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| No all wrong!! We wanted only Harley Quinn. And we wanted her nekkid!! |
The title of this blog was taken from the title of the 1997 film based on Jack Kerouac's friend Neal Cassidy.
DC Comics just can't seem to get a break. Some of which happens to be their own doing. From criticism over the treatment of Superman the movie MAN OF STEEL (from what I have been told he isn't even called Superman) to the recently backlash over the casting of Ben Affleck as the new Batman (but let's be honest, it's not nearly as bad as either Val Kilmer or George Clooney) as well as the whole New 52 mess which has seen disgruntled creators early exit from respective series's over creative control. You can almost imagine DC adopting the voice of the late Rodney Dangerfield declaring "I get no respect".
While most everything mentioned above is subject to debate, their most recent move has me scratching my head. DC has recently launched a talent search looking for new undiscovered talent to join the ranks of such luminaries as Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Dick Sprang and Gil Kane.
Not a bad thing right? Since DC closed their submissions to unsolicited artists, the only way to get your work reviewed was to hit the convention circuit and stand in line for a chance to see if you "have what it takes".
What had people both horrified and offended was the contests stipultions. Would be artists had to draw the Joker's prized cupie Harley Quinn trying to KILL HERSELF while she was NAKED.
I wrote those words bold and in capital letters just so it would sink in with you all. And yes, you read that right. To be blunt, DC wanted to see artwork of Harley Quinn COMMITTING SUICIDE NAKED. Got all that?
But it gets better... or worse depending on your point of view... DC launched the contest around the time of Suicide Prevention week.
I don't know if it was simply due to poor planning or the people involved in this contest are just insensitive. I just find the whole thing rather... I don't know... tactless.
The whole argument of superhero comics objectifying women sexually aside (that's a whole different can of worms) I find myself a little more annoyed about the fact that they seem to be glorifying suicide.
And it's not just DC Comics. An episode of Family Guy really bothered me which we come to find out the family dog Brian has been keeping a gun in his bank vault because he wanted "a way out if life got to be too much". I felt like they really downplayed the whole "you've got so much live for" message at the end and if someone was really at the end of their ropes watching that episode I felt like the only message that people would take away from that is "Hey! If you're life is too much, suicide is cool"..
Maybe it's just me. I don't know. But after seeing some good friends and students of mine unnecessarily taking their own lives, seeing anything that would glorify someone taking their own life upsets me.
All I could see in every one of those cases is a person I care about that I will never see again. A young life whose talent will never be shared with the world. One more wonderful person who will never continue to enrich our lives. Sometimes you never see how much you mean to other people in your lives because you're so busy fighting your private demons. And you erroneously think that you don't matter. And what's worse you're given this false notion that killing yourself is a way out of the pain of life. Little do you know the pain you cause to the people you leave behind.
So, yeah! I'm a little sensitive on the subject.
But it looks as though many other people are just as sensitive on the subject as. Whether it's just disgust over the subject matter or just the fact that this just seems to be a throwback to the 1990's mentality of cheescake art over writing talent. Especially since the contest is asking for pin-up art and not comic pages that shows the artist can tell a story.
It seems as though, with ebooks and motion comics taking off more and more, companies like DC and Marvel are trying to find gimmicks like this to grab readers attentions. Not only with DC rebooting it's entire universe but also with Marvel killing off Peter Parker and having Doc Ock take over is body and Petey's life in SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. Heck, I even saw they were bringing back holographic motion covers. Which I couldn't help wincing a little when I saw them.
In the end, I have to wonder this is not only yet another nail in the coffing for THE NEW 52, but serialized comics in general.
