Draw Harley Quinn Naked, Killing Herself, To Win DC Artist Contest

[kael013]

Why mention her nudity?

Conservation of detail. It's mentioned because it's important. The first 3 panels are all ridiculous examples of Harley trying to off herself - all within character. The last one is a realistic portrayal of suicide - something that [i/]isn't[/i] in character for Harley. It's supposed to show that this isn't another macabre joke by Harley; it's serious. That means all the details have to be realistic. By not mentioning she's naked artists familiar with Harley would draw her with her suit or some ridiculous costume on, thus turning the serious example of suicide into another joke.

Also, it's possible to depict nudity without making it sexualized. It's called <a HREF=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FanDisservice>"Fan Disservice".

 

[Lilani]

That may be the only time anyone has ever been able to do that lol.

To be fair, they specify they want a "suit made of raw chicken," which could much more easily lead to a "chicken bikini" sort of costume than if they had simply said "chicken suit." And besides, if comedy were what they were after, they could have simply said "chicken suit."

OT: I'm going to have to agree with the consensus: While it may be within Harley's character to do something like this, to have an art contest based on these activities is in very poor taste no matter how you look at it. Also, the specific mention of her being "naked" in the bath is very unnecessary, which whether they intended it or not SEVERELY changes the message they are sending about what they're after.

 

[saintdane05]

You know, back when I was first learning about making comics, the books I read stated that any and all symbolism and full context related to what is happening needs to be given to the artist since the artist cannot read your friggin? mind. Unless you trust the artist to tell the story and it doesn?t matter how they do so in the particular context, YOU. INCLUDE. EVERYTHING.

So leaving out that little ?she?s breaking the 4th wall/satire? bits don?t really help if the contest-makers don?t know that.

Furthermore, I encourage people to NOT enter into this for a simple reason: it?s not a foot in the door to DC Comics. DC is not interested in a new artist. Why? Because if they were, they would have asked for a sample of a page that showed superheroes fighting, different uses of light, being able to tell a story without dialogue, and different moods in the panels. Because THAT is what you need for an artist.

Not someone who can draw Harley Quinn naked in a bathtub purportedly breaking the 4th wall.

At best what will happen to the winner of this contest is doing inking work, additional pencils, storyboarding, and maybe promotional artwork. This is not going to actually lead to a career making comics. Because DC is not interested in getting people into a career making comics. They are interested in publicity.

And they really, REALLY suck at that, if these last few days have shown anything.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Weird requirements, to say the least. While the last one is probably the worst, the other three panels are bizarre as well, especially considering how comical their descriptions sound. Failed suicide attempts, quite a laugh, eh.
I'm not familiar with the character, though. Maybe failed suicide attempts are a running gag with her?

Yeah, her humor can run pretty dark. Apparently there was some context to this where Harley is breaking the 4th wall to complain about the writers even sexualizing her when she is committing suicide, but they don't bother to mention it. If there is context that explains it, why leave it out and make yourself look like a bunch of creepers?

 

[Vinterdraken]

When I first heard they where holding a contest to draw a page in the new Harley comics I thought to myself that this could be a start of something positive. Now that Ive actually read a bit more about the whole thing Im sighing in disbelief and shaking my head in shame over the decline of my favorite Comic Book company.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Aside from the Chicken Bikini, I fail to see any parallel between what they're asking and Loony Tunes.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Even with the contect added later, this still seems pretty low.
This still seems like a crappy thing to ask for.

Considering it's Harley complaining about the writers, isn't it kinda insulting to previous writers? <.<
Not that I entirely agree with things they've done.
Harley was a pretty perfect character when she wore the outfit she's pretty much named after. Lately she's wearing little more than a bodice, shorts, and shoes kinda taking away from her name's origins.
It kinda bothers me, but I can get used to her latest look.

Honestly, the 4th pannel gets pretty dark, gritty, realistic, and kinda creepy. They specefically ask for her to be naked.
For all the people throwing around the "Well she's insane! Of course she's killing herself!" being naked in the tub killing one's self is a pretty -sane- way to go about it.

Maybe with the new context, it can be more obvious she's trying to protest the way she's being utilized? I doubt it.

Frankly I'd be surprised if DC didn't get any porn over the 4th pannel. Heck, I'd be surprsed if all 4 pannels weren't pornographic sooner or later.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I like nudity. I like sexualized nudity. I like Harley Quinn. I like it when Harley Quinn does sick and messed up things. So my question is, where can I see entries? I don't get the outrage or why people are deciding to be offended. In this run of Batman, the Joker has his face sliced off and held in place with string. Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind if this contest were about drawing a nude Joker or any other disturbing Bat character. Hey, how about Bruno with the swastikas on her boobs from what many consider the greatest comic book of all time?

I just think people are freaking out because A. anti suicide campaigns are a popular cause recently and B. it's hip to decry any female character's sexualization to start a debate about feminism. The latter seems a bit sexist to me.

But yes, suicide is horrible, women should be treated equally and not be sexualized all the time. I just don't see why this particular contest is offensive to people's sensibilities. It's not even in the main continuity of the story. It's just an art contest. I'm guessing the people who are offended probably don't even read the comics they're disgusted with.

