# Heroes for Hire: Marvel's new hentai title!



## horacethegrey

Alright. Let me first say that I'm no prude by any means. I freely admit to watching hentai (_La Blue Girl_ and _Twin Angels_ being my favorites) and dare say, enjoying it. I also think it'd be hypocritical of me to look down on other people who either watch it or sell it (not to minors mind you).

But seriously, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!!  






This here is the cover for _Heroes for Hire_ 13 from Marvel Comics. It's not a Marvel Max mature title, it's a mainstream Marvel book rated T+. So why does it depict three women being threatened with tentacle rape? I mean seriously, if this were some hentai manga or doujinshi I'd understand. But no, it's a mainstream Marvel title. 

Anyone see what's wrong with this picture? :\


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## Azgulor

You mean aside from the missing nipple?  Yeah, should have a rating higher than T.  Unfortunately, I believe such ratings apply more to the story content than the cheesecake cover.

Azgulor


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## Alzrius

I agree, the cover doesn't have anything explicit, as it's showing a lot of skin but not anything truly naughty (and there've been plenty of other comic covers in that vein).

Beyond that, what matters is what's printed inside, and not on the cover.


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## horacethegrey

Alzrius said:
			
		

> I agree, the cover doesn't have anything explicit, as it's showing a lot of skin but not anything truly naughty (and there've been plenty of other comic covers in that vein).
> 
> Beyond that, what matters is what's printed inside, and not on the cover.



Mate, I've seen covers of hentai doujinshi that are tamer than that. 

True, you're bound to find one or two h-doujin with dripping tentacles on the cover, but rarely. For the most part the covers of a majority doujin are just titilating images, with the real naughty bits saved within.


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## Hand of Evil

Old news (see news page) but I have no problem with it, no problem at all.


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## Silver Moon

I find it consistent with the Heroes for Hire series as well as the Daughters of the Dragon mini-series that preceeded it.   While Marvel has claimed this is their version of DC's "Birds of Prey" the book has been far more similar in art and writing to Image's "Danger Girl" series.


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## Whizbang Dustyboots

Silver Moon said:
			
		

> I find it consistent with the Heroes for Hire series as well as the Daughters of the Dragon mini-series that preceeded it.   While Marvel has claimed this is their version of DC's "Birds of Prey" the book has been far more similar in art and writing to Image's "Danger Girl" series.



You mean that issues come out 18 months apart?


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## horacethegrey

Okay, someone at the superherohype boards posted this on the thread dedicated to that cover.



> Originally Posted by Kebab gud
> The 6 point checklist for tentacle rape!
> 
> 1: Manga style *check!*
> 2: Young women *check!*
> 3: Sexual theme *Check!*
> 4: Tentacles undressing *check!*
> 5: Dripping bodely fluids on breasts*check!*
> 6: Penetration *Nope!*
> 
> 0/6 = Why ask..?
> 1/6 = Long way off!
> 2/6 = Nope!
> 3/6 = Maybe
> 4/6 = Hmm makes you wonder
> *5/6 = Strong Tentacle rape scene*
> 6/6 = Why ask.. thats 100% pure Tenacle rape going on there



Do I really need to elaborate further?


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## jonathan swift

I need to start reading Heroes for Hire again. Or just starting reading comics again, curse them being such an expensive hobby.


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## Ranger REG

horacethegrey said:
			
		

> Anyone see what's wrong with this picture? :\



Other than it bears a _Marvel Comic_ label ... nope.


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## Angel Tarragon

Marvel does hentai?


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## horacethegrey

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> Other than it bears a _Marvel Comic_ label ... nope.



Exactly! If it were the cover of a h-doujin starring Marvel characters I'd understand. But this is the cover of a mainstream comic solicited by Marvel Comics itself. Why the hell are they shooting themselves in the foot by running a cover that's sure to generate a lot of controversy?! And it doesn't just affect them, mind you. This will generate some negative press for the whole comic industry itself (in fact, it already is. If you frequent the various comics news blogs decrying that cover). So say goodbye to the notion that comics are an accepted literary medium in the public's eye. 

*sighs* It's times like this that make me ashamed to be a comic fan.   Stupid Quesada and his lack of editorial responsibility.


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## Steel_Wind

Honestly?

I am far more offended with Mary Jane in a thong doing laundry.

Yes. Seriously.

