Sexuality In Comics

How can we showcase sex in comics and not loose sight of the story being told? From costumed sex, LGBT characters and failed marriages sex is a part of comics that we often focus more attention on than is necessary.

Batman and Catwoman had sex. In a comic. In costume. Starfire sleeps around with humans for pure physical pleasure, with no romantic intentions. This happened in the same week of the New 52 DC is pushing, to draw in new readers and seems to be all anyone can talk about at the moment. But what about Wonder Woman sleeping naked? Batwoman and Flamebird changing clothes on panel with and without bra’s? No one got upset over this, though people did get upset at a scantily clad Harley Quinn, yet they also got upset when there was the rumor of the editorially mandated pants on all female characters. Years ago fans got upset with a Michel Turner JLoA cover where Power Girl was a bit more endowed than normal. We mock Greg Land for porn star faces while endorsing Adam Hughes who also plays up the cheesecake.

Readers tend to raise arms against sex in comics, not just against the physical act but characters sexuality and behaviors. Remember when Shatterstar and Rictor kissed? Or when Apollo and Midnighter did? Fandom went nuts, much like they are doing now with Starfire, Catwoman and I am betting Voodoo once people read the book.

We have a serious double standard in the industry as to what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to sex in comics.

Sexuality is a basic part of human nature, and lets face it and admit it, it sells. We love barely clothed women and ripped men. The question then becomes where do we draw the line, what is too far for a “superhero” book and how can we accurately show human sexuality in comics. This isn’t just applied to female characters it also applies to males, straight characters, gay characters or bi-sexual characters. What is acceptable to show?

Is it okay for Batman to sleep with Talia Al Ghul a decade ago, cowl on, but not Catwoman who he has had a richer history with? What about Batwoman, Scandal Savage, Voodoo, Northstar, Shatterstar or any other LGBT character in comics? What can we show of their love lives without bashing anyone, being insensitive, chauvinistic or being out of character?

We had Hairy-Chest-Love-God Batman in the 70’s, Bruce Wayne has always been a playboy billionaire, same with Tony Stark or Hal Jordan. But if we show Catwoman, Starfire or Voodoo as being sexually free then it crosses a line we have in our minds. Voodoo is by profession a stripper and a “superhero” and Ron Marz has said in a few places that it’s just a part of the character, same as her bi-sexuality. It is not something to define her. Since her introduction, Batwoman has been “That lesbian superhero”, but that is such a small part of her character, if anyone bothers to read the book they can see how strong a female she is, who just happens to be gay.

We have this idea that our female heroes need to be powerful and strong, sexy but not slutty. But anytime a female hero has sex they are immediately cast as a slut. Sometimes the actions are a bit out of character, such as She-Hulk and the Juggernaut having a fling, but sometimes the acts are in character. Catwoman and Batman have always been flirtatious and a basic couple in their books, is it that far-fetched that two people in their late 20’s/early 30’s would have sex? I mean Superman and Lois Lane were married for years, anyone think they didn’t have sex? Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman have kids, Hank and Janet Pym have been shown in comics that they get down and dirty with their superpowers on occasion.

Yet when Starfire is in an open relationship with two guys, we raise the call to arms and want to burn those involved. When the character first appeared she was shown in just a button up in bed with Dick Grayson, then Robin. She said in her first appearance “Oh Dick, on my world we allow ourselves to love many people…always emotionally…sometimes physically. But here things are so different, we all have so much to give each other. It’s wrong to withhold your feelings.” How is that any different from what she is doing now? Is it just because it is more graphic and open?

When Scandal Savage and Knockout were shown in Gail Simone‘s Secret Six as being a couple they were shown naked in bed, and few people complained, yet when Shatterstar and Rictor shared a kiss, people wanted to raise arms and burn the offenders. This was not the case with Wiccan and Hulkling in Young Avengers the only difference I can discern from these examples is notoriety. Shatterstar is a known name, where as Knockout was used sparingly and the others were new characters. So their actions were not out of character, and that is what all sides of this argument falls into.

What’s in character? What goes with continuity or what disregards everything that has come before just to tell a story?

That single question has raised more questions than it has answers to. It has sparked numerous debates on message boards and news sites when some new hot button sex issue hits. Remember Roy Harper’s impotence? Ultimate Captain America sleeping with Wasp? Giganta using her feminine charms to get back at Dwarf Star for killing Ryan Choi? Nightwing getting raped? Those and more were all topics of debate for what was in character and what was a crime against continuity.

With the possible exception of Giganta, fans claimed all these acts were out of character, and Giganta seemed to get a pass because she was a villain and it was okay for villains to be sexual. Again, a double standard for comics, Namor is allowed to be a flirt who chases committed women because he is an anti-hero,  Dr. Doom can pine for Sue Storm.

Yet when we see heroes lusting after another’s partner we claim it is wrong, as with Ultimate Captain America and Wasp. Sex in comics has made for some great stories as well as those we’d like to forget. Anyone remember how Alias by Brian Bendis started? Moondragon and Phyla-Vell’s relationship was a key part of Annihilation: Conquest, Namor and Sue Storm’s tension has added to years of stories, and he is doing the same with Emma Frost. Emma Frost and Cyclops, Wolverine and Phoenix, the entire X universe has had sexual tension for years. Emma Frost dressed as Phoenix in an attempt to seduce cyclops, both in costume, anyone remember this being as big an issue as Batman and Catwoman getting it on in costume?

We have this perception of what is acceptable for these characters and what is not. Wonder Woman cannot be sexual, but that was her whole origin, she was infused with sex upon creation. She is an Amazon princess from a world without men, by definition she should be a lesbian, or at least bisexual, yet if tomorrow we read in the news that Wonder Woman will be dating a woman then we will claim it’s out of character.

