Image Comics Sexual Revolution

Society has always had a strange relationship with sex. We put up with anything else being exploited and explored in pop culture while the parameters for how we view sex is incredibly narrow. Women can be sexualized but only to the point that no genital or areola’s are showing, sexual intercourse will only be accepted as the traditional heterosexual male/female relationship and more often then not if it doesn’t lead to a monogamous co habitation it’s going to lead towards a negative outcome and men are always seen as having the power position in a sexual relationship. Take the ubiquitous Twilight series of books and films essentially works to reinforce every kind of traditionalist idea of sexuality through classical horror genre tropes. Of course none of these parameters are reflective of the much more complicated reality of sexuality which is strange. Considering all the positive things that come with sex, be that love, the creation of life or just unlocking emotions, it’s probably one of the most important parts of our lives as humans but mainstream popular culture is to believed there is only a very small number of options and outcomes for sexual relationships.Popular comics tends to follow the same wavelength of the mainstream. The majority of the comics from Marvel or DC dance around the idea of sex and sexuality. Female bodies are exploited to the point that they can deny the imagery is pornographic and complies with the comics code while the actual act of sex is rarely approached. I can’t really blame these companies for doing that. Female body exploitation sells and to expect a corporate subsidiary to do anything other then respond to the demands of the marketplace is unrealistic. Moreover I really don’t have any interest in seeing someone like Deathlocke or Aquaman explore the parameters of their sexuality. Luckily for comic fans of distinguished taste Image is increasingly growing into comics unofficial third major publisher and they’re distributing books that are exploring aspects of sex and sexuality in ways that nothings else in pop culture from any medium is. At Image the comics Sex, Fatale, Satellite Sam, Sex Criminals and Saga are taking unique ideas about sex and how it relates to our life and filtering that through traditional comic genre fiction resulting truly brilliant artistic representations of sexuality in the process.

Drawing From Below: Iron Bound By Brendan Leach

Drawing From Below is a space where we shine a light on the non “mainstream” work that doesn’t get shipped by Diamond but still deserves your attention. They may be the next Brian Michael Bendis, Jeff Lemire or Brandon Graham. They may be the next cult leader of the comics underground. They may not be any of these thing. But they are producing high quality work and are doing it without the help of a traditional comics publisher. This edition is about Iron Bound by Brendan Leach

COMIC BOOK GREATS: Jim Starlin – “The Architect of Marvels Infinite”

There are a handful of creators whom hold the title of true architects of the Marvel universe, writers and artist who truly shaped the comic line from its inception. Pioneers such as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four, Steve Ditko and John Romita on Spiderman, Jim Steranko on Nick Fury, Chris Claremont on X-Men, Walt Simonson on Thor or Steve Englehart on Captain America. These are legends whose names will forever be attached to the characters they helped shaped at a very early stage of their existence, almost to the extent that has made every take on hero’s afterwards derivative on some level. Jim Starlin’s legacy at Marvel is rather unique; while no one would deny how important his contribution has been towards Marvel’s shared Universe his great runs have used heroes like Captain Marvel (the original one), Warlock, Drax the Destroyer and Pip The Troll. In fact, the one character that he’s focused on whom has had the most significant stake in the 616 is super villain Thanos. Starlin’s lasting contribution to Marvel is a more ambiguous concept of the infinite and what it means inside the fictional universe and  if Marvel’s current Infinity event is any indication, the infinite in the 616 universe is an idea creators are still attempting to understand and explore four decades after Starlin began trying to come to grasp with what it meant.

Quantum and Woody’s Engaging Racial Politics

 

I never read Quantum and Woody when it came out in the 90’s and outside of some work with Brubaker on Captain America Asmus was more or less an unknown quantity for me. I had not interest in reading it until I heard iFanboy discuss it in August but as of now I’m really happy I did because Quantum and Woody is approaching issues of race in a way that no other comic is doing right now and that’s refreshing. For people that aren’t reading the comic it’s a story about two brothers, one is a white guy who is an incredible fuck up/scumbag but had the good fortune to be adopted into a wealthy black american family and the other is his overachieving black brother that often bears the brunt of Woody’s poor decisions. In the first issue there father dies and henceforth hilarity ensues. There are supervillans and superheros, there’s a plot line centered around discovering who killed there father, there’s great art and there’s hilarious dialogue but what sticks out most is the way the comic tackles issues of race head on within it’s pages.