I took a commission. And I’m stoked. A friend recently asked me to do some designing featuring some X-Men characters. So far three have been selected, out of five that will be featured: Psylocke, Gambit, and Rogue.
I’ve gotten to work sketching the characters in some of the styles of my favourite comic book artists, such as Jim Lee, Alan Davis, Greg LaRocque, and Joe Madureira…
This is fun. This is what I spent hours doing as a kid, copying the images I saw in the comics I loved. It’s what taught me how to draw. One of these days I’ll post some of those drawings, currently they are stored away in a shed in Alaska. One of these days…
In gathering some research images through google, I ran across a few surprises. In the form of super-hero porn. Searching for ‘Gambit and Rogue’ turned up more than a few images of the two getting down to it. One was drawn so poorly it was just gross and I can’t get it out of my head… while another was actually kind of pretty. There was one of a threesome with Wolverine (I think) but I felt dirty for some reason and moved on. Hmmm…
I got to thinking about it though, and why wouldn’t these buxom heroes be doing it on their off times? Funny how sex is such a dominant subject matter in our modern day society but then there are some aspects that have been pushed into a kind of hyped-up sexlessness. Big boobs and lips but chaste as virgin snow… this goes not only for comics but a lot of movies and ‘Teen Television’ (which gives me the creeps, btw).
Of course, though, these superheroes would be getting it on. But of course they would after a long day fighting bad guys. I bet some of ‘em even slept with bad guys on the d.l., which I am sure only fanned the flames of hatred between the two once the battle raged in the streets once more. Maybe Batman is really kinky.
And OF COURSE there would be some group sex going on… Some of these folks flying so high and having their minds blown open by the wonders of saving the universe would probably come back to Earth with some different ideas on what love can mean and how to express it, or just an itching to dive into new pleasures. And, you know… some of ‘em are pretty hot… like Nightwing.
It’s funny we’re talking about this… how did we get here? Yeah, I brought it up.
I’ve considered comics my ‘porn’ for awhile. And no I’m not talking dirty things like going home and lighting a candle and sitting down with an episode of spandex crotch action, no. I grew up with such a sense of shame around comics as a kid that I was petrified that someone I thought was ‘cool’ would see me go in for my weekly visits. It is that same kind of self-conscious vibe most people get when they enter the door under a sign saying ‘XXX’. As I’m writing this, a thought passes… maybe that just added to the excitement and rebel-ry of what I got out of comics. Cuz I kept going.
It’s a lot less powerful these days, but there definitely used to be a stigma against comics. Much of that due to Fredric Wertham’s well-timed book The Seduction of the Innocent; back in the 50′s it went hand in hand with a little movement called McCarthyism. I was aware of that stigma early on in my years, due much in part to being yelled and guilted at whenever I went to the comic book store as it was a ‘waste of money and time…’ blah blah blah. Again, I went anyway.
Comics nowadays though, don’t really do it for me. Most are so hyped and kind of over-violent without much story. I also don’t like the general portrayals of women as they are always for some reason weaker than the guys, and there must be some kind of super hormone going around because the boobs have gotten really really BIG. Plus, most comics are just male super-heroes on some kind of testosterone Spanish fly, and hardly explore what the medium can do. That’s generally the way with big business nowadays… leaving the exploration and art to the side while sticking to what ever’s proven to make money.
Future projects are creeping up in my mind’s eye… some of them in this medium. Will I bow to the shame and economic pressure to conform or deny or stress out? Heck no; I just keep going.
