Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • James Bond - the Battle of the Bonds

      Katy Rex
      April 18, 2015
      Columns, HaphazardStuff’s Superhero Film Series
    Recent
    • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

      Daniel Gehen
      February 8, 2021
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • 140 Character Reviews 8/19/15

      Katy Rex
      August 20, 2015
      140 Character Reviews, Marvel Comics, Reviews
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Singles Going Steady 2/8/2017: Good Feels and Kicking Ass

      Katy Rex
      February 13, 2017
      Boom! Studios, DC Comics, Miscellaneous Comic Book Content, Reviews, Singles Going Steady, Valiant
    Recent
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.5

      Punisher #13

      Katy Rex
      January 26, 2010
      Reviews
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • 2.3

      Review: SAVAGE #1 Needs Taming

      Daniel Gehen
      February 16, 2021
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • An Interview with Trina Robbins, Part 2

      Katy Rex
      May 14, 2012
      Columns, Interviews, The Squeaky Wheel
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • DC Showcase Presents Bat Lash

      Katy Rex
      May 22, 2012
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Exclusive Marvel Preview: "Howard the Duck" #5

      Katy Rex
      March 3, 2016
      Marvel Comics, Previews
    Recent
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • SAVAGE DRAGON IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 17, 2021
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Review: 'Kickstarter for the Independent Creator: A Practical and Informative Guide To Crowdfunding'

      Katy Rex
      September 14, 2015
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Blue Beetle
  • Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia
  • Collecting Profile: Kraven the Hunter
  • Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good
  • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY
  • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN'S UNIVERSE
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Columns
I Read Comics Like A Girl

Girls are Complex

Katy Rex
April 22, 2015
I Read Comics Like A Girl

I read comics like a girl.

We’ve started this dialogue so many times. It’s so strange to be confronted with opposition when all you’re asking for is to be acknowledged. And it’s equally strange to be hearing, from those who are gatekeeping pop culture, two opposite arguments: 1.) sexism is over, women can vote and hold jobs and drive, men and women are equal and feminists are actually working for female superiority, and 2.) women don’t really read comics, and they’re ruining a perfect medium by demanding standards for things they don’t even consume. There are, of course, many other arguments; these two, in particular, though, I find exceptionally strange.

I read comics like a girl because I’m a girl—or, to avoid infantilizing myself, technically a woman. I’m not interested in ruining anyone’s fun, or taking away your favorite characters—I’m not even interested in taking away your favorite boobies. Power Girl? Her boob window is canon, she has an in-continuity reason for it, she feels like instead of an insignia pledging her allegiance and purpose she has an empty space. I’m not asking for anyone to mess with Power Girl’s boob window. And if Harley started dressing like Kamala all of a sudden, I promise you, I would be disturbed. I’m not asking for stories to avoid violence against women, to avoid violence involving women, to avoid rape or murder if the subjects are women. Violence, rape, and murder, are all parts of the actual world in which we live. I’m asking for stories to consider the cultural context of these real issues, and deal with them appropriately—treat men and women equally, not identically, and when an issue occurs, deal with it. Recently I’ve been linking to a 2-year-old article about the Strong Female Character trope, and why it’s not enough. As we talk about the books below, I think that’s important to keep in mind—I’m not asking for Lara Croft in every book (nothing against Lara whatsoever), I’m asking for women to be written with as much complexity and consideration as men.

STK668094Curb Stomp #3
WRITTEN BY: Ryan Ferrier
ART BY: Devaki Neogi
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: April 22, 2015

Curb Stomp continues to feature the ways in which the women of The Fever are strong, and the ways in which they are flawed. While there are tropes present, they are not tropes that the narrative is reliant on, and to criticize portrayal of poverty as a trope (in this case) would be to erase portrayal of poverty. This is real. The stakes are high. Every time you think this book is falling within your comfort zone, becoming predictable or telling you what you want to hear, Ferrier and Neogi pull the rug out from under you. There aren’t happily ever afters, real life doesn’t come with a sassy best friend or a manic pixie dream girl, everyone does what they have to and sometimes that includes people you’re counting on. Curb Stomp isn’t interested in furnishing you with a 5-person cast to fill sitcom roles, these women weren’t thrown together in a writer’s room, they’re together for a reason, they have a history, and their future (or lack thereof) will hinge on their reality.

If you were making a feminism checklist, a Bingo card for comic book diversity, this one certainly checks all the right boxes. Women across ages, races, sexualities, family structures, personality types. In another book, this might feel like tokenism, artificial multiculturalism for the sake of placating SJWs. In Curb Stomp, it feels natural; at no point are their intersecting identities made to be the focus, there aren’t any coming out stories and no one tries to touch Violet’s curls, but the facets of each of their backgrounds absolutely informs the way they experience the world and interact within it. The most interesting thing about Betty isn’t her purple undercut any more than it is her South Indian heritage or queerness—Betty Machete is all of those things, and she is a complete person. She’s loving, she’s punk rock, she’s got a sneer that would make Sid Vicious cry, she makes terrible decisions on the spur of the moment, her labret piercing is as endearing as the way she cares for her sister, Sweet Pea. The neon art of Curb Stomp is urban, punk, vivid, shocking, compelling, and above all, incredibly distinct, just like its characters.

 

BOOM! StudiosCurb StompDevaki NeogifeminismRyan Ferrierwomen in comics

Share On:
Tweet
Boom! for 4/22: Keepin’ It Real
The Risograph Effect: Generous Bosom – Part One

About The Author

<a href="http://comicsbulletin.com/byline/katy-rex/" rel="tag">Katy Rex</a>
Katy Rex

Katy Rex also writes comics analysis at endoftheuniversecomics.com, talkingcomicbooks.com, and bloody-disgusting.com. She writes scholarly articles for various academic journals, mostly because if she's not adding Freudian or Marxist theory to Aquaman she gets bored. She really likes butt jokes, dinosaurs, and killing psychos and midgets in Borderlands 2. She has a great sense of humor if you’re not an asshole.

Related Posts

  • BOOM! Studios Debut Trailer for WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD

    Ashley Hurst
    August 7, 2020
  • First Look at THE QUOTABLE GIANT DAYS from BOOM! Studios

    Ashley Hurst
    February 28, 2020

Support Us!

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Friends of the Site

  • SOLRAD
  • Your Chicken Enemy
  • Psycho Drive-In
  • Women Write About Comics
  • The Beat
  • Loser City
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders