Woman as Object, Woman as Subject: The Male Gaze and the DC Comics Relaunch

DC Comics recently relaunched their entire line of comics in hopes of revitalizing their brand and attracting new readers. With The New 52 came a lot of controversy surrounding female creators and characters. The loudest public outcry has been over the perceived objectification of women in Red Hood and the Outlaws (by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort) and Catwoman (by Judd Winick and Guillem March). Here, I intend to prove that the protests are justified and that the depictions of Starfire and Catwoman are indeed objectifying.

Historically speaking, the typical viewer of a work of art was a male, just like the typical comic reader is a male (heterosexual with disposable income). It wasn’t until fairly recently that the term “male gaze” was coined to give voice to these assumed eyes that were viewing works of art. It not only describes the perceived viewer but it also comments on how the work of art was, and still is, constructed in order to please this assumed male patron. A female is thus turned into an object when she is there solely to give pleasure to this male gaze. Conversely a female is treated as a subject when she is a fully-formed, three-dimensional character that is an active and vital participant in the story or image. In a single image a female can be turned into an object or treated as a subject. Women throughout art history have been objects meant to be looked at. Just like the Barbara Kruger piece on the right states: “Your gaze hits the side of my face.”

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DC 52 Relaunch Batch 4: The Rankings

Adam and Shawn ranked the fourth wave of DC Relaunch books in order of enjoyment, #1 being at the top of the enjoyment scale. This is the final week of the first issues and it was the hardest to rank because so many of the books were ok (not bad, not good, just ok). Adam and Shawn’s lists vary greatly because of this; however, they have the same #1 and #13.

Shawn’s List:

  1) All Star Western
  2) Justice League Dark
  3) Batman The Dark Knight
  4) The Flash
  5) Aquaman
  6) Superman
  7) Green Lantern New Guardians
  8) Blackhawks
  9) Teen Titans
10) I Vampire
11) Voodoo
12) Savage Hawkman
13) The Fury of Firestorm

Adam’s List:

  1) All Star Western
  2) The Flash
  3) Aquaman
  4) Superman
  5) Justice League Dark
  6) Batman The Dark Knight
  7) Voodoo
  8) I Vampire
  9) Teen Titans
10) Savage Hawkman
11) Green Lantern New Guardians
12) Blackhawks
13) The Fury of Firestorm

DC 52 Relaunch Batch 1: The Rankings

Adam and Shawn ranked the first wave of DC Relaunch books in order of enjoyment, #1 being at the top of the enjoyment scale. Justice League is included in this batch.  Notice the top 5’s are the same books, different order and the bottom 2 have a look of similarity.

Shawn’s List:

  1) Detective Comics
  2) Justice League International
  3) Men of War
  4) Batwing
  5) Animal Man
  6) Swamp Thing
  7) Action Comics
  8) Static Shock
  9) Batgirl
10) Justice League
11) Green Arrow
12) OMAC
13) Stormwatch
14) Hawk and Dove

Adam’s List:

  1) Justice League International
  2) Men of War
  3) Detective Comics
  4) Batwing
  5) Swamp Thing
  6) Static Shock
  7) Animal Man
  8) Green Arrow
  9) Batgirl
10) Action Comics
11) OMAC
12) Justice League
13) Hawk and Dove
14) Stormwatch

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Shawn Says: The Changing of the Seasons

I can feel it in the air in the mornings and evenings, fall is coming. With the cooling of days comes a cooling in my comic reading. These last couple weeks of August have brought a lot of “last issues” for me. With DC’s relaunch, which begins next week, I am saying goodbye to The Spirit, Zatanna, Doc Savage and Gotham City Sirens (not to mention a couple miniseries and a few titles that I pick up here and there when I like the creative team, like Action, Detective and Green Lantern). My pull list is also taking a big hit this October when Boom! Studios will release their last Disney comics. Right now I am picking up Darkwing Duck, Uncle Scrooge, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers and Ducktales. But in a couple months I will be forced to live without these titles. So as I cross off quite a few titles from my pull list I need to reassess my comics purchases and fill the void that they are creating.

I have seen myself veer away from the Big Two and gravitate towards small press books. After DC’s relaunch the only title I will definitely get is Batwoman. I might pick up Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark. I may flip through a few other titles but I’m not super excited about any of them. Either it is the character or the creative team but something gives me a reason to not pick up the book. I will likely wait and read the reviews to see how they are before actually buying them (I’m looking at you Green Lantern, Batman, Swamp Thing, Action, and Men of War).

With Marvel I am reading Deadpool, the Oz books, Daredevil, Black Panther, SHIELD, Captain America and Bucky and a couple other minis that will be wrapping up soon. I may pick up John Carter of Mars because Roger Langridge is writing it but I’m still undecided. Other than that I don’t see any new Marvel series that interests me.

So what books do I pick up to replace the ones that are going away? Boom! Studios has Snarked! coming out and I am all over that. I also may catch up on Farscape and start picking that up regularly. I absolutely love Stuff of Legend. Thankfully Vertigo has a strong line up and I will continue to pick up Fables, American Vampire, iZombie, Northlanders (though it is getting cancelled at issue #50) and House of Mystery. I will definitely pick up the new Fables spin-off Fairest when it comes out. Sergio Aragones Funnies is great. Even though I’ve only read one issue it is one of my top books of the year. Loose Ends #2 is out this week and you can bet I will be picking that up along with the other issues in this four-part miniseries. And there’s Rasl, but that only comes out every couple of months (give or take). Oni’s The Sixth Gun comes out every month and I don’t see this going anywhere anytime soon. Maybe I shouldn’t look for series to replace the one’s I’m losing, maybe I should start buying more trades and graphic novels.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions for me? New books to pick up or old series to try? Let me know!

Shawn Says: Spotlight on New Releases August 10, 2011

In which Shawn looks at the New Releases and lets you know which ones she is most excited about!

1) SpongeBob Comics #4

I was thrilled to find out that Joey Weiser, who is one of my favorite cartoonists, has a story in this issue of SpongeBob Comics. There have been some seriously talented people working on this book. I have really been enjoying the goofy and silly nature of the book. For me, it has captured the essence of the show. So SpongeBob fans out there should definitely be reading the comic!

3) Hellboy The Fury #3

Rumor has it this issue will have a shocking ending as Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo’s epic storyline concludes. So if you only keep up with Hellboy in trade or hardcover you might want to take notice of this issue. Or steer clear of it completely so that the story isn’t ruined for you. 

Speaking of Mignola, also out this week is Baltimore Curse Bells #1. It is written by Mignola and Christopher Golden with art by Ben Stenbeck. I really enjoyed the first Baltimore mini so I have high hopes for this one.

3) Detective Comics #881

Detective Comics, as we know it, comes to an end. This is the final issue before the re-launch when Detective will restart at issue #1. This latest story arc has been fantastic. I have especially enjoyed it because it has showcased the detective side of Batman. I particularly love the way Jock and Francesco Francavilla have taken turns on the art throughout this story. The two storylines come together in this issue and both Jock and Francavilla did an amazing job on the art. Scott Snyder’s writing has been creepily compelling. I wish Snyder luck as he takes over Batman next month with Batman #1.