Indecent comic book art!
Comic book artist Dave Dorman evidently has a very perverted view of breastfeeding, as he complained this week about a comic book cover depicting a very understated act of nursing, saying “Rather than a family-friendly heroic saga, this promo art is telegraphing to the world that it’s a series I cannot share with my 7-year-old son. Is the comics industry really so dead that they have to stretch to these desperate, shock value measures to incur readers? Really?” Evidently he’s gotten quite a bit of backlash, as he’s scampering to backpedal via Twitter, and has removed the original blog post.
For those like me who want to run out and buy this “shocking” comic immediately, sorry, but it hasn’t been released yet. It’s called Saga, and it’s by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrator Fiona Staples. It’s set to be released by Image Comics on March 14.
But just to make sure we understand his stance, let me go over it. Dave is concerned with images being family-friendly, and appropriate for a 7yo, whether or not they’re actually for “mature readers.”
So, according to Dave, that image above is “offensive.”
But this is OK
And so is this
And this is fine
Is that all clear then? Presumably those images are OK, because they depict breasts serving their proper function of sexual stimulation of viewers, and aren’t supported by “The Breast Milk Mafia,” as Dave and his wife call La Leche League.
Posted on January 10, 2012, in Breastfeeding, Culture and tagged dave dorman, saga comic. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
Skeptical Mothering 
That first image is awesome! Something about it really strikes a chord with me. Like, nursing the very small infant is just something to be done, while on your way to some adventure. Love it!
I agree! It reminds me of the “breastfeeding while glamorous” images, where the blogger said she was looking particularly for photos where women were looking at the camera or otherwise not doing the madonna-child head tilt. The sight of a woman breastfeeding and looking up and ahead is quite bold! Moreso when she’s armed!
I actually took the time to look up this particular comic (it’s called Saga), because of how refreshing I find this image. For ONCE, a comic without the usual display of tits and ass–the kind of images that Dave Dorman has been cutting his teeth on for decades.
Look, I geddit. Breastfeeding is not remotely sexy. But women read a lot of comics, and buy more graphic novels than men. Really, really. It’s nice to be acknowledges as a full fledged member of the geek community, instead of being shoved into a corner in tight leather.
Ack. AcknowledgeD, dammit.
Totally agree with the article, just one discrepancy — It’s Brian K Vaughan not David.
That is all. 🙂
Thanks for pointing that out Llamadog – fixed it!
Men are stimulated visually – ergo, a bare breast stimulates men sexually. While it’s obvious that this is not their only function, it is, in fact, one of their inescapable effects. I wouldn’t expect a woman, less likely to be similarly stimulated by the site of a man’s anatomy, to understand.