[btx]

On the otherhand I disagree with BTX; comedy can be a wonderful thing. 😀 I find that I can read and digest a story easier when there's either alot of good action, or atleast something that makes me smile once in awhile. And if you try to make people respect your character, just the opposite might happen.

That and……… the Spiderman trial was gold.

I didn't like Byrne's book; the jokes just weren't funny to me and the art and storyline was rather boring. But Dan's Shulkie book would have probably been like every other ongoing superhero comic out there if it wasn't for that; boring and angsty with a ton of pace-inhibiting narrating monologues (I'm looking at you, Superman). That ontop of actually doing some significant things in her book, (the power gem arc, taking down the clone Thanos), has rather brought her out above the other female superheroes at this point, and away from the 'I'm a green strongwoman with the name "she hulk" tagged on'.

Guh… I babble too much.

But most of this has just been stuff I've been muddling about lately myself.

I'm not anti-comedy, but this thread is about how to take buff superwomen seriously.

I like Slott's approach much better than Byrne's if only because Shulkie breaking the "fourth wall" made the stories essentially irrelavant in the Marvel Universe. But Slott sets a tone of "light adventure" that works against she hulk a little. The "World Without A Hulk" arc was supposed to show shulkie able to handle Hulk level threats like the Abomination and Wendigo. The result? Abomination is "stupided"down so she can trick him, plus she has an assist from Iron Prick. Meanwhile, up against Wendigo, Shulkie gets another assist from Mr. Overexposed Wolverine to take him down.

What happened to the muscles? Early on, Slott established that if Jen went to the gym to buff out (even little girly muscles) She Hulk would get progressively stronger. She should be able to take out Hulk level threats on her own with no assist from male heroes. But that would go against the "comedy" wouldn't it? I think too much comedy makes She Hulk harmless. And NO hulk should ever be harmless.

As for Collector 2's suggestion about a kind of buff female Samurai, lemme tell ya'….a little off topic….

Jackie Chan killed buff action women….

Hear me out… The late 80's/Early 90's seemed to be the beginnings of a "buff age" for women action heroes. Cory, Teegan and Raye had appeared in movies…Linda Hamilton was the first lead actress to buff up for Terminator 2… American Gladiators was flying high corrupting the minds of children and teenagers with female buffitude (some of you grew up and post on this forum  😉 ).

But Jackie's breakthrough into the American mainstream brought acrobatic "stunt-fu" to the masses along with kickass women ( Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock ) who weren't necessarily buff ( Rothrock most definitely was ). It allowed women to convincingly kick ass, in a balletic style without "punching like girl", which was the problem if they tried to fight western style (roundhouse punching, jabbing etc.)

With that kind of style you don't need muscles ( I mean, chubby Drew Barrymore, Charlies Angels, nuff said. ) FBB's were no longer needed. The phone stopped ringing. And while some actress would still build impressive physiques ( Hilary Swank, Carrie Moss ) Stunt-Fu became the easy way out for filmakers that wanted women kickass not badass.

It's the same with comics too. A samurai warrior woman wouldn't need to be drawn buff. You can have her take out Yakuza and Ninja's and she'd still have the build of an anorexic teenage girl. I see Slott has made Shulkie into a kind of "Jane Jitsu". After Abomination quits laughing he breaks her legs… oh but wait, it's a comedy, so Abomination is stoopid.

As for my "monster" idea, I don't want her drawn fugly. What I mean is that to the average comic reader muscular women are ugly "men with boobs" so why not confront the idea head on and make the character something of an outsider. You don't have to make her "man-hating" violent obsessive. You can even make her funny. But when it comes down to the threat situation she's all business. All Muscle and no Fu.  ;D

Sorry about the long winded rant… I think this thread strikes a nerve (in a good way.)

BTX

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Hey all! I had an idea I'd like to put out for brainstorming: how does one get a buff and busty superheroine taken seriously by comic book readers?

When I say this, consider the ones who currently are taken seriously or at least have their own monthly series: Amazing Spider-Girl, Super Girl, Wonder Woman, She-Hulk, and Red Sonja, to name a few. While the body types vary amongst all of the titles' protagonists, some seem to get more credit than others. I find all the above entertaining, but how does one do this without being relegated to the cheesecake bin with Shi, Lady Death, Witchblade, and Gold Diggers?

(I love Gold Diggers as much as the next fellow because of Fred Perry's love of Star Wars and anime references, but no one I know takes it seriously because of how the characters are depicted.)

Everyone takes Superman and his hyper muscularity seriously but you don't see him being regarded as eye candy for women ???. Why can't there be a female Superman who looks just as powerful as he does and get taken seriously? I know we have Power Girl, but a lot of people who don't read the comics pigeonhole her character fro two big reasons.

Is there a way to have one's cake and eat it too? To tell a thought provoking, entertaining, humorous story AND have your main character look like she could take a tank apart with her bare hands AND be busty?

Frankly I think the answer is a no. Power Girl may be as good as it gets…. and she already provokes forum disscussions about bust size and "man-muscles". Check out Newsarama sometime if you don't believe me. Shi, Lady Death and Witchblade were a big deal back in the 90's (Witchblade had her own TV show) and in a way they're part of the problem. The  breast inflations of the 90's along with pornstar aesthetic caused a backlash among comic fans pushing these titles into the quarter bins. Now we're in a more puritan phase.  Look at the "Supergirl is a slut" threads on forums. It's kinda hypocritical in a way; they still want comic women to look "Hawt" but with smaller boobs and shorter skirts.

As for hyperbuff physiques, the problem is one artist will make the girl into big buff "HyperWoman", but the next artist will size her down first chance he gets. This happens I don't know how many times with She Hulk and Power Girl. Unless Editorial insists that the artist stay "on model" when drawing strong women, you're more than likely to have a stick girl throwing a car and punching giant robots.

That said, one possible idea would be to make the buff girl a member of a team. It's very hard to launch a new title these days and nearly impossible for a solo character. So make HyperWoman a member of a team. Also make her a freak… an outsider character. I'm not saying make her unnatractive…. but play on the notion that "normal" people will be put off by her muscularity… reflecting the attitude of the casual reader. This makes her an 'underdog' that can build sympathies as she heroically struggles against the threats she faces and proves herself to be a good teammate. She Hulk's stint on the Fantastic Four/Avengers really built up her character. It's unfortunate the John Byrne and Dan Slott opted for "comedy at all costs" and helped undermine her credibility.

The other approach is to make her an out an out monster. A muscular she beast driven by  single minded revenge on the men who wronged her… and other men who wrong women. This migh actually 'excuse' the muscles and the violent revenge motiff has worked for Wolverine, Punisher, Batman  to name a few.

… And there'd be no comedy….

BTX

[btx]

Here is another She-Hulk rendering by Jean Sinclair.

She-Hulk breaking out

Z

WTF? The Diz? Shulkie's a Disney property? Where's Archangel? He should be on this!  ;D

BTX

[btx]

Wow she still has some semblance of muscle on her, beautiful picture!  Thanks for sharing it!

Collector… POST 666??  😮 😮 😮 😮

(Cue "Omen" Music)

BTX

[btx]

This was posted at CG Channel Dot Com…..

It's an Amazon… Oh yeah she qualifies!  ;D ;D

BTX

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I remember on the old Wreck-Shop forums, a particular individual who attacked fresh artists wanting to show their stuff. He had believed that only a few specific artists should be the ones to provide artwork and religiously flamed every other artist who posted their work on the forum.

I think that individual is still here. (Cue "Jaws" music).

BTX

[btx]

That’s a good looking picture.

Liked it so much you said it twice! ;D

BTX

[btx]

I'm wondering where the hell lesbian fits into this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sexy-Busty-Lesbian-She-Hulk-Transforms-nude-GBI_W0QQitemZ180123251813QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3986QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I dunno… maybe she gets off on herself…?  ;D

BTX

[btx]

*Falls to knees in worship*

BTX

[btx]

I'm lovin' your new site!

BTX

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