Good Girl Art: Young X-Men no. 2 by Terry and Rachel Dodson

That title sounds so wrong.

According to wikipedia "good girl art" is:

"...found in drawings or paintings which feature a strong emphasis on attractive women no matter what the subject or situation."

Whereas Young X-Men was a secondary storyline to the X-Men "Divided We Stand" story.

However, my interest really lies with Terry and Rachel Dodson's artwork!

I was first introduced to Terry and Rachel's work when I stumbled upon DC's Harley Quinn in 2001. There was something special about the comic. Well written, great characters, fun stories, and the clincher - Harley herself. No longer a whimsical cartoon depiction from Batman The Animated Series, Harley took on a whole new level of reality. Terry and Rachel drew Harley with the form of a fully realized person (albeit an 'idealistic' person). But here was a Harley who was athletic, emotional, capable, and ultimately, sexy.

And right there is the truth to why the Dodson's artwork is so appealing. The women the Dodson's draw are not weak, docile characters whose only strength is their exterior. The women they draw are fully realized both internally and externally and in essence are not just attractive women, but attractive characters.

Over the years I've kept an eye out for Dodson's work, be it their run on Spider-Man or their current work on X-men, but a few years ago I realized that I had seen their work from way back in my past. Digging through my comics I came across my old copies of Mantra. Judging from the cover art I knew why I purchased these comics as a 13 year old boy and looking at them now as an adult I appreciate them for much more than a prepubescent thrill they were then, but now a realization that even at 13 I had great taste in good girl art.






Young X-Men #2 written by Marc Guggenheim, penciled by Yanick Paquette, inked by Ray Snyder, colored by Rob Schwager, lettered by Dave Sharpe. Marvel July 2008.





Terry and Rachel Dodson Gallery




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Mantra

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Mantra # 2

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Artist: Terry Dodson
Colorist: Moose Baumann
Publisher: Malibu Comics
Published: August 1993

Mantra is a man trapped in a woman's body. The Archimage reincarnates his warriors into other peoples bodies when they die. This time he reincarnated his warrior Lukasz into the body of Eden, a single mother of two kids. Issue 2 has Eden/Lukasz forced to understand her/his new situation, all the while having to battle the baddies and raise two kids. Compounded with this problem is Lukasz growing attraction to his new host body.

When I picked this issue up, I was about 13 years old. The only reason I bought it was because it had a busty woman on the cover (hey, I was 13), so it was with much confusion that I would later read this hot babe was a man. It reminds me of Sally from 3rd Rock From the Sun. Sally is the 'woman' of the group but her true form is a man. This leads her to being the most ambigious of the group, and thus the hardest to define. Outwardly she is clearly a woman, but since her inner self is a man, what defines her mannerisms (pun intended)? Is it her adopted form and the assumed values that go with being a woman? Or is it the man in her that really makes her, er, the woman she is?

I don't know.

I guess the real question is not so much what defines her, since in her/his case, she/he is who she/he is, but how someone else interacts with this person, and how this ambiguousness affects their own sense of self. I think it's this confusion that ultimately bothers people when it comes to interacting with transgendered individuals.

So, anyway, over a decade later, I'm still confused as what to think on this subject, but looking at the cover of Mantra # 2, I can see why my 13 year old self was compelled to buy this issue. Dodson sure knows how to draw a busty man/lady.





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