I'm Too Sexy (for this book)

What do you expect out of a book called 100 Sexiest Women in Comics?

See, I saw this book in Previews the other month, and it was cheap enough to warrant a look-see. I was expecting something comprehensive, coming from guys as classy as Comic Buyer's Guide, but instead it was like reading one of my Top 5 Thursdays, only they're sold for $8.99 and probably just as fun to read.

The book's list had its share of sexy mainstays like Red Sonja (who tops this list at Number 1), Vampirella (#35) and Witchblade (#7). But then we get to entries like Triplicate Girl (who beat out Vampirella of all people at #33!), 1940's Patsy Walker (#95) and Harlequin (an old Green Lantern villain), characters who don't exactly come to mind when I think about the modern definition of sexy, and I start to wonder what it takes to get into this list. Why not Dawnstar or Princess Projectra instead? Or Angela Devlin from Codename: Knockout? or Medusa of the Inhumans? Or any of a dozen other 'sexy' females that bounce around comics these days? Who exactly are they making this book for?

And the art is making me scratch my head. I guess there's a historic value in using scans from vintage comics to accompany this list, but some of the choices seem arbitrary. Using Betty Cooper's modern look, but using Veronica Lodge's vintage one? And Alan Kupperberg's Venus is beautiful, but Carlo Pagulayan's or Leonard Kirk's version from Agents of Atlas reflects her modern appearances better. And it's not like they didn't have access to it...they used Namorita's modern appearance in the list, even from the same series Venus was in!

Okay, shutting up now.

Sorry. I just realized that lists are serious business for me. The book just had a lot of things that detracted from the fun to be had from a list like this. For $8.99 though, I guess I can't complain.

But as I type this, our company's on-the-job trainees (who are both girls) seem to enjoy browsing through it and discovering new comics characters. Shows you what I know.