Small rant on Sapphire Lanterns

[TheCorpulent1]

Read Rucka's anything, really. Dude tends to write pretty strong female characters across the board, from Montoya in Gotham Central to Wonder Woman to Dex in Stumptown.

And I do blame Johns for making the Sapphires totally useless and uncompelling. It's telling that the only good one is Miri, whom Tomasi created. I also blame whoever came up with that design for making them look super-****ty. How does being an agent of love equate to being like 90% naked unless you're a perv?

 

[BrianWilly]

Corp, he's calling you old.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, but I feel old anyway, so it's cool. I know b****ing about this is the online equivalent of shooing the kids off my lawn, but I don't care. I embrace my geriatric anger.

 

[Watson]

Read Rucka's anything, really. Dude tends to write pretty strong female characters across the board, from Montoya in Gotham Central to Wonder Woman to Dex in Stumptown.

I couldn't agree more. All the women in Gotham Central are great.

There are also lots of other great suggestions of strong women in comics on my blog [/shameless plug]

And I do blame Johns for making the Sapphires totally useless and uncompelling. It's telling that the only good one is Miri, whom Tomasi created. I also blame whoever came up with that design for making them look super-****ty. How does being an agent of love equate to being like 90% naked unless you're a perv?

I think the justification for it is that the love the Sapphires represent is supposed to be romantic sexual love. They could have been way more interesting had Johns expanded the vision to include all kinds of love.

 

[Mr. Earle]

What's to stop an enemy from punching those boobs and kicking exposed butt? If you're stupid enough to show it, then pay the price of injury.

The costumes arent the ones that protect the Lanterns from injury. They are protected by the ring which forms and aura or whatever around them. Why do you think Hal's head stays on his shoulders when he is punched through multiple buildings (he's only wearing a domino mask on his head)?

As for the Star Sapphires, they dont represent the romantic kind of love. The beast (or whatever Parallax, Ion, etc are called) of their spectrum is the Predator if that's any clue. Their love is the suppressive, forced, stalker kind of love. They just love, they dont have control. That's why they re dressed like ****es and they arent filled with romantic emotions. Something like that anyway.

I don't mind some cheesecake female costumes. WW's costume isn't really practical is it? But it's iconic and at the very least a majority of her boobs are covered. But the SS costumes ignore any functionality of an outfit. They don't even make sense physically, unless they were glued in.

For someone who reads GL, you must know that their clothes are ring constructs right? They just imagine the suit and the ring dresses them in it.

 

[Watson]

The costumes arent the ones that protect the Lanterns from injury. They are protected by the ring which forms and aura or whatever around them. Why do you think Hal's head stays on his shoulders when he is punched through multiple buildings (he's only wearing a domino mask on his head)?

As for the Star Sapphires, they dont represent the romantic kind of love. The beast (or whatever Parallax, Ion, etc are called) of their spectrum is the Predator if that's any clue. Their love is the suppressive, forced, stalker kind of love. They just love, they dont have control. That's why they re dressed like ****es and they arent filled with romantic emotions.

OK fine, they don't need armour. I still don't think their costumes make sense from a functional standpoint. Why would you want to fight in what could barely be considered a swimsuit?

And I have a HUGE problem with the idea that ****es=obsessive love. Dressing in a revealing manner doesn't mean that you are likely to be a ****e or a stalker, it means you are a)super comfortable with yourself b)have some self-esteem issues.

I guess you can argue that each emotional corps represents the "extreme" of that emotion. But all the other corps have decent characters and always look and act cool. Even Larfleez, who is nuts, gets his funny moments mixed in with the serious stuff. So why does it have to be the corps full of women that are the "****es" and the "obsessive lovers" and have barely a well rounded character? Do men not love obsessively? I'm sure many female domestic abuse survivors would tell you that yes they do. It doesn't give me, as a female reader of these comics, the impression that Johns knows or cares that there is an audience out there looking for good, well rounded characters of all genders. I just get the impression that he needed some eye candy and a device for Hal to emote against .

For someone who reads GL, you must know that their clothes are ring constructs right? They just imagine the suit and the ring dresses them in it.

Yeah, that doesn't make the costume any better to me.

 

[Mr. Earle]

I guess you can argue that each emotional corps represents the "extreme" of that emotion.

Exactly. But i'm with you, the costumes are ridiculous. But to represent the extreme of the emotion they could either go with flowers, kittens and little hearts, or ****ES****ES****ES. The latter seems more in tune with their predatorial instincts.

So why does it have to be the corps full of women that are the "****es" and the "obsessive lovers" and have barely a well rounded character? Do men not love obsessively?

I think there are one or two men. Maybe...

It doesn't give me, as a female reader of these comics, the impression that Johns knows or cares that there is an audience out there looking for good, well rounded characters of all genders.

