Another one bites the dust...

[trashcanman]

So another week, another comic cover protested. This time, it's Batgirl and her variant cover that was drawn as part of DC's ceelebration of 75 years of Jokerdom. Check it out.



Hopefully, you weren't planning on buying it, though.

www.themarysue.com/batgirl-variant-cover-cancelled/

This isn't too much of an outrage due to the fact that the artist himself has supported the move and unlike Milo Manara's firing by Marvel after daring to draw Spider-Woman in a classic Spider-man pose, he's not banned from DC forever. The reasons DC give are logical and the fact that morons are pulling Gamergate cyberterrorism tactics to support the cover is reason enough by itself to say "no cover for you". If the book is targeted at a younger audience these days, then suddenly pulling a super creepy cover implying Barbara Gordon's debasement at the Joker's hands on them probably isn't the greatest thing they could do to young female readers looking for the new, hip, social media-savvy Batgirl. I can understand this, even if it was likely precipitated by the exact same people who are ruining the internet with their moronic politics. Still, that was a badass cover.

[The Curmudgeon]

Damn, that is cool as shit, tho.

I don't read the books, so if they're aimed at younger audiences then yeah, I can understand the logic. That being said, the following two sentences don't run alongside for me.

We publish comic books about the greatest heroes in the world, and the most evil villains imaginable....threats of violence and harassment are wrong and have no place in comics or society.

That makes no sense. This isn't an Archie comic book you're writing, it's set in the fucking Batman universe with THE comic book villain, and the cover itself is a clever reference to a classic book from the same universe.

I.. get it, I suppose, but man that really doesn't sit well with me.

[trashcanman]

Take out the "in comics" and it's fine. Maybe if they'd said "in the comic community". These companies really need to hire me to edit their statements for them. How many instances have we seen where a hero is wrecked by a villain and held hostage in a death trap or torture scenario? More than any of us can count. So yeah, the logic behind the protests is stupid. If you can't put characters in danger, how can you possibly drum up any dramatic tension? They say they want gender equality, but they resist female characters being portrayed in the same situations as their male counterparts. They want strong female characters in conservative outfits and "people of color" (anytime you hear that phrase, know you are speaking to an ignorant fool), but when they get those things delivered to them on a silver platter in a quality title, they don't buy it (see: The Movement). There's no win here because we're dealing with a hivemind whose only goal is to tear down, not to build up. It'll be really interesting to see how long this carries on before creators start to realize that listening to these people is a waste of time and a no-win. But Jesus Christ, do I wish the mindless trolls would stop legitimizing them with threats.