David Lopez is one of our oldest and bestest friends on 5 Minute Marvels. If you haven’t seen his 5 Minute Nightcrawler … and video to demonstrate exactly he created amazingness it in just 5 minutes … GO NOW.
Not only is David one of our favorite artists, but Mystic is our favorite new books in a long, long time. And, Giselle, one of the main protagonists is a character that deserves a long history in comics. This is a tremendous book for antone and a triumph for the creative team. Excelsior!
Visit David’s blog here and follow him on Twitter at @davizlopez
On a side note, there’s a been a lot said lately about the characterization and graphic depiction of women in mainstream comics lately. Honestly, I’ve said a lot about it myself on Twitter. I feel like we’re headed in the wrong directions. It’s not just because I have little girls. It’s because I think it’s possible to write and draw women who are engaging, attractive and, dare I say it, sexy without depicting them in ridiculous poses and proportions. Our heroines often look like they’d be at the chiropractor every other day.
It’s not just art. It’s really more about writing and the marketing. Female characters in superhero comics are frequently reduced to one note. They are abused. They are sex objects. They’re victims. They’re ice queens. Those are all valid aspects of a character … when they’re PART of a larger, more complex characters.
We’ve moved past the days of comics targeted at boys with raging libidos. If the stated goal is to bring in new readers, sexing it up and dumbing it down won’t get the job done.
Comics are capable of so much more than that. Unlike any other medium, they can deal with the real and the natural while existing in a world accentuated by the unreal and supernatural. They can engage readers of all ages and interests. But, not if they’re clearly aimed at a single demographic.
I’m not calling for puritanical comics. Sexuality is a part of life. You can’t avoid it. You can’t deny it. Nor should you. But, it is ONE aspect of life and personality. It’s possible for comics to incorporate sex and gender in more subtle, mature and complex ways that are respectful of women, while engaging enough for older readers.
In the end, I want comics that don’t limit female characters to sex objects or victims. I want this for my girls (and myself) now and when they’re more mature readers capable of understanding more adult topics. But, at any age, I don’t want them to feel they’re defined by sex or their gender to the exclusion of all else.
As evidence of how superheroines can be dead sexy and proportionate at the same time, I submit David Lopez. And, there’s no better examples than his work on Catwoman, Mystic and Hawkeye and Mockingbird. His women are beautiful, imposing and a wonderful blend of the fantastic and the realistic. Kudos, “Daviz”! You’re a hero of mine. Hands down.
Mockingbird by David Lopez
Catwoman by David Lopez
5 MINUTE MARVELS 
Nice post! I very much agree about the lack of variety of female characters being one of the biggest problems. While bad and unnecessarily sexualized art can be off-putting, I think part of why there are so many women into superhero comics already is because they found wonderful characters shine through despite all the obstacles put in their paths. But creative teams change, editors change, and female characters are inevitably inconsistent, retconned, and de-prioritized for the sake of their male neighbours on the page.
“It’s possible for comics to incorporate sex and gender in more subtle, mature and complex ways that are respectful of women, while engaging enough for older readers.”
Totally agree. I do think there should be room for whatever pornier types of comics people want to make, but I’d almost rather DC created an imprint line of comics to do just that. Creatively you could argue that they should make whatever comics they want, but we know they’re trying to grow their business, and we want to see them succeed. So I think to most of us, it doesn’t make business sense not to strive towards making books with better-known characters accessible to the broadest audience possible.
But no matter what content rating a book gets assigned, ditching a well-known, well-loved, established female character’s personality for no good reason is always going to be bad whether or not she’s wearing a parka or a transparent bikini.
Thanks, Maddy. And, I agree 100% about DC’s need for imprints. I was hoping digital comics would open this door. Why can’t a Jim Lee LJA like alongside a Katie Cook JLA or a Supergirl/Batgirl comic by Mike Maihack?
There is room for so much interpretation. I don’t think Marvel’s Ultimate line is perfect, but … it allows for that kind of story diversity and doesn’t impinge. If you don’t like the storyline, ignore it and follow the other line.