The Disenfranchisement Of The Female Hero And The Case Of Harley Quinn

Written by Autumn Henderson-Brazie on Creators.co

My dad took me into our town's comic book shop when I was 8 years old as a special treat. It was my birthday and he was going to let me choose three new books. I had never personally purchased a comic book from the store before. My entire collection- extensive as it was- was gifted to me by my brother's godmother and was severely lacking in the updated adventures of the Gotham girls.

Batman was my favorite superhero at the time because of his respect for his female adversaries and and allies, all of which had distinct and fascinating characterization as well as interesting backstories.

My mission on that day was to find a story where Supergirl paid a visit to Gotham City. Barbara Gordon's Batgirl was awesome, of course, but I always felt like Poison Ivy was taking it easy on her. It seemed like Ivy beat herself or Harley tripped her up by accident more often than Batgirl actually won fair and square. I was ready to see a different match-up.

My dad told the clerk that I was looking for female superheroes and he directed us to a section in the back of the store. The comics starring women filled a single shelf. But I wasn't thinking about that at the time. The only thing I could think when I saw that sad little shelf, as an 8 year old who just wanted a fair fight for her favorite villain, was a single word: "boobs". 

Let me start off by acknowledging that this "PC culture" we're living in can at times be frustrating. It seems like somebody always has a problem with something, and their critiques are often so comically minute or specific that I find myself wondering why they even bothered putting in the effort required to complain. That being said, the hypersexualization of female characters is a real issue. With the presently extreme public interest in comic book films, it is time to update these drawings for a wider and more inclusive audience. 

Looking For A Green Future?

Written by Creator Christoph Keller on Creators.co

Is it just me or does the trend of successful Comic Book adaptions does give a little hope for more of those Comic Books I used to read and love as a kid. Surprisingly succesful adaptions like Deadpool for example are the ones that open the doors for new ideas. Don't get me wrong, I do love a lot of those movies that were published so far, especially the ones from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let's take a quick look at Deadpool, a lot has been written already and many do hope that the announced sequel will be at least as good as the first one. Still hoping, still just saying. When I left the cinema I kinda thought that the way how this movie was written and produced may lead to adapt stories from other characters. It wasn't after I watched the Trailers for the upcoming Movie Suicide Squad, a Movie Where Margot Robbie will play the part of Harley Quinn. One of those crazy Comic Book Characters that more than once also broke some rules of storytelling. Like Deadpool she is the impersonation of an R-Rated mouthful of a character. Loud, cruel, funny and vexing. There it happened, this combination - especially the breaking of the Fourth Wall (among other rules) - reminded me of the time when John Byrne wrote The Sensational She-Hulk (1989-1993). In this time she was totally aware that she was a star in a Comic Book and she not only talked to the Author and/or the Editor but also directly to the Reader. The book was filled with jokes that were quite unusual in a regular Comic Book, which also lead to the situation that John Byrne was even fired for some time and only the change of the Editor lead to the fact that he was able to continue his stories.