One says something about gender roles and society; the other says something about kinky fantasies.

Meh.


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## Alzrius

In all honesty, this doesn't seem to be generating any controversy at all, at least not of any significant variety. Women in sexy outfits in comics are nothing new, and the idea that a tentacle or two there somehow implies a tentacle rape scene is a pretty large leap on the part of the reader.

Simply put, who cares what the cover shows? There's nothing explicit there, and it's what's on the inside pages that matters more. Horace, by your own admission, you've seen hentai doujins that have less explicit covers, which by extension means the interior pages were worse. Well, this is the opposite case, with a fairly risque cover, and interior images that absolutely won't feature any sort of tentacle raping.

Simply put, there's nothing controversial here. If there were no tentacles there, this wouldn't be an issue, and because there's one or two which aren't doing anything, some hysterical people are assigning meaning to that and raising an outcry at the top of their lungs.

Honestly, I wish people would save the indignation for something that was worth all of the energy to get that riled up over.


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## Tonguez

Steel_Wind said:
			
		

> Honestly?
> 
> I am far more offended with Mary Jane in a thong doing laundry.
> 
> Yes. Seriously.
> 
> One says something about gender roles and society; the other says something about kinky fantasies.
> 
> Meh.




You think women doing laundry is kinky? -


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## Ranger REG

horacethegrey said:
			
		

> *sighs* It's times like this that make me ashamed to be a comic fan.   Stupid Quesada and his lack of editorial responsibility.



Are you kidding? Yes, it is odd, but not terribly shameful.

It's bad enough WotC taking the "Falwell/Disney" route by including the quality standard clause in their now rarely used _d20_STL.


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## sedarfaery

Well, this certainly is a bold move for Marvel. It sounds like this has promise though.


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## horacethegrey

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> Are you kidding? Yes, it is odd, but not terribly shameful.
> 
> It's bad enough WotC taking the "Falwell/Disney" route by including the quality standard clause in their now rarely used _d20_STL.



Dude, I'm no fan of censorship either. But I do have a problem when a respectable comic publisher like Marvel sees the need to shamelessly market one of their books like this. Like I said before, if this was one of their adult titles I wouldn't complain. But it's not, it's a rated T+ comic title. And there's a fine line in what sexual imagery is appropriate for a mature comic compared to a teen comic.

Also, pardon my ignorance. But what exactly is a *d20*STL?


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## bento

*F-Bomb on X3 DVD*

Now I know that this probably reflects more on the decisions of Fox Entertainment than it does Marvel, but last night after watching my DVD copy of X3: The Last Stand, I went through the deleted scenes for the first time.  In the scene where Mystique is being transported in the trailer and mouthing off to the guards, in the deleted scene the guard snarles back "Shut the f#@* up, b$#@&!"   

   !

 

I am so glad the kids were downstairs doing something else at the time.  I've let both my kids see the first X-Men movie, and my older one (10) saw most of the second movie.  Neither have seen the third, and they AIN'T gonna until they are at least thirteen now!   

I'm sure someone at Marvel went through the DVD before it was released, but WOW, whoever approved that deleted scene on the DVD should be fired.


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## Hand of Evil

People are just going overboard and making something out of nothing, if they would have kept quite, 30 days from release it would have been forgotten about, now it is an collectable with a bidding war on ebay!  

Bring back the comic advisory board and cut off the fingers of the artist!  Hang them!  Drag them back to congress and have hearings like was done in the 50s!


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## TwistedBishop

Alzrius said:
			
		

> Honestly, I wish people would save the indignation for something that was worth all of the energy to get that riled up over.





Seconded.


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## Whizbang Dustyboots

Tonguez said:
			
		

> You think women doing laundry is kinky? -



Well, it depends on whose laundry it is.


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## WayneLigon

bento said:
			
		

> In the scene where Mystique is being transported in the trailer and mouthing off to the guards, in the deleted scene the guard snarles back "Shut the f#@* up, b$#@&!"
> 
> I'm sure someone at Marvel went through the DVD before it was released, but WOW, whoever approved that deleted scene on the DVD should be fired.




Nope, they shouldn't be and _would not _ be. X3 is a PG 13 film so that scene could have been in the movie itself. The rating system is very fluid (we could even use the word 'arbitrary' here with no problem), but _in general _ you're allowed 1-3 F-words in a PG-13 film, depending on context and what sense the word is used. (Usually if the F-word is used in a sexual sense rather than as an explitive, that'll push the film to R, even if it's used once), and what the rest of the content of the film is like.


