Ame-Comi Supergirl #2

[superfangirl1]

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

This is actually a pretty fun/interesting take on the DCU. Very excited to see what happens next now that it seems like the "team" is starting to form. :D

[nightauditguy]

Steel lookes like Twi'lek

[crinos]

So say that as if its a bad thing.

[mrstatham]

Which is largely in keeping with the old look she had in the main DCU. This one's just showing her face and rather a lot more skin, which surely defeats the purpose of armour.

[pyrrhocorax]

Looking like a Twi'lek should be a requirement for at least one character in every comic ever.

[thanekos]

that's a real Tangential Flash, that is.

and a surprisingly flimsy-looking outfit for a Brainiac to go with.

[akodo_rokku]

Eh, it looks like it's an all-machine Brainiac, so clothing is really just for show.

In other news, omg the last episode of Fourze T_T

[lieut_kettch]

It looks like Lia Nelson's costume with Jesse Chambers' goggles. And a boob window. What universe is this, Earth-F(anservice)?

[icon_uk]

Ummmm... Have you SEEN the Ame-comi figures this is based on? Fanservice is pretty much their raison d'etre.

[mrstatham]

Yeah. They kinda stepped in Fan Disservice territory with their take on Cass, personally.

[shadowpsykie]

SO MANY STRINGS! I mean SEROUSLY!

[silverhammerman]

I don't think I'll ever forgive this supposedly female friendly imprint for using such disgustingly fetishistic designs.

In other news, lady Flash/Steel? Really? I thought the idea was that they were using existing female characters, not just genderswapping characters. Jessie Quick would work just as well here and Steel has a superheroic niece as well, why not use them?

[philippos42]

Didn't Natasha Irons go by Steel before becoming Starlight? I thought this one was Rule63 Cyborg at first, though. All that exposed skin!

I actually find the fem!Flash here kind of sexy.

[q99]

Yea, I'm pretty sure she did, and the armor looks like hers (it had the head thing and all) with more skin. So that's totally Natasha!

[filthysize]

Supposedly female friendly? Wha? Didn't this imprint spin out of that series of fanservice anime statues?

[silverhammerman]

Yeah, but for some reason I got the impression it was supposed to be female friendly. I think it was an interview or press release of something that said it.

Actually looking now I'm having trouble finding it. Is it possible I'm imagining things? I was really quite sure the whole anime/manga aesthetic and so on was part of an attempt to appeal to a wider audience.

If I am wrong though, then this stuff is even more creepy.

[kurenai_tenka]

I don't think you dreamt it, I'm sure I heard something about it being for young(er) girls.

And I agree with you about the transparently fetishistic costumes, just ugh.

[lieut_kettch]

According to Wiki, those are supposed to be Natasha Irons and Jesse Chambers as Steel and the Flash.

[mrstatham]

Most likely. The entire concept is that there's no male heroes, so it makes sense to give those two the arguably 'bigger' names, even if they did belong to male characters.

[lieut_kettch]

No male heroes-- the premise bad yuri fanfiction lives on.

[wizardru]

Wait, this is supposed to be female friendly? I thought this was thinly vieled stroke material for fanboys. It certainly looks like that.

[mrstatham]

Depends on the series. Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Duela Dent were all largely solidly written and illustrated books, and I could've seen them being appealing to a female audience, somehow; I'd even go as far as to say I'd find it offensive if those first three minis were branded 'stroke material'. But with Power Girl and Supergirl, there's been a drastic drop in the quality of the art, IMO, and more playing up the fanservice.

[shadowpsykie]

i agree. though based on the fan service statues the Wonder Woman, Bat girl, and Duela Dent were all really great books with great art, using the "Fan service" designs but making them "Less fanservice-y" if that makes sense.

and while the story for Supergirl(s) seems great, the art is just.... Ugh. i mean what are those? Coffee cup handles on her boots and arms? (and that is the least of it)

[nate_abril96]

wow, brainiac and her minions even have tentacles. why am i not surprised.

[eyz]

Jessie! Natasha! And..is that Indigo/Brainiac?
I can take the awful over-the-top sexy/cliché manga art if I can get those sort of characters around!

Bring on Jade! And Steph or Cass!

[mrstatham]

Unsurprisingly, there is not Ame-Comi Steph, from what I've seen. And the design for Cass was suitably ridiculous and creepier than her first design.

[shadowpsykie]

LACES!

[mrstatham]

I was admittedly more curious as to exactly how she could even walk. I know it's a stylistic/composition based choice, but.. Seriously;

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090331034118/casscain/images/c/ce/Batgirl_Ame-comi.jpg

[shadowpsykie]

Cass is so Badass she doesn't NEED to walk?

