Say hello to the new Iron Woman

[DementedSheep]

serious question: have Marvel comics come up with any ORIGINAL female superheroes in recent years? any noteworthy ones?

it seems to me that in order to be diverse, their go-to tactic is to just sort of gender-bend existing heroes. She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Thor...ina. etc. etc.

its just so lazy.

Not denying it's lazy but how many noteworthy ORIGNIAL male superheros have they come up with in recent years?

Although part of the reason they made so many superheros with variations of other superheros names in the beginning was so they could copywrite the names to stop other companies using them for spin offs and parodies. I also think they just suck at naming things. Even if the name makes it sound like they would be gender bends that isn't necessarily the case. She-Hulk (she is also not recent) and Spider-Woman aren't similar to their male counterparts.

 

[Overhead]

It's because legacies do better. It's hard to get a new book to be successful and you stand a better chance if you have a built in audience by connecting the character to an existing superhero or team.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Women have taken up the Iron Man suits on occasion. What makes this occasion any different? Well, not technically a woman ... I mean 15 years old. Kind of hoping she isn't much of a Mary Sue.

Plus I can see a reason why Marvel might want to shake up a few things given the success of the movies. Change is good ... it gives people a chance to enter the comic books feeling like they're not missing out if they do.

 

[renegade7]

Ok, well, passing out Iron Man suits isn't new (War Machine, Rescue aka Pepper Potts, Scarlet Spider) but why does Tony need to be...replaced?

I imagine it's either something to do with Robert Downey Jr's contract or maybe they're feeling like Stark/Iron Man has been too much of a main character in the MCU and want to take him out of the spotlight.

 

[happyninja42]

Ok, well, passing out Iron Man suits isn't new (War Machine, Rescue aka Pepper Potts, Scarlet Spider) but why does Tony need to be...replaced?

I imagine it's either something to do with Robert Downey Jr's contract or maybe they're feeling like Stark/Iron Man has been too much of a main character in the MCU and want to take him out of the spotlight.

But the MCU isn't the same as the comic universe, so the continuity between them doesn't have to be the same. There's no reason why Downey's contract ending would impact the comics at all.

It's more likely what comic books always do, shake things up in a way that generates hype, coverage, and discussion, to try and bolster sales. It's hardly the first time they've done this, this is just the newest iteration of it.

And it's worked at least to some degree. I personally have never read an Iron Man comic, and never really cared to. But I am interested in this legacy story arc, and want to see how it pans out. So if the only reason was to just drum up new sales, mission accomplished.

 

[McMarbles]

I'm sorry, but how is that a win for female representation? It's a handmedown, great. What that tells me is that Marvel doesn't seem to trust their writers to come up with a compelling, female character, so they try to use a crutch. We will know in less then 6 months how that goes, I'm sure.

What it tells me is that Marvel doesn't trust their readers to buy a new character without a famous name attached. And judging by past sales numbers, they'd be right.

For example, they're coming out with a brand new series starring a completely new black superhero named Mosaic. And I see nobody talking about it. But we're up to eight pages talking about a black female Iron Man.

 

[Lightknight]

Doesn't really seem to matter anymore. Not really. I'm beginning to think of the whole marvel universe the way I thought of the Exiles series. Infinite worlds and infinite iterations/permutations of each hero/villain.

Out of pure curiosity, do you consider that a positive or negative? I see the pros and cons of it and so I'm torn. On the one hand, you aren't stuck re-imagining the same character over and over or else stuck repeating the same story. On the other hand, you lose a concise narrative, probably contradict yourself, and perhaps end up repeating the same stories over and over with different faces. I guess in the end I'd rather see different faces at least if we're going to read a perpetual remixing of the same tropes.

I consider it to be a severe watering down of distinct heroes. Just like the multiverse it means things just don't matter.

Like think retroactively in the DC universe when superman died. In the multiverse, so what? That's just superman of Earth ####. People who say that with infinite parallel universes there is at least one where X happens don't have a good enough handle on infinity. Instead, there are an infinite parallel universes where X happens on an infinite number of them.

So everything is futile both with rapidly changing heroes and in multiverse setups in general.

The more people start to think of different characters when one superhero moniker is evoked then the less that moniker matters.

 

[Calico_Asshole]

The story seems pretty standard, but is the art in all Marvel comics that terrible and lazy now?

 

[Lightknight]

The story seems pretty standard, but is the art in all Marvel comics that terrible and lazy now?

Depends on the artist, of course.

But I do agree, this bratz doll ironwoman looks silly. Can't be mainstream. Guess Earth 2301 is full of people who don't look human.

 

[Cicada 5]

serious question: have Marvel comics come up with any ORIGINAL female superheroes in recent years? any noteworthy ones?

it seems to me that in order to be diverse, their go-to tactic is to just sort of gender-bend existing heroes. She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Thor...ina. etc. etc.

its just so lazy.

Marvel and DC come up with characters not connected with existing franchises all the time. The problem is these character rarely if ever catch on due to being stuck with crappy writers and editors (because the companies aren't that confident in them) and/or fans dismissing them and not caring. There's also the fact that any new character created for the Big 2 will be considered property of the Big 2 and the creators will receive no money for whatever movie or tv deals they get meaning writers have less incentive to create new characters and save their stuff for indies.

 

[Naldan]

Will she really start being Iron Woman at the age of 15?

This is my only concern, besides the writing of her character most likely (trend) being shit.

15 years MIT student gets pampered by a rich macho for being super intelligent. How relatable is that? 15 motherfucking years. She can't even drink alcohol. Smoke. Lose a limp.


