What is it about a bow?

Oh, Karla…

I always liked her. Admittedly, not so much when she was a member of the Masters of Evil, wore a dorky white helmet, tried to play Baron Zemo and then got her neck broken because she forgot not to fly head-first into a wall…but aside from that, since she came back as Meteorite – and then Moonstone again, and now Ms Marvel – in Thunderbolts, she’s been one of those characters that was fun to watch as she slowly, inexorably, completely against her will, got dragged to the good side of the street.

She was always out for yourself, of course, but it was falling for Clint Barton – man, that guy gets around, doesn’t he? – that really set her on course for becoming a hero. Even if, along the way, she had a tendency to be a complete cow.

And then flamin’ Warren Bloody Ellis went and devolved her back into being a total self-centered bitch, even trying to kill teammates, when he took over Thunderbolts. And that was okay, that was fine – and then Bendis took the characterization, ran with it and threw her into bed with Kid Captain Marvel or whatever he’s called –

- and I thought, okay, that’s fine. But now…

…Bullseye?

Really?

Bullseye? Mr Gut-you-for-breakfast?

And then it becomes clear.

It’s all about Clint.

Man, when that gut hits his mark, it stays hit, doesn’t it?

And who knew that was a two-piece?

But here’s the thing: I have nothing against strong sexual characters, be they male or female – but unless Bendis has a very definite masterplan at work here regarding Karla’s motivations and goals, then this feels like sleaze for the sake of sleaze.

Karla, like Emma Frost both use their sexuality as a weapon. And not a subtle weapon; it’s more of a blunt instrument, smacking other characters – and the reader – in the face with it.

I’m not sure why, but that just makes me a little uncomfortable. I suspect that’s because I like to live in the fantasy that there are still kids reading these comics, and that they see role models in these characters.

Anyway. Nice art, I guess.

Tags: Art, Avengers, Marvel, Ms Marvel, Thunderbolts

This entry was posted on October 23, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under Archive, Comics-Archived. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.