The Faces of Glory - Alan Moore's Glory #2 [Martin Variant, Avatar Press]

Thus far we've seen quite a bit of cheesecake, with the exception of the Haley #1 and the Linsner from last time.

But there's more. Come on. You knew that there was going to be more, right?

As I noted last time, there are artists who focus on a particular aspect of the character. I'd love to know whether this was purposeful or not. Matt Martin's covers, those I have, err far more on the erotic side of the character.

It would be easy to write this off as fan service, but it's also important to remember that Moore's project in this character, and Promethea afterward, was an examination of various aspects of femininity. We can debate another time the relative success or failure of that project. So I choose to read these portraits more as paeans to the erotic nature of the body, definitely an aspect of Glory's mythic presence.

This is the Matt Martin variant of issue #2 of the Avatar series. Something Promethea deals with is the shame that is erroneously associated with the erotic in Western society. It's a very strange thing to me to be ashamed of our ability to feel pleasure. So in a naively optimistic way, I like to think this is simply another facet of the character. But, of course, it wouldn't look quite so sexist if there were some sexy men covers in comics.