 

[Seanfall]

I like Harley Quinn I like how dark and tragic her story is....I don't like it when DC abuses a character like her for publicity. DC has shown time and time again that it doesn't give a shit about it's characters in any regards expect for who gets money from marketing them. And that's what this is, publicity and I am so glad it is exploding in their faces. Maybe if they mentioned the fourth wall thing earlier people wouldn't have been so upset you could draw her looking at the reader 'Yeah this fuckwit is into this shit.' But they didn't they didn't mention it until after the shitstorm was in full swing. This is a continuation of the blatant misogyny shown by DC.

DC...women read comics a lot of them do. keep this up...and they won't be reading YOUR comics. That's half a market your alienating at least. And more of the other half who find this kind of shit...disturbing and wrong. I am not here to start an arguement so I won't be saying anything is fact, it's just that I personally find this...wrong. I personally find it to be them trying to sexualize or make light of Suicide. You can say that 'harley is crazy' all you want but does that really make it better? Does sexualizing the suicide of a mentally unstable person make any of this more palatable? I don't think it does.

 

[BernardoOne]

I like Harley Quinn I like how dark and tragic her story is....I don't like it when DC abuses a character like her for publicity. DC has shown time and time again that it doesn't give a shit about it's characters in any regards expect for who gets money from marketing them. And that's what this is, publicity and I am so glad it is exploding in their faces. Maybe if they mentioned the fourth wall thing earlier people wouldn't have been so upset you could draw her looking at the reader 'Yeah this fuckwit is into this shit.' But they didn't they didn't mention it until after the shitstorm was in full swing. This is a continuation of the blatant misogyny shown by DC.

DC...women read comics a lot of them do. keep this up...and they won't be reading YOUR comics. That's half a market your alienating at least. And more of the other half who find this kind of shit...disturbing and wrong. I am not here to start an arguement so I won't be saying anything is fact, it's just that I personally find this...wrong. I personally find it to be them trying to sexualize or make light of Suicide. You can say that 'harley is crazy' all you want but does that really make it better? Does sexualizing the suicide of a mentally unstable person make any of this more palatable? I don't think it does.

Erm, the "4th wall breaking" was said from the start. The media sites that decided to report on it conveniently forgot to say that part. And no, they are anot alienating anyone but the people who love to be offended at everything. Other people will not give a shit and just continue to read the comics instead of trying really hard to see things that arent there and being offended about it.
And no, they are not sexualizing suicide. People that are in bathtubs, are usually naked. Do you know that?

Trying so hard to be offended at something and not even looking at the context of the story.... /sigh

 

[The_Echo]

I'll quote myself from another topic:

Okay let me ask here... What's the problem?

- people do commit suicide in bathtubs
- when they do it, I assume they're quite often naked

Yes. This. All of this post.

Though I don't think naked suicide is super often, bathtub suicides are (probably) naked 100% of the time.

And the chose a bathtub suicide because, the way they envisioned it, it involves a lot of detail and a very specific tone. Two things they need to test someone on before they let them do the art for one of their comics.

They obviously said "naked" specifically in the prompt so that contestants knew exactly what to draw. They never said "let us see Harley's nipples." I assume any good artist would know that the water would do the censoring for them. No need to have her in her underwear (because c'mon, who does that?).

In short: if it were Bruce Wayne instead of Harley Quinn, nobody would give this much of a shit.

 

[Canadish]

I'll be honest, it sounds more like a Looney Tones/Adams Family sketch than a serious depiction of someone pushed to the edge. You know, considering it's Harley and all.

Not worth getting mad over anyway, the whole thing is obviously a PR ploy to stir up the hornets nest and get a bunch of free press. No such thing as bad press and all that. If this offends you, just don't buy DC comics. Don't get mad about it and post it everywhere, you're giving the people you're mad at what they want.

 

[Seanfall]

I like Harley Quinn I like how dark and tragic her story is....I don't like it when DC abuses a character like her for publicity. DC has shown time and time again that it doesn't give a shit about it's characters in any regards expect for who gets money from marketing them. And that's what this is, publicity and I am so glad it is exploding in their faces. Maybe if they mentioned the fourth wall thing earlier people wouldn't have been so upset you could draw her looking at the reader 'Yeah this fuckwit is into this shit.' But they didn't they didn't mention it until after the shitstorm was in full swing. This is a continuation of the blatant misogyny shown by DC.

DC...women read comics a lot of them do. keep this up...and they won't be reading YOUR comics. That's half a market your alienating at least. And more of the other half who find this kind of shit...disturbing and wrong. I am not here to start an arguement so I won't be saying anything is fact, it's just that I personally find this...wrong. I personally find it to be them trying to sexualize or make light of Suicide. You can say that 'harley is crazy' all you want but does that really make it better? Does sexualizing the suicide of a mentally unstable person make any of this more palatable? I don't think it does.

Erm, the "4th wall breaking" was said from the start. The media sites that decided to report on it conveniently forgot to say that part. And no, they are anot alienating anyone but the people who love to be offended at everything. Other people will not give a shit and just continue to read the comics instead of trying really hard to see things that arent there and being offended about it.
And no, they are not sexualizing suicide. People that are in bathtubs, are usually naked. Do you know that?

