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COMICS
BAD GIRL COMICS
Bad girl art is a superheroines artform genre coined after the analogy of good girl art which also includes strong female characters in comic books. Bad girls are typically tough and violent superheroines.
The two terms, bad girl art and good girl art, while similarly constructed, are not accurately oppositional: while "good girl art" originally was "girl art" that was "good", "bad girl art" is art of "bad girls": the "bad" refers to the personalities of the anti-heroine characters, often portrayed as cruel, mercenary, or demonic, although it may also be intended to reflect on the crude mannerisms and exaggerated anatomy of the drawing style associated with those characters.[1] While the Good Girls were common in the 1940s and 1950s, Bad Girl Art was common in the comic book market of the 1980s and 1990s.[2] During the heyday of the style, some fifty titles within the subgenre were being published, with Lady Death as the best selling title.[3]
The bad girl characters are female embodiments of the "grim and gritty" mood of comic books in from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.[4] Bad girl art uses the flamboyant and anatomically exaggerated style of art associated with Chaos! Comics and Image Comics during the same period to draw those grim and gritty female characters.[5]
Bad Girl comic characters differ obviously from Good Girls in their characterization. It is possible that the original comic Bad Girl - before the term was thought up - was Vampirella, whose comics started in the 1970s. When Frank Miller created Elektra, and gave her a complex relationship going beyond the realm of mere villainy to the title hero Daredevil, he also influenced the comic bad girl stereotype.[6] Though the often accepted initial influence for starting the Bad Girl trend was Brian Pulido's Lady Death and his Chaos! line of comics. These books featured all typical characteristics including full figured women, mystical backgrounds and exuberant art.[7]
Bad Girls, unlike Good Girls, were seldom found in the role of a damsel in distress. Indeed, the Bad Girls are "typically as powerful, violent, skilled, smart, and self-assured" as any male superhero.[8] Instead, Bad Girls were typically motivated by background stories in which they had been the victims of abuse or domestic violence; others had their loved ones murdered by the villains. Their basic motive was revenge against their abuser and against those who had abused others in a similar way. These themes of revenge made the character's moral code ambiguous, and often made it hard to characterize the character as either a heroine or a villainess leading "Bad Girl" to become the female equivalent of "anti-hero".[9]
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_girl_art
When Megan Fox (Transformers star and new geek obsession) was announced as the star of Fox Atomic and Aspen Comics' Fathom movie, most moviegoers said a collective, "What's Fathom?" But comic fans know it as one of the many "bad girl" comics that crowded shop racks during the late '90s. (Fox is apparently a big fan, but if you believe that then you probably also think she's going to leave Brian Austin Green for you and your action figure collection.)
Fathom, which launched in '98, follows the standard "bad girl" formula: Absurdly beautiful protagonist (Aspen Matthews, a marine biologist and former Olympic swimmer...), plus scifi tropes (...discovers she's part of a race of aquatic humanoids!), plus cover poses that look like swipes from Maxim Magazine equals beaucoup sales. These hottie heroines are tough as nails, yet still possess the amazing ability to squeeze into tiny skintight outfits. With Fox's geek cred, Fathom could very well restart fanboys' obsessions with the trend. But to do that she'll have to tow a fine line between "bad girl" and just plain bad. Let's take a look at how some of her predecessors have fared.
MORE: http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2009/03/bad-girl-comic-movies.php
Fathom is a comic book created by Michael Turner and originally published by Top Cow Productions. It debuted in 1998 and was Michael Turner's first creator-owned comic book series. Fathom has received honors and has claimed the "Number one selling comic book of the Year". Fathom is currently published by Turner's own company, Aspen MLT.
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathom_(comics)
MORE: http://www.comicvine.com/fathom/49-18057/
Come to the 1990s where there was a huge contrast from the 1940s, where the costumes there weren’t as skimpy and revealing, and the woman’s intentions were always good. So does someone go about defining Bad Girls? They are usually women who have been abused during their childhood or had their parents killed and now seek vengeance in their sexually revealing, skimpy and provocative outfits. By revealing, skimpy and provocative outfits, it was usually a few strips of clothing and they would wield a sharp weapon. Their art had reminded readers of theological or occult origins, such as demons, angels and vampires. Their art also had drawn women with breasts as big as their heads, long thighs (or legs in general), long spines and leg bones shaped like an “S”. Such pictures on the left show the archetypal Bad Girl types. Lady Death is usually credited as the character that started the trend.
Avengelyne isn’t an extreme example of the Bad Girl role, though she still has the same traits such as wielding a bladed weapon and revealing clothing. The Bad Girls weren’t such a new phenomenon but with their extremity is what caused a bit of a stir. Looking back twenty years, Vampirella and Elektra we can see traits from the Bad Girls (both have also become modern Bad Girls too).
MORE: http://www.comicvine.com/women-in-comics/12-43357/
MORE: http://www.newkadia.com/?Bad_Girls_of_Blackout_Comic-Books=1111126892
Avon/Realistic Comics 1945-Mid 50s
MORE: http://www.crimeboss.com/gallery_intro.html
Avon Publications was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. As of 2007, it exists as an imprint of HarperCollins, publishing primarily romance novels.[1]
From at least 1945 through the mid-1950s, Avon published comic books. Its titles included horror fiction, science fiction, Westerns, romance comics, war comics and funny-animal comics. Most titles lasted only a few issues...
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avon_(publishers)
Women have been portrayed in comic books since the medium's beginning, with their portrayals often the subject of controversy. Sociologists with an interest in gender roles and stereotyping have outlined the role of women as both supporting characters and as potential leaders struggling to be accepted as equals. Another point of study has been the depiction of women in comics, in which, as in other forms of popular culture, body types are unrealistically portrayed.[1]
MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrayal_of_women_in_comics
Reform
School Girl!
Realistic Comics
1951
One of the more eye-catching Avon one-shots, this cover was actually recycled
from a trashy pulp paperback of the same title. Dr. Wertham also had problems
with this book, which he claimed "blends sex, violence, and torture in its
context" (Seduction of the Innocent, page 358).
The girl on the cover is Canadian figure skater Marty Collins. I hope this
didn't end her career as a model.
http://www.crimeboss.com/gallery_faves.html
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