A few
months ago,
Milo Manara drew a Spiderwoman cover and the internet
exploded. Some feel that the explosion
was justified. Personally, I think it
was bullshit. Well, just recently, Frank Cho, creator of Liberty Meadows and
all-around exceptionally talented artist payed homage that Manara Spiderwoman
cover in his own humorous way. Well, the
internet blew up yet again.
Here is
the cover in question:
Please
note, this is a sketch cover. It is not
sanctioned by Marvel and it’s not in circulation. Cho did this for a fan, the same as if
someone had asked him to draw a picture on a regular piece of paper at a
convention. The problem, apparently, is
that Cho posted this on his website, which drew attention from outside
sources.
Personally,
I had no problem with the Manara cover, aside from it just being a weird
drawing that wasn’t quite anatomically accurate. Therefore, I also have no problem with the
Cho homage, which is a better drawn interpretation in my opinion. The fact that Cho is a funny guy, that is his
stock in trade, maybe even more so than being a “hot girl” artist, shows that
this was a joke, poking fun at those people that got so bent out of shape in
the first place. Apparently,
Spider-Gwen, as she’s called (and seriously, Spider-Gwen? Have we just run out
of ideas at Marvel?) is a teenager, which I honestly did not know until this
outrage started. While this might be
something else for people to complain about, let’s realize that:
a)
While the pose is provocative, the character is completely
covered up, much more so than actual real life teenagers that post half naked
pictures all over the internet (Kendall Jenner, please raise your hand, not too
high though, your tits will fall out).
b)
It’s a goddamn drawing. While it’s a good drawing in terms of
technical proficiency, and a humorous one as well, I will say that Cho really
messed up in the fact that the character is not on model. Spider-Gwen actually looks like Jen, the
blonde adversary of heroine Brandy in Liberty Meadows. She is not drawn as a teenager, at least no
teenager I have ever seen, and while that is small consolation, it should be
consolation enough because, you know, it’s just a goddamn drawing.
Of course, none of that matters
because Robbi Rodriguez got wind of this and posted one of the dumbest tweets I
may have ever read:
Yes, his response to someone
drawing a picture of a character that he draws is that he wants to beat him
up. Not only that, but he also calls
Spider-Gwen (God, I just feel stupid typing that name) one of “his kids”. His surname, mind you, is neither Lee or
Ditko, the people that created Gwen Stacy, nor is he Dan Slott, the current
writer who brought her back from the dead or some such nonsense. Rodriguez was, at best, in the right place at
the right time. This gives him no
ownership over the character, and while he may not enjoy a character he draws
regularly depicted in a sexualized manner, he should realize that not only does
this shit happen all the time, I guarantee if you Google “Spider-Gwen erotica”
(just not at work, you weirdo) you will find much worse than an homage to a
cover. The fact that Rodriguez stated in
a later Facebook post that Spider-Gwen is a gateway book for younger readers,
while true, really holds no bearing on the current situation. It would be one thing if Cho had been
commissioned by Marvel to draw a variant cover for the book, which, I would
assume, would not be a humorous homage to a cover Marvel pulled from rotation
months ago, and it was in regular rotation for his younger readers to see, I
get that to a point. But being pissed
off, to the point of wanting to fight someone, anyone, much less a comic
superstar like Cho, over a drawing, is asinine.
You know what it did though? Now
more people know who Robbi Rodriquez is.
I had never heard of the guy before, and I sure as shit won’t ever read
a book he draws, but I at least know who he is.
Plus, what’s worse, a random drawing by someone not associated with the
character at all, or a profanity-laced facebook rant by the artist primarily
responsible for drawing the character?
Cho’s response to Rodriguez (which
further cements the fact that he is a humorist first and foremost):
Seriously, he could have let it
go. He could have said nothing, or
issued an apology to those that he offended (though I, and many people would
have lost a lot of respect for him I assume) and just carried on. Instead, Cho did what funny people do when a
joke riles up a group of people, he made another joke. Twist the knife, Frank. Twist it good.
