Good Girl Art vs. Bad Girl Art

As I was attempting to explain these two concepts to a friend of mine, I found that I might not understand them as much as I had thought. So I started investigating these topics. Here's what I found:

Good Girl Art "is found in drawings or paintings which feature a strong emphasis on attractive women no matter what the subject or situation. GGA was most commonly featured in comic books, pulp magazines and crime fiction." (wikipedia.org) It is called "Good Girl Art" not because the girls/women in the pictures are good, but because the artist draws beautiful or sexy women "good". The women in the pictures may by villains or heroes.

Here are some artist that I consider "Good Girl Artists."

However, Bad Girl Art is different. The "Bad" does refer to the character of the woman depicted. So Bad Girl Art is pictures of "bad girls", but Good Girl Art may depict good or bad girls. So, I guess in a sense that BGA is a sub-genre of GGA.

I've always been draw to the GGA artists, which is strange, because I could care less about how sexy a woman is. People who have seen my own attempts to draw comic book characters would probably say that I am a GG artist. I don't think I'm a BG artist though. Maybe I'll post some of my own art and let you guys decide. But before that let's look at some artists that I consider GGA. I'll add another post later showing some BG characters.div>

Good Girl Artists

Jim Lee

Terry Dodson
Adam Hughes

Matt Baker

Character Spotlight: Tigra

I was introduced to Tigra in West Coast Avengers during the '80s. (Yes, it was WCA before it became AWC) I fell in love with her immediately. She was unabashedly sexy, confident, and kicked ass. I think that as a young gay boy, I was drawn to these traits. Or maybe is just wanted to wear her black bikini. But really, I think it was the fact that Greer (Tigra) could turn back to her normal human state and blend in if she wanted to, but she very rarely did. She preferred to stand out and revelled in her differences. Looking back on that now, I think that Tigra made a big impression on me. It was ok to be different, if fact it was purr-ferred.

Somewhere along the line, she got mired in yet another storyline involving her "cat" side taking over. Check out her Wikipedia entry if you don't believe me. I loved everything that John Byrne did with WCA, except his treatment of Tigra. Her appearance grew more and more cat-like, as did her behavior. She was slowly becoming a pale imitation of Wolverine or Wolfsbane.
Hank Pym shrinks her to the size of a house cat and then lets her run around the compound killing small animals to eat! Not attractive, honey. The final insult was when Hank finally catches her, he places her inside his lab and then leaves! To deal with "more pressing Avengers' business"!

I was sad when she finally left to hang out with the Aborigines in Australia, but at least then she was left alone.

Her appearances since then have been sporadic. She had a lackluster mini-series by Christina Z and Mike Deodato. Tigra was also a part of the Avengers: Initiative, now the Avengers Resistance. Recently, I have noticed that Tigra has been receiving some attention in the Marvel Adventures imprint. She's been on covers for both Marvel Adventures Super-Heroes and M.A. Avengers. She most recently became a member of the M.A. Avengers. I'm glad that she is not stuck in limbo, but I still wish she had more of an presence.

Upcoming Books: The Torch #1 (of 8)

This upcoming book, The Torch, by Mike Carey & Alex Ross is piquing my interest. I've been interested in the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, ever since Scarlet Witch revived him back in Avengers West Coast #50 from 1989. The Scarlet Witch had recently gone crazy for the first time! or was that the second? (I'll have to re-read my AWC.) Anyway, she wanted to prove that the Vision, recently disassembled & reassembled sans emotions, was really who he said he was. And not constructed out of the Human Torch's spare parts. All of this ends with Jim Hammond joining the AWC for a while. For a more detailed description, click here.

For this new mini-series, the Torch is buried (again) and the Mad Thinker is involved (again). Mike Carey (X-Men Legacy) is writing with assists from Alex Ross. Patrick Berkenkotter (?) is doing interiors with Alex Ross on covers. And I have to say, I think the cover for #1 (picture left) is stunning. Everytime that I think I'm over Ross' art, he comes out with something else.

So what do you think, retread of old material? A comeback for the first Marvel super-hero? Another example of Alex Ross living in the past? Let me know what you think and I'll let you know what I decide.

Cry for Justice

Justice League: Cry for Justice

by: James Robinson & Mauro Cascioli

I debated picking up this book. I knew that I would probably pick it up in trade if not in issues, but I gave in and decided to give it a try.

I'm so glad that I did. Robinson so deftly crafted this story that I could feel the tension at the JLA Satellite. He was able to create a feeling that something big was happening, but without resorting to a big brawl between heroes. (Which I think we've seen too much of lately.) Robinson focused on the friendship between Hal and Ollie which is legendary, but new to me.

This issue then moves on into introducing and setting up the rest of the team. These little vignettes were the perfect introduction to these characters who might not be known to all.

In addition to the story, the art was amazing. It has a painted look, but I don't think that it is. Also the additional material in the back was great.

Overall, this was a solid beginning to a mini with a lot of promise.

Challenge of the Super-Friends

I was feeling nostalgic, so I put "Challenge of the Super-Friends" on my Netflix queue. This was the late 70s series that re-ran in the 80s featuring the JLA versus "The Legion of Doom". I loved it! It was corny fun. Here are some highlights:

1. Batman & Robin are trying to leap away from Solomon Grundy. Grundy grabs them both by the ankles and Robin say something like "We're goners for sure, Batman!" Batman's reply?
"Not so fast, Robin! Use your Bat-lube!" They both then push a button on their utility belts and an oil-like substance somes out causing Grundy to lose his grip.

2. Luthor creates a device that immobilizes the Super-Friends in a cage rocketing toward the sun. Wonder Woman finally saves them by using her "telepathic control" (aka telepathy) of her "magic lasso" to change the trajectory of the rocket boosters!

3. Aquaman is chasing after Black Manta in the ocean. His mode of transportation? His "Aqua-scooter"! Why would he swim?! That's just one of his major powers!?!

Dropping A Book

We've all done it. It's hard. It's like breaking up with someone. You make compromises...you try to wait out the rough patch, but finally you just have to say " You don't excite me anymore."

I have come to this point with 2 of my books:

1. Flash: Rebirth It's not you, it's me. I guess I just don't care about Barry Allen's return. Everyone kept telling me that I should, but I just don't. I held on, hoping, that it would be like Green Lantern: Rebirth, which I loved, but it's not. So I'm done. Van Sciver's art was gorgeous though.

2. X-Factor It just doesn't feel the same anymore. This book hit a rough patch with the Secret Invasion tie-in/She-Hulk crossover. (Stroman's artwork didn't help!) I tried to love this book like before, but... The recent storyline is better, but I just don't care anymore. I might check this book back out in a couple of months, but I need a break.

A Confession

In on e of my first posts on this blog I discussed (ok maybe ranted) about the killing off of Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel. Why Kill Carol? Ms. Marvel is Dead...and I Think I Know Why. I ended this post by saying that I was done with the Ms. Marvel title and was...for a little bit.

While doing so internet research, I stumbled upon the two images to the right. These are covers for upcoming an upcoming "Ms. Marvel" storline titled, "War of the Marvels." Once I saw these, I knew that I had a decision. I could continue not getting MsM and just pick these up when they came or I could go pick up the back issues I missed by dropping the book. Being the completist that I am, I decided to pick up the back issues. This way I won't have a 4-5 issue gap in my otherwise complete Ms.M run. (Which of course will be a very sought after commodity, because she's such a hot characters, I know.)
Well, I just felt that I needed to come clean about reading Ms. Marvel again. So there you have...I'm a Ms. Marvel addict.