Black Panther article
Posted by: Rich Watson on May 22, 2009 at 5:22 pm
“T’Challa was somebody who was powerful and independent and always walking forward, but now he’s unable to do that… He’s trying to stand up again and get back to what he was. So he’s a character in a very tough position because it’s hard to see everything happening around you when you can’t stand up from your wheelchair and solve everything like you used to. So these are very dramatic moments for him and I try to capture that tension in what he’s doing and his expressions, because he’s in a very difficult position. Everybody is feeling sorry for him and he’s not used to it.”
You can’t tell at this size, but on panel four of this page, the She-Panther (or whatever they’re calling her) is drawn with her nipples showing through her costume. Is this really necessary? You might as well just draw her naked and get it over with.
Paco May 23rd, 2009
“Is this really necessary?”
Pro-ba-bly about as necessary as someone ponderin’ aloud if it’s really necessary. Haha.
I mean, seriously. Even if it was a Janet Jackson style flash job it would be okay. They’re just breasts. Meanwhile, an untold number of Skrulls were slaughtered, maimed and beheaded a few issues back (Black Panther #39-41), and did that rile any puritan ire?
=)
Rich Watson May 24th, 2009
Believe me, I find the amount of ultraviolence going around in the long underwear books these days just as tiresome and gratuitous. I don’t talk about it as much because I don’t read that stuff and I have no desire to. Do you think I should talk about it?
Paco May 24th, 2009
Y’know, on the one hand I say no, but on the other hand I say yes. Hell, write about what moves you.
I should say, though, that the Skrull stuff didn’t bother me. I think it was meant to be mildly shocking and it worked in the context of the story. It just seemed like a good contrast to make my point.
This topic makes me think back to when Jim Lee had something of a phase back around the time when he tried to come back to pencilling WildC.A.T.S. For some reason he seemed to be into showing beheadings, and it was a bit of a shock havin’ so closely followed his work from the time he entered the industry. Frankly, I didn’t appreciate it, as it seemed in every way gratuitous — especially coming from Lee.
Moving forward a bit, the guy at the comic shop I sometimes frequent recently passed me a copy of some Marvel MAX book that he had damaged copies of and was givin’ away. I can’t remember the name of the book now, but he was actually pushin’ that crap. I got through three pages and I was done. Talk about ultra-violence. All I remember is a mask or two, a bunch of guts and me thinking: What a fuckin’ waste of ink.
Yeah, the cat’s outta the bag now…
Rich Watson May 26th, 2009
Honestly, I think it’s irresponsible of Marvel and DC to amp up the violence AND sexuality of characters that they market to both adults and children. Yes, you can say that they both have all-ages superhero lines specifically for kids, but I remember a time when such things were not necessary – when one line of superhero books from each publisher was enough, and they could be read by adults and kids without worrying about inappropriate content.
It’s unfortunate that they’ve moved so far away from that approach.
