The Spiral Dance

"Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess." - Donna Haraway

Posts tagged comics

71 notes

here's a big interview i did talking about female characters, sexy characters, sexualization, Glory, and stuff like that

lesstitsnass:

yamino:

mooncalfe:

and Fraggles.

…[A] few years ago I was having an artistic crisis of faith — which I have a lot of, lots of doubt all the time — but it led me to being more aware of what I really wanted my work to be and how I wanted it to feel and look, and just what it all meant. The kicker came when around that time I started reading a lot of feminist and sociology writings which really reinforced how I was feeling about my work and helped me articulate and identify it. It was like the car of my work had been careening around and I was finally able to grab the wheel and steady it before flying off into a ditch or something.

The sociology stuff opened my eyes not just in terms of my work but in terms of society. It’s like taking the red pill in The Matrix and you see the patterns and constructs all around you, and how you yourself factor in, and once you see that you can’t un-see it. I really care about people and I want my books to help them in some way. That’s what I set out to do and hearing from readers who have been helped or inspired by my work in personal ways reinforces that and reminds me what I’m doing…[.]

^^

This whole article deserves a good read, especially for how he creates, designs and handles women in his comics, and why he does it that way. I personally love Shadoweyes, but now I’m definitely going to check out the rest of his work.

Filed under comics ross campbell

350 notes

eschergirls: bob-artist submitted: I decided to whip this up after browsing through your blog today…  I wanted to see what it would look like if the two characters with such ridiculous poses and outfits were male.  Just as I suspected, drawing this made me feel *dirty.*  I love tasteful male nudes, but drawing this felt very uncomfortable and sexist.  I wonder if/how these male artists can draw females like this and not feel anything out of the ordinary. I decided not to take a humorous approach because it seems the man who drew the original cover took it very seriously.  But male or female, I think the end result is ridiculous enough to warrant a laugh. If men had to look at lovingly rendered sexualized portrayals of their bodies at every turn, I figure they’d probably feel as uncomfortable as I do upon entering a comic shop. This is brilliant.  Both the drawing and your commentary.  I don’t think there’s much more I can add, except maybe this: if men WERE drawn like that, I know I wouldn’t feel more inclined to buy those comics, especially if I wasn’t interested in the comic or heroes in the first place.  If women WEREN’T drawn like that, I doubt male readership would drop noticeably at all (if anything it might increase because any men who leave would be replaced by men who like non-porny, heroic art).

eschergirls:

bob-artist submitted:

I decided to whip this up after browsing through your blog today…  I wanted to see what it would look like if the two characters with such ridiculous poses and outfits were male.  Just as I suspected, drawing this made me feel *dirty.*  I love tasteful male nudes, but drawing this felt very uncomfortable and sexist.  I wonder if/how these male artists can draw females like this and not feel anything out of the ordinary.

I decided not to take a humorous approach because it seems the man who drew the original cover took it very seriously.  But male or female, I think the end result is ridiculous enough to warrant a laugh.

If men had to look at lovingly rendered sexualized portrayals of their bodies at every turn, I figure they’d probably feel as uncomfortable as I do upon entering a comic shop.

This is brilliant.  Both the drawing and your commentary.  I don’t think there’s much more I can add, except maybe this: if men WERE drawn like that, I know I wouldn’t feel more inclined to buy those comics, especially if I wasn’t interested in the comic or heroes in the first place.  If women WEREN’T drawn like that, I doubt male readership would drop noticeably at all (if anything it might increase because any men who leave would be replaced by men who like non-porny, heroic art).

Filed under comics gender

27,529 notes

eschergirls:

fernacular:

Welcome to: If Male Superhero Costumes were Designed Like Female Superhero Costumes!

Aaaaa I dunno. I got tired of guys having no idea why girls find female superhero’s costumes kinda sexist, so I, um, made this?

My main goals were: 1) Make it so the first thing you think of when you look at them is sex, whether you want to or not. 2) make it so that any male human who looks at this feels really uncomfortable. 3) make it funny, because, well, it’s kinda hilarious really.

Not trying to start a war here, just wanted to poke a bit of fun.

So, here you go menfolk, welcome to being a girl who likes comics.

Many many many people have messaged me about this post, so I better say something about it!  This is absolutely amazing and completely true.  I especially love the attention to detail, like how Captain America’s foot is up his butt.   I can think of at least a few covers on Escher Girls that has that issue, and it’s usually not one people immediately notice, so, nice job! :D  And the whole thing is totally amazing and really highlights the double standard.  As I keep saying to “but men are objectified too!”, yes, as power fantasies, not as sexual fantasies.

Filed under comics feminism

72 notes

Escher Girls: This is a comment somebody left in my reblog of the Ironman/Black Widow redraw

comicartcorrections:

eschergirls:

What’s sad is that, before reading “Iron man”, I was thinking it was a Iron woman because of the ridiculous pose. Comics are screwing me up.

And that’s the thing. We see that pose and we think “woman” because only women are sexualized like that (and ridiculously posed) in comics (and many…

Quoted for the Ever Lovin’ TRUTH.

Be sure to click through to see the Iron Man pose…!

Filed under comics feminism

401 notes

lesstitsnass: eschergirls: bbunny74 submitted: J Scott Campbell Breakdown Of all the artwork by J Scott Campbell, this was the one that I wanted to beat him over the head with. Take a Disney character that millions of little girls watched and make her into an anorexic blow up doll. Disney aside, I went through and tried redrawing the character myself to show what she would look like with a more realistic anatomy. You can draw sexy female characters without removing organs to do so- and cartoon anatomy is not an excuse! Even cartoon women are drawn with structure and knowledge of anatomy. This is the third time, I think, that this picture has been on this tumblr, but it is so horrifically bad, I understand why people keep revisiting it.  Excellent redraw, and if anything that makes it SEXIER not less sexy. This is an excellent redraw indeed. I love the curves, it all flows so well, and the line of action makes a lot more sense in the revised version than in the original. Wow.

lesstitsnass:

eschergirls:

bbunny74 submitted:
J Scott Campbell Breakdown

Of all the artwork by J Scott Campbell, this was the one that I wanted to beat him over the head with. Take a Disney character that millions of little girls watched and make her into an anorexic blow up doll.

Disney aside, I went through and tried redrawing the character myself to show what she would look like with a more realistic anatomy. You can draw sexy female characters without removing organs to do so- and cartoon anatomy is not an excuse! Even cartoon women are drawn with structure and knowledge of anatomy.

This is the third time, I think, that this picture has been on this tumblr, but it is so horrifically bad, I understand why people keep revisiting it.  Excellent redraw, and if anything that makes it SEXIER not less sexy.

This is an excellent redraw indeed. I love the curves, it all flows so well, and the line of action makes a lot more sense in the revised version than in the original.

Wow.

Filed under comics

3 notes

I’ve been called a ‘bully’ and ‘rude’ by people who weren’t even at SDCC. When I stepped up to the mic, the room was already prepared to shout me down. Didio was ready to deflect me any way he could, instead of attempting to answer my question. Why is there this active hostility toward questions about female creators, both from the audience and from Didio? There is greater female representation in the characters of the comics than in the creators of those comics! Out of all the pencillers, inkers, and writers on the New DCU, are there any women other than Amy Reeder and Gail Simone? If there are, I haven’t been able to find them.

DC Women Kicking Ass - An Interview with the Batgirl of the SDCC panels

Read This.

(via meganwest)

(via meganwest)

Filed under comics sexism