*shrug* i will say this, she looks scarrier/creepier here than in her normal costume, and that's with showing more skin....

[mrstatham]

She does look scarier, although I really question the design choice of using golden laces in contrast with jet black. But then, thinking about it, that scariness depended upon who was drawing Cass in her first costume. Frankly, I'm glad she was out of thing in the period just before the reboot.

[junipepper]

Well, the last post of this was all 'boobs boobs boobs' but this one is more
'thighs thighs thighs.' Very nice. Stay classy, DC...

btw, Who is Robin supposed to be? Helena Wayne? (And why aren't her boobs bigger? A girls could develop an inferiority complex. *eyeroll*)

[mrstatham]

Robin's Carrie Kelly.

[junipepper]

tx

[pyrrhocorax]

Is Braniac's evil black dust entering Kara's navel?

[drexer]

If I may, I realize that all the above points are true regarding the fanservice and the costumes in those characters. But am I the only one in thinking that even when considering that this series still looks more female-reader-friendly than most of what DC is putting out right now?

-Varied personalities of female characters which despite the fanservice actually do something and are not simply window dressing in one panel or two.
-Variations in female designs even within those horrible guidelines.
-Clean art, of course it's mainly because it's inspired by manga but it's certainly not Lee-inspired pages which most often than not suffer from far too many lines which make it far too busy and heavy for new readers.

It's certainly better than the story of WW when I last left it off.

[mrstatham]

Disagree on Wonder Woman, but let's not get into that because it is blatantly divisive, but did you check out the first three minis for the Ame-Comi stuff? The art was substantially better and without so much of the obvious manga flavour. And they didn't veer right back into the Lee-inspired stuff. Amanda Conner and Ted Naifeh knocked those first three minis out of the park.

[drexer]

I saw one or another posts of them across s_d. I did enjoy the art quite a lot and of course a lot of that was because of Conner's excellent work.

I don't dislike an heavy influenced manga flavour, specially because that might help appeal to newer readership, but I do dislike the character designs and some of the more revealing posing.

If they kept the art style and just worked with it I think it might be really interesting. Supergirl's pose in the first page or Robin in the second are enjoyable enough in the context of an action scene. It's mainly the details with the clothes that turns that first scene so exploitative and the particular of the other designs which make me turn my nose.

Positive point though: no high heels.

[junipepper]

I've been mulling it over, and I don't really think so. I can't believe I'm about to defend DC with respect to female readers, but...

DCnU has books with female leads that are, imo, pretty strong in will and power, and are drawn in a reasonable way, like Batwoman; Wonder Woman; Batgirl; Catwoman; Birds of Prey; Supergirl; World's Finest... I don't see Wonder Woman as window dressing in the JL; I think if anyone's being marginalized in that title, it's Hal. Granted a female lead doesn't always indicate female-friendly content, but I haven't seen anything in particular, apart from Catwoman, that puts me off, so I'd have to say they're at least female not-unfriendly. As a percentage of titles this may not be that high, but it's still a fair number -- off the top of my head I just listed eight main DCnU titles I'd prefer my teenaged daughters read, rather than this.

I'm not saying DC's list is all fabulous and feminist and fine, just that I don't think this is better.

[drexer]

I actually meant that mainly from a perspective of the story content, not the artwork itself which I agree errs on the awful side when it comes to depiction of women in media.

It is mainly as an observation of what I've seen at college repeatedly from the occasional times where I'm sitting having come from my LCS either with manga or comics. In the first case, I find it that on the times some friend has asked me what I'm reading if they're a women they're much more interested in the manga when they flip through it than in the comic and I can't help but feel that that comes from a lack of variety in women portrayals in comics. It's true that comics have fewer pages, but when I flip through one of my manga volumes I can see frequent appearances of female characters interacting and various designs and personalities reflected within the book. With comics other than a choice few like Batwoman(the only one of the ones you mentioned that I'm following still) I don't see as many female interactions and variety and it does seem like an emptier landscape which I think this book fills out a bit.

Do keep in mind though, that I'm a priviliged male, so the usual caveats apply to my perspective.

[junipepper]

You could be right about that. I've only really read one of the Ame-Comi books and seen some scans of others; whoever their target audience is, I'm pretty sure it's not mothers of grown children. So it's not surprising that I can't work up any interest at all in this line. I'd be interested to know who, demographically speaking, is actually reading these.

[featheredserpent]

Boobs for Everyone!