Still Taboo?

Fictional characters engaging in fictional sex. Television and films have had a long and rocky relationship with the portrayal of sex and sexuality, from separate beds or the classic pan away from the action and show a sunset to full frontal NC-17 ratings, the amount of on screen sizzle has evolved with societal norms.

Sex in comics has still remained somewhat taboo, not keeping pace with it’s sister media. Many mainstream characters like Superman and Spider-Man have had long relationships and even gotten married at some point in their paper journeys, but depictions or even allusions to the sex life are almost non-existant. Comics have become more adult oriented over time both in their themes and style, portraying war and violence on a regular basis.

As film and especially television become more and more sexualized, I’m not including advertising here as sex has been used to sell from the beginning, comics seem to almost ignore sexuality completely. Visually comic characters are very sexy, and like advertising, use this tease to try and boost sales. Lady Death is overtly sexy and almost completely naked yet the sex is only skin deep, existing purely as eye candy.

When sex does take place between the covers of a comic it seems to cause mostly negative exposure.

Marvel felt it necessary to delay distribution of Avengers 71, due to “a scene with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne in bed, with the strong suggestion made, as a moist Pym is miniaturized and crawling up Janet’s body from under the covers that he used his shrinking powers in a manner that was most certainly not related to crime fighting.” Fans reaction to the scene was mixed, some applauding Geoff Johns for showing an intimate moment between superheroes, others were appalled by the use (misuse?) of their powers.

Comic books seem to still carry the stigma that they are for children, and any depiction or reference to sex would corrupt and destroy today’s youth. Sound familiar? Almost 60 years ago Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent caused a witch hunt against comics for their depiction of violence and sex, resulting in the formation of the Comics Code Authority. Publishers today continue to self regulate and rate their comics. It seems that putting a “Mature” label on a book is not enough to allow sexual content to be printed within. Punch someone in the face or cut their head off? No problem. But show consenting adults together and lookout!

What is it about sex that still frightens society? And why do comics, more than any other medium, take criticism when they portray it? All comics are not created for children, in fact the vast majority of todays books are marketed directly at adults. One self deprecating blogger commented that comic fans don’t want sexual acts in their weekly reads because they are not getting anything in real life. Certainly the stereotyped geek fits this profile, but today’s readers are a vastly diverse group of people, and should be able to handle adult situations in their funny books.

Batman has always flirted near the edge when in his ‘millionaire-playboy’ guise obviously influenced by James Bond. But where audiences expect to see Bond hook up with any and all women he comes across, the Batman/Catwoman scene in Catwoman #1 caused an uproar. Its as if drawing a sexual image is considered crossing the line, but paying two actors to engage in actual physical contact in front of a camera is ok.

Now its not as if I’m looking for a sex scene in every issue of every comic, far from it. Batman doesn’t need to become a romance comic. What I would like to see is the prudish attitude toward comics relaxed a bit, and to that end, maybe a bit more of romance, and yes sex, in today’s stories.