But it sure as hell seems like it. I'm a bit behind on my comic book news, so I just saw this item at Newsarama on a report from Previews about Spider-Man One Day More:
“HEADED FOR THE CHOPPING BLOCK?
“Black Cat, Mary Jane, and Aunt May?
“Is it one of these ladies that take a dirt nap in the upcoming storyline ‘One More Day’? You heard it here, folks. A re-assuring voice and shoulder-to-lean-on is going to be taken out permanent-style in this four-issue storyline, which kicks off in Amazing Spider-Man #544 and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24. This body check is whipped up by war horses J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. Pain is promised. No tissues will be issued!
“Who next gets thrown under the bus like the long-lost Gwen Stacy? Details are hard to come by, but what we do know is that there ain’t much joy in Mudville. Spidey’s gonna get left out in the rain again, and oh, how the tears will flow.”
Nice, right? It basically sums up everything that's wrong with the way female characters are treated in comics, while really amping up the disrespect. The Gwen Stacy reference adds a dose of "haven't we read this story before?" vibe. I think it's the "Who next gets thrown under the bus like the long-lost Gwen Stacy?" line that's my favorite. It says it all, and it's badly worded. Seriously. Who wrote this crap? It's possible it was Diamond and not Marvel, but since Diamond would have to get any information about the story from Marvel, I'm going to guess it was Marvel. This is worse than that solicit for the last issue of Daredevil that basically said that every woman Matt Murdock ever talked to has died and another one was going to be added to the list. I'm exaggerating, but not by much. (I don't read Daredevil. Did his wife get killed?)
I'm actually not sure if this shows more contempt for women, or just readers in general. I'm actually one of the first people to say that the most interesting thing that Gwen Stacy ever did was die. I'll also say that I think stories where the loved ones of superheroes are put in danger are a necessity, and that sometimes characters need to die. I think the problem lies in the lack of equal treatment. One rarely sees male characters being killed or otherwise victimized in order to further a female character's journey. Also, any character that is put into these situations should be treated as a person, and not merely as a meaningless object that the hero and villain fight over. The character should be treated with respect and his or her death should be meaningful and impactful. Otherwise, it's just carnage for the sake of carnage, which is something that I do not even think suits the superhero genre well. It's certainly not why I read superhero comics. It's worth noting that, while Gwen Stacy was afforded little agency in the events of her own death (at least until Sins Past, but that's a discussion for a different post), there has never been a lack of respect, and the fact that her death had a huge impact cannot be argued against. I think her legacy is a bit too revered at times, as she's become more saint than person, but I would hate for her to ever be completely forgotten.
Mostly, I think what Marvel fails to realize is that a lack of respect for a character is the equivalent of a lack of respect for fans of that character. I guess I can understand that connection not being made. I just don't understand how they can be so publicly dismissive of what seems increasingly frequent claims of misogyny. On the contrary, it's like they are using it as a selling point now. I get them laughing this stuff off in private, but on a corporate level, that doesn't make sense to me. DC gets a lot of criticism too, but, as clueless as they are, I at least get the impression they are trying. Does Marvel lack a PR department?
No comments:
Post a Comment