Comics+and+Gender

=Comics and Gender= By Edeline Bernal toc

[|Launch Project] Last accessed: March 7, 2008

Topic Focus:
My goal for this project is to document how comics have evolved through (or with) time, particularly regarding the portrayal of women and society's perception of gender in general. I have attempted to do this by presenting respective gender roles in comics and demographics per era, alongside historical accounts that might have influenced these.

Struggles:
Like the first project, I had a difficult time knowing when to stop doing research. Although I have tried to limit my topic to American comic books (Marvel & DC only), there was still a great amount of information that I felt crucial to add in order to drive the point across further. However, I had to compromise a bit with the quality of the content to meet the reasonable amount of information required for making this project. (I based this on the [|sample websites] that were presented in class, each page having approximately 200 words.)

The visual research proved really difficult as well, especially if you are not completely familiar with comic books. I was hesitant to put up certain images that I have found online because it has been taken out of context and was not sure of the reliability of the source (i.e. cropping, scenes chosen). It also becomes time-consuming when organizing: you waste a fair amount of time trying to figure out who's who. On top of that, you have to do another research to find out the month and year it's been published as it's not always printed on the cover (or an image). Sometimes, if it's not available, you have to trust your instincts in judging the style (inking, pencil linears, clothing, subject matter) in order to come up with an estimate date.

Research Summary:
Here are some of the key points I found really interesting in my research:
 * The history of comics is divided into ages: Platinum Age (pre-1930's), Golden Age (1930-1950's), Silver Age (1950-1960's), Bronze Age (1960-1970's), and Modern Age (1980-present). Normally when I think of evolution, I would presume that the proper order would be from bronze (lesser value) to platinum (more value). Notice how it is arranged in reverse-- perhaps, suggesting degeneration of the quality (or people's interest? I found out that during the last decade, Marvel was in the verge of bankruptcy.) However, comic books from the Golden Age are in fact more valuable now; this is another interpretation for this.
 * Prior the war, there was no such thing as a teen-ager. People's lifespans were a lot shorter; because of this, girls were encouraged to marry and have kids by the age of 16. Archie comics' (one of the first comic book aimed specifically for teenagers) go as far back as the Golden Age, and had a great influence on DC and Marvel's comic book genre at the time. Archie was so popular that Marvel felt the need to create a character with the similar style and aim for a similar audience (i.e. Patsy Walker).
 * During the Golden Age (World War II), women were the primary readers and contributors of comic books because of the absence of men. However, after the war, women's involvement diminished to a point that during the Bronze Age, there was almost no female comic book writer/artist searchable online. Post-war, when the male comic book creators came back, they decided to shift the wheel and aim for teenage boys.
 * Frederic Wertham's //Seduction of the Innocent// (1954) is a book that claims comic books lead to delinquent youths. (Why is it that all that is fun i.e. video games are often faced with such accusations?) This book brought the government to investigate comic books and to regain their readers trust (or parents of the reader), comic book companies banded together and formed the Comic Code Authority. They self-policed comic book art and stories to strict standards (i.e no vampires or zombies!) This marked the end of the Golden Age.
 * Characters names during the Silver Age were either too literal, or reveal a social issue evident during that time. Black characters names had the word "black" somewhere in their name (racism), whereas women's names were "Invisible Girl" and "Shrinking Violet" (sexism).
 * Homosexuality of characters has been hinted by writers/artists in comics for a long time, but it was not until now (Modern Age) that these issues were discussed more openly.
 * //Women in Refrigerators// is a term coined by Gail Simone to define the list of women who had suffered a terrible fate in comic book history. She believes that in some ways, comic books are misogynistic.
 * Although the movement is still strong, I've noticed a lot of people (some women included) who are getting tired of the feminist movement against comic books. This is evident in some of the major comic book sites I've visited upon doing my research.

For a detailed copy of my research, download it here: [|comicsandgender_detailedresearch.pdf]

Process Work:

 * Layout Sketches**

Since this site is extremely image-based, I decided to not go with the speech bubble navigation, and have it a little more subtle instead (see global navigation: orientation - in screenshots).

