The Bombshell - A retort to the Kellys of the world

"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him instead work diligently and build one for himself."
~Abraham Lincoln

The ultimate aim of the ego is not to see something, but to be something.
~Muhammad Iqbal

Picked up by me

Imagine, if you will, a world where people didn't think that they were so important, were so self-involved, feeling so entitled that they thought their opinions mattered to anyone else but themselves. Therefore didn't feel compelled to spew their nonsensical tripe for all to see, all the time.

Now imagine, again if you will, if these same people applied 1/5th of the energy they spent on complaining about everything and actually became productive and creative in a way that gave back to their local or even global communities.

Oh what a wonderful world it would be. But alas, I fear that this is just a dream destined to remain unrealized.

I am seeing a troubling trend, and not just the comic industry, but the fandom of comics and all other mediums as well. According to trending social media discussions, news articles and blogs; men are dangerous, misogynistic creatures whose sole purpose is to touch, fondle, sexualize and violate women. Of course; according to all of these same trending social media discussions, news articles and blogs; all women are self-loathing, man-hating, lesbian-feminists that want nothing more than to castrate all men as well as their will to live.

But really all that is happening is that everyone is too goddamn sensitive about every goddamned thing.

This post was intended to be retort to Kelly Thompson's "She Has No Head - The Disturbing Heart of DC's Bombshell Covers." But has since evolved into something more. Poor Kelly, misguided in her extremist feminist views, comes across as many other hard lined extremist do; be it a tree-spiking-hugging environmentalist, an animal-loving-paint-throwing-vegan PETA card holder, or a bible-thumping "you're-going-to-hell-unless" christian (think Westboro Baptist Church): My viewpoint is the only correct viewpoint.

They are all extremists. They are not open to any kind of input.

I'm not here to beat up on Kelly specifically, but there are portions of this article that will, but rather I intend to focus on those like her. And while yes, this post is littered with DC Bombshell Covers, this is to make a specific point outside of my "in-your-face" salute to Kelly. They are also included to entertain the readers with pretty pictures as they traverse this monotonous, opinionated bullshit.

Picked up by my wife

I started this post with that specific Abraham Lincoln quote because I truly believe in what those words say. It speaks volumes to the amount of phony knowledge, faux authority and often critical minds that people portray themselves to have, especially online.

These people sit behind their monitors, clacking away on their keyboards, polluting their bodies with those extra-whip, no-fat, centuple shot mocca-choacca-vanilla-pumpkin-spice-lattes, breathing the same polluted air we do, while the talking heads of their favorite conservative/liberal news channel spew hate and fear. They bid their time, waiting for the PBR to chill in the fridge, by writing their ongoing manifestos of what they think is wrong with the world.

Did you get that the previous paragraph was simply overstated satire?

My real point is this; for the most part these people have very little of anything except for ego and opinions. Egos are like a fleck of dust in your eye, until it is removed, you can't see what is really there. So clear the ego and see the world for what it really is. And opinions are like assholes; everyone has at least one, and they always, and I mean always stink.

Opinions are nothing more than the voice of the ego.

Don't worry, I completely see the irony of me posting my own opinions on ego and opinions... Hypocrite, right? There is a difference between me and the rest of the horde; I do not assume that this post is going to make a single change in anyone... anywhere. My ego is in check. My realm of influence doesn't extend further than my own skin. It never has and it never will. I don't think a single word of this ongoing diatribe is going to change anybody's opinion on any topic or issue in their life, much in the same way Kelly's original article didn't change a single mind. Anyone read the comments on any of her posts?

I did. I saw no comments on her articles that remotely resembled, "Wow, I never thought about it that way." or "You've changed my point of view on this topic." The comments were either cheerleaders for her point of view or trying argue against it.

I don't believe that someone is going to read this and be inspired or motivated to do as instructed or to switch teams. I am simply writing this rebuttal as a form of self-therapy, so I can get my angst against the "Kelly Thompson-like" people off my chest and move on with my life; with my enjoyment of life and enjoy my comics with brokeback girls drawn in them.

Comics have almost always had some controversy associated with them but most of the controversy being generated these days is faux; generated by people with nothing better to do than post up a extremists points of view online somewhere to spark faux heated debates. Some times the debates get so heated that rape threats are made; like that is a mature way to engage in conversation.

Then to ice that shit cake, these same writers try and take credit if something does change, even if it is the smallest perceivable change, and their efforts never really had anything to do with the change in the first place. A "look at me, I thought about making the wind change direction and it did." mentality drive me nuts. Any sane person knows the wind was already changing or was going to change anyways.