Rodriguez was not the only person
that took offense to a drawing. First,
and almost immediately, Sam Maggs at The Mary Sue made a big deal over what is
essentially nothing. First, Maggs made
it a point, when referencing Manara, that he was an “erotic artist”. First, Manara is an artist, not an erotic
artist. Does he have erotic work in is
portfolio? Absolutely. Does that have any bearing on his superhero
cover that he was commissioned to draw by one of the largest (if not the
largest, I’m not sure how the big two rank) comic companies in the world. All this does is show me that Maggs is
already reaching and trying to get her readers to cast judgment before she even
gets to the third paragraph.
Then, Maggs makes mention of the
fact that Cho has drawn some cheescakey stuff in the past, and links to
humorous sketch covers he has posted in the past, showing a pattern that Cho
has followed his entire career. She then
explains, well, I’ll just let you read it:
But by taking a shot at this particular cover, one that
caused so much discomfort among lots of comic book readers, it shows a clear
disregard for the perfectly valid outrage over Manara’s original Spider-Woman
variant; an incident that, we should note, made our list of the “Worst
Moments in Female Fandom in 2014.”
First of all, maybe
Cho, like a lot of other people, thought your outrage was silly to begin
with. Why should he validate how you
feel with something he draws, especially if it is a humorous depiction? Second of all, the fact that you have a list
with that title should be a black eye for your cause, and shows me that all
you’re doing at The Mary Sue, is the same thing everyone else on the internet
is doing, looking for pageviews.
Of course, after that
we get this gem:
Aside
from being an obvious poke at “those angry feminists” who “overreact” to
things, the cover is also an unfortunate but elucidating look at what some men
think about women who
are trying to carve out a space for themselves in the frequently misogynist
world of comics – where they
feel objectified and overly-sexualized on a regular basis. What makes
this sketch even more inappropriate is that the Spider-Gwen book is clearly aimed
at a teen audience, meant to entice new, younger female readers to Marvel
comics. Plus, Gwen herself is a teenager.
If this was a poke at those angry feminists, then you took
the bait, hook line and sinker. I’m not
even saying it wasn’t. It’s fun to poke
special interest groups that think they are high and mighty and deserve special
treatment, and yes, feminists fall into that category. I would like a little more clarification as
to how a drawing, a private drawing that was shared via an artist’s personal
website, is doing anything to hinder the talented women in the comics industry
today. Please, elaborate on that. Finally, I already covered how asinine the
fact that we are bringing up the age of a fictional character in regards to her
fully clothed pose in a drawing is.
This is my favorite part of the article though, hands down:
And
before anyone tries to tell you that “it’s just a joke,” it would be helpful to
remember that jokes can cause real hurt and real harm to marginalized communities, and that is absolutely
something worth critiquing.
Please note that every passage I have copied and pasted
also included links to other The Mary Sue articles because, you know, page
views. To this I would say, put on your
big boy/girl pants and fucking deal with it.
We are not put on this earth to make everyone around us feel warm and
fuzzy. If you don’t like a joke, get
over it. It’s a joke. People have been telling jokes and making fun
of others since the dawn of time (you know Eve’s first reaction to a naked Adam
was to point and laugh, right?). I know
that feminists hate the “get a sense of humor” argument, but if you are dealing
with someone that makes jokes on a regular basis, as Cho does (he wrote a comic
strip for Christ’s sake, and a successful one at that) then realize that that’s
all they are, jokes
To those at The Mary Sue that are concerned about random
erotic pictures of cartoon characters, I don’t see you taking individuals to
task for Kim Possible or Powerpuff Girls erotica, or whatever other creepy shit
like that is out there. Why, though? Because it won’t engender as many pageviews
as calling out a comic book heavyweight like Frank Cho over a “scandalous”
depiction of a comic book character, that’s why. This doesn’t even take into account that this
cover just follows the same pattern Cho has made a career out of, beautiful
women and funny jokes. If you want to
start a dialogue for the right reasons, then start that dialogue. If you want to act mad and take someone who,
by all accounts is one of the nicest guys in the business, to task so people
read your article and visit your website, go fuck yourself.
Of course, after this, Janelle Asselin from Comics Alliance
threw her hat in the ring, and she started out fine, saying that she “didn’t
really care” about the cover and it was not her “sort of art”, even echoing
some of my points, like the fact that this was just a picture, not a company
commissioned cover. Then, she loses me
completely by saying that this cover, and Cho’s response that people “grow a
sense of humor and relax” basically dehumanizes women. Please.
I have seen more strong women characters in Frank Cho comic books than
any single male cartoonist, maybe ever.
Are they drawn kind of cheesecakey?
Sure. But not only are they not
twigs, representing a positive body image for women, but they have strong
personalities, also positive role models.
Are you going to tell me that Cho making jokes at those that are easily
riled up (and this proves that they are) removes all of that? Cho telling people to chill out, it’s just a
joke is the exact right response, because he’s correct.
What exactly is it about a drawing that everyone sees it as
a personal attack on their ideology? I
would like to know how Asselin and Maggs (hell, anyone that feels like Cho’s
drawing is this abomination because it apes a cover that they didn’t like) feel
about the Charlie Hebdo attacks from a few months back in France. I am not
calling these women, or feminists in general, terrorists, no one compares to
terrorists in my book. What I am saying
is that those individuals were opposed to cartoonists drawing certain cartoons
because something they believed in, an ideology directed them to feel that
way. How is it this way of thinking any
different? Unless you are getting a
paper cut from these drawings, they are hurting no one, and if your feelings
are that hurt over something a middle aged Asian guy draws for a fan (or even
for himself, who cares) then maybe a look in the mirror is in order for you.
One of
the final origin stories is an odd one.
This origin is very Fantastic Four-centric as X-51 is not involved in
retelling, it is solely up to a conversation between Reed Richards and Uatu. Yes, we already had the origin of the
Fantastic Four, but that is why this one is so odd. It focuses on the supporting characters,
villains like the Puppet-Master and Galactus, as well as the Silver
Surfer. This ends with the realization
that Galactus is the sworn enemy of the Celestials. He is not the destroyer of worlds, he is the
destroyer of the Celestial embryo within those worlds (coincidentally, that
also destroys the world, but Galactus can’t be worried about schematics).
This
brings us back to New York, where the Skull has taken over. Iron Man has decided not to intervene as his
fortress cannot be penetrated, while Vision worries about the well being of
those outside the fortress walls (the android having more compassion than the
human, that trope never gets old, while Wolverine has decided against helping
either, because he’s lazy. We also find
out that who everyone thought was Jean Grey living with Logan, turned out to be
Madelyne Pryor the whole time. Outside,
we see Cap waking up in an alleyway.
Apparently Spiderman saved him as seeing May in the clutches of the
Skull was just what Peter needed to don the old costume (an actual costume from
a costume shop this time). They teleport
back to Ben Grimm, and set up the plan using the clay versions of the Marvel
Heroes that Alicia, Ben’s Wife, created.
We head
into space to see Black Bolt give his life against the Celestials. Did he go out there single-handed on a
suicide mission though? Nope, he
apparently went out there to call someone to aid him and the Earth with the
only voice that could span the entirety of space (even without oxygen I
guess). 
Back on
Earth, the Clay heroes and the regular heroes are fighting the Skull’s
minions. We see the battle progress
until a Cap version of the Clay Avengers makes it through the fray and grabs
the Skull. The Skull grabs at him,
removing some of the clay to show that it’s the real Cap underneath, who
promptly kills the Skull.
Seriously. Cap straight-up
murdered the kid. That ends the threat
of the Skull, but right as everyone breathes a sigh of relief, we jump right in
to the bigger threat, the Celestials.
Reed contacts Iron Man and explains the situation, and Iron Man, finally
realizing he may have to get his hands dirty, sends Vision away and rockets
into space in a giant Iron Man suit.
Apparently the impenetrable fortress he had holed himself up in was a
giant Iron Man suit all along. 
Again,
the Appendix is very dense but it offers some very cool insights into the true
history of the Marvel universe, I’ll try and touch on all the good bits.
Apparently, the Celestials mutate the populace of a world until they all have
the same power set, such as the Skrulls, that can change their shape. The Kree, the Skrull’s mortal enemies, were pissed
that the Celestials gave them this advantage, so they created the Inhuman race
as an equalizer, their secret weapon against the Skrulls and the Celestials. The Skull was put on earth to prevent the
overpowered population from destroying everything and killing the Celestial
inside. With the death of the Skull, the
Celestials have given up hope when it comes to Earth and are coming to wipe out
the entire global population so that nothing can disturb their seedling.
