Women in Refrigerators

By Silicon Lemming.

Spoilers everywhere!

Okay, I’m gonna level with you. Women get the short end of the stick in comic book universes, for the most part. This is an ongoing issue that is only recently started to be truly addressed by the industry. The long and short of it is that women as supporting characters will often be brutalised and even killed in a bid to give the Cape a sense that “This time it’s personal”, and thus create cheap drama.

The depiction of this hit a crescendo during the 90’s where one of the most egregious examples took place. Here we are introduced to the newest Green Lantern of the DC universe, Kyle Rayner. He had just been revealed as a wielder of one of the most powerful weapons in existence, and had gone-off to have all the adventures that such a gift would allow. On his first day he returns home to his flat that he shares with his girlfriend,Alex. It is here that he finds that the super-villain, Major Force, has brutalised and dismembered her body, and packed it in the fridge. The resulting rage gives Rayner the edge he needs to take down the bad guy. The fact is, Alex was a character created specifically to die and give the origin story a dark twist. And this is not an isolated case.

The killing off of a character in comic books is always tricky. The revolving door that is the afterlife of most major labels shows that the line between dead and alive can be danced over, as long as the potential sales are high enough. It used to be said that the only people not to come back from the dead are Uncle Ben Parker, Jason Todd and Bucky Barnes. They have all, in some capacity or another, since returned from the dead. Threatening the demise of your main character or sidekick just doesn’t have the same impact, the most recent to note was the departure of Batman, though it was pretty much a given they were never going to permanently dispatch such a big draw. Supporting characters are a little more uncertain, and often the most likely will be the significant other. With such a high number of male heroes, the likelihood is that the SO will be female, and often non-powered.

It is at this point we meet Gail Simone. One of the biggest female writers in a significantly male-orientated field, she has received critical claim for her Birds of Prey series, of an all female force comprising of some members of the Bat-Family, headed by Oracle and operating out of Gotham City. In 1999, what with the like of Alex’s passing, she created “Women In Refrigerators”, a site dedicated to highlighting this trend. This is a polarising issue as some feel this is an issue the relates directly to feminism and the depiction of the female gender in media. It cannot be denied that the depiction of women in comics in the past has been less than complimentary.

The best example would be Wonder Woman. Here is a character that is currently held in high regard in-universe and out. She is a symbol of Truth, complete with super-strength, flight, and fighting prowess. The character started rather differently. One of her early weakness was that if her hands were bound by a man she would lose all her abilities, and she conveniently brought a lasso along as well in case you didn’t have any rope. This lead to many early issues depicting her bound and helpless on the cover in a bid to boost sales. Whilst comics these days are a little more subtle, there are still major events and stories that are perpetuated through the likes of assault, rape and even murder of characters purely for a cheap reaction. The most notable recent example was Identity Crisis where Sue Dibney, the wife of the elongated man, and a loved character from the quirky Justice League International was killed off violently. The eventual reveal still leaves questions.

Now make no mistake, whilst this is a cliche that is associated with a lot of negative aspects of story writing, there are writers that have utilised to some success. Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke is a very dark and violent Dark Knight story, depicting the events that led to the former Batgirl Barbara Gordon being in a wheelchair. In itself a grim tale, with not much of a happy ending in sight, it was these events that resulted in her becoming Oracle, the heart of the Bat-Universe. She is much-loved character and the recent DC52 reboot that found her character reverted back to before she lost the use of her legs was poorly received, with some campaigning for a return to her Oracle days.

The essential point is that some of the best stories involve sacrifice. True victory can only be appreciated through loss and gain. The key is in establishing when the sacrifice is warranted, and if the person you are sacrificing has run their course. It is easy to kill someone off to obtain a cheap reaction from the reader. It is more difficult to create a sense of loss that will resonate with individual long after they have put the comic down.

Additional: Decapvada.

It’s the classic trope: ‘fire the bullet in act 2, show the gun in act 1.’ Sacrifices for dramatic impact require time setting up for the ultimate pay-off.