The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1893: Razor: Metal and Flesh, 1996

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One last little bit of Razor, though I'm pretty sure I've got at least one issue of one of the Avatar series, so we'll check back in with Ms. Mitchell at a later date.

 

A bit of research on this comic reveals that it was a box-topper for a set of collector cards of the same name. There's not really an indication of when the story takes place in Razor's continuity, though there are ads for the final issue of Razor: Torture in the back, so I'd place it around there. There's also a "next time" caption box at the end of the comic, which is weird given that it was distributed as a promotional item. Does it continue in another box-topper? It is a reprint of something previously published? Are these questions I'm likely to ever answer?

 

That last one I can at least give some kind of response. Razor has been interesting to read, but as I've noted it's not really my thing. I think I like a bit less ultra-violence in my superheroes (which is what Razor and company really are), and a little less randomly-revealed female flesh. Contextually, I can see the time and place that this comic emerges from, but I don't think it was a place that added much to the ongoing narrative of comics themselves. Actually, if it did contribute to that overall narrative, then it was to reinforce the idea of comics as a violent, sexist, throwaway medium that is more concerned with titillation than it is story. And if that sounds like a harsh judgment, answer me one question: why are all the women in comics of this ilk either naked or clad in costumes that may as well be naked? There's literally no story reason for this.

 

Kind of a negative note to end my look at London Night Studios. I'm sure that there were people for whom these comics were very important, and that they enjoyed them in ways that I don't. And that's fine and good.

 

But I still don't really get it.

 

More to follow.

 

Further Reading and Related Posts

 

I recently sorted out all my promotional comics. I have a surprising amount of them, and apparently I've read quite a few for the project.

I don't remember if I've linked to all of my "bad girl" comic reviews, but here they are again.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1892: Razor/Warrior Nun Areala: Faith, May 1996

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 I was going to read the zero issue of Glory today, but, honestly, it's exactly the same story as yesterday's comic, just in colour. I'll wait a bit and maybe read it when I'm done with Awesome's Youngblood stuff. So we're bouncing back (based on that cover, anyway) to London Night Studios for a couple of days to finish off my comics from them. And this one might inspire another read through of a publisher's output in the collection, as it features Antarctic Press' Warrior Nun Areala - I've read some of their stuff, but maybe it's time to read through the rest.

Anyway, on to today's comic. Violence? Check. Scantily-clad buxom ladies? Check. Hypermasculine demons? Check. I'll admit that one of the tings that actually surprised me about this comic, and about a couple of the other Razor comics I've read, is that they're actually quite Christian. I don't know if this is based on a genuine belief in that religious system, or simply because the characters are set in that milieu, but there's lots of claims of doing things in God's name, most of which are acts of brutal violence.

There's always been that link though, hasn't there? For millennia, rulers have done great violence in the name of their religions (not their religious figures, mind you, but their religions - important distinction) - I suppose, since I've argued that the stories we read now are pretty much all descendants of the various stories we've created culture around, that the link of violence and religion isn't that surprising. That said, if I'm right, and Superman is a secular ethical myth, I'm pretty sure I've never heard of anyone doing violence in Superman's name. I wonder why it's okay to do it in Jesus's?

More to follow.

 

Further Reading and Related Links

As I say, I've read a bit of Antarctic Press - some good, some...not so good.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1884: Razor: Torture #4, May 1996

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 After this issue, the series runs another 3, so I will never, likely, know what the final outcome of the story is. I have to say, not a great loss to me. The story itself, about a demon invasion of Earth, is pretty well-played out, and this take on it doesn't bring that much to the story. I'm more interested in the familial drama playing out - I feel like with Razor and Stryke we could have had a really intense look at sisterhood under violent and supernatural circumstances, but instead the focus is on violence and barely-covered women. Male gaze, amirite?

On a more positive note, I've enjoyed Rick Lyon's art - he's not quite as over the top as the early Image artists, and actually reminds me a great deal of Paul Ryan, whose work on Avengers v.2 I'm currently enjoying. A quick look at my database tells me that most of what I have by him is from Avatar Press, who I think are actually a direct descendant of London Night Studios. Oh, but he also contributed to Vixen Wars #1, perhaps one of the worst comics I've ever read.

Back into the Awesome U tomorrow with some of the new stuff I got from Doug Sulipa's Comic World. If you are jonesing for back issue bins to pour through, the Comic World site is the next best thing. Lots of weird and wonderful stuff.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1883: Razor: Torture #3, April 1996

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 So.

 

Every prominent woman in this issue is wearing either a cropped t-shirt or a skin-tight body suit. And those in the crop tops cannot seem to keep their underboob in check.