Trying so hard to be offended at something and not even looking at the context of the story.... /sigh

The 4th wall breaking was mentioned on Twitter first as far as I know. it was not reported with the first script. Yes people get offended at stuff. Stuff that is offensive and meant to incense and anger. And those people who don't give a shit? Good for them, but I and many others aren't any of them. This things are there subtext matters. Yes I know people are naked there's not need to try to insult my intelligence. But they didn't need to draw attention to that point in the script, and you know what...SHE DOESN'T NEED TO BE KILLING HERSELF! I wouldn't have a problem with this if the Joker for instance had the rope that would be fine why? Cause the jokers fucked like that.

Yes I am looking at the context and Yes I am offended and no I didn't have to try. Stop assuming that...I don't know why i'm even making this post. As everything i've said is just going to be disregarded in favor of straw man arguments. And what story? the reporting of this event? The event itself? The event is to draw An attractive woman in various dangerous or suicidal situations. The first three I don't mind their almost comical it's the final one that gets me.

 

[Ishigami]

I could imagine these images to look funny in a disturbing sort of way.
I'm cool with this.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Personally, I don't find this idea offensive, but just really, really stupid.

So the contest idea is to draw someone committing suicide in some really odd (and in some cases, realistic) ways? No offense, but that's a pretty dumb idea to gauge the talent of some promising comic artists.

 

[drthmik]

I would guess that it would be a good measuring stick if an artist can do this WITHOUT it being just a porno thing
an artist who can draw Harley nude in a bath committing suicide but not have it be crude or disrespectful or sexualized but rather showing the full gravity of her desperation and despair would be a winning catch for DC

This would be a very hard subject to draw without either going too far or not far enough
the artist would have to treat the subject of suicide with the weight it deserves yet keep Harley "in character" but still out of character enough that she would commit suicide

and yes, many will submit watered down "you didn't really want us to do THAT did you?" work
and some will submit snuff porn that they will have jerked off to before submitting it

I assume that such submissions will be rejected as cowardly and/or perverted in favor of the submissions that draw the subject right.

 

[Demonjazz]

The fact that there is a contest to draw a chipper character committing suicide seems... Wrong, I'm not saying that suicide can't be funny. Heck there was one Tom&Jerry episode about a duck that wants to commit suicide and it was actually pretty funny... But this is a human and one that is in a abusive relationship while being not all there... And you want to have her commit suicide. What if Marvel did something like this, what if they said something like "Yeah know how Spiderman is always in pain over his loss of his loves but still is a wisecracker and has a positive attitude... Well I'm gonna have a contest to see who can draw the best Spiderman committing suicide while making hilarious quips! How about you make one where he gets killed by a mind-washed Mary Jane it will be hilarious!"

 

[Combustion Kevin]

"Alright, who let Frank sniff the glue again before the contest reveal?"
-"Eddy was in charge of that, right?"

I mean, seriously, I would come up with this if I deliberately intended to cause a shitstorm.

 

[Baresark]

I have attended many art classes, and many life drawing classes. I question the amount of life drawing classes the so called sequential artist that was quoted above has taken. The first thing they do in a life drawing class, at least the ones I attended was that nude is not sexual. I have seen lots of nude women, lots of nude men, and nude men and nude women posing together... and I have to say, none of it got a rise out of me. That would be because nude isn't sexual. In the world of fine arts, if you find the act of being nude in and of itself sexual, you are seen as immature. I have to agree with that because there is a distinct difference between the two. Whether you find the content of the contest to your liking or not simply because of the suicide is up to you. But to ***** about the nude bathtub suicide actually sexualizing suicide... well there are not words for people who are that immature or that fucked up.

PS. Please stop with the rollover ads on the screen that play when you mouse of them. It's the most god awful annoying form of ad there, that and it's obscuring the text box I'm typing in.

 

[xaszatm]

You know, back when I was first learning about making comics, the books I read stated that any and all symbolism and full context related to what is happening needs to be given to the artist since the artist cannot read your friggin? mind. Unless you trust the artist to tell the story and it doesn?t matter how they do so in the particular context, YOU. INCLUDE. EVERYTHING.

So leaving out that little ?she?s breaking the 4th wall/satire? bits don?t really help if the contest-makers don?t know that.

Furthermore, I encourage people to NOT enter into this for a simple reason: it?s not a foot in the door to DC Comics. DC is not interested in a new artist. Why? Because if they were, they would have asked for a sample of a page that showed superheroes fighting, different uses of light, being able to tell a story without dialogue, and different moods in the panels. Because THAT is what you need for an artist.

Not someone who can draw Harley Quinn naked in a bathtub purportedly breaking the 4th wall.

At best what will happen to the winner of this contest is doing inking work, additional pencils, storyboarding, and maybe promotional artwork. This is not going to actually lead to a career making comics. Because DC is not interested in getting people into a career making comics. They are interested in publicity.

And they really, REALLY suck at that, if these last few days have shown anything.

...uh, isn't this an exact quote from Linkara's Tumblr? Like, exactly the same?