Comic Book Covers and Women

These three comic book covers, all released periodically throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, depict similar images of women in crisis being saved or defended by the superhero. 

On the Captain Science cover, a woman is tied up against a rocket ship. The position she is tied in works to display her body, with her arms tied above her and her legs together, diverging at the knee. Her costume is also notable, being only a leotard and a waist-length cape. Like this, the woman is presented in a way where she appears to be on display. Along with the depiction of her body, another way she is represented is by her inaction. She is helpless and exposed while the two men in the image are both fully clothed and granted a level of agency she is not– they are able to be active agents in the scene by fighting while she is relegated to the sidelines. 

This theme carries over into the Scarecrow cover. The cover shows a scene where the superhero, Scarecrow, jumps through a window to save a woman who is held captive by monsters. Just like the woman on the Captain Science cover, the woman on this cover is helpless to her fate. She is being restrained by a monster who visibly appears much stronger than her, his grip on her covers her entire forearm, while she is in peril with a fearful expression on her face. Her clothes, while arguably not to the extent of the woman on the Captain Science cover, are revealing. She wears a tight shirt that exposes her abdomen and accentuates her breasts. 

The Gunfire cover carries much of the same visual themes as the Captain Science and Scarecrow covers. Gunfire is fighting with an unseen enemy while a woman clings to his arm. With a fearful expression, she watches helplessly as the two are fired at. She is entirely dependent on Gunfire to protect them and is given no means to so much as suggest she could do anything on her own. From what can be seen of her clothing, it can be assumed that she is wearing a tight pink dress. 

Despite being from three different publications spaced throughout five decades, each cover encapsulates the same theme. A woman, dressed in a revealing or risque way, is being victimized by the villains and entirely reliant on the male hero to save her. These covers demonstrate one of the most popular depictions of women in comics– as “damsels in distress”. They are given no means to control the narrative or act with agency, instead having to rely on the male hero for rescue while looking sexy.