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## bento

WL,

Despite what the film industry rules are, the Marvel (TM) brand is and should be something that the company goes to lengths to protect.  And I mean this from not just an IP standpoint but also as a brand that has something for "all ages."  As with Disney and Winnie the Pooh, Marvel is a brand that parents should feel safe with buying products for their tots/children/pre-teens/teens/young adults, depending on which part of the product line.  My parents gave me money when I was eleven to purchase Mad magazine, because they knew that while the magazine "tweaked the nose of society," the publisher had guidelines the product didn't cross.  It was SNL for pre-teens in comic form. 

As an adult, I've purchased several titles from the MAX line - Fury, Squadron Supreme, etc., where I knew the language was rough and the situations very adult.  I read those, and my kids read Marvel Adventures, and everyone's happy.  But releasing this DVD with the F-bomb dropped very prominantly, is very disappointing.  Same can be said for some of the scenes from the movie itself, such as Kitty Pryde's banter with Juggernaut. 

Marvel went through several decades (1970s-80s) of being helmed by post-adolescent fanboys, and I could almost expect some of this more boorish behavior during that period.  But as finally reaching the stage as a "public corporation" that courts both Wall Street investors and the public to their movies/toys/theme parks/ etc., I think they need to wake up and realize they can't have their hentai covers along with "Spidey and Friends" sing-along CDs without feeling some heat from the public.  Crafting multi-million dollar movies with ads on Nickelodeon and toy give-aways at Burger King, while selling "T" rated cover magazine with tentacle rape and F-bombs on blockbuster DVDs smacks of hypocracy.

Before I had kids, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Now that I'm a guardian of the next generation, when my kids ask for money to purchase a Colossus action figure, I'll probably tell them "no" but give them money for the Ben 10 figure instead.


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## Klaus

Steel_Wind said:
			
		

> Honestly?
> 
> I am far more offended with Mary Jane in a thong doing laundry.
> 
> Yes. Seriously.
> 
> One says something about gender roles and society; the other says something about kinky fantasies.
> 
> Meh.



 Find something else, then.

Adam Hughes, the artist who designed the statue, explained that Mary Jane *isn't* doing laundry in a thong. For one, the laundry basket is on a table, not a sink. And that image represents the very moment (according to Marvel continuity) when MJ discovered Peter's secret identity, because he accidently dropped his uniform into the laundry basket and MJ casually lifts it up with a "honey, what is this?" look on her face. The pose is classic cheesecake imagery, not unlike what Bette Page used to do.


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## Volaran

bento said:
			
		

> But releasing this DVD with the F-bomb dropped very prominantly, is very disappointing.  Same can be said for some of the scenes from the movie itself, such as Kitty Pryde's banter with Juggernaut.




I understand about any scenes within the movie itself,  but when talking about DVD extra features, I suppose I'd question where precisely that line is drawn.  I enjoy watching the commentary tracks to movies, where the language can get a little blue.  Would that cross your line as well?


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## Felon

horacethegrey said:
			
		

> Mate, I've seen covers of hentai doujinshi that are tamer than that.



Meh. You're sensationalizing. This illustration is quite understated when compared with what genuine hentai depicts. It's PC-13 at best, while hentai goes into quadruple X's.

True, the heroines are being menaced by tentacles. But you're conflating "menace" with "rape" simply because the objects of said menacing are women, and that's a poorly-reasoned inferrence. Of the two tentacles we can clearly see, they're not fondling the heroines (contrary to assertion of that bogus checklist you posted from another forum) or otherwise doing anything sexually-explicit. Indeed, the ladies' crotches aren't even in the picture. 


			
				horacethegrey said:
			
		

> Why the hell are they shooting themselves in the foot by running a cover that's sure to generate a lot of controversy?! And it doesn't just affect them, mind you. This will generate some negative press for the whole comic industry itself (in fact, it already is. If you frequent the various comics news blogs decrying that cover). So say goodbye to the notion that comics are an accepted literary medium in the public's eye.
> 
> *sighs* It's times like this that make me ashamed to be a comic fan.   Stupid Quesada and his lack of editorial responsibility.