They may as well be pissing into a hurricane, but the ego will allow them to think they are being sprayed with nothing more than rain.

Picked up by my wife

Guess what... The fact of the matter is; sexism still exists. Racism still exists. Sexual exploitation still exists. Human trafficking still exists. Slavery still exists. Human servitude still exists. Homelessness, war, famine, disease, sexual mutilation, poverty and hundreds of other inequalities and inhumane acts still exist and occur in this world on a daily basis. Many of these are happening right in your hometown, under your very nose, some of which could be happening in the house right next to yours if not in your own home.

These are real world issues, not first world problems. Drawings of "brokeback" girls and 50s pinup art should not be an issue to garner national attention. But it seems these are the issues that do get the most attention. These are first world problems; i.e. the perception of over-sexualized females in comics and the disproportionate amount of male sexualization.

I am not saying that female characters aren't overly sexualized. At the same time I'm not saying that they are. What I am saying is that Kelly's request to have more men overly sexualized in comics isn't going to resolve the problem as a whole. It may resolve Kelly's personal issue of not being able to see Wolverine posing all "brokeback" as she calls it. But even if that issue were resolved for her it isn't going to stop her from continually writing negative-energy pieces week after week. Her ego won't let it.

So my question to the Kelly's of the world is why not focus on something real? Why not create something yourself? Is it because that this would be too much work? Are you afraid of work? Would it cost too much money? Are you afraid to spend some money? Are you afraid that in doing so you will be put under the same spotlight that you put others under in your ongoing manifestos?

Well, go on then... continue being a coward. Continue hiding behind your monitor and keyboard. Continue living in your inert world of fear. It doesn't take a brave person to be critical of others efforts. Writing passive/aggression articles about the first-world problems happening today is not action.

The raising of a single hammer, is worth one million/billion clicks on a keyboard.

It is the brave person that takes real action. It takes the courage of a lion and true passion to take that first step and stick with it until the journey ends. The men and women who write comics are heroes day in and day out, not those of us attacking them and the industry day in and day out.

That's right, I say us. I am not innocent in my complaining. I write comic reviews. Some of those reviews aren't all that positive. I am as guilty as others in that aspect. But never for one second of any day do I believe that a single review has prevented some from or caused someone to buy a comic.

But rather than just complain, I am writing my own comic book simply because I wasn't getting what I wanted from the comics I was reading. And my comic book is addressing the issues I have complaint about. I am taking action.

Picked up by me

As an artist, I deal a lot with criticism of my own work. I learned a lot from a particular critique I received from a person I once held in high regard. For purposes of this writing, I will call this person Redd.

I came to Redd asking for feedback on a piece that I had created. It was a piece that I was particularly excited about, but at the same time, I had an issue with it that I could not pinpoint. So I came to Redd to see if he could shed some light; if he could vocalize what I was seeing but couldn't pinpoint.

Redd's feedback was this:

"You want the truth? I hate that piece. I hate everything about that piece. Your horizon is all over the place, the sky is burned down, you have no central focus point. That piece is absolute crap."

One week later, when I submitted the piece to Redd for a public critique, as part of a lesson in critiquing for a crowd, this is what he had to say in the public forum about the exact same piece (with absolutely no modifications):

"I love this piece. The way the clouds form natural triangles, the way the dock leads out to the well defined horizon. The sky is stunning and the image has a great sense of movement."

Redd did not say one thing bad about the image... when speaking publicly. And even though one of his instructions for giving a critique was to be honest, one of two things happened; he was either dishonest with the private critique he gave me or he was dishonest with the public critique. Regardless of which critique was dishonest, there was something wrong there.

A few weeks laters our relationship came to an abrupt and emotionally-violent end. Emotionally-violent... meaning Redd said very mean things to me, he called me names, he publically, wrongfully, accused me plagiarism and ended the relationship. In the years since this event I have watched from afar as he continues to publically tear down other artists, sometimes to a point where the receiver of the critique breaks into tears and creative withdraw. He does this through harsh, public criticisms all the while telling others not only how he would it better, but how he does it better. And he claims that this is just providing an honest critique to help the individual grow.

After getting to know this side of Redd, I believe that he is a person who makes himself feel better about himself by tearing down others. He allows his ego to be fed by the destroying of others.

Picked up by me

This methodology isn't supposed to work. Yet, in the case of the critics, it does. People get paid to do this. Film, book, political and even art critics make their livings by berating the works of others. When did Roger Ebert ever direct a movie? When did Janet Maslin ever write a book of fiction. When did Jonathan Storm ever write, direct or produce a television show? When did Kelly Thompson ever write a comic book? Oh wait, she is writing a comic book.

