The Four Color Media Monitor

I'd heard Vogue's teen-geared affiliate was going down the drain with leftist politics, and the following sloppy, gushy article about the female-led books Marvel's been publishing of recent is another example of how poor they've become. Mainly because some of the details are a bit behind the times, as the beginning indicates:

Things have changed within the Marvel Comics universe—and we’re here for it. Whereas seven years ago there were one or two female-led books in production from the comics megalith, now there are 20. And it’s not solely due to the creation of a throng of badass new heroines. Carol Danvers, a character previously known as Ms. Marvel who has been around since the ’60s, now reigns as Captain Marvel (one of the single most powerful superheroes around), and Jane Foster, who began as Thor’s love interest, now holds both the title and hammer of her ex-beau. In short: Girls rule the fictional world.

Of recent, I'd read that the needless cancer subplot is taking its toll upon Jane, and much of the press at that point didn't seem to care. No surprise, honestly. And certainly no surprise the magazine's got no issues with the real Thor being pushed out in a contrived scene from a crossover where he loses his ability to control the magic Uru hammer, nor any questions raised as to why Jane couldn't get a distinct role of her own. Oh, and I guess no issues with how Carol couldn't retain her original role and just had to be shoved into Mar-Vell's title in order to maintain a copyright so DC couldn't regain it for Billy Batson. They don't even mention that one of the previous volumes of Captain Marvel was cancelled and rebooted, as sales are dismal.

Most importantly, they fail to address how you can't "rule" a fictional world if there's no good writing to make the tales worth their weight in gold.

“Showcasing great female characters who can stand up alongside their male counterparts is part of our history,” says Sana Amanat, Marvel’s director of content and character development. Although comics have tended to cater to a male audience over the years, Marvel Comics has executed a powerful rethinking of its female-superhero archetype in an effort to make the genre more inclusive. “We’ve created versions of them that aren’t based on their feminine forms—Carol now wears a uniform, not thigh-high boots and a swimsuit,” says Sana. “It’s also involved figuring out what type of plot is relatable to this audience.”

And the simple answer is, not the ones people like her are conceiving in the Muslim Ms. Marvel series, that's for sure. More on which anon. Thinking about the drivel she's spouting, I have to ask, did Marvel really just cater to a male audience before? And the best answer is decidedly "no". If any girls wanted to read Fantastic Four and Avengers, for example, in past decades, I'm sure there were some who did. I'm also sure there were some who read the original Spider-Woman title with Jessica Drew, and the Dazzler series, one of the first direct-market titles from the early 80s. And whatever their opinions in the past, I believe I did see some women writing in the letter pages of various Marvel series. The important part, however, is talented writing that doesn't sink into forced political lecturing as they did in the past few years.

And the part about costumes or other stuff that isn't based on their femininity decidedly is reason to raise eyebrows and wonder: just what are they thinking? I wouldn't be shocked if the SJWs at Marvel didn't like Wonder Woman's famous costume either, and that kind of mentality must be what's brought them to deny Carol Danvers her femininity, surely in more ways than one. If they think women are inherently sexual no matter how they dress, that's insulting and does a terrible disfavor to women. Now, about that part on "relatability":

The newer heroines take relatability one step further. Encompassing a variety of races, ethnicities, ages, and religions, they reflect the diversity of our communities. “Marvel is the world outside your window,” says Sana. “We are telling the experiences of people of all backgrounds through metaphor.” Take Kamala Khan, who was created in 2013, for example. Inspired by Sana’s own upbringing, she’s a Muslim American teenager living in New Jersey who struggles with figuring out who she is before ultimately taking over the role of Ms. Marvel. “We realized it’s a story about identity,” says Sana. “It’s about a young girl who isn’t sure if she agrees with who people have told her she’s supposed to be.”

Nope, it's a story about lecturing, and political posturing. Again, the election month issue was one of the worst, most protruding examples of leftism come to the fore. The series also found the time to depict almost anybody of non-Muslim background as nasty. What's so relatable about all that?

And if they're talking about people of all backgrounds, does that include Portuguese, Armenians, Polish, Thai, Kenyans, French, Columbians, Chileans and Macedonians? If not, then don't come around telling us what to believe until after you've ensured they get their day in the sun, please.

Other game-changing heroines include America Chavez, who is a Latin American LGBTQ teenager, and Riri Williams, an African-American engineering student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who creates a suit comparable to that of Iron Man. Her alias is, appropriately, Ironheart. These new female-led books are doing more than just making comics more accessible. They’re showcasing a strong, diverse group of heroines that girls can look up to. However subtly, these stories are breaking down institutionalized sexism and ingraining in all young people the idea that they are capable not only of greatness but of changing the world.

Again, they fail to make clear whether the writing is actually talented. Anything coming from Brian Bendis certainly isn't. And what institutionalized sexism are we talking about? Roy Thomas, for example, made some impressive efforts when he was at Marvel to give women a good, if not perfect, role in their stories. And the late Flo Steinberg is a standout example of an early female employee. Reading this, you could think they're making it sound like the Silver/Bronze Age stories didn't ingrain the idea for younger readers of great and world changing.

But this is evidently what to expect from a magazine company that's been going down the drain in their approach to sex education. Their news coverage of Marvel's SJW pandering is way behind and not very up to date, and shows no respect for Stan Lee's original creations.

Labels: bad editors, islam and jihad, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, politics, women of marvel