I’m Steve Gustafson and thanks for stopping by. Don’t forget to check out 411mania’s Comic Book Review Roundtable, every Thursday! Read up on the best reviews and let us know what you’re reading as well. Click to read the latest Comic Book Review Roundtable! Infamous Iron Man #1, Mockingbird #8, and more!

Now, on with the show!

Last week we discussed, “Comic Books that Give You Nightmares!” Here’s what you all had to say:

Mike Riley: “30 Days of Night is a brilliant comic & the colors just look so vibrant & crisp. I loved it, read it twice.”

Peter Milano Whosoever: “No Outcast?”

Nick Maro: “Afterlife with Archie and (Chilling Adventures of) Sabrina. I never thought I’d ever recommend any series from the Archie Family of books. But wow, both of these series are up there with some of the best on the market. They’re dark, violent, very well written and illustrated. Afterlife with Archie has some of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever read. Sabrina is a wonderful throwback to horror comics from pre-comic code authority and EC Comics. Both titles are slow to come out, but they’re worth the wait.”

Ken Wood: “There’s an older comic from Jae Lee called Hellshock that might fit this list. There was a four or five issue miniseries, then four or five issues into an ongoing series he ended up putting it on the shelf. It’s an amazing read, and the art is beautiful.”

As always, thanks for the comments!

This week we ask…

Are We Becoming Too Harsh on Comic Book Artists?

It seems like we can’t go more than a month without some sort of drama involving comic book artists. Frank Cho is well known as a pinup artist and has become a controversial figure in the comic book industry for his sexualized renditions of the female figure. Comic artist Milo Manara illustrated a cover of Spider-Woman, which depicted the character from above, with her backside in prominent display. J. Scott Campbell recently drew a variant cover that showed Riri Williams in a revealing crop top, prompting people to protest until Marvel cancelled the cover.

Cho has been vocal in calling for the celebration of creative freedom over political correctness. And artists like Campbell and Rob Liefeld support that. “As a life-long liberal Democrat and advocate for free speech and equal rights, it fascinates me to see when ultra-liberals become ultra-conservatives where they see injustices everywhere and cease to see reason, and start oppressing people who they disagree with,” Cho said.

“Thanks to the social media, we have entered into a dangerous era of Salem witch trials where no one is safe. Everything is being attacked everywhere in this hypersensitive atmosphere: The movie Grease (Sexualizes teenagers), Road Runner cartoons (Violence against animals), Game of Thrones. (Promotes rape and injustices against women.) The list goes on.”

Concerning Campbell, Marvel pulled his forthcoming comic cover after it was deemed “sexualising” the 15-year-old girl who is the new Iron Man. The variant cover showed Riri Williams, a science genius who reverse engineers one of Iron Man’s suits in her dorm room at MIT, in a revealing crop top, and drew sharp criticism online.

Marvel took quick action, replacing the cover with a different version of the character and another variant cover by Campbell, in which the character is wearing the Iron Man armor, is still on sale and out in November.

Campbell called the decision “unfortunate” and said that he “simply attempted to draw a sassy, coming-of-age young woman”. “I greatly appreciate the noticeable uptick of support today in the wake of the fallout of this faux controversy,” he wrote on Twitter. “I gave her a sassy ‘attitude’ … ‘sexualising’ was not intended. This reaction is odd.”

Campbell revealed a bit more of his thinking when replying to one reader:

“I’ll admit, you have too many comments here for me to read them all. Perhaps given this feedback I could’ve drawn Riri younger but I can assure you, “sexual” was not what I was going for. I was going for “sassy attitude” if that didn’t. One across then I’m disappointed, but that’s the extent of it. Sometimes these covers, like this one, are drawn in haste to meet a deadline and you have fly by the seat of your pants and fall back a bit on instinct rather than ultra-careful thought. Perhaps with more time, I could’ve contemplated another more nuanced approach. I have young daughters and I would not be embarrassed for them to see this cover.”

Writer Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of the series, said he was “very glad they are not going forward with the cover”. In response to a question from a fan, Bendis said he had not seen the cover until it was made public on Twitter on Thursday, and while he had “liked” the face drawn by Campbell as part of his work in progress, he did not like the final version.

“Specialty covers are not in my purview and it was being produced separately from the work of the people involved in making the comic. Not to pass the buck but that’s the fact. If I had seen a sketch or something I would have voiced similar concerns,” Bendis wrote. “I am certain the next version will be amazing.”

It’s a strange time for comics. For decades it carried the “comics are for boys” stigma and relished in the sexy pinup poses and tight costumes for females characters, heroes, and villains. In today’s world, images that worked at one point are no longer acceptable. It’s a fine line that’s getting more and more blurry.

With comics going more mainstream, the scales seemed to change and comic books in pop culture have been fighting to adjust. Sometimes with disastrous results. The ones taking the brunt of it seem to be the artists. While trying to appeal to the masses, they find themselves in a “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” scenario. As the magnifying glass of public opinion keeps pressure on to appease everyone, are they being too judgmental?

What do you think? Is the public too harsh on artists? Or is this simply the comic book industry going through growing pains while adapting to a changing demographic?

That’s all the time I have. Check out our Comic Book Reviews tomorrow and see you next week!