But... if you are so busy tearing down other people's homes, how can you building one for yourself? Much like my former mentor, spending your entire time tearing others down leaves no time to build upon yourself.

This leads to my point. If Kelly Thompson really wanted to instill the change she claims to want, instead of the faux change she claims to have made through her articles, why doesn't she focus on writing comics all the time?

She is a talented writer who can successfully convey a message. She has exposure to the comics industry as a former editor. If she wants more sexualized men in comics, or less sexualized women in comics or both to provide some perceived balance between men and women being sexualized, why doesn't she focus her figurative pen to creating her own comic book full time?

She did. It is called Story Killer.

And the art on her Kickstarter page for the comic includes some of those "brokeback" poses she so vehemently detests in her latest of the ongoing "No Head" articles.

And I quote Kelly from her article:

"4. Posing

Posing is perhaps the most persuasive argument in the arsenal, because it’s such a prevalent and well-known fact that there’s an actual term that has been coined. The brokeback. The brokeback pose is when a female character literally looks as if her back is broken, because that is how she must pose in order to show readers both her tits and ass simultaneously. When a word has been created in order to name this phenomenon, I feel like I should just be able to say BROKEBACK! and let that be it, but in the interest of not phoning it in, let’s talk a little bit more about this and look at some examples."

The brokeback pose is used, according to Kelly to show the readers the tits and ass of the character at the same time. In the above sample image, again pulled directly from the kickstarter page for Kelly's comic, we see the image of a woman that if was full length, would qualify as a brokeback pose.

Why wouldn't her instructions to the artists she is working with include a specific "NO BROKEBACK" clause?

In the same article, under #2 of her issues is plunging necklines of female characters.
"Men, almost universally are covered from head to toe, while women are regularly subjected to: swimsuits, thongs, strapless tops, tops with plunging necklines, stiletto heels, boob windows, belly windows, thigh highs, fishnets, bikinis, and – apparently all the rage lately – costumes unzipped to their stomachs, etc. This is not equality."

Yet in the sample art on her kickstarter page is a piece, included above It is a sample of the art in which the men are covered "neck to toe" in clothing, and the women have a considerably high proportion of plunging necklines when compared to the men.

So the self-proclaimed "comics loving feminist troublemaker", as proclaimed by her Twitter profile has no problem violating her own moral objections in her own comic material. I see a huge conflict there. How about you?

What I would like to do is show you some statistics about comic consumers that may shine a light on the reason why a feminist would include material she describes as distasteful, sexist and a prime example of the imbalance of sexualization between men and women.

But please keep in mind that like all statistics online, they are likely made up... but here they are regardless, with links to the sources:

According to this Harris Poll results;

15% of men and 8% of women read graphic novels. So according to this GeoHive graph, the United States has 153 million men and 157 million women (plus some change).

So based on that, 1.256 million women in the U.S. read graphic novels compared to 2.295 million men. That is individual comic book readers. This is not volume of content purchased.

So with that said, with 1.039 million more male readers than female readers, and if each person included in the survey bought just one book per month, spending just $2.99 on a comic, one of the lower price points for a new comic, men are more likely to get what they want because they spend an additional $3.1 million per month than women. That is an additional 37.279 million dollars per year spent by men, in theory.

But seriously, who only buys one comic a month; man or woman.

Another statistic, this one pulled from a Facebook poll, 47% of comic book fans are female. That's great news. But it's facebook, so guess what, it's flawed. Not everyone has their interests populated because that leads to spam in your timeline and tons of ads to boot. Hell I don't have many interests listed there. Therefore these people weren't counted in the poll. So these numbers aren't 100% viable and the poll is flawed.

Viable or not, it does point to a great trend; women are liking comics more. But men still have more market presence, by sheer numbers.

In another poll, it shows that women like female characters more than male characters in comics. I'm shocked! Women identify with female characters more than male characters? NO WAY!

All these statistics show a reason why a self-proclaimed feminist would include an unbalanced amount of females in sexist imagery; the almighty dollar. Men have the numbers in consumer presence. And numbers equal dollars. This maybe not the only reason, but it is a reason none-the-less and one that is easy to conclude. Because if she were firm in her belief systems, there would not have been any plunging necklines or brokeback poses for women, unless the men were rendered sexy equally.

Picked up by my wife

I think that Dr. John Gray, in all his quirky weirdness, had it right, men and women aren't just different because of penises and vaginas; we are a completely different species altogether.

Yet men are continually being shamed for being men, its the in-thing to do today.

I say this... If you put a boob in front of a man, he will look at it. It is hard wired into his brain. And yet he is made to feel ashamed for doing so.

