The DC Comics reboot brings the SEX

There were 3 particularly controversial #1 issues from DC’s reboot of 52 titles: Red Hood & the Outlaws, Voodoo, and Catwoman. 

In Red Hood, Starfire is written as a robot peen jockey who goes from one cliche porn pose to another, seemingly offering up her goods for the pleasure of the viewer. There’s nothing more boring than an inconsistently written character with no emotional connection. (For more, check out Michele Lee's 7 year old responds to new Starfire and says it all.)

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I saw the cover of Voodoo and wanted to love it so badly. The art is GORGEOUS (Sami Basri) but the story is draggy and one-note. Almost all of the visuals are of the main character stripping or in some state of undress. For no reason other than that naked women are pretty. Not sure what the creators were thinking, and what audience they were writing it for. But is sure was pretty.

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Besides being controversial as well, I’m not sure why Catwoman keeps getting lumped together with these duds. I LOVED CATWOMAN! That does not seem to be a widely held opinion. 

Yes, Catwoman is also very sexual and provocative, but that is exactly what they advertised it to be. From the cover where she’s upside-down dripping diamonds into her cleavage, to the very first couple pages of Catwoman halfway dressed. All signs point to a hypersexualized goodtime. 


Laura Hudson, of Comic Alliance, wrote an interesting response to Starfire in Red Hood, and Catwoman. I gotta disagree with her thoughts on Catwoman, though:

I mean literally, why is that last page a full-page splash of Batman actually penetrating Catwoman? Why do we need to see that? What does it accomplish or tell us about the characters that would have been lost if that page had been omitted? The answer is nothing. They just wanted to see Catwoman and Batman bang on a roof. 

Yes, and so do I. I absolutely do want to see Batman and Catwoman bang on a roof. The Catwoman title is rated T+ (Teen plus) so all is Kosher. Also, the creators have been thoroughly upfront that this is a sexy Catwoman who you will see acting sexily. For better or for worse, that’s how they’ve chosen to go with her. If that’s not what you want out of your Catwoman, don’t read it. 

This scene has context within a story. It’s not like Batman showed up like a pizza boy or plumber who came to bang. It establishes an interesting dynamic that sets up a crazy attraction that Bruce fights to keep at arms length. And Catwoman, as a character, is not without potential depth. She will hopefully be developed into an interesting, multi-layered character over the next few issues. This issue has already established that Catwoman has a pretty tragic past that we presume will play into who she is in the present. And all of that leads up to a frickin HOT scene with Batman. She’s practically fully clothed, they’re not porn posed. There’s no backarching, cleavage showcase in that final page. If anything, it’s more realistic and awkward.  

The sheer amount of story and character set up alone sets Catwoman apart from Red Hood and Voodoo. But beyond the impact of this first issue, Catwoman is a character that could be something great and who I look forward to learning more about. Starfire and Voodoo have so far been pawns used by their creators to provide gratuitous displays of curves and skin. I think Catwoman is the book whose #2 I’m most excited to read. I hope its potential becomes even more clear with future issues, retaining its distinction from the other controversial books.