DC has ended marriages, same as Marvel, both sides have done so in an attempt to redefine the characters and make them current. The Flash is dating a co-worker, Lois Lane has a new boyfriend and Clark is more alienated than ever, Spider-Man has a new love in life who is not his magically divorced ex-wife and Black Bolt has four queens thus becoming a polygamist.

Yet we only care about Ed Benes drawing a cover with Bleez bathing in blood, or whether Wonder Woman and other heroines are going to wear pants or not.

Sex in comics is a hot button issue, for every creator that wants to acknowledge and talk about it we have a dozen who wont. For every Gail Simone or Judd Winick there is a creator who will undo a romance they don’t agree with. Few creators are able to straddle the line between using sex as a plot device and using it for the shock and awe of it all. Imagine how many copies Catwoman is going to sell just on the word of mouth alone, people who will never buy another issue might buy this one just to see Batman and Catwoman together, even though those who know the characters have known this has happened behind the scenes for years.

But I think there in lies the key, before now it’s all happened behind the scenes, we’ve been witness to a kiss here and there but never as “graphic” a scene as presented in the issue. We are okay with superheroes having sex as long as we don’t see it, when we do we almost lose respect for the characters we hold up to a higher standard. People freaked out when they thought Superman was blasphemous and gave up his citizenship, imagine if he was shown sleeping with Wonder Woman instead of his “one true love” Lois Lane. No matter the hero when we get that deep into their personal lives we tend to cry wolf and say that it’s wrong, out a character or a mistake, unless it’s a playboy hero.

Sex seems to be that final frontier in comics, the final barrier we cannot hurdle over.

We have a African/Hispanic Spider-man, Samuel L. Jackson is portraying Nick Fury on the silver screen, Ryan Choi is coming back as the Atom. Both sides of the big two are embracing race in a more open fashion than they have been for years and readers have opened up to it. But when we have a gay wedding in Archie, a lesbian Bat character or a bisexual stripper who is human/alien as your leads we get bothered and want an explanation from the publishers.

LGBT characters in general cause more of a fuss than any other group, will they portray their sexuality in a negative light? Will they be “flaming” or “butch” or will they just be “normal” and occasional kiss someone of the same sex. Remember the controversy surrounding the Rawhide Kid? This was a big debate with Bunker in the Teen Titans reboot, a hispanic teen “born out of the closet” as Scott Lobdell has called him, and Lobdell outed Northstar years ago, so he has a past with LGBT characters.

There is a thin line between supportive and offensive and we are quick to judge which side a creator or character fall on the line, Judd Winick gets a lot of heat for his portrayal of LGBT characters over the years and when he was put on a book readers would try and guess who would “go gay” next or who would end up in bed together in under 2 issues. It became more of a question than what the stories themselves would be about, and that is not okay. Sex became Winick’s calling card in the industry, becoming more known for moments in the books than the stories he told. Funny that Winick is under fire again for sexuality in his books.

I have to respect Winick for defending his take on the character. “This is a Catwoman for 2011, and my approach to her character and actions reflect someone who lives in our times. And wears a cat suit. And steals. It’s a tale that is part crime story, part mystery and part romance.  In that, you will find action, suspense and passion. Each of those qualities, at times, play to their extremes.” While his take may not be the most popular few can argue that this is indeed how Catwoman has always been characterized, look at Batman Returns and the leather suit worn by Michelle Pfeiffer and her personality, she has always been a flirty thief. Sex is part of the character and her history but we still want to try and ignore it.

Granted the portrayal of some characters as oversexed nymphos goes against their history and is indeed out of character as so many raise up and say they are, remember evil Raven? The infamous Hal Jordan, Lady Blackhawk and Huntress “encounter” from Cry for Justice? There can be a practical portrayal of sex in comics and there can be negative, just like any other trait. You can show race, gender or sexuality in any light, woman can be victims or they can be liberated, its all in context and how the story is told.

Voodoo #1 by Ron Marz is set in a strip club, the main character is a stripper and there is more TnA in this book than fully clothed moments. But this adds to the book and is a part of the character. Think about Voodoo, she is a biracial half alien who can shape shift. She could easily disguise herself as an over weight white woman with glasses, but instead she shows the audience what she is and what they want her to be. But she will not show her true form until a later segment in the book where she deals with an agent looking into her. She gives him a striptease before revealing her alien form, the form she has been hiding all along, she may have stripped but she never took off the last item, she was never fully revealed. This adds to the story presented in the issue and makes the strip club scenes matter and add to the tone of the book.

If we compare this to the Starfire scene from Red Hood and The Outlaws we can see a very different use of sex. Starfire is trying to hide herself with her sexuality, it seems as though she is using it to fit in and use it to mask the pain she feels from her past. We almost get the impression that sex is just what women do, and she gets nothing from it but a few moments to forget about her own history. From interviews we know she was a former sex slave, and if played right that could help us understand why she uses sex the way she does, but there are almost no signs of that being how the book will use this history. The bikini she wears was to originally to be translucent, a 12yr old photographs her for the internet, she poses more than she stands still. Sex isn’t adding anything to the plot as much as it is a distraction. No one talks about the secret group Jason Todd used to hang around with, they just talk about the sex. The story is lost.

That is the problem with sex and sexuality in comics, often we loose the story to a series of poses and scenes from under the bed sheets.

Will we ever break down this barrier of sexuality in comics? Will we ever accept LGBT characters as “Icons” and will we ever be okay with acknowledging that our heroes have sex lives? If so we have to ask, where do we draw the line? When do we say enough is enough? Is it an artist playing up the cheesecake of a female hero? Will we ever be able to look past these issues and see how they help shape the story being told? Is there even an answer to this question?

Is there even a place for sex in comics?