A Few Words on Komikbuk Wimminfolk
Today, my dear friend Xander happily announced that he aced his Women's and Gender Studies class midterm. Hooray, Xander! This led to a conversation about The Fantastic Four...because I am a geek and conversations with me on any topic tend to veer off into the subject of comic books.
Here's what I'd said, quoted verbatim, but all spliced together and without Xander's prodding me to continue when I started to go quiet. I've included a few pictures, too.
"...Well, I've personally found the gender dynamics of [The Fantastic Four] to be rather interesting, especially if one were to compare it to, say, The X-Men and compare them both to The Uncanny X-Men a few years later.
...Keeping the time frame in mind, of course, and comparing to the timeline of the different waves of feminism, and also keeping in mind that these were all written by very nerdy men.
Welllllllll, there were two group-dynamic superhero comics that happened right at the same time. One was DC's Superfriends/ Justice League/ whatever they were calling it at the time. These Golden Age characters getting their second wind after the Comics Code Authority came into play and DC thought they could keep their profits up by sticking lots of popular characters into fewer titles.
The other was the newly-formed Marvel's "The Fantastic Four", with brand-new characters in the brand-new Silver Age. They weren't taking established things and trying to stick 'em together. They were making up new characters in a new context. The idea was to have a group dynamic going on.
So...We get Mr. Fantastic, the super genius who can stretch, and The Thing, the tough-guy made of rock, Human Torch, the flying guy made of fire, and...Invisible Girl.
Sue Storm Richards, a.k.a. Invisible Girl. Artist unknown. I don't have a lot of The Fantastic Four in my personal library, and I borrowed this image from Bob Mitchell in the 21st Century. If you want more classic Invisible Girl pictures, check out his posts tagged It Sucks Being Sue Storm
First...Her power is invisibility. This, ya know, would be cool if she was, like, a super-ninja or spy or something. But this is the upstanding CCA-approved Silver Age. Heroes do not operate using tricks or deception.
Second...She IS a full-grown woman. Yet her name is the subtly derogatory Invisible Girl...not Invisible Woman, Invisible Lady, Ms. Invisible (which has a lovely ring of assonance to it,) The Invisible, The Incredible Window Woman, or anything else under the Sun they could have picked out.
...Compare this to our only female character of the original X-Men, Marvel Girl (who is older than her comrade the teenaged Iceman) and compare this to a few years later when her codename is dropped and she's known simply by her name, Jean Grey.
Jean Grey, a.k.a. Marvel Girl. Credits on the image. Originally printed in X-Men issue 57, from 1969.
Third...Sue Storm is more or less useless on the team. She's pretty much there to lend moral support to the guys. (A.K.A. cheerleading) And to serve as Reed Richards' love interest.
Sidenote...It was policy at Marvel to draw all women identically, with the exact same "ideal" facial features and body type. While all these heroes would be idealized, regardless of gender, there's something pretty uncool to dictate the exact geometric angle a pretty woman's nose should tilt.
From How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema, 1984.
Comparison: Uncanny X-Men...Group dynamic which features several female characters, who actually do have different facial features and individual personalities. Special focus on Jean Grey/ Phoenix and the way she's, like, the force of ultimate power in the universe. (Is this meant to be "Women can be badass, too"? Or "Women are irrational creatures ruled by sensuality and emotion rather than logic and are forces of destruction through their selfishness, if not kept under proper control"?)
Jean Grey. From Uncanny X-Men #100, 1976. Script by Chris Claremont and art by Dave Cockrum.
Also, focus on Storm as a character in direct contrast, who is strong and perfectly in control of her emotions. (When her emotions get the best of her, it still seems natural and in-character and "Wow, this situation is a big deal!" rather than "Women are so weepy!") She is this way without seeming masculine, though. She doesn't come across as "butch" but as a force of maternal protective strength. Storm is also seen very much in a leadership position within the group. She's the #2 team field leader. One could argue "Why can't she be #1?...Though it makes sense that Cyclops would be #1 because he was one of the original six members, and because he's sorta like Xavier's adopted kid, whereas Storm is a relatively new member of the group. Also, Storm is the dependable, reasonable one who steps in whenever Scott has his (not all that infrequent) emotional crises that leave him too paralyzed to perform his duties. This is perhaps an interesting twist on the traditional gender roles of the stoic male hero taking care of the trembling damsel in distress.
