THEM) would
concentrate on producing good quality stuff, maybe they
would get more of the market that is currently turning to
the independents for comic relief (excuse the pun).  The
adolescent males will go right on indiscriminately buying
whatever they want to anyway with no regard for character
development or plot subtleties (sp?).

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see a return to Marvel
Girl/Invisible Girl days of "helpless-female-always-needing-
to-be-rescued" days, but some equal time for some of these
poor men would be nice (especially Kurt Wagner, my alter ego:
"damsel-saving is my specialty").

As for why I keep buying these titles.  Well, they were excellent
at one time, and I hope they will be again.  Besides that,
The New Mutants really has one of the best story-lines
currenly coming out of Marvel. (All Chris really needs is an
artist (or editor) with a good sense of story to keep him
straight, and he can write wonderfully.  He just can't plot
worth a d---)

Comments, Rebuttals, and/or discussion welcome.

				The Fantome Straynger
	"He's stranger than most people you meet in a trash compacter"