CSotD: Maybe I’m amazed …
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Today's Ink Pen provides an example of how you can slip one past the goalie and leave readers rolling on the floor.
At least, as far as I know, this is the first mainstream comic strip to even suggest a transgendered super hero that didn't end up in the syndicate's "I don't think we want to go there" pile, granted that she (apparently) just said it to get rid of him. (Which also, by the way, makes it one of the first comic strips in a long, long time to make an actually funny gag out of "obnoxious guy tries to pick up hot chick at bar.")
Mind you, the whole superhero thing is starting to push the envelope: A few months ago, Marvel announced that one of their superheroes was going to come out as being gay, and there was a lot of speculation among fans as to who it would be.
Given that I am an old guy hung up on stereotypes, my guess was that it was gonna be the one who dresses in skintight Spandex and is obsessed with bodybuilding, but then what do I know?
Anyway, one of the many reasons I love Ink Pen (#1 being that it's consistently funny) is the way Phil Dunlap skewers gender issues in the comics, which begins with his creation of the character Jenn Erica, who finds herself constantly up for totally, yes, generic roles as "the girl."
In this case, one of the things that makes the gag work is the final panel, which suggests that, if it were true (and maybe it is), it's not something that would bother either Hamhock or Ms. Amazement, but it was certainly upsetting to the Ted Baxter-ish Captain Victorious.
The other thing is the idea among superhero people that you can resolve the basic gender issues around women with impossible Barbie figures in skintight costumes simply by having them beat the crap out of villains.
Well, I suppose if there can be such a thing as "lipstick feminism" there ought to be room for "Spandex feminism," too.
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