As if women needed ANOTHER reason to hate DC's "New 52"

[brendala]

I just stumbled on this review of the new Suicide Squad book from DC's "New 52" re-launch. And, sadly, it seems that two more awesome comic book women have been screwed over by this fiasco: Harley Quinn and Amanda Waller.

This may seem shallow. But all of my anger stems from their redesigns (I know nothing about the writing or characterizations in the new Suicide Squad, so I can't comment on that). These two characters have always been appealing to me because of their unique looks. And now DC has ruined that.


Let's start with Amanda Waller. This is what she used to look like...



And this is what she looks like now...



Apparently, 52-Waller shares 52-Catwoman's mental impairment that makes it impossible to button up one's outfit.

The first time I heard of Amanda Waller was in the Justice League cartoon. And I LOVED her because she was the ONLY female character on that show that didn't look like the typical "Bruce Timm female palette swap". Because her comic book design didn't have the body of a supermodel, some actual thought and creativity went into her cartoon design. And her unique look added to her awesomeness and badassery.
Now, she looks just like everyone else. And it's boring!

Why would DC opt to slim down the only plus-sized female character from this series (and one of only two in the entire DC universe)? Did they think that the DC fanboys didn't have ENOUGH to wank to already!?!? Apparently not, because this is what they did to poor Harley Quinn:




And just to refresh your memory, this is what Harley used to wear:



So, the one comic book woman who managed to become a sex symbol without showing a single inch of skin is now dressed in panties and a gravity-mocking corset that would make Emma Frost blush.

Oh yeah. And apparently Harley has a new super power. The power to waltz around in the snow in her underpants without any discomfort whatsoever!



The two men who are LITERALLY ON FIRE are wearing more protection from the cold than her!! Seriously, WTF!?!? O_O


I just...don't know what the fuck DC is smoking right now. Aside from a few decent titles, this New 52 endeavor seems like a wasted opportunity. They did a massive reboot (which caused a lot of good ongoing stories to abruptly end) and, instead of fixing what was wrong with established characters, they killed many of the things that made them appealing in the first place. So, unless their goal is to scare women away from the comic shops, I'd say DC is failing BIG time!

Comments

[sarajayechan.livejournal.com]

Well, you know how fatphobic society is. Can't have a chunky woman in a main role unless she's unhappy with her looks and her goal is to lose weight and be a supermodel! /facepalm

And Harley's new outfit DOES NOT LOOK COMFORTABLE AT ALL. *wince*

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Well, you know how fatphobic society is. Can't have a chunky woman in a main role unless she's unhappy with her looks and her goal is to lose weight and be a supermodel! /facepalm


Yeah! And it doesn't matter if every other canon made it clear that she's perfectly happy with her body and overall physical appearance! Her reboot persona must be no bigger than a size 5 and she must also constantly whine about how fat and ugly she is because how else will modern girls relate to her!?!? %&*$%##!!@!!

....sorry about that. You triggered a flashback to the-show-that-shall-not-be-named. >_<



And Harley's new outfit DOES NOT LOOK COMFORTABLE AT ALL. *wince*


I know ridiculous outfits are par for the course in superhero stuff (ESPECIALLY for the girls). But that outfit just makes no sense. Comfort issues aside, no amount of glue and double-sided tape could keep that corset on her chest during ANY physical activity; let alone a fight!

[ayarane.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, Harley, what did they do to you? :( Old-style Harley was a badass and DAT ACCENT and this new design (from which a similar version was used for the new Batman games) is... no. That's not Harley. :(

I'm starting to think it was a good thing I stopped following the whole Batman universe after TAS (even if it was mostly out of laziness). >_>;

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I thought the outfits she got in the games were bad. This one is just....ugly.

Honestly, I don't even see how it's sexy. Yeah, she's showing lots of skin. But her face looks awful, the outfit is just random crap thrown together, and that Cruella DeVille hair is terrible. Why not just let her keep her damn jester hat? At least that way she'd stay warm in the snow!


You should try Batman: The Brave and the Bold. It's not connected to the Batman TAS universe at all; but it balances camp and serious action better than ANY other superhero show I've seen. It's AMAZING!

[steamage.livejournal.com]

Poor Harley... It seems the DC is always trying to sex her up- but Harley is HARLEY. She's already awesome, and doesn't need to be "improved" into no longer being Harley. She's one of the most unique and iconic villains out there... :S

To me, the "real" Harley will always be the one from the original Batman cartoon; the further from that a Harley-spawn veers, the less her it is...

American comics really need some more female writers; I think the fact that it's basically a boys-who-can't-get-dates club is part of the problem. >_>

[brendala.livejournal.com]

WOO! Last Exile icon!

Anyhoo...I don't think Harley needed to be sexed up. It's not like her old bodysuit left anything to the imagination.
The old outfit was sexy; but this new one is just trashy. New-Harley looks like a meth addict at an Insane Clown Posse concert, not a super villain. >_<

For a while, it seemed like comics were classing up and moving away from the "Comic Book Guy" stereotype. I guess DC is determined to bring it back.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Well, buttons can get pretty complicated when the writters remove all of a character's brain.

Sweet mercy, why?

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Apparently, food is also too complicated for these characters to handle. :P

According to DC, Waller's make-over was done because they wanted her to look like the skinny actress who played her in the Green Lantern movie. But that explanation doesn't really hold water since the new Young Justice cartoon featured Waller in all her plus sized glory.
...maybe horny 13-year-old boys staged a coup at DC?

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Oh my god that would explain everything.

How did I miss this entry....?

[amelia-seyroon.livejournal.com]

Harley looks badass posing like that. o.o

But yeah, I gotta agree, her new outfit does NOT look comfortable whatsoever. DX;

Re: How did I miss this entry....?

[brendala.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Even if you can get over the skankiness and impracticality of it (seriously? the artist couldn't draw some PANTS in that snow scene!?); the new outfit is just plain ugly and completely ignores Harley's trademark clown motif.