For a detailed copy of sketchbook work, download the pdf here: [|cg_sketchbook.pdf]


 * Screenshots**

Links:

 * Comic Vine | http://www.comicvine.com/
 * Marvel Database | http://en.marveldatabase.com/
 * DC Database | http://en.dcdatabaseproject.com/Main_Page
 * Women in Refrigerators | http://www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/
 * When Fangirls Attack | http://womenincomics.blogspot.com/
 * Girls Read Comics and They're Pissed | http://girl-wonder.org/girlsreadcomics/

Works Cited:

 * "American comic book." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 Mar 2008, 18:58 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Mar 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_comic_book&oldid=196341672>.]
 * Bronze Age Background [Giffen, Keith and Gerard Jones (w), Bart Sears (p) and Pablo Marcos (i).] “Kings of the Dust.” Justice League Europe #15 (Jun 1990). DC Comics, Inc. 26.
 * Beauman, Ned. “Superheroes need rescuing from sexism.” The Blog Books. 30 Jul 2007. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * "Bronze Age of Comic Books." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 28 Feb 2008, 22:50 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Mar 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bronze_Age_of_Comic_Books&oldid=194764532>.]
 * Golden Age Background [Simonson, Louise (w), Walter Simonson (p), and Bob Wiacek (i).] “Kiss of Death.” X-Factor #30 (Jul 1988), Marvel Comics. 25.
 * "Golden Age of Comic Books." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Jan 2008, 18:11 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Mar 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Golden_Age_of_Comic_Books&oldid=187734793>.]
 * Lance, Ethan and Dave Snider (ed). “Women in comics.” Comicvine, the Comic book Encyclopedia we all can edit. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * "List of women comics writers and artists." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Mar 2008, 05:08 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Mar 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_women_comics_writers_and_artists&oldid=196471516>.]
 * Modern Age Background “Mr. Miracle, Green Flame, Ice Maiden.” Secret Origins of Justice League International #33 (Dec 1988). DC Comics, Inc. 24.
 * "Modern Age of Comic Books." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Feb 2008, 00:46 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Mar 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modern_Age_of_Comic_Books&oldid=194789778>.]
 * Robbins, Trina. From Girls to Grrrlz. Hong Kong: Chronicle Books, 1999.
 * Silver Age Background [Giffen, Keith and J.M. DeMatteis (w), Bart Sears (p), and Pablo Marcos (i).] Justice League Europe #10 (Jan 1990). DC Comics, Inc. 9.
 * "Silver Age of Comic Books." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 Mar 2008, 22:17 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Mar 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silver_Age_of_Comic_Books&oldid=196389437>.]
 * Smithers, Robert. “New Age of Comics II.” Suite101.com. 7 Dec 2001. 7 Mar 2008. 

Works Consulted:

 * Anders, Charlie. “Supergirls Gone Wild: Gender Bias In Comics Shortchanges Superwomen.” Mother Jones. 30 Jul 2007. 7 Mar 2008. < http://www.motherjones.com/arts/feature/2007/07/supergirls_gone_wild.html>
 * Bryan, Catherine. “Cartoons Still Stereotype Gender Roles: Males Portrayed as Doctors and Scientists, Females as Nurses and Bathing Beauties.” 8 Aug 1997. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * Butcher, Christopher. “Afraid of Cock.” 19 Apr 2007. 7 Mar 2008. < http://comics212.net/2007/04/19/afraid-of-cock/>
 * Campbell, David. “BOOB WAR CLIMAX! Everybody Loves Power Girl!” Dave’s Long Box. 12 Sept 2005. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * Daniels, Lee. “Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics: Marvel.” New York: Abrams, 1991.
 * Dotinga, Randy. “Pow! Crunch! Bam! Zowie! Gay!” Wired.com. 8 July 2002. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * Johanna. “Star Sapphire, More Naked Than Ever.” Comics Worth Reading. 12 Dec 2006. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * Kleefeld, Sean. “Comics? Misogynistic?” Kleefeld on Comics. 29 Jan 2007. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * Robbins, Trina. “Gender Differences in Comics.” Image & Narrative. Online Magazine of the Visual Narrative. Issue#4. Sep 2002. 7 Mar 2008. 
 * Staples, Will. “To DC Comics.” Bag End Underhill. 28 Jan 2007. 7 Mar 2008. < http://filbypott.blogspot.com/2007/01/to-dc-comics.html>