Is it too much to hope that maybe DC editorial has finally realized that what readers want out of Supergirl is not a hyper-sexualized stick figure who alternates between angry and pouty? If that's what we wanted, there's plenty of reality shows out there offering nothing but. But it's starting to look like either DC has noticed and heeded all of the backlash online to their current incarnation of Supergirl, or have met some actual teenage girls and realized that they're not all as atrocious as they've made Kara. First we had Mark Waid and George Perez' relatively wholesome[1] and not-so-annoying version of the character in The Brave and the Bold, and now Supergirl's own series looks like it might be following the same path.
The initial concept designs by incoming Supergirl artist Renato Guedes (I was going to call him "the underrated Renato Guedes," but I don't think "underrated" is going to describe him much longer) certainly make it look that way. She looks like -- shock! -- a normal teenage girl. A healthy teenage girl with regular teenage-girl proportions.
And the one shot included of Supergirl's skirt flying up? She's wearing shorts underneath rather than ass-bearing bikini briefs. (I'd imagine that's specifically why the shot was included, actually.)
(Many more excellent Guedes drawings at the link above.)Now we'll have to see if new writer Tony Bedard can make her characterization more appealing. He's certainly saying the right things beforehand:
"I have basic expectations about what's appropriate for a character with the "S" on her chest. I don't think that's a limitation -- it points the way toward the proper area in which to search for fresh material. She's not a dark avenger or Goth punk. She's a strange visitor from another planet who should embody all that's best in humanity and in America. That's right, America. The land of immigrants who make good. "We'll see. I'm hopeful. Good luck, guys. You don't want to bring The Supergirl Internet Fanboy Brigade down on top of your heads.
[1] Yes, she was crushing on Green Lantern, but I totally believed a seventeen-year-old girl would have a crush on Hal Jordan. C'mon.
2 comments:
So far, Mark Waid is the only writer who has gotten the modern Supergirl right.
Hope Tony Bedard can match the expectations, but I'm not too thrilled that his issues are - I believe - Countdown crossovers.
Still, my fingers are crossed too!
I have some hope. And some high expectations. And I just want to add that whoever dreamed up this image of supergirl- as-bulemic-starving-wraith should have sausages taped to his private parts and be locked up in a room with a cross-eyed starving tween-ager.
Give me a female superhero who has some substance, not just boobs and food issues. Give me hope for a female superhero my kids can look up to.
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