Marvel misses the point yet again

Did Marvel took that one guy’s rant on woman and comics– Remember, the one that unleashed a furious response from the female comicsphere – a little too much to heart? Check out an upcoming mini-series, Marvel Divas, as announced by Dude-in-Chief Joe Quesada:

“The idea behind the series was to have some sudsy fun and lift the curtain a bit and take a peep at some of our most fabulous super heroines. In the series, they’re an unlikely foursome of friends–Black Cat, Hell Cat, Firestar, and Photon–with TWO things in common: They’re all leading double-lives and they’re all having romantic trouble. The pitch started as “Sex and the City” in the Marvel Universe, and there’s definitely that “naughty” element to it, but I also think the series is doing to a deeper place, asking question about what it means…truly means…to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.) But mostly it’s just a lot of hot fun.

There’s some hope that the execution could turn out better than it sounds – the writer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is on the staff of HBO’s Big Love, a show that has sympathetic portrayals of women in a society that pays even less lip-service to equality than comics. But with an introduction that uses words like ‘naughty’ and ‘hot fun,’ the backlash is likely to be very loud.

10 Replies to “Marvel misses the point yet again”

  1. “Sudsy fun”? Yeah, could they possibly get any more open about this not being marketed for women? Either the story matches the marketing and the “naughty”, “hot”, “sudsy” fun is really for the guys, or the story is decent but the marketing department hasn’t gotten the memo. Whichever it is, I’m not impressed.

  2. Well, if the art posted is any indication, Joe’s talking out of his ass again about depth and meaning. I’m certain that this is gonna be some of the most cheese-cakey fan service to ever grace mainstream comics, and am not at all surprised.

    I’ll tell you what though… If Marvel releases that promo image as a one-sheet, it’ll probably outsell the book.

  3. So when does the companion comic with four superheroes having romantic troubles and hot, sudsy fun come out? What does it mean…. really mean…. to be a man who wears spandex in a world where that’s considered kinda girly?

  4. You know, there isn’t a single Marvel book that I read anymore, and Quesada is almost entirely to blame. (the rest goes to Joss Whedon for leaving Astonishing X-Men)

    And Rose, I don’t know that it’s fair to say that all male comic creators are sexist… you just have to know where to look. Hellblazer, for example, has always had strong female characters (though almost always in transitory supporting roles), and until recently has always been written and developed by men. Brian Michael Bendis and Jeff Smith have also created a good many strong women in primary roles, as have Mike Mignola, Robert Kirkman, and Warren Ellis (though those three significantly less so, in my mind).

    Not meaning to pick at you. Just pointing out some possibilities. (I’m also assuming that we probably have fairly different standards when it comes to sexism)

    But yeah… this thing? Rubbish. Marvel needs to stop planning big, useless event books that don’t go anywhere and get its house in order, lest they find themselves out in the cold.

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