Dec 6th 2020 Advent Calendar
A gunman races away from the scene of the crime towards Gotham City, sick yellow smoke belching from the nozzle of his pistol--
On the road behind him lies the Dark Knight, his costume torn, amidst the wreckage of a crashed motorcycle--
Alongside him is the lifeless body of Black Canary, her blonde hair trailing loosely across the hard ground--
Today's cover image belongs to the Sept 1970 issue of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD and is illustrated by the story's artist Nick Cardy. Black Canary has recently left Earth Two and joined the Justice League of America as well as co-starring in the GREEN LANTERN stories featuring Green Arrow. The focal point of this cover is obviously BC herself, the arc of the road drawing the eye directly towards her figure. And the artist certainly makes sure that her figure is displayed in such a way as to highlight its voluptuousness.
WARNING! Some of the pictures included in the rest of this article might well be considered suitable for the cover of a work of literature or the wall of an art gallery, but otherwise may be deemed NSFW! You have been warned!
In Cardy's image the outline of the orange skyline matches the shape of Black Canary's hips, its positioning directly above her acting like an enlarging mirror. The curves of the road markings and the motorcycle's front wheel share the orange glow that edges her body, creating an overall effect of sensuality in stark contrast with the implied violence of the accident scene. It's like a superhero comic as imagined by JG Ballard. Here's a Chris Foss cover to his most infamous novel (also a notorious movie)--
With his cover for THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, Nick Cardy, like Foss, is following in the footsteps of artists throughout the centuries who have portrayed dead or unconscious women in a way which is also suggestive of their sexual availability-- lying on their backs and offering no resistance. I'm not saying the artist has got necrophiliac leanings, just that this image is part of an established tradition in art, however dubious its intentions. Perhaps the most famous example is John Everett Millais' relatively tame OPHELIA, depicting the drowned character from HAMLET --
The presentation of the woman in Henry Fuseli's THE NIGHTMARE is a lot closer to that of Black Canary, her dress clinging so tightly to her body as to reveal its outline, her arms outstretched and her hair hanging loosely--
Or then there's this painting by Marques de Oliveira, CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS, in which the artist's erotic intent is as unconcealed as this poor dead lady's breasts.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #91 of course isn't the only comic ever to have employed the device of the prominently positioned unconscious/dead woman to invoke both drama and desire. Here's a notable example from OUR FIGHTING FORCES #128--
And here's Linda Danvers suffering the added ignominy of being dragged along by her hair--
And here's Diana Prince getting her own Ophelia moment in the water--
There are several variations on this theme used by cover artists too, such as this one from TEEN TITANS that I looked at earlier this week. I promise you I shall endeavour to look at some of the others for future posts in this Advent Calendar series.
Day 5 of my Advent Calendar can be found here--
Comments
Post a Comment