As with the Mary Jane laundry "controversey", my advice is to stop whipping yourself up into a frenzy. Calm down. This is much ado about nothing. Whether or not comics will ever become an "accepted literary medium" (whatever the heck that means), it better not hinge on the entire medium adopting a masterpiece-theatre level of sobriety and sophistication. TV, movies, novels--these all employ tintalization to makes sales, I don't know why some folks get all excited when comics do the same.


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## horacethegrey

Felon said:
			
		

> Meh. You're sensationalizing. This illustration is quite understated when compared with what genuine hentai depicts. It's PC-13 at best, while hentai goes into quadruple X's.



I did say that the subject I was referring to was the covers of most h-doujin I've seen rather than their interior content. Believe me, this cover is hardly understated, and bound to give any parent who buys their kids comics the wrong idea.



			
				Felon said:
			
		

> As with the Mary Jane laundry "controversey", my advice is to stop whipping yourself up into a frenzy. Calm down. This is much ado about nothing. Whether or not comics will ever become an "accepted literary medium" (whatever the heck that means), it better not hinge on the entire medium adopting a masterpiece-theatre level of sobriety and sophistication. TV, movies, novels--these all employ tintalization to makes sales, I don't know why some folks get all excited when comics do the same.



The Mary Jane statue I agree was something completely blown out of proportion (come on, it was a fully clothed woman doing the wash! Jeez :\ ). But this is different. It's irresponsible marketing on the part of Marvel. They've stamped a cover that is best suited for a mature title on a teen rated book. It's a sleazy ploy designed to jack up sales on a title that I've learned is suffering from low sales. And I have big problem with that.

And no, I never said I had a problem with tintalization being used to market sales. Sexy women in comics are something I enjoy (and why shouldn't I? I am a guy after all  ). But there's a fine line in what sexual imagery is appropriate for a specific title. If _Heroes for Hire_ were under the MAX line, then that's okay. Because I know for a fact that comics under the MAX line are designed to be sold to an adult audience. But _Heroes _ is a mainstream book with a TEEN rating, so I think it's a gross mistake on their part to solicit it's 13th issue with *that * cover. Like *bento * said before, Marvel(TM) is a brand that the company should do their best to protect. Sensationalism such as this is harming the brand rather than protecting it.

Anyway, I hope my explained my position on this as clearly as possible.


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## warlord

Dude, Marvel knows Heroes for Hire could pass for softcore Hentai. They made it that way. The fact that most of the Heroes for Hire are kung-fu sexpots has become a running gag.


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## Ranger REG

bento said:
			
		

> I'm sure someone at Marvel went through the DVD before it was released, but WOW, whoever approved that deleted scene on the DVD should be fired.



Nah. Give that guy or girl a raise.


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## bento

Most DVDs have a notice at the beginning that any and all commentaries are not endorsed by the company.  

Funny thing on comments - I watched Daredevil once with the comments on and both the director and producer would gush about an actor or actress performance everytime they came on screen. "Oh Duncan Clarke was a joy to work with!"  "I can't wait to work with Jennifer Garner again."  Blah, blah.  Except one actor was never treated this way - Ben Affleck!  They didn't say anything about his performance during the entire movie.  WHAT A SLAM!

Getting back to my point, it would seem to me in the best interest of Marvel to have the right to "nerf" any and all comments that would disparage their company, show their characters in a bad light, or cause problems for the brand.  You know that Disney certainly does this, and I'm sure DC/Warner does as well.


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## ShadowDenizen

Alzrius said:
			
		

> Women in sexy outfits in comics are nothing new, and the idea that a tentacle or two there somehow implies a tentacle rape scene is a pretty large leap on the part of the reader.




Q.F.T.


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## Volaran

bento said:
			
		

> Most DVDs have a notice at the beginning that any and all commentaries are not endorsed by the company.




The warning usually indicates that the views are not representative of the company's opinions, yes.  Would the deleted scene you found distasteful and unworthy of inclusion have been completely all right if there had been a warning that it contained foul language?

I was mostly curious because your disapproval of it being there seemed to have to do with the brand more than the film rating.


