The new politically correct Vamprilla and Dejah Thoris

[Guest]

Well-stated and analyzed! I don't think things are as bad, but I understand your concern here. Again, I think that we will indeed see the classic outfits, and that these are explorations of new approaches rather than permanent replacements, but this is very well-put.

[Guest]

Yeah not to dial it up to maximum soapbox like I admittedly just did, but I think fans of Dynamite have a love of harmless fantasy and wish to keep at least one universe away from identity politics.

[pulphero]

I just read DE's blurb (on the page facing the final story page) on the 2016 revamps of Sonja, Dejah, and Vampi. No artwork is show on that page, but it hardly matters, as their in-a-nutshell teaser summaries of all three of these series are plenty enough to put me off the books. Absolutely horrid from a conceptual standpoint. I wouldn't have the slightest interest in any of these.

@bobrobertson -

Readers like their comic book characters to be idealized or extremes of reality, whether male or female. Take Superman -- he's from another planet, has superpowers, and frankly, from a story point of view, has no need of hyperdeveloped musculature. He could be skinny as a rail and still toss asteroids into the sun. But we want him to be handsome, powerful and heroic-looking, and still have a costume that looks like it's spray-painted on, regardless of whether the reader is male, female, hetero or gay. As a society, we simply accept women is skimpier outfits than men, unless they're swimsuits. Oddly enough, if you look at Golden Age comics, you will see a lot more naked flesh on the male characters than you do today (unless it's a barbarian, undersea, or jungle character). Blame John Byrne and the Hellfire Club sequence from X-MEN in the 1980s for starting the trend of female superhero costumes inspired by the Victoria's Secret catalog and fetish wear. Vampirella tried to exploit the same late-60s vogue for "sexual liberation" as Jean-Claude Forrest's Barbarella. The comic market is shrinking, but the influx of female readers (not to mention female creators) in recent years has made that reader demographic gain percentage, so comics publishers are re-positioning a lot of female characters traditionally aimed at male readers to try to grab some marketshare of the new demographic. I personally don't get it -- I have no problem reading stories of a John Carter or Tarzan running around wearing not much more than a loincloth, so I can't see where the skimpily-attired female characters should be such a huge roadblock to female readers. Granted there are probably a lot more female characters that fit that description. Still, John Carter is half-naked; so is Dejah Thoris. Conan is half-naked; so is Red Sonja. Vampi doesn't really have a male counterpart. I honestly can't see what the big deal is. The Hulk has been running around showing more skin for 50 years, and nobody wants him to cover up for the sake of decency.