I dont know what to tell you because i am not an avid GL reader. One day that i'll find the time i'll bury myself in GL comics.
Anyway, i dont really care much for the SS. More ATROCITUS, LARFLEEZE and ST WALKER please!

 

[Miss Webb]

Comicdom excuses for sexism = lame
t/a = played out
boring meat shows = nothing special

They do what they want to do, all arguments aside. And I'd bet that even if they covered every boob and butt next week, no sales would drop off in the industry. It's just lame excuses for dudes that like to draw that way. At least they need to admit it.

And oh, like men don't obsess over sex/love/relationships? Wow, from cultural harems to sex offenders, stalkers, rapists, wife beaters and the like...obsession/twisted love has no gender. Shoot, the 'grim and gritty' nineties had stuff like that by the bucketload in comics. (Also trenchcoats, pockets and buckles.)

And the auras generated by gls can be penetrated. Sinestro penetrated Kyle's aura several times in Rebirth, seriously wounding him. Kyle likewise returned the favor. And in GL when Hal was battling the Red Guardians, Alan challenged him and stopped him in his tracks. Hal commented that he could feel the heat from Alan's fire through his aura.

I still say if those Sapphires get in a real fight where they can't just 'fly away' as an enemy, I'm doing two things:

Take one free shot straight at those little bitty boobs.

And put one jack booted foot up that exposed ass. They'll be posing alright, in a hospital bed.

Now WW's pretty invulnerable so that may not apply. But Carol? She's just a girly girl in pink flying in a girly girl rubber fetish costume playing around.

Speaking of fetish, Blue Flash looks just...wrong. Like he's in bubble kink gear or something!

 

[Mr. Earle]

And the auras generated by gls can be penetrated. Sinestro penetrated Kyle's aura several times in Rebirth, seriously wounding him. Kyle likewise returned the favor. And in GL when Hal was battling the Red Guardians, Alan challenged him and stopped him in his tracks. Hal commented that he could feel the heat from Alan's fire through his aura.

I still say if those Sapphires get in a real fight where they can't just 'fly away' as an enemy, I'm doing two things:

Take one free shot straight at those little bitty boobs.

And put one jack booted foot up that exposed ass. They'll be posing alright, in a hospital bed.

So Guy's jacket and Hal's spandex provide protection when the aura is penetrated? They are ring constructs anyway and not real clothing. If clothing mattered then they'd be dressed in armour, not spandex, jackets and domino masks. And really, when you re dealing with Sinestro, what kind of clothing will protect you?

The clothes that Lanterns wear provide nothing other than external appearence. GOT IT?

 

[Watson]

So Guy's jacket and Hal's spandex provide protection when the aura is penetrated? They are ring constructs anyway and not real clothing. If clothing mattered then they'd be dressed in armour, not spandex, jackets and domino masks. And really, when you re dealing with Sinestro, what kind of clothing will protect you?

The clothes that Lanterns wear provide nothing other than external appearence. GOT IT?

Miss Webb is clearly aware of that. She's saying that an enemy is more likely to target exposed areas of the body then unexposed ones. The Sapphires have a LOT of exposed areas.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Everything is protected by the ring's aura. That's why it doesnt matter whether Hal wears a tuxedo or goes nude.

 

[BrianWilly]

I think y'all are missing the point, really. Whether or not that..."outfit" provides protection is really incidental to the fact that it looks completely ****ing stupid and that no sane woman would ever wear it.

 

[fifthfiend]

Come on BW, you know if you were a Green Lantern you'd totally be fighting crime in a man-thong.

...Man there should totally be a Green Lantern who does that.

 

[Gilpesh]

no sane woman would ever wear it.

Well... all the Star Sapphires are a bit crazy... a lot crazy.

 

[fifthfiend]

He could be from Tamaran or one of those other ******** planets where it's ~*part of their culture*~ to walk around with no drawers on, that only girl superheroes ever seem to come from.

"Forsooth, my glowing green man-hammock EMPOWERS me!"

 

[BrianWilly]

If I were a Green Lantern I would wear this.









I mean it isn't even about showing skin so much as it is about showing skin stupidly, much like a crazy person, or a hobo. Indigo-1 shows pretty much the same general amount of skin that Carol does (or even more, arguably), the difference is that Indigo's outfit is not stupid.

That's the thing, you can actually have a sexy and titillating and even exploitive costume without it being a bloody punchline in the very comic it appears in.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, Indigo-1's costume looks tribal. You assume that she's wearing so little because she couldn't kill enough space bears to get the raw materials to cover herself better or something. There's an implied theme behind it. Plus, the men in the Indigo Tribe wear about the same amount of clothing.

