So, riddle me this: What’s the difference between this:
and this:
?
What irks me about the comic industry is that the first image gets derided. It’s for an upcoming IDW series spinning out of their Infestation event, but the comments on blog posts have been things like “Do her breasts have to be that big?” Nothing is known about the series at this point, but it’s already been judged by the size of her breasts. It’ll probably be written up as just another example of “cheesecake art”, or will be cited as another example of how comics are a male-dominated industry where women are objectified. Fine.
Now, let’s look at that second image. In case you missed them, her breasts are friggin’ HUGE. For some reason, however, this series NEVER seems to get bashed in the same manner as superhero comics. Whenever the sexuality of Love & Rockets characters is brought up, it’s just brushed off. I tried reading Love & Rockets, and I just didn’t get it; too much going on. First, there’s some lesbian motorcycle mechanics, and then there’s some kind of promiscuous, busty chick named Luba, and I’m not sure if the stories ever cross over. The series is the work of Los Bros Hernandez, and it’s revered by all those who like to spell out the genre as “comix”. You know – the high-brow set. A big reason I couldn’t get into the series was her giant rack. You open up a random Hernandez book, and you see some large-jugged chick in the middle of doggystyle, yet the busty zombie hunter is the one who gets all the flack? I’m not saying that one is necessarily worse than the other, but I wish they were treated according to the circumstances.
I get really tired of people assuming that hero comics are for the uncultured fanboy, while also assuming that everything the indie world puts out somehow lends a sense of cultural validity to the medium. You see Britt, and don’t like what you see, fine – it’s not for you. I read about Maggie and Hopey and Palomar and Luba, and decided I’d rather have a root canal. All I’m saying is you can’t act like you don’t see those things, when they’re just as prevalent as Britt’s. Are we saying Luba’s breasts are OK because they lend to her sexuality, therefore lending to the story as a whole? Are we saying Britt’s breasts aren’t OK because they would impede her zombie hunting abilities? Let’s get our stories straight, people!