I call for an end to this practice of man-shaming.

Men are being taught to get in touch with their emotions, to talk about their feelings. Cosmo, Oprah and just about everyone else has said at one point that it's good for a man to be sensitive and now society believes it; even tries to enforce it through shaming.

There is nothing wrong with talking about your feelings and being in touch with your emotions, but only to a certain point; and I think we have crossed that threshold. But it's not just women-based-media emasculating men.... men emasculate themselves all the time through the choices they make.

I have a Man-Cave, now known as "The Hulk Cave". It is obviously a work in progress, but it is my space. I can decorate this space with art, and objects that are to my specific tastes and interests. While some find this concept offensive because they can't understand why I, a man, would need my own space or that it is called a "Man"-Cave in the first-place, other people actually understand the need for a space to call their own; man or woman.

It is a space that we need to be ourselves, to express ourselves. For some that is limited to a room. For others it is done in the way they dress, talk and create. For comic book writers and artists the books are an extension of their space.

As an artist, like many other artists, I create for myself. If others like my work, cool. If not, well I didn't create it for them so it doesn't matter. And this space is just as much an expression of me as any piece I create myself.

My wife understands this need of creative space. And while this is "my space", she is never prevented from entering the space; I mean I not a serial killer... yet. My wife comes and goes as she pleases. She has even found several of the pieces that are hanging on the walls, including the large Fall of the Hulks poster on the left. She is evening sitting in the big green chair as I proof this post.

Why does she allow me this space? Why isn't she upset that I have this space? Why isn't she trying to emasculate me like rest of victims of the man-hating-feminist mainstream media brainwashing-machine? Because my wife and I are are both intelligent free-thinking people that are secure in our marriage because it is based in one simple principles; respect of each other.

Respect is the key to our almost eight year successful marriage.

If the truth is to be told, regardless if this comes across as sexist or not, I believe that the comic book industry is still male dominated, from a business, creator, and consumer aspect. It is a medium created by males, for males. But while women have a hand in the game since its inception, the reason women haven't ruled it is because of a fear of what it would become.

There is a fear men have that women don't respect them and vice versa. If comics were completely taken over by the feminist regime, all the things that men love about comics would be emasculated.

That is the fear, not necessarily the reality.

The fear that fighting would be replaced with "talking things out." Cool weapons and vehicles being be replaced bringing flowers to the girlfriend... these are examples of what men are likely afraid of happening if comics got emasculated. That would be my fear if an extremist got their hands on the industry.

But this doesn't mean that feminists don't have material to read or that they don't deserve more material to read. But feminist need to start writing more feminist targeted content. We need for the Kelly Thompsons of the world stop complaining about how sexists everything truly is through one side of their mouth while propagating the creation the very material they complain about through the other.

I think that is called hypocrisy. Or is it called marketing? I don't know.

In the end it will take women writing about women for women to provide this content.

Let's face it, a man writing about a woman would be like a dog writing about a cat. I'm not saying it can't be done, but aside from a few exceptions, men writing a woman's book would be a shallow pulp-filled world with gross stereotypes and offending points of view being expressed. Even Stephen King, the most prolific writer of all time, gets taken to the carpet for his portrayal of women.

Not all women agree with Kelly Thompson's opinion in her headless series. My wife is one of those that does not. Which is why I put captions under each of the bombshell covers indicating who, me or her, picked up that particular copy. And by picked up a particular copy, I mean, either she or I chose that book from the shelf and paid for with our own allowance.

An actual artist at work 

Why did my 32 year old, should-be-a-feminist wife betray women worldwide by not only allowing her husband to bring such crap into the house, but purchasing the same crap herself?

According to her words:

"These are beautiful. They're a classy tribute to the bombshell style art of the 40s and 50s. It included an homage to the classic "We Can Do It" theme of the era. I mean the Poison Ivy cover looks like a classic Betty Page pose."

And that is the point. Just because Kelly is a woman doesn't mean all women agree with her. Much in the same way that just because Kelly is woman doesn't mean all men disagree with her. Her opinion is shared and opposed, by both sexes on both sides of the argument. But in the end, women buy Batman, Deadpool, Superman and Aquaman... and enjoy them. None of these are typically written by women for women.

If truth be told, the Kelly Thompsons of the world should be happy that the DC Bombshell covers were not 100% authentic. As many of the bombshell artists of the 40s and 50s had no issue with actual nudity (NSFW). Imagine if DC had done something like that to Wonder Woman in a nod to her invisible jet. Oh I can hear the uproar echoing through the internet already.

Until next time... If you're not getting what you want, then get off your ass and make it for yourself and in doing so be true to your morals and ethics.