Heroes in Crisis / 14 Dec 2018 6:07 PM PST
DC Responds With New Art Following Poison Ivy Controversy
Share.
The art will be used to promote Heroes in Crisis #7. By
Joshua Yehl
A leaked, unfinalized cover for DC Comics’
Heroes in Crisis #7 by artist Clay Mann sparked controversy on social media Friday as upset fans used the hashtag #SavePoisonIvy to voice their criticisms of the art.
The image in question shows Batman villain Poison Ivy dead and bloody on the floor, a victim of the mystery murderer responsible for the mass superhero killing that incited the Heroes in Crisis story. While some fans are voicing their outrage that Poison Ivy is dead and are using the hashtag to ask creative team Mann and writer Tom King to spare her life, others are more upset with the sexual depiction of Poison Ivy’s dead body.
IGN spoke to a DC employee with knowledge of the situation, who said the art in question was an unfinished cover that was never given final editorial approval and was not intended to be made public. How the art leaked is currently being investigated by DC. A new version of that same art drawn by Mann was recolored to change the tone of the image to be more reflective of the contents of the comic and will be used to solicit Heroes in Crisis #7 to retailers in next week’s retailer catalog, although it’s marked as “Not Final Art,” meaning the final cover for that issue may wind up being completely different. You can view both versions of the art below.
Heroes in Crisis is a limited event series from King and Mann about the DC superhero community trying to solve the mystery of a mass superhero killing while also exploring the PTSD that comes with being a career crimefighter. Thus far the series has largely received praise from critics and fans alike for its sophisticated and serious handling of real-world issues, which further emphasizes why the leaked tone-deaf art is clashing with those who have enjoyed the series.
Starting with Issue #2, readers were alerted to the death of Poison Ivy as one of the victims, although many only now learned of her death thanks to the art making the rounds on social media, resulting in the #SavePoisonIvy hashtag. The hashtag then became the rallying point for criticism about the sexual rendering of Poison Ivy’s corpse.
Twitter user
@steponmepeggy directed a complaint at King, saying, “depicting a queer, non-monogamous, feminist in a disgusting position like THIS is borderline necrophilia. Ivy is constantly treated like sex doll by many artists/writers anyway, and portraying even her DEATH like this is revolting.”
@TomKingTK really man? depicting a queer, non-monogamous, feminist in a disgusting position like THIS is borderline necrophilia. Ivy is constantly treated like sex doll by many artists/writers anyway, and portraying even her DEATH like this is revolting.
#SavePoisonIvy pic.twitter.com/iuhvCxYC7B
— #SavePoisonIvy ➶ (@steponmepeggy)
December 14, 2018
While user
@aquadvddy appreciates where the creative team is coming from in a narrative sense, he reinforces that presenting Poison Ivy’s corpse in a sexualized pose is in bad taste, saying, “i get why you would kill poison ivy. i disagree with yoir reasons, but i understand why you're doing it and have my own theories in where you want to get with it. but did y'all really think depicting a dead woman like this was ok?”
@TomKingTK and
@Clay_Mann_, i get why you would kill poison ivy. i disagree with yoir reasons, but i understand why you're doing it and have my own theories in where you want to get with it. but did y'all really think depicting a dead woman like this was ok? THREAD
#SavePoisonIvy pic.twitter.com/lp1xXmIcfF
— lucas
User
@aly_grift pointed out how dead male superheroes are given more dignified poses in comparison to Poison Ivy, sharing covers featuring the deaths of Captain America and Batman.
@TomKingTK really unimpressed with the sexualization of Poison Ivy’s dead body. This is essentially a pin up pose. I’ve attached a few samples of male superheroes dying for your reference
@ivygirl851 @harleivy #SavePoisonIvy #dccomics pic.twitter.com/rG7boIA1u9
— Aly (@aly_grift)
December 14, 2018
King
tweeted a resolution to the cover controversy, saying, “An unfinished cover for Heroes in Crisis 7 was leaked prior to going through the standard DC approval process. I did not like the cover. I discussed the situation with DC editorial who agreed with my objections. This cover will not be used. Thank you.”
An unfinished cover for Heroes in Crisis 7 was leaked prior to going through the standard DC approval process.
I did not like the cover. I discussed the situation with DC editorial who agreed with my objections. This cover will not be used. Thank you.
— Tom King (@TomKingTK)
December 14, 2018
This isn’t the first time a comic publisher has pulled a cover due to fan criticism. In 2014, Marvel Comics pulled Milo Manara’s Spider-Woman #1 variant cover after fans pointed out how it was overly sexualized. In 2015, DC pulled the Batgirl #41 variant cover after fans rallied against its image of the Joker tormenting Batgirl, conjuring uncomfortable imagery of The Killing Joke where the villain crippled Barbara Gordon and was implied to have sexually assaulted her.
Entertainment Weekly’s Joshua Rivera
wrote an editorial on the Batgirl cover controversy, and what he said then is just as relevant now: “There are those that aren’t pleased with this decision, who think we’re seeing art being censored because it’s offensive. The claim of ‘censorship,’ however, is objectively false. The art was never suppressed. You can look at it all you want—in this article, even! The fact that the creators themselves were involved in the cover’s cancellation is further proof that this is a move
for artistic integrity—the people making the book have a vision for it, and the cover did not match that vision.”
https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/12/15/dc-responds-with-new-art-following-poison-ivy-controversy http://archive.fo/L0UGR