 

In fact, I really don't have a lot to say about this one, and that's because the first page was this:

 

 

That is Stryke. She's a badass assassin who killed Razor. And for some reason, she's posed like a porn star. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mind a well-rendered drawing of a human body. I like human bodies. But there's just no reason for this aside from titillation - it doesn't help the story, from a written or artistic perspective. It's really just a random, semi-nude woman.

 

One more issue of this tomorrow, then back to Youngblood. I think I can make it.

 

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1882: Razor: Torture #2, 1996

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Though this series is listed as, and was published as, a discreet series, it's quite obvious from my utter confusion over the narrative that Razor really is an ongoing series that is divided into what look like different mini-series. I have a bit of a problem with this. If you're going to market something as a mini-series, it should be possible to follow the narrative without having to have read too much of the character's previous adventures. Otherwise, why not simply list this as a continuation of the ongoing series? One of the answers to this question is obviously economic. A new #1 issue is going to sell much better than a #23 issue. A #1 also gives the option of variant covers and large-scale promotion. So if a title is starting to founder a bit, I can see a publisher deciding that a new story line deserves a new series. But at least give us a "Previously in..." section on the inside cover or something. There's some heavy-handed exposition captions, but they don't really give us the background for the overarching story that is necessary for proper understanding of what's going on in the comic.

That said, we get to see a razor-clad bondage girl fight an angel with a sword in this issue, which is not a bad thing. And Rick Lyon's art is such an improvement over Jude Millien's.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts

I've not read a lot, though there's definitely more to follow, but here's all the "Bad Girl" comics I've read for the project so far.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1881: Razor: Torture #1, 1996

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Going to switch things up as I'm reading through the Youngblood stuff, so I thought I'd go in a completely different direction and read my London Night Studios output. I did Blood Reign Saga a few days back, and now we're going to get into London Night's signature character, Razor.

Don't worry. The version of the costume that she wears in the comic proper doesn't appear to be one that has shrunk in the wash.

Razor is one of the prominent "bad girls" of the 90s, a trend in comics that was crystalized, I think, in the stuff that Chaos! comics put out - most notably, of course, in Lady Death. I guess I get the draw of such things. There's lots of over the top action, and lots of scantily-clad women perpetrating that action. Honestly, if one were to ever try to track the evolution of toxic masculinity, I think this genre of comics would have to at least have a mention. Though, as I note, Razor's costume in the comic is a little more...wearable?...than the cover one, but there's still quite a bit of flesh on display. I'm not sure that feeding the appetites for both sexual gratification and brutal violence (of which there is quite a bit in the comic) at the same time is the best idea. Surely it links the two, and, except in the most safe and agreed-upon situations, those two should never go together.

I should be very clear - I am in no way saying that this comic, or any of London Night Studios' comics, are responsible for the levels of gendered violence we see in our society. That's a product of hundreds, if not thousands, of patriarchal oppression. But a comic like this certainly can't help. I've got to think a bit more on this. There's always been a link between Eros and Thanatos, but I can't help but think that the violence that is linked with sex is not exactly what that link is meant to be about.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts
 
If you're interested in one of the great "bad girls" of the 90s, here's a couple of pieces on Lady Death.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1875: Blood Reign Saga #1, 1996

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It's been a while since I delved into the weirder sides of the collection, so I thought I'd break up my reading of various Awesome Comics titles with some blood and guts horror from London Night Studios.

This publisher is well known for its character Razor, created by London Night publisher/founder Everette Hartsoe. The comics are, by and large, violent and bloody, with full frontal shots of people exploding in showers of viscera. Oh, and most of the women are either scantily clad or just completely naked. Indeed, the main character of today's issue spends literally the entire comic nude. As does the only other female character in the comic. All the other male characters are completely clothed. This is a problem I have with comics of this ilk (they all, I think, grow out of the success that was Faust) - for some reason the women have to be sexy and/or naked, regardless of whether or not they are characters with agency or simply set dressing. Aside from titillation, not much is served by having Officer Maguire parade around in the nude all issue.

I'll admit to some curiosity about the setting - it's definitely a vampire story full of dismemberment and blood drinking, but it's also set on a different planet in a city that covers the entire surface of the globe. This moves it into the realm of science fiction-horror, but the costume that the main protagonist wears also looks somewhat like a superhero costume, and he appears to be doing "good," if such violence can be categorized as such. So a bit of a mishmash. London Night only published this one issue of the series, though it appears to be reprinting an earlier series from 1991 that ran 9 or so issues. If it pops up for cheap somewhere, I might give it a look.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts

The only other London Night piece I've written about is in a post on swimsuit issues.

Comics' Ephemera 1 - Swimsuit / Lingerie Issues

Beginning a new month, I'm hoping to get back to occasionally writing things other than the 40 Years project. I'm aiming for once a month right now.

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.