Oh, they're targeting my generation. Millenials. OK, I take it back. Might be something here.

 

[happyninja42]

Will she really start being Iron Woman at the age of 15?

This is my only concern, besides the writing of her character most likely (trend) being shit.

15 years MIT student gets pampered by a rich macho for being super intelligent. How relatable is that? 15 motherfucking years. She can't even drink alcohol. Smoke. Lose a limp.


Oh, they're targeting my generation. Millenials. OK, I take it back. Might be something here.

How is that any different from the teenage versions of Peter Parker? A young genius who can't drink, smoke, or lose a limp, whatever that means. How many Spiderman stories focused on the woes of him being underage for drinking and smoking? (not counting any PSA specific comics they did that break continuity). I'm willing to bet not many, if at all. Yet they somehow came up with compelling stories for Peter Parker to take part in, despite his crippling state of being a minor. I'm confident they can do it with Riri, just like they did with Miles Morales.

 

[Karadalis]

Guys.. guys.. and girls..

The new comic will tank... not because of PC.. not because of social justice...

But because the "art" looks terrible:

https://twitter.com/PixelBuff/status/752284656536588288

But seriously... it seems that even the creators dont really intend this comic to be something long lasting... ive seen webcomics with better art then that.

 

[the December King]

Guys.. guys.. and girls..

The new comic will tank... not because of PC.. not because of social justice...

But because the "art" looks terrible:

https://twitter.com/PixelBuff/status/752284656536588288

That's not the work from the actual comic, is it? It looks like heavily shaded Poser models with either bad toon shading, or post added lines... either way, that doesn't look great.

But still, maybe the story will be engaging on some level that will outshine/outpace/overcome the visuals?

 

[Karadalis]

Guys.. guys.. and girls..

The new comic will tank... not because of PC.. not because of social justice...

But because the "art" looks terrible:

https://twitter.com/PixelBuff/status/752284656536588288

That's not the work from the actual comic, is it? It looks like heavily shaded Poser models with either bad toon shading, or post added lines... either way, that doesn't look great.

But still, maybe the story will be engaging on some level that will outshine/outpace/overcome the visuals?

Well i hope it isnt.. maybe only an early draft... I mean it just looks bad.. its just 3d models with deadpan expressions.

Maybe its one of those comics that will have a different artist every other volume or so?

 

[mecegirl]

Guys.. guys.. and girls..

The new comic will tank... not because of PC.. not because of social justice...

But because the "art" looks terrible:

https://twitter.com/PixelBuff/status/752284656536588288

That's not the work from the actual comic, is it? It looks like heavily shaded Poser models with either bad toon shading, or post added lines... either way, that doesn't look great.

But still, maybe the story will be engaging on some level that will outshine/outpace/overcome the visuals?

Well i hope it isnt.. maybe only an early draft... I mean it just looks bad.. its just 3d models with deadpan expressions.

Maybe its one of those comics that will have a different artist every other volume or so?

I was expecting something worse. I think my bar for bad comic book art is too high. That work isn't my preference but it could be worse. Look at that monstrosity posted on the top of this page, that "female" Tony Stark.

 

[Karadalis]

Guys.. guys.. and girls..

The new comic will tank... not because of PC.. not because of social justice...

But because the "art" looks terrible:

https://twitter.com/PixelBuff/status/752284656536588288

That's not the work from the actual comic, is it? It looks like heavily shaded Poser models with either bad toon shading, or post added lines... either way, that doesn't look great.

But still, maybe the story will be engaging on some level that will outshine/outpace/overcome the visuals?

Well i hope it isnt.. maybe only an early draft... I mean it just looks bad.. its just 3d models with deadpan expressions.

Maybe its one of those comics that will have a different artist every other volume or so?

I was expecting something worse. I think my bar for bad comic book art is too high. That work isn't my preference but it could be worse. Look at that monstrosity posted on the top of this page, that "female" Tony Stark.

Thing is.. that is just bad art...

But the new stuff is both bad and lazy... wich in my opinion is even worse.

 

[Josh123914]

Can't say I have an opinion on this to be honest.

Though I will say I hope the character herself is engaging, faced with either, I prefer a diversity of personality over a diverse ethnic background or gender for my characters.

 

[JimB]

For the record, that villain you're talking about actually does have a history of being sexist.

No, he doesn't. He only behaved the way he did to attack straight, white men in general and me in particular. If he had a history of behaving like a sexist prick, then my narrative would fall apart, so he definitely has never made sexist comments about female heroes before.

 

[mecegirl]

Guys.. guys.. and girls..

The new comic will tank... not because of PC.. not because of social justice...

But because the "art" looks terrible:

https://twitter.com/PixelBuff/status/752284656536588288

That's not the work from the actual comic, is it? It looks like heavily shaded Poser models with either bad toon shading, or post added lines... either way, that doesn't look great.

But still, maybe the story will be engaging on some level that will outshine/outpace/overcome the visuals?

Well i hope it isnt.. maybe only an early draft... I mean it just looks bad.. its just 3d models with deadpan expressions.

Maybe its one of those comics that will have a different artist every other volume or so?

I was expecting something worse. I think my bar for bad comic book art is too high. That work isn't my preference but it could be worse. Look at that monstrosity posted on the top of this page, that "female" Tony Stark.

Thing is.. that is just bad art...

But the new stuff is both bad and lazy... wich in my opinion is even worse.

To my limited knowledge(which boils down to knowing sequential artists during and after college) comic book artists have a very tight schedule so I can see why they would choose something like that. But it would look best if they got a stellar artist for the book. Really good art signals the companies confidence in a book.