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## Megatron

Alzrius said:
			
		

> In all honesty, this doesn't seem to be generating any controversy at all, at least not of any significant variety. Women in sexy outfits in comics are nothing new, and the idea that a tentacle or two there somehow implies a tentacle rape scene is a pretty large leap on the part of the reader.
> 
> Simply put, who cares what the cover shows? There's nothing explicit there, and it's what's on the inside pages that matters more. Horace, by your own admission, you've seen hentai doujins that have less explicit covers, which by extension means the interior pages were worse. Well, this is the opposite case, with a fairly risque cover, and interior images that absolutely won't feature any sort of tentacle raping.
> 
> Simply put, there's nothing controversial here. If there were no tentacles there, this wouldn't be an issue, and because there's one or two which aren't doing anything, some hysterical people are assigning meaning to that and raising an outcry at the top of their lungs.
> 
> Honestly, I wish people would save the indignation for something that was worth all of the energy to get that riled up over.




sums it up well.


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## Klaus

Alzrius said:
			
		

> In all honesty, this doesn't seem to be generating any controversy at all, at least not of any significant variety. Women in sexy outfits in comics are nothing new, and the idea that a tentacle or two there somehow implies a tentacle rape scene is a pretty large leap on the part of the reader.
> 
> Simply put, who cares what the cover shows? There's nothing explicit there, and it's what's on the inside pages that matters more. Horace, by your own admission, you've seen hentai doujins that have less explicit covers, which by extension means the interior pages were worse. Well, this is the opposite case, with a fairly risque cover, and interior images that absolutely won't feature any sort of tentacle raping.
> 
> Simply put, there's nothing controversial here. If there were no tentacles there, this wouldn't be an issue, and because there's one or two which aren't doing anything, some hysterical people are assigning meaning to that and raising an outcry at the top of their lungs.
> 
> Honestly, I wish people would save the indignation for something that was worth all of the energy to get that riled up over.



 While I agree that there are other things more worthy of indignation (and there are a LOT of them), the simple fact is that this is a hentai cover. It is meaningless if the contents are nothing like that, the cover is, and it's the cover who is being discussed here.

Joe Quesada's response to this was "these are the Brood. The Brood have tentacles.". Uh, yeah, but the Brood uses it's tentacles to forcibly implant their eggs into unwilling hosts. So, yeah, the Heroes for Hire here are being threatened with tentacle rape.

There are, like, dozens of ways this cover could be made less hentai. For one, the Heroes could be putting up a fight, struggling against their bonds. And there could be less dripping, specially on Black Cat's breasts (which one website called "the money shot").

Marvel ran this cover precisely to generate controversy.


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## Felon

Klaus said:
			
		

> While I agree that there are other things more worthy of indignation (and there are a LOT of them), the simple fact is that this is a hentai cover.



I don't think opinions become facts just because you assert them with insistence. 



> Joe Quesada's response to this was "these are the Brood. The Brood have tentacles.". Uh, yeah, but the Brood uses it's tentacles to forcibly implant their eggs into unwilling hosts. So, yeah, the Heroes for Hire here are being threatened with tentacle rape.



The brood don't implant their eggs with their tentacles. They used to use their tongues, established way back in Clairmont's run on the X-Men. I think they've used their stingers as well (which is what stingers are for in the first place), but not their tentacles. So, you've got that wrong.

And the brood don't implant their eggs through sexual penetration, so that's another thing you've got wrong. It ain't rape, at least not in a literal sense.


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## Darth Shoju

Klaus said:
			
		

> While I agree that there are other things more worthy of indignation (and there are a LOT of them), the simple fact is that this is a hentai cover. It is meaningless if the contents are nothing like that, the cover is, and it's the cover who is being discussed here.
> 
> Joe Quesada's response to this was "these are the Brood. The Brood have tentacles.". Uh, yeah, but the Brood uses it's tentacles to forcibly implant their eggs into unwilling hosts. So, yeah, the Heroes for Hire here are being threatened with tentacle rape.
> 
> There are, like, dozens of ways this cover could be made less hentai. For one, the Heroes could be putting up a fight, struggling against their bonds. And there could be less dripping, specially on Black Cat's breasts (which one website called "the money shot").
> 
> Marvel ran this cover precisely to generate controversy.




Exactly. This was a calculated risk to generate sales. It is very much intended to evoke the hentai genre: if these are supposed to be kick-ass martial arts superheroes, why do they look like terrified schoolgirls? Black Cat looks downright timid. Also, as Klaus pointed out, there's the "money shot" all over her chest. The only reason those tentacles aren't touching body parts is because Marvel knows that would have caused *too* much controversy. 

