I love the idea of Miss Martian quite a lot. From her weird possible connections to the Martian Manhunter to the cool Sailor Moon like outfit. In all the depictions of her, she comes across as a cute, young spunky alien (much like the Starfire from the animated Teen Titans series).
But in Teen Titans #41, something is really really off. The cute Miss Martian isn’t that cute when drawn by Paco Diaz and Ryan Benjamin. Early in the issue, she’s drawn correctly: younger, girlish. But that doesn’t last long. By mid-book, she’s suddenly become a double-D, hanging out of her red X, sultry smirking vixen. And that’s just not right. It’s a jarring change, unattractive, and seems to go against the concept of the character (well, to me, at least).
I just don’t understand why it happens. Well, that’s not true, I understand why it happens. I just don’t like it. These are supposed to be teen-aged heroes, not plastic-enhanced supermodels. Having Miss Martian spout such lines as "I really like your cloak, Raven" and being the overly cheerful member of the team, then a page later her boobs are flopping around like Phobos and Deimos just doesn’t seem right. It’s like the artists were just drawing an issue of Generic Superbreasts Monthly.
The other thing that bothered me this issue: Jericho being the narrator of the action. I remember when Jericho was introduced, George Perez mentioned that he forbade Marv Wolfman from using thought balloons for the character. Jericho is an artist’s character: thought balloons or narration is essentially cheating and is a sign that the writer and/or artist just isn’t up to using the character properly.
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Responses to “Miss Martian Or When Artists Go Wrong”
“Having Miss Martian spout such lines as “I really like your cloak, Raven” and being the overly cheerful member of the team, then a page later her boobs are flopping around like Phobos and Deimos just doesn’t seem right.”
Best comment I’ve read this week!
November 30th, 2006 at 7:06 pm |
I second that notion!
December 1st, 2006 at 2:42 pm |
[...] Spandex Justice’s Vincent J. Murphy likes the idea of Miss Martian but has problems with the way she’s portrayed in the issue: [...]
December 7th, 2006 at 7:38 am |
I noticed the same thing. And you’re right. It was… jarring.
She was honestly the major reason I picked up this issue. I’m intrigued by the character. But this… wasn’t what I tuned in to see. Is there any chance it was just some new artist and will be fixed in later issues?
December 8th, 2006 at 4:17 pm |
Okay.
If Miss Martian is a White Martian, J’Onn must have scrambled her memory and ethics/moral judgement part of her brain.
Let’s hope she does’nt get a wild hair and turn on everyone. J’Onn could check in on her every so often.
I just have one request though, can we get rid of the MM rip off. Put her in an old Supergirl costume. Nothing baring
the belly. I hate that.
James
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:51 am |
[...] at Spandex Justice, Vincent muses about “Miss Martian or When Artists Go Wrong”. He makes some good points. As a longtime Titans fan, I really appreciate his [...]
January 7th, 2008 at 9:17 am |