Within my collection are a number of items that can really only be tangentially called "comics." They look like comics, certainly, and they often feature comics artists and writers, and well-known comics characters. But they're lacking in a particular part of comics, and that is narrative. But not solely narrative, because we have abstract comics that simply perform the art, rather than tell a story. Still sequential, not narrative. So not solely narrative, but without intent of narrative.
The swimsuit and lingerie issues, for example.
I've looked at one other, the Lady Death entry into the genre. I treated it like a comic, but it wasn't really one. So let's have a look at the rest of them, shall we?
Though it's often said that many Liefeld books are simply exercises in skimpy clothing for women, there's at least the veneer of story to deflect some attention. Not so here. One of 3 covers featuring model Cathy Christian as Liefeld's avenging angel (I think - I actually don't know much about Avengelyne). Within are numerous photos of Ms. Christian in bathing suits, as well as artist's renditions of characters from the series in various states of undress. Mostly, needless to say, women. There's no continuity, no tale being told, between the pages, which seems to me a lost opportunity. Imagine a story that was a series of splash pages featuring swimsuit-clad characters - shenanigans could indeed ensue.
One thing that I do think is important to note is that Ms. Christian appeared at cons as this character, and this is back in the 90s, so she's actually probably fairly important in the history of cosplay. As might this particular publication, too.
These publications, though, I don't think I'd ever call comics. They're art books, more correctly. There are a number of similar cases, where comics-like ephemera accumulates in the collection. We'll have a look at them over time. But first, more swimsuits and lingerie!Babes of Broadway (get the double entendre, there?) is just awful. I don't know what Broadway Comics was, only that Jim Shooter was involved, as were some super top-level artists, and there's testimonials inside this comic from women who work for the company talking about how not offensive they find the whole idea of a lingerie/babe publication. I don't know, but I can't help but read them with a very large grain of salt.
The Razor Swimsuit Special is a bit off-putting for the fact that the main character, in her usual romps, is bloodthirsty and violent in a way that only London Night Studios tends to pull off. And Faust, of course.
So seeing many of these characters in "come hither" positions, sometimes while engaged in other, more visceral pursuits, is weird. I've never really understood that aesthetic that links sexuality with brutal, brutal violence. A bit of consensual S&M is one thing, but horrifically mangling corpses while mostly nude - who is this appealing to, and how do I avoid them?
I will add a caveat - there are actually some really lovely pieces of art in these books. Free of the constraints of continuity or audience expectation, there are occasionally cool interpretations of characters. But such interpretation could easily be subsumed into an art book - why go for the lingerie?
Well, the answer's obvious, unfortunately. Because Men.
Some more recognizable characters in the next couple of issues. The Wildstorm one is okay, I guess. Lots of bikinis, but varied art at least. There is one strange one that's Rose Tattoo from Warren Ellis's Stormwatch, who is literally death (I think) in that series, posing like a porn star on a weird alien planet. It's not just that the comics most definitely objectify women, but that they're completely unfaithful to the source material. I think it does a lot of dis-service to the characters.
The Top Cow entry into this genre does pretty much the same thing as the Wildstorm one, but with another Image imprint. The irony that strikes me is that I mentioned back when I reviewed the first Fathom collection that I understood the Top Cow aesthetic much more in the context of a water-based story, but Top Cow doesn't do a swimsuit issue - they do a lingerie issue.
*sigh*
One last one for your perusal. A small enough publisher that they have no comics listed in the GCD.
Though the artwork within is very good, it's exactly what you think it is.
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