She Has No Head! – The Disturbing Heart of DC’s Bombshell Covers

I wrote a new piece over on CSBG about how disturbing I find DC’s (very pretty) Bombshell Variant Covers for the month of June – after only a handful of hours we’re up to over 100 comments because people really have problems when you criticize mainstream superhero work and marketing…even though many agree it’s backwards and ill-thought out regularly.

Anyway, posting here two images to show how well we’re doing already on Derailment Bingo and Sexist Bingo. Enjoy!

Sexism BingoVia Geek Melange

And DERAILMENT BINGO TOO!

Today's Derailment BingoVia Piranha

GOOD TIMES!!!

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5 comments

  1. Greg Burgas’s avatar

    I’m sure you don’t want to re-read the comments, but I think there was a “You’re as bad as we are” in there somewhere. Someone accused you of being misogynistic, which I think counts?

  2. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    Right you are!

  3. In My Not So Humble Opinion: the Writings and Ramblings of Ben Herman’s avatar

    I looked over the “selection of DC’s June Bombshell Variant Covers” that you posted on your CBR column. Some of them aren’t that bad. On their own, I guess they wouldn’t not be all that big a deal. It’s just that, as you say, they are just they are NOT just a cute, isolated one-off gimmick, but part of a trend of DC over-sexualizing practically all of their female characters.

    Then again, I think this also speaks towards how DC regards their readership as a whole. If the recent comments by David Goyer, one of their major writers, are anything to go by, DC genuinely must think that the majority of their readers are socially awkward virgins with no lives who read comics featuring females primarily for the T&A quotient.

  4. Pete Pfau (@elwang)’s avatar

    I just read through that whole thing…is it just me, or is debating the semantics of “bombshell” basically a stand-in for the guys who debate the semantics of the word “privilege” every time THAT discussion comes up? I almost feel like “you’re not using the word right” should be on that derailment card.

  5. 1979semifinalist’s avatar

    @Ben Herman:

    Agreed. I think the covers speak as much to DC’s belief in who their readers are and what their values/appetites/tastes are than anything about character. Unfortunately, they’re not as far off as I’d like them to be, but the readership can and should be better and DC should help them get there.

    @Pete Pfau:
    Yeah, the bombshell discussion was classic derailment and I fell for it like an amateur! Bombshell as a definition was not the point and by focusing on that (and making me do it as well) they really derailed what we were trying to discuss. My fault in part for getting derailed and also for not doing a better job in explaining my point, but their fault for being asshats. It’s a joint venture! :)

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