Ororo Monroe, a.k.a. Storm. From Uncanny X-Men #97, 1975. Script by Chris Claremont and art by Dave Cockrum.
For some more context, Wikipedia tells me that the Fantastic Four debuted in 1961, and the original X-Men in 1963. The new team (Uncanny X-Men) began in 1975.
[Topic shift to DC's Wonder Woman. Specifically, that her comic stories tend to be pretty bad. Mention made of the recent animated movie, which I've already briefly discussed here.]
Well...with straight-up Wonder Woman stories, they're usually a battle-of-the-sexes kind of thing. Trying to triumph over misogyny with misandry. And I find this to be rather revolting. I mean, I've known many men who were polite, respectful, reasonable people with whom I can have an intelligent conversation without sexual undertones. I think "all men are pigs" is just as wrong as saying that all women are demure powderpuffs, or are shrews.
Wonder Woman's stories tend to be very unsatisfying, as they can't come to the right conclusion (we should all respect one another as individuals first) in a tidy way. It's usually some bizarre combination of "Stomp on all the man-pigs! S.C.U.M.!" along with "Oh, wow, Wonder Woman is totally hot! Cleavage! Cleavage! Male gaze! Oggle!"
But in JL/JLU we get to see her in a group context, with lots of other female characters, and with male characters with a wide range of attitudes towards the opposite sex. (Contrast Green Arrow vs B'wana Beast vs The Flash vs Batman...there's a lot of difference there!)
And in episodes that revolve around her, we still get to see her more as an individual than a walking political ideal. (For example, that episode where her and Hawkgirl hate each other, but then they have to go to Tartarus together to take on Felix Faust.)..."
[Future topic of analysis: Justice League Unlimited season 1, episode 18: "The Balance" ?]
Here's what I'd said, quoted verbatim, but all spliced together and without Xander's prodding me to continue when I started to go quiet. I've included a few pictures, too.
"...Well, I've personally found the gender dynamics of [The Fantastic Four] to be rather interesting, especially if one were to compare it to, say, The X-Men and compare them both to The Uncanny X-Men a few years later.
...Keeping the time frame in mind, of course, and comparing to the timeline of the different waves of feminism, and also keeping in mind that these were all written by very nerdy men.
Welllllllll, there were two group-dynamic superhero comics that happened right at the same time. One was DC's Superfriends/ Justice League/ whatever they were calling it at the time. These Golden Age characters getting their second wind after the Comics Code Authority came into play and DC thought they could keep their profits up by sticking lots of popular characters into fewer titles.
The other was the newly-formed Marvel's "The Fantastic Four", with brand-new characters in the brand-new Silver Age. They weren't taking established things and trying to stick 'em together. They were making up new characters in a new context. The idea was to have a group dynamic going on.
So...We get Mr. Fantastic, the super genius who can stretch, and The Thing, the tough-guy made of rock, Human Torch, the flying guy made of fire, and...Invisible Girl.
Sue Storm Richards, a.k.a. Invisible Girl. Artist unknown. I don't have a lot of The Fantastic Four in my personal library, and I borrowed this image from Bob Mitchell in the 21st Century. If you want more classic Invisible Girl pictures, check out his posts tagged It Sucks Being Sue Storm
First...Her power is invisibility. This, ya know, would be cool if she was, like, a super-ninja or spy or something. But this is the upstanding CCA-approved Silver Age. Heroes do not operate using tricks or deception.
Second...She IS a full-grown woman. Yet her name is the subtly derogatory Invisible Girl...not Invisible Woman, Invisible Lady, Ms. Invisible (which has a lovely ring of assonance to it,) The Invisible, The Incredible Window Woman, or anything else under the Sun they could have picked out.
