From: [d--n--m] at [magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu] (Dave Van Domelen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc,rec.arts.comics.info
Subject: The Final Bad Girl Art Report: August Previews
Date: 1 Aug 1996 20:27:33 GMT

The Bad Girl Art (BGA) Report for Diamond Previews: August 1996

     See below for an explanation of the BGA Index.  And keep in mind that
something can have a high BGA Index without actually being "bad girl" art,
since BGA is more than just naked women (but not much more).
     The purpose of this report is to publicly lambast Diamond for putting
material that verges on softcore porn in what is supposedly an all-ages
publication.  Not only may BGA be inappropriate for younger readers, some
(like the author) simply find the fetish-ized portrayals of women in these
ads to be aesthetically displeasing.
     Unfortunately, now that Diamond has effectively eliminated any
pretense of real competition, I don't see them bothering to mend their ways
any more.  The boulder has now slipped from our grasp and rolled to the
bottom of the hill.
     So, unless things change, this will be my last BGA Report.  And yes,
this month things got worse.  If anyone wants to take up the reins, let me
know.

BEFORE THE COMICS

     Topps ad for Don McGregor, has a painting of Lady Rawhide and some
woman in velvet pants and an open shirt.  Index = 7
     Previews Presents: The Queens of Halloween Ashcan.  Yep, a special
edition to glorify Lady Death, Vampirella and Witchblade.  I think this
speaks volumes about Previews' editorial policy...more bad girls, not
less.  Fairly tame images, so no index given, but worth mentioning for
itself.
     Previews Contest: Pick Your Halloween Queen.  Choose which topless
or almost-topless DD-cup you like best.  The words "unrepentant" and
"incorrigible" spring to mind, and if there were actually an option
any more, I'd strongly consider buying a different magazine for my comics
solicitations.


PREMIER COMICS

ACCLAIM:

     None to speak of.  Although there's pictures of Waid and Augustyn for
you to drool over. }->

DARK HORSE:

     None to speak of.

DC:

     None to speak of, although Catwoman and Supergirl get pretty close.

IMAGE:

     Roaring back to life this issue.
     Darkchylde/Glory ad.  The first, as usual, is wearing nothing but hair
and blood.  Glory is in a pose that, while it would make Kirby wince, is
not sexual (but still painful and serves to thrust her breasts together).
Index = 20
     Second Darkchylde/Glory ad.  'Chylde has found some clothes and both
have cleaned off all the blood for this two-page centerfold-ish ad, over
two thirds of which is legs.  Oh, and 'Chylde has a thong tanline colored
in.  Index = 10
     Glory #16 ad.  She's holding a woman who seems rather excited to be
dead...must have died of a broken back from that pose.  Index = 12
     Lady Supreme in an ad that looks like it was cribbed from Striptease,
pulling open her coat to reveal her...costume.  What there is of it.
Index = 5


COMICS MAGAZINES

     Inquest gives a little equal time, with a "Shirtless Kirk" photo,
a young and fit Shatner wearing only tights.
     Overstreet's Fan scared me for a moment into thinking there would
be a Batman/Lady Death crossover.  LD is her usual charming self, and even
from the back gets Index = 10.
     It seems LD is everywhere, and she's showing off her assets for the
Combo ad.  Index = 10


COMICS

     Special "Don't Forget These Comics" section has an ad for Catacombs
#1, featuring "Lady Lib," who wears a Statue of Liberty crown and not a
whole lot else.  Big hair, wasp waist, art emphasizing public area, etc.
Index = 7 (it's B&W and cropped...full size color would have been more)

LIAR COMICS

     Somehow got an ad way out of sequence.  Cynder Annual ad has two
women, one of whom is arching her back and showing her large butt off
while the other one seems kinda cold and should hike up her pants before
they fall the remaining inch or two past her crotch.  Index = 16

ANTARCTIC

     Warrior Nun Areala action figure, complete with the peekaboo slats
in the front of her habit to show off the cleavage.  No real index worth
calculating, but I can see why they're not trying to sell this in stores.

BLACK OUT COMICS

     Hari Kari ad.  Butt shot, erect nipples, big hair, blood...pretty much
an archetype of bad girl art.  Index = 11

BRAINSTORM COMICS

     Luxura ad.  Gee, could we get a little more sexually suggestive?
Wine bottles popping their corks and wine flowing out like a rather more
viscous fluid as she closes her eyes and arches her back...sheesh.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but this is ludicrous.  Index = 14
on the straight scale, but somewhat nastier than this would imply.


CFD PRODUCTIONS

     The ad for Bones is so screamingly sophomoric I have difficulty a
person with the ability to put words together into sentences devised it.
Let's just say that while they say it's about the bones sharks leave,
that's about as honest as saying "Hooters" restaurants are about owls.
No index, just offensive.

