Female Characters

[Jennifer Walters]

Kitty Pryde of the X-Men has always been relatively flat chested.

 

[Temple Fugate]

Kitty Pryde of the X-Men has always been relatively flat chested.

but isnt she supposed to be 15 or so? (not an xmen reader)

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Dude. Kitty's not been 15 in years. She's probably mid 20s now.

 

[Darthkush]

Personally, I love female characters. I see no difference between them and the male ones if written well. That goes for all forms of media, not just comics as I'm a huge fan of Buffy, Alias and others like them. The vibe I get from others why female characters aren't as big of a sell with many men is that frankly, a lot of men just don't believe a woman can be physically imposing and/or be a superhero. For example, my younger brother finds Buffy the vampire slayer ridiculous because a "chick that small would be KILLED by those guys/monsters/demons, etc." while I myself buy it because they've already told me that 1. Buffy can fight and 2. She has some level of super strength. A lot of men simply can't get past the fact that women are smaller and dainty looking etc and unless they look like someone like Chyna many men think these female characters are pushovers as fighters and thus they don't want to read a series about characters they think are winning fights unrealistically.

 

[TEDDY]

I don't know. I like some female characters. Didn't think too much of it until the death of the Wasp, a founding Avenger, was just handled so poorly.

I guess the reasoning is due to the target audience being mostly males who crave what males crave in their fantasy: guys being heroes, girls being the hot damsel in distress, etc.

Take a look at Wonder Woman: not only one of the most popular female comic character but also one of the better known comic characters. Yet they can't get a live-action movie off the ground. I don't see why not, taking a look at the animated movie it has the makings of a true summer blockbuster.

But interest is dead and we're getting a Green Lantern movie... Green Lantern? Green Lantern. Instead of a movie that blends superheroes, mythology, epic battles, and a kick-ass hottie(things that seem to do well at the box office) we get a guy who has a magic ring and hates the color yellow.

No offense to GL, have been reading nonstop since Rebirth, but who outside of comics has heard of Green Lantern? Wonder Woman is known worldwide!

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Personally, I love female characters. I see no difference between them and the male ones if written well. That goes for all forms of media, not just comics as I'm a huge fan of Buffy, Alias and others like them. The vibe I get from others why female characters aren't as big of a sell with many men is that frankly, a lot of men just don't believe a woman can be physically imposing and/or be a superhero. For example, my younger brother finds Buffy the vampire slayer ridiculous because a "chick that small would be KILLED by those guys/monsters/demons, etc." while I myself buy it because they've already told me that 1. Buffy can fight and 2. She has some level of super strength. A lot of men simply can't get past the fact that women are smaller and dainty looking etc and unless they look like someone like Chyna many men think these female characters are pushovers as fighters and thus they don't want to read a series about characters they think are winning fights unrealistically.

This is what boils my blood. These are not average women their size. If you're brother would've just watched Buffy, he'd had seen that she's got super strength and has been trained to fight. That's not even giving it a chance. If there's a in universe reason for it, then you should just shut up and enjoy the ride.

And practically all female heroes have superpowers.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Practically all male heroes have superpowers too. It's kind of a staple of the superhero genre.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Yes, but why is it okay to believe a male superhero having powers? But if a skinny woman gets superstrength it's still not believeable that's she beating up dudes half her size? If there is an in universe reason? Why not just go with the flow and enjoy the character?

 

[bryanss3]

cause people are sexist

 

[fifthfiend]

Someone should ask DK's brother exactly how normal guys are supposed to be able to fight, you know, monsters/demons/etc. without getting killed.

 

[fifthfiend]

lol doublepost

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yes, but why is it okay to believe a male superhero having powers? But if a skinny woman gets superstrength it's still not believeable that's she beating up dudes half her size? If there is an in universe reason? Why not just go with the flow and enjoy the character?

I don't know, but I'm a big Buffy fan, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I found it a lot less believable for Xander to be fighting demons than Buffy.

 

[topdog1]

Anyone buying the new Spider-Woman series? I hated the idea of motion comics because I always want the paper version in my hands but they included the 1st issue on the bonus disc of the Planet Hulk animated movie. I really liked it. In fact, I'm going to pick up the comic and back issues next time I'm in my comic store. I liked Bendis' Alias. So, female leads can carry a book for me.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xav2i7_watch-your-step-music-video-from-sp_music

I even liked this music video about the new Spider-Woman series.

