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Let 'Hark, a Vagrant's' Kate Beaton Tell You Why Comic Book 'Tit Windows' Are Too Stupid To Exist

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | April 17, 2016 |

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | April 17, 2016 |


Earlier this month, the Disney-ABC-owned cable channel Freeform decided to hop on the Marvel bandwagon with a television adaptation of Cloak and Dagger. What’s that? You’re not familiar with Cloak and Dagger? That’s fine.

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This duo has a long, tormented backstory. Two teenage runaways who met in New York, they first started appearing together in the early ’80s. Their story was inspired by creator Bill Mantlo’s trip to Ellis Island. As he described the creation,

They came in the night, when all was silent and my mind was blank. They came completely conceived as to their powers and attributes, their origin and motivation. They embodied between them all that fear and misery, hunger and longing that had haunted me on Ellis Island.

So in a story of two teenagers searching for refuge and identity, in a story born of “fear and misery,” it’s clear what’s important here, right? Tit windows.

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There are a lot of things to be excited about with this anouncement: a teenage interracial relationship on television, more Marvel TV shows— whatever floats your boat, this show has it. However, as Hark, a Vagrant author Kate Beaton points out, a large percentage of that awesomeness is relegated to the Honestly, Who Cares category. Because can we just finally acknowledge that that costume above is fucking ridiculous? We just walk around, reading comics, pretending like this isn’t the weirdest fucking thing to be published on paper, week after week.

It’s ridiculous on anyone, but let’s not forget that these are teenagers.

Kate Beaton is a master of badassery, as anyone who’s seen literally anything