The thing is, I'm not even really against the cheesecake aspect of many comics. I can take tackiness with a smile. This I just find lame.


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## Ranger REG

Klaus said:
			
		

> There are, like, dozens of ways this cover could be made less hentai. For one, the Heroes could be putting up a fight, struggling against their bonds. And there could be less dripping, specially on Black Cat's breasts (which one website called "the money shot").



Or they could change the tentacles to resembles child-friendly pink, furry elephant-trunk appendages.

Granted, I would never let any children buy that comic without checking the contents, but I would not be someone to publicly berate the publisher.

Maybe Marvel should follow Disney: establish a subsidiary label for mature audience.


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## Klaus

Marvel already has that: the MAX line. Were this a MAX comic, all the hullabaloo would be moot.


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## RedShirtNo5

Anyone saying this is a hentai cover is way out of line.  People need to remember Sigmund Freud's advice: 
"Sometimes a tentacle dripping milky viscous fluid onto the breasts of a manacled woman is just a tentacle dripping milky viscous fluid onto the breasts of a manacled woman."


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## Ranger REG

RedShirtNo5 said:
			
		

> Anyone saying this is a hentai cover is way out of line.  People need to remember Sigmund Freud's advice:
> "Sometimes a tentacle dripping milky viscous fluid onto the breasts of a manacled woman is just a tentacle dripping milky viscous fluid onto the breasts of a manacled woman."



Hey, if Freud want to dream of his mother in a tentacle rape scene, so be it.   

BTW, isn't Sigmund a fan of _Heavy Metal_?


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## Tonguez

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> BTW, isn't Sigmund a fan of _Heavy Metal_?




No Sigmund is a sea monster - which explains the tentacles


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## horacethegrey

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> Hey, if Freud want to dream of his mother in a tentacle rape scene, so be it.



Disgusting my good man. 



			
				Ranger REG said:
			
		

> BTW, isn't Sigmund a fan of Heavy Metal?



He is?


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## cwhs01

bento said:
			
		

> I'm sure someone at Marvel went through the DVD before it was released, but WOW, whoever approved that deleted scene on the DVD should be fired.




What surprises me is that people are more offended by the language than the blatant use of graphic violence. I mean using the f-word is worse and more shocking than supposed heroes hacking of peoples arms, repeatedly stabbing people with 10 inch blades or dissolving their boyfriends?

Personally i don't really mind any of it because of the context. Overall the film features not-terribly realistic violence, no blood and guts and only the villains get to use foul language
I would only really have been surprised and dissapointed if the film featured none of this.

The cover to Heroes for Hire otoh is just to blatantly obvious and borderline annoying. So i guess it worked.


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## Felon

I'd like to request that people stop using the word "hentai" as if that designmation alone carries some inherently horrible ramification? If you have a problem with it, then get specific. I'd really like to.

But since nobody can say the tentacles are doing anything explicitly sexual, then all that's left for the drama-prone to decry is that it's evocative of some style of some other pictures where there are tentacles doing something sexually-explicit. Through that little act of transposition, tentacles wavering ambiguously suddenly become tentacles engaging in the act of rape.


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## danzig138

bento said:
			
		

> My parents gave me money when I was eleven to purchase Mad magazine, because they knew that while the magazine "tweaked the nose of society," the publisher had guidelines the product didn't cross.  It was SNL for pre-teens in comic form.



 When I was 11, I used my money (that I worked for)  for comincs and copies of The Destroyer, and heavy metal music. 



> But releasing this DVD with the F-bomb dropped very prominantly, is very disappointing.  Same can be said for some of the scenes from the movie itself, such as Kitty Pryde's banter with Juggernaut.



 Hrmmm, I'm not going to get bent out of shape because my kids might hear something on a DVD that I'm pretty sure they've heard at school, and I know they've heard from me countless times. 



> Before I had kids, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Now that I'm a guardian of the next generation, when my kids ask for money to purchase a Colossus action figure, I'll probably tell them "no" but give them money for the Ben 10 figure instead.



Hey, whatever works for you. Certainly, you not buying things is a much better solution than someone getting fired because you didn't like the content. Since, you know, you're not the only person out there, and parents don't have a unilateral vision.

Not to forget, the X-Men has never been a particularly kid-friendly title that I recall. 

I have to say, now I'm thinking I should get Guardian of the Next Generation tattooed somewhere on my person though.