 

[Havok83]

I think its bc the fact is the majority of the comic audience is male. I like the females as well but I know that its characters like Wolverine, Hulk and Spidey that the general public go for. I think they appeal as more "cool" so to speak than being a fan of a female hero. I thought the recent Ms. Marvel series was really good this past year and its a shame it got cancelled bc it was just starting to get better. Unfortunately, I think she was Marvel's most prominent female capable of carrying an ongoing. She got quite a push and exposure outside of her title. If she cant go past 50 issues, I dont see the rest doing much better.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's a shame Halle Berry made Storm look so boring in the movies. She could've probably had a decent ongoing if the movies were true to the far more interesting comic version.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

The one problem I'd have with a Storm ongoing and seeing as she's my favorite X-Woman this isn't hating. What exactly would it be about? Would it be sett in Wakanda or the X-Men's base of locations or both? What would be Storm's goal in it?

 

[Harls]

Like others have stated, I think it goes back to the whole gender roles thing. Many men don't find women intimidating, strong, or they don't want to be the "damsel in distress" themselves and have to look up to "a woman to save them". (Which is crap, but it's been pounded into the brains of humans since we came about the earth)

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Yes, but more often than not in comics, the female heroes significant others are not the damsel in distress. They are just their love interest on the side of their superhero activities.

 

[Harls]

Yes, but more often than not in comics, the female heroes significant others are not the damsel in distress. They are just their love interest on the side of their superhero activities.

I realize that, but what I'm saying is it's probably just the age-old idea of male supiriority, even if the males who are reading the comics aren't like that themselves. It would be "weird" to them for a female to be strong and be able to kick a$$ just as well as the guys.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

It's still weird. In a world of really successful female heroines like Buffy, Xena, and Wonder Woman.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The one problem I'd have with a Storm ongoing and seeing as she's my favorite X-Woman this isn't hating. What exactly would it be about? Would it be sett in Wakanda or the X-Men's base of locations or both? What would be Storm's goal in it?

I don't know, I'm not a writer. Who'd have thought a She-Hulk ongoing would necessarily be a great idea before they first made one? I'm just saying, Storm seems to be one of the most popular female comic characters to the general public, in my experience, so she'd probably stand a decent chance of having a successful series if they could find a direction that's actually interesting.

 

[Havok83]

I don't know, I'm not a writer. Who'd have thought a She-Hulk ongoing would necessarily be a great idea before they first made one? I'm just saying, Storm seems to be one of the most popular female comic characters to the general public, in my experience, so she'd probably stand a decent chance of having a successful series if they could find a direction that's actually interesting.

Storm works as a leader; I dont think she'd work quite as well in a solo. What makes her interesting is her ability to delegate orders and I think having her go solo would take away from her defining characteristic that has made her stand out and interesting. Of course she'd most likely get a supporting cast but really Id rather see her back leading the X-men, which she should be doing. Besides isnt Black Panther, sort of a pseudo-Storm solo? Isnt it presented sort of like the Green Arrow and Black Canary series? I dont read either but I thought Storm had a big leading role along side T'Challa in that book

As far as female X-men, the one I thinkt hat would have the most success is X-23. I really surprise Marvel has not attempted that one bc she seems like she'd be the one that would make the msot sense. Id definetly buy it. Her 2 minis were amazing

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't read Black Panther and I don't particularly like Storm. I'm just speculating based on Storm's popularity amongst the unwashed masses.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Wow. Forgot I made this thread. I think it needs to be bumped.

During the reveals of the upcoming MvC3. I've seen two women characters, one of which is in my avatar, get flak for being ''just like their male counterparts?"

Is that the reason this is a problem? Unread bias? Does the brain automatically think that She Hulk, X-23, Spider-Woman, and anyone who is an offshot of a popular male hero is JUST like them? And thus not readable or enjoyable?

 

[Tron Bonne]

Wow. Forgot I made this thread. I think it needs to be bumped.

During the reveals of the upcoming MvC3. I've seen two women characters, one of which is in my avatar, get flak for being ''just like their male counterparts?"

Is that the reason this is a problem? Unread bias? Does the brain automatically think that She Hulk, X-23, Spider-Woman, and anyone who is an offshot of a popular male hero is JUST like them? And thus not readable or enjoyable?

I would say yes. A lot of people come to this conclusion because they don't what they're talking about, having read nothing of them, and it does seem to be a conclusion a lot of people jump on when they see a female offshot of male archetype character