Go to: Shortpacked! by David Willis
Go to: My Tree House
(via Heidi MacDonald)
I'm slightly alarmed that some people at DC even seriously considered this. I haven't read the comic book in question. But judging from the panels floating around the Web, it already reads less like a legitimate story in itself, and more like stroke material drawn by a fan who grew up on New Teen Titans. That's fine as fan fiction, but alienating to a whole swath of potential new readers. And it's even more embarrassing if this is indicative of the poor quality of the rest of the story.
But what's truly demoralizing is that I'm beginning to suspect that this scene is actually representative of the overall approach of DC's nu52 relaunch.
Update: I also find it a little creepy that Michelle Lee trotted out her 7 year old daughter reading a comic rated for older readers to make a point, even if it's one I agree with it. Listen, I'm not complaining that DC has subjected their intellectual properties to wildly different interpretations over time. That's the company's prerogative. The problem with Starfire as a character is that she doesn't have that high a public profile to begin with. To most people, she's a member of the Teen Titans in the children's animated TV series, as well as appearing in the kid-friendly Tiny Titans comic book. So going with slutty, amnesiac, and badly written Starfire parading around like a porn actress in a swimsuit that could have been even more revealing, had someone gotten their way, represents a lost opportunity to sell more comics. Not to mention a way to counter their already negative image regarding their treatment of women. Instead, DC has gone out of their way to reinforce it. If there's anything that says that the nu52 is meant for fanboy eyes only, it's a blatantly voyeuristic scene like this.