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## Hand of Evil

Felon said:
			
		

> I'd like to request that people stop using the word "hentai" as if that designmation alone carries some inherently horrible ramification? If you have a problem with it, then get specific. I'd really like to.
> 
> But since nobody can say the tentacles are doing anything explicitly sexual, then all that's left for the drama-prone to decry is that it's evocative of some style of some other pictures where there are tentacles doing something sexually-explicit. Through that little act of transposition, tentacles wavering ambiguously suddenly become tentacles engaging in the act of rape.



QFT - People seem to have dirty minds, kind of makes you wonder what they are thinking and repressing.     Now, that Jessica Abba poster of her eatting an ice cream cone, that is just erotic!


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## bento

danzig138 said:
			
		

> Not to forget, the X-Men has never been a particularly kid-friendly title that I recall.




You're absolutely right!*

*Except for the time that Chris Claremont created Kitty Pryde to give pre-teen readers a character to idenfity with.
And the time he introduced a cute dragon (Lockheed) that was a supporting character for several years
And the time Kitty spent an entire issue telling a sick Illya Rasputine a bedtime story with the team play fairie tale characters
And the two cartoon series that ran for years on Fox Kids
And the new action toy line aimed at 3 to 5 year olds
And the happy meal toys at Burger King supporting the X-Men Evolution series
And the X-Men Adventures comic line from the mid-1990s

Yep, those X-Men really aren't kid friendly!


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## Darth Shoju

Felon said:
			
		

> I'd like to request that people stop using the word "hentai" as if that designmation alone carries some inherently horrible ramification? If you have a problem with it, then get specific. I'd really like to.
> 
> But since nobody can say the tentacles are doing anything explicitly sexual, then all that's left for the drama-prone to decry is that it's evocative of some style of some other pictures where there are tentacles doing something sexually-explicit. Through that little act of transposition, tentacles wavering ambiguously suddenly become tentacles engaging in the act of rape.




If it was just tentacles it wouldn't be a problem. If they had the heroines on the cover looking horrified at some creature with only the tentacles visible to the viewer then it would come across as a horror, Cthulhu-esque image. But that isn't what is being portrayed. We have all of the women, chained with their hands up, their clothes ripped, their faces portraying timid fear, rendered in a decidedly anime-influenced style (hence their sharp chins, large eyes, thin wastes, etc) AND they are being menaced by tentacles dripping a viscous substance (some of which is on Black Cat's breasts). Really, just because they aren't being actually violated by the tentacles doesn't mean the cover isn't meant to evoke the hentai/tentacle-pr0n genre.


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## Piratecat

Hey gang --

You're probably familiar with the "Grandma rule," where we don't want anything on the site that would offend our grandmas. Unremarkably, grandma is not terribly psyched about a discussion of tentacle rape. Please keep this in mind as you discuss the comic cover; while we'd rather keep the thread open, we want to make sure that things stay appropriate for any pre-teenagers who come by.

Thanks!


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## Klaus

If anyone wants to discuss this cover further, I suggest moving the topic to Circvs Maximvs. I agree with Piratecat that the topic may be a bit too risqué for the younger crowd, so I'll refrain from posting here.


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## Ranger REG

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> QFT - People seem to have dirty minds, kind of makes you wonder what they are thinking and repressing.   *Now, that Jessica Abba poster of her eatting an ice cream cone, that is just erotic!*



Sighs. Man, if I could smoke...   

*jumps into a cold shower*


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## Nuclear Platypus

Admittedly its not the most tasteful of covers but its no less different than Power Girl's bust size increases, Rainmaker's "is she lesbian or bisexual?" from Gen13, anyone else drawn in the manner of Psylocke / Cyblade, Fairchild, Lady Death, etc. or even the (by today's standards) tame stuff that got the Comics Code in place. 

*shrug* We go nuts over something meant to do so like the famous Madonna Brittany kiss or even something probably semi intentional like a certain Superbowl Wardrobe Malfunction or the double standard that got Don Imus. Now movies can get an "R" rating for smoking.

It's all just a really bad case of PT Barnum-ism - have to go to greater lengths to get a bigger shock value. 

DC's had more success with the earthshaking events like Knightfall and Death of Superman while Marvel's yet to have their "big" thing so its like they'll go with the smaller victories like this cover.


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## Megatron

Itt "baaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"


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