...Compare this to our only female character of the original X-Men, Marvel Girl (who is older than her comrade the teenaged Iceman) and compare this to a few years later when her codename is dropped and she's known simply by her name, Jean Grey.
Jean Grey, a.k.a. Marvel Girl. Credits on the image. Originally printed in X-Men issue 57, from 1969.
Third...Sue Storm is more or less useless on the team. She's pretty much there to lend moral support to the guys. (A.K.A. cheerleading) And to serve as Reed Richards' love interest.
Sidenote...It was policy at Marvel to draw all women identically, with the exact same "ideal" facial features and body type. While all these heroes would be idealized, regardless of gender, there's something pretty uncool to dictate the exact geometric angle a pretty woman's nose should tilt.
From How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema, 1984.
Comparison: Uncanny X-Men...Group dynamic which features several female characters, who actually do have different facial features and individual personalities. Special focus on Jean Grey/ Phoenix and the way she's, like, the force of ultimate power in the universe. (Is this meant to be "Women can be badass, too"? Or "Women are irrational creatures ruled by sensuality and emotion rather than logic and are forces of destruction through their selfishness, if not kept under proper control"?)
Jean Grey. From Uncanny X-Men #100, 1976. Script by Chris Claremont and art by Dave Cockrum.
Also, focus on Storm as a character in direct contrast, who is strong and perfectly in control of her emotions. (When her emotions get the best of her, it still seems natural and in-character and "Wow, this situation is a big deal!" rather than "Women are so weepy!") She is this way without seeming masculine, though. She doesn't come across as "butch" but as a force of maternal protective strength. Storm is also seen very much in a leadership position within the group. She's the #2 team field leader. One could argue "Why can't she be #1?...Though it makes sense that Cyclops would be #1 because he was one of the original six members, and because he's sorta like Xavier's adopted kid, whereas Storm is a relatively new member of the group. Also, Storm is the dependable, reasonable one who steps in whenever Scott has his (not all that infrequent) emotional crises that leave him too paralyzed to perform his duties. This is perhaps an interesting twist on the traditional gender roles of the stoic male hero taking care of the trembling damsel in distress.
Ororo Monroe, a.k.a. Storm. From Uncanny X-Men #97, 1975. Script by Chris Claremont and art by Dave Cockrum.
For some more context, Wikipedia tells me that the Fantastic Four debuted in 1961, and the original X-Men in 1963. The new team (Uncanny X-Men) began in 1975.
[Topic shift to DC's Wonder Woman. Specifically, that her comic stories tend to be pretty bad. Mention made of the recent animated movie, which I've already briefly discussed here.]
Well...with straight-up Wonder Woman stories, they're usually a battle-of-the-sexes kind of thing. Trying to triumph over misogyny with misandry. And I find this to be rather revolting. I mean, I've known many men who were polite, respectful, reasonable people with whom I can have an intelligent conversation without sexual undertones. I think "all men are pigs" is just as wrong as saying that all women are demure powderpuffs, or are shrews.
Wonder Woman's stories tend to be very unsatisfying, as they can't come to the right conclusion (we should all respect one another as individuals first) in a tidy way. It's usually some bizarre combination of "Stomp on all the man-pigs! S.C.U.M.!" along with "Oh, wow, Wonder Woman is totally hot! Cleavage! Cleavage! Male gaze! Oggle!"
Click to viewBut in JL/JLU we get to see her in a group context, with lots of other female characters, and with male characters with a wide range of attitudes towards the opposite sex. (Contrast Green Arrow vs B'wana Beast vs The Flash vs Batman...there's a lot of difference there!)
And in episodes that revolve around her, we still get to see her more as an individual than a walking political ideal. (For example, that episode where her and Hawkgirl hate each other, but then they have to go to Tartarus together to take on Felix Faust.)..."
[Future topic of analysis: Justice League Unlimited season 1, episode 18: "The Balance" ?]