Once more, here's the "Spider-Woman #1" alternate cover that made the internet go crazy:
This erotic image by artist Milo Manara set off a thousand blog posts about sexism, resulting in Marvel canceling its release. The irony was that the book itself was about a strong and otherwise respectable female lead.
At the time, writer Dennis Hopeless told IGN: "It's strange for a book that has my name on it to get that much attention that has nothing to do with the book itself. Because our book, the actual story that we're telling, couldn't be less misogynistic."
Well, seven months after the controversial cover appeared and several months after the book launched, Hopeless has the perfect response.
"Spider-Woman #5," out this week, inaugurates a more practical and far-less-sexualized costume and a new, indie feel. In a meta moment, protagonist Jessica Drew even makes fun of the butt fiasco.
Marvel, despite the butt fiasco, is clearly making an effort to promote women in comics, with a record number of female characters in their own series including The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, the Muslim-American Ms. Marvel, the new female Thor, the all-female Avengers team A-Force, Captain Marvel, Angela: Asgard's Assassin, Spider-Gwen, Silk, Black Widow, Elektra, Storm, as well as Spider-Woman.
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