CHAOS! COMICS

     More Lady Death.  Just standard LD stuff around Index=10, nothing
beyond the normal call of bootie...er, duty.

DARK FANTASY PRODUCTIONS

     Dark Fantasies #8 ad is B&W so I can't be sure, but I think the
vamp in it is wearing nothing but boots, gloves and a spiderwebby bikini
top.  Index = 8, probably.

GROUND ZERO COMICS

     Harry #1: Demoness wearing what must be paste-on bits of cloth and
ragged boots.  Index = 8
     Crystal Breeze ad, a B&W photo of a woman in a nazi bondage outfit
complete with riding crop.  Index = 7

HARRIS COMICS

     Just piles and piles of Vampirella.  Page upon page of erect nipples,
spread-um poses cribbed from Hustler, rapturous expressions and other
goodies, to celebrate her 25th Anniversary. Index = Too High To Bother

LONDON NIGHT

     Razor in leather with blood all over her, repeated several times.
She's so excited her nipples are visible through leather.  Whee.  Oh, and
a crotch shot of a woman in a straitjacket.  Index = 13

MAXIMUM PRESS

     Well, more Darkchylde/Avengelyne, both lounging around showing off
their tanlines.  Index = 16

SIRIUS

     Fang Testament ad.  Well-oiled and bulging out of her skimpy leather
bikini, the woman in the ad is fighting a demon thing wearing a thong and
apparently hung like a Richard Corben character.  Index = 11


MODELS

     There's some seriously hentai resin kits being proudly offered for
sale, bragging about no detail left unrendered.  Including DDcups with
erect nipples and so forth.  I'm tired and not going to bother sorting out
an Index for this.

     There a few other things here and there worth of mocking, but I really
no longer see the point in bothering.  Diamond is an effective monopoly and
is gonna keep putting in the T&A because it's what they themselves like.


The Bad Girl Art (BGA) Index v0.2:

     This is an attempt to quantify the degree of offense given by "Bad Girl
Art" as presented to general audiences in solicitation material, such as
Diamond's Previews magazine.
     Any depiction of the female form in a solicitation is fair game for
assigning a BGA Index, but the threshhold that must be passed in order to be
truly considered BGA has not yet been determined, although 5 seems like a lower
bound.  Every depiction starts at 0 points, then adds points based on the
Format, Pose, Body Type, Clothes Type and Clothes Coverage of the female shown.

FORMAT: Style of ad
     +1 per full page (if the ad is several pages but the female appears on
          only one of them, only count that page)
     +1 if in color
     +1 for photographic art

POSE: Positioning of the female
     +1 if the pose is anatomically impossible or severely painful
     +1 if the woman is being struck
     +1 for bondage situations
     +2 for a gratuitous butt shot
     +3 for a spread-legs crotch shot

BODY: The physical attributes of the female
     +1 for breasts larger than her head
     +1 for breasts larger than waist (cumulative)
     +1 for erect nipples shown
     +1 for thigh wider than waist
     +1 for thigh longer than total torso plus head height
     +1 for Big Hair (hair larger than torso)
     +1 per inhuman or demonic part (such as claws, fangs, etc)
     +1 for facial expression indicating sexual themes (seductive,
          rapturous, etc)
     +2 additional for expression indicating subject is in the throes of
          orgasm

CLOTHES TYPE: What the female is wearing
     +0 for skintight bodysuit
     +1 for swimsuit
     +1 for lingerie
     +1 for leather (cumulative with above)
     +1 if torn or tattered (cumulative with above)
     +1 if adorned with spikes or blades (cumulative with above)
     +1 for "nonstandard" body piercing (navel, nose, lip, etc)
     +1 for spiked heels
     +1 per weapon
     +1 per fluid type covering subject (includes but is not limited to
          blood, sweat, tears, regular water)

CLOTHES COVERAGE: How well the clothing covers the "naughty bits" of the
     female.  This is clothing coverage only, and doesn't count strategic
     limb placement or black bars.  It's the thought that counts.
The following are cumulative (i.e. if less than 1/4 of the breast is covered,
     then points are given for 1/4 and 1/2).
     +1 if less than half of each breast is covered
     +1 if less than 1/4 of each breast is covered
     +2 if breasts totally bare (so +4 total)
     +1 if enough of crotch is uncovered to require shaving
     +2 if outline of genitalia is drawn
     +5 if crotch is totally bare
The following points are not cumulative with the above.
     +10 if subject is totally naked (except for shoes, gloves and jewelry)

     Any suggestions (other than "Get a life!") appreciated.  This file and
updates of it will be posted each month along with a listing of outstanding
cases of BGA in Previews.