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Warrior women in my comics this week: Devi and Mathilde
I've been so distracted with cleaning out my house this week that I almost forgot to post about the two comic book ladies who have made my month.
First up: Devi. Oh Devi, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
One. Your covers.
Note to everyone: If you're going to depict two sexy women fighting on a cover, this is how to do it. Look at that - Kratha has muscles! (And veins on her muscles, how freakin' awesome is that?) And neither of them are pulling hair or doing any of that silly "catfight" crap. Tara looks ready to kick Kratha in the chest and stab her in the face at the same time.
Two. Your divine flesh.
Note to everyone: If you're going to draw a scene with your main character naked in the shower, this is how you do it. This is probably the least exploitative and titillating depiction of a woman showering I've seen in a long time. You still feel the sense of Tara's exposure and vulnerability - that's the point, that she's having a moment of physical, mental, and emotional weakness - but at the same time, this page totally doesn't feel like it was drawn to be read with one hand. I LOVE that. And I love you, Saumin Patel, for drawing this. Even the panel focused on Tara's chest is blessedly free of voyeuristic overtones. That's mostly because there's nothing about that panel that feels out of place, gratuitous, or unnecessary. In short, this page does a fantastic job of showing Tara in an extremely vulnerable moment without the usual accompanying icky exploitative overtones. There's no objectification here to detract from the raw emotional moment in the story, and that's a great thing. This is a depiction of "Tara in the shower." This is NOT a depiction of "some male-oriented sexual fantasy of Tara in the shower." There's an important difference.
Oh, and bonus awesome points for drawing Tara with a stomach.
And three. Tara herself.
God I love her.
Oh, and for the record? Rahul is the new Chiba Mamoru. Poor guy. First he's kidnapped, then he's killed, now he's been turned evil... Oh whoops, I guess that was kind of a spoiler.
Anyway, from the other side of the Pacific, this month we saw the debut of quite possibly what is the single most awesome manga that I have read this year.
That's right. It's the Shakugan no Shana prequel, in manga format.
Uh-huh. No joke. Shakugan. No. Shana. PREQUEL.
This manga is based on the tenth Shana novel, which of course tells the story of Shana's predecessor, Mathilde Saint-Omer, and the great and copious amounts of ass that she and Wilhelmina kicked in the Great War. How awesome is Mathilde? This awesome:
But of course, this wouldn't be a Shana manga without Wilhelmina giving herself a badass powerup in the middle of a battle.
In the following three pages, Wilhelmina proceeds to take out an entire army using just a couple of ribbons. (Yes, ribbons. Yes, I know. You do not mess with Wilhelmina. She'll kick your ass with freakin' ribbons.)
Oh, and did someone say "badass powerwalk"?
Okay, Mediaworks, I give up. Now you've gotten me to commit to buying your crappy new bishoujo magazine every month as long as this manga is still running in it. Although I still kind of feel dirty for buying a magazine that also includes the official Moe-tan manga adaptation. (*shudder*)
Edit 11/16/2011: Comments disabled due to spambot attacks.
First up: Devi. Oh Devi, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
One. Your covers.
Note to everyone: If you're going to depict two sexy women fighting on a cover, this is how to do it. Look at that - Kratha has muscles! (And veins on her muscles, how freakin' awesome is that?) And neither of them are pulling hair or doing any of that silly "catfight" crap. Tara looks ready to kick Kratha in the chest and stab her in the face at the same time.
Two. Your divine flesh.
Note to everyone: If you're going to draw a scene with your main character naked in the shower, this is how you do it. This is probably the least exploitative and titillating depiction of a woman showering I've seen in a long time. You still feel the sense of Tara's exposure and vulnerability - that's the point, that she's having a moment of physical, mental, and emotional weakness - but at the same time, this page totally doesn't feel like it was drawn to be read with one hand. I LOVE that. And I love you, Saumin Patel, for drawing this. Even the panel focused on Tara's chest is blessedly free of voyeuristic overtones. That's mostly because there's nothing about that panel that feels out of place, gratuitous, or unnecessary. In short, this page does a fantastic job of showing Tara in an extremely vulnerable moment without the usual accompanying icky exploitative overtones. There's no objectification here to detract from the raw emotional moment in the story, and that's a great thing. This is a depiction of "Tara in the shower." This is NOT a depiction of "some male-oriented sexual fantasy of Tara in the shower." There's an important difference.
Oh, and bonus awesome points for drawing Tara with a stomach.
And three. Tara herself.
God I love her.
Oh, and for the record? Rahul is the new Chiba Mamoru. Poor guy. First he's kidnapped, then he's killed, now he's been turned evil... Oh whoops, I guess that was kind of a spoiler.
Anyway, from the other side of the Pacific, this month we saw the debut of quite possibly what is the single most awesome manga that I have read this year.
That's right. It's the Shakugan no Shana prequel, in manga format.
Uh-huh. No joke. Shakugan. No. Shana. PREQUEL.
This manga is based on the tenth Shana novel, which of course tells the story of Shana's predecessor, Mathilde Saint-Omer, and the great and copious amounts of ass that she and Wilhelmina kicked in the Great War. How awesome is Mathilde? This awesome:
But of course, this wouldn't be a Shana manga without Wilhelmina giving herself a badass powerup in the middle of a battle.
In the following three pages, Wilhelmina proceeds to take out an entire army using just a couple of ribbons. (Yes, ribbons. Yes, I know. You do not mess with Wilhelmina. She'll kick your ass with freakin' ribbons.)
Oh, and did someone say "badass powerwalk"?
Okay, Mediaworks, I give up. Now you've gotten me to commit to buying your crappy new bishoujo magazine every month as long as this manga is still running in it. Although I still kind of feel dirty for buying a magazine that also includes the official Moe-tan manga adaptation. (*shudder*)
Edit 11/16/2011: Comments disabled due to spambot attacks.
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please
(Anonymous) 2011-07-31 11:59 am (UTC)(link)Re: please
Sorry.