Superhero Pornface

Here’s a question. What happens when you cross the Fantastic Four with the Victoria’s Secret lingerie catalogue? Well, whatever the outcome, there’s a good chance Greg Land would be involved. Land is a popular and capable comic book artist, famed for his digitally ‘airbrushed’ figures and use of photo-referencing, often of celebrities. He’s also attracted controversy for a tendency to give his characters poses and expressions that are oddly suggestive and somewhat dubious in origin. 

Karen Healey from Girls Read Comics has taken exception to the generic appearance of Land’s female characters, along with a more grievous sin against comic book aesthetics: “Greg Land commits three monumental misogynistic crimes in the portrayal of women: (1) All his female characters are facially indistinguishable; and yet (2) The same character is often inconsistently portrayed in consecutive panels; and (3) Pornface.”

For readers unfamiliar with the concept of superhero pornface, the following examples may clarify the issue. Click to, um, enlarge:

   

Healey argues: “Greg Land doesn't draw women. He draws That Woman - the glossy, airbrushed vacant-eyed, wide-mouthed focal point of patriarchal desire.” Over at Comics Nexus, Paul Sebert has expressed similar discomfort: “Greg Land is apparently either tracing porn, using it as a reference source, or just seems inclined to draw beautiful women in positions that are generally only found in porn magazines. Whatever the case is, the end result is painfully awkward and out of place in a superhero comic.”

In fairness to Land, his male characters have been known to display pornface on a fairly regular basis, and strenuous battle scenes can at times take on curiously homoerotic overtones. But then, surely t’was ever thus? And isn't the use of stroke books for anatomical referencing an inevitable development for a genre in which improbably chiselled and pneumatic people hurl themselves about while wearing vacuum-tight costumes made from some impossibly thin material? Answers on a postcard, please.

An indecently re-captioned parody using Land's artwork can be found here. Further rumblings can be found at the Greg Land Deconstruction Project.

See also: Secret Identities.

Gratuities welcome.

Comments

[The Sanity Inspector]

Nothing new to quasi-literary adolescents from long ago, with their Vampirella, Druuna and Den comix.

[David Thompson]

Yes, though Druuna was always overtly erotic in intent. I don't think there was ever much doubt what her 'adventures' were about or why readers bought them. Ditto Den, as I recall. And the superabundant muscle always looked like plasticine.

[Danniel]

I'm not exactly a Land's fan, but I think that this thing of "porn face" might be somewhat exaggerated; not that the faces wouldn't be "interpretable" as porn faces, but it would be no different if it were another artist, or even in a non-porn movie depicting the same situation. Just happens that the expressions are naturally somewhat dubious.

[Ian Glass]

"...not that the faces wouldn't be 'interpretable' as porn faces..."

No interpretation necessary, amigo. Greg Land traces from photos often, and I know for a fact the first picture displayed on the blog was taken from a porn pic of some chick giving herself a good rub down.

[G]

I REALLY want to know the context (in the comic, not the porno) of the second one, where she's got the green highlight on her hair. I just can't look away from that face.

[arbitrayer]

The context for that frame is that in an issue of Ultimate fantastic four, Susan storm meets her mother, whom she thought had died or just left her dad when she was like 5, and apparently finds out that she was searching for atlantis the whole time.