Rhetorical Community

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©Marvel Comics, Sensational She-Hulk , vol 2.,No. 1, December 1989

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



©Marvel Comics, The Savage She-Hulk , vol 1.,No. 13, February 1981

  An editorial comment may have brought about She-Hulk's shopping spree.

 


 

 

 

 





©Marvel Comics, The Savage She-Hulk , vol 1,No. 21, October 1981

Rhetorical Community

= the creative exchange between creators and comic fans

The term creators refers to the entire crew involved in making the comic book which entails the works of the artist, penciler, writer, editor, publisher, etc.   The interaction of the author distinguishes the difference between creators penning an origin story, and the difference between, as Murray noted, the fans “playing a creative role within an authored environment”. [Murray, 152] The rhetorical community then, is the realm of bloggers, the back-pages of comics, and even the enthusiastic oral discourse found in comics shops around the country.

Marvel Comics, incidentally encourages the fan-creator exchange through the Marvel no-prize.  Sociologist James H. Frail Jr. summed up this occurence when he explained in his thesis Powers and Abilities Far Behind Those of Mortal Men: An Examination of the Comic Book Industry and Subculture through a Feminist Sociological Perspective that “a ‘no-prize’ was an accolade awarded to any Marvel Comics fan who could point out an inconsistency and offer an explanation for it”. [Frail, 20]   

No-prizes also come in the form of authentic writer-fan rhetoric found on blogging sites. More apropos would be the term ‘sur-prize’ because it is an unusual form of communication when an artist will actually speak with the fan, but this is part of the draw of the comic book world.  Unlike Hollywood,where glimpses of stars are rare and if fans are able to get near, it’s fairly difficult to have a decent conversation. But decent conversations do occur at comic conventions, editorial pages and blogs where fans have access to the writers and artists.

Artist /Writer Dan Slott is particulary notorious for adding to the rhetoric within the blogosphere. Why would Slott take the time out of his busy schedule to surf the web to find a blog to convey the true intent of a single moment in the She-Hulk narrative? The answer lies in the credibility of the Marvel Universe, She-Hulk herself, cultural implications, and of course, in the artist/writer himself.

Apart from the creator respondents is the actual demography of the rhetorical community. Not suprisingly, the mostly male comic book market is dominant here as well. The editorial comments in She-Hulk reveal that there were only a few female responders in comparison to male readers. Those that did respond, reported that they had not come across She-Hulk on their own, rather, the women found their husbands or brothers collections, and then became fans. In the eighties, She-Hulks editiorial pages consisted of responses from a larger percentage of males. The male responses were by and large concerned with She-Hulk fighting better villians, whether the art was acceptable, and of course, how She-Hulk looked.   Blogging rhetoric appears to have more female response who are not only concerned with the objectification of She-Hulk, but share concern with thier male counterparts as to the storyline and artwork. Still, whether in blogging or editorial comments, male readers dominated the scripts.  Since the volume of male comments outweigh those of female readers, the overwhelming input is male. Naturally, the overwhelming market, (buyers and readers) for She-Hulk is male. It follows that the deluge of critcal commentary and thoughtful suggestions for narrative and art derives from the agency of the male. 


©Marvel Comics, She-Hulk

 

 

 

Example of critical editorial letter. The letter basically lambasts a penciller who was subsequently replaced in later issues of She-Hulk.

 

 

She-Hulk Repellent

However, that does not mean that She-Hulk's narrative is not strongly framed by She-Hulks personality.  She may get waylaid by the frequent Byrnesian technique of placing her under the gaze, but her overwhelming narrative is about saving others, her friends, and her strong female sexuality.  Frail’s conducted a 2004 survey within comic book stores and deduced from the responses that  “overt sexuality depicted in some comics is one of the reasons women are repelled from comic books as a medium”. [Frail, 26] Frail is partly correct as agreed by a female blogger who posited the plausible styrofoam breast theory when referencing the phemonenomal Ms. Marvel illustrations (see links for blog).The other part of the story is found in the back of the comic book. The editorial pages in She-Hulk prove that the same is true for males who are not just after breast and buttocks (T&A), but notably concerned with a decent storyline. 
     

Another take on the male gaze is as noted by a blogger "A couple of years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine, ...We were bonding ove the fact that tons of straight guys fetishize both of us for our socially unacceptable bodies. She's fat, I'm a tranny. Fetish items!" [charlieanders] Blogger Emilia responded with "Isn't the name She-Hulk very similar in connotation as She-Male?"[othermag.org]

The transvestite explanation is worthy of the exploration of She-Hulk as fetish object. It is likely She-Hulk's representation as commanding, dynamic, hard-hitting yet sexy and epicine superheroine is not transgender or suggestive of transgender attributes. Moreover, no implicit indications have been found in any narrative where She-Hulk has assumed the identity of the male. Blogger charlieanders suggestion that transvestites and She-Hulk may share the same fetish status is plausible as is the identity crisis that both struggle with.

Of concern, is She-Hulk's need to assume super-feminity to offset her strong male characteristics. It's almost the same identity crisis she had throughout her Savage She-Hulk stage, not knowing who she was, but liking who she could be, and conflicted by how her friends wanted her to remain as vanilla Jennifer Walters.

 

A darker and edgier social issue takes place in the courtroom. Jennifer Walters looks on to her client, a victim of date-rape in one of She-Hulks most controversial issues. The rhetorical community was all abuzz with input from women, men, even the writer, Dan Slott. Slott defended his portrayal of She-Hulk's alleged date rape, where he brought to light a . She-Hulk fans ranted and raved at the humiliation and inability of their favorite superheroine to surpass one of modern culture's crimes against the female. As mentioned in the historiography, the narratives in comic books are reflections of culture and cause an aftermath of complex and hierarchical discussion in the rhetorical community as is exemplary in this particular blog.

 

 

 

   

©Marvel Comics, She-Hulk No. 6, May 2006.