Carol's costume is whatever she wants it to be. So all we can assume is that she really, genuinely wants to look like a stripper who made it halfway through her act before having to run off and fight space monsters. Other Sapphires like Miri, as mentioned before, wear considerably more conservative costumes. So Carol's just seems silly if we're supposed to take her seriously as a strong lead character in Blackest Night.

 

[Mr. Earle]

I think y'all are missing the point, really. Whether or not that..."outfit" provides protection is really incidental to the fact that it looks completely ****ing stupid and that no sane woman would ever wear it.

Sane and Star Sapphires dont go in the same sentence.
And as i told you, i think they re trying to symbolize the extremeness of the love emotion.
Going by this, shouldnt Larfleeze be dressed like a king? Hm....

If I were a Green Lantern I would wear this.

LOL

 

[The Question]

I think the justification for it is that the love the Sapphires represent is supposed to be romantic sexual love. They could have been way more interesting had Johns expanded the vision to include all kinds of love.

Romantic love doesn't mean you dress like a dominatrix Barbie.


Also, there's nothing romantic about the Star Sapphires, unless you think being a stalker and a rapist is romantic.

 

[Watson]

Romantic love doesn't mean you dress like a dominatrix Barbie.


Also, there's nothing romantic about the Star Sapphires, unless you think being a stalker and a rapist is romantic.

Yes, I agree. I was explaining what I thought the justification was for it.

Did you read any of my other posts in this thread?

 

[Miss Webb]

So Guy's jacket and Hal's spandex provide protection when the aura is penetrated? They are ring constructs anyway and not real clothing. If clothing mattered then they'd be dressed in armour, not spandex, jackets and domino masks. And really, when you re dealing with Sinestro, what kind of clothing will protect you?

The clothes that Lanterns wear provide nothing other than external appearence. GOT IT?

Well, others clearly got where I was going, so there's no need for me to repeat.

The constant crouching and posing is over the top, too...keep sticking your backside up an enemy's face...get it kicked.

And thus, sexism meets a painful end.

I agree the costumes are awful. But the bad message is that the women secretly want to look ****tish, or need to parade sex in order to get attention. Talk about self image issues...so to feel good about themselves, look like hookers in latex? Especially since they control the appearance of their costume. You have to wonder at the 'femme stereotype' which gets back to the pink girly thing...all emotions, hormones, irrational, blah, blah.

It's all about conditioning, really. Everyone's so used to seeing this stuff it's no big deal. And it isn't. It's just trifling. The idea is that women are supposed to look that way, even when it's out of context and makes no sense! Constantly crouching and posing? People would think you had to go to the bathroom, or have a bad back.

However, I gaze upon Nightwing's ass and tell myself that all is well.

 

[Miss Webb]

Come on BW, you know if you were a Green Lantern you'd totally be fighting crime in a man-thong.

...Man there should totally be a Green Lantern who does that.

Now I could get behind that! Hal Jordon in green nipple cups, his huge manly package swaying gently in a green sack as he fights universal corruption! Thigh high emerald boots to offset the look. After all, nothing can penetrate his aura! Well, not unless he wanted it to.

*snickers* t:

 

[Mr. Earle]

Well, others clearly got where I was going, so there's no need for me to repeat.

The constant crouching and posing is over the top, too...keep sticking your backside up an enemy's face...get it kicked.

And thus, sexism meets a painful end.

I agree the costumes are awful. But the bad message is that the women secretly want to look ****tish, or need to parade sex in order to get attention. Talk about self image issues...so to feel good about themselves, look like hookers in latex? Especially since they control the appearance of their costume. You have to wonder at the 'femme stereotype' which gets back to the pink girly thing...all emotions, hormones, irrational, blah, blah.

It's all about conditioning, really. Everyone's so used to seeing this stuff it's no big deal. And it isn't. It's just trifling. The idea is that women are supposed to look that way, even when it's out of context and makes no sense! Constantly crouching and posing? People would think you had to go to the bathroom, or have a bad back.

However, I gaze upon Nightwing's ass and tell myself that all is well.

It isnt sexism because not all women in comics look like that. Besides, in my opinion these particular ones are less sexy than Powergirl or Black Cat (no big boobs, no great asses), so they must be doing it to show the effect of the love emotion.

Anyway, women are generally portrayed like that in comics because they know their target audience.

 

[BrianWilly]

Who says that literally every single woman ever depicted in comics must look ****ty or else the Star Sapphires aren't sexist? That makes no sense. The Star Sapphires can be a very sexist depiction of women (and of love) all on their own. The fact that there are in fact many other females in comics being depicted very well makes the Star Sapphires' case look worse, not better.

 

[Mr. Earle]

I'm just saying that they re all dressed like ****es so it mustnt be for cheesecake purposes only. Especially when they re not that sexy anyway. The hottest Star Sapphire so far has been Wonder Woman who received a ring for 24 hours at the end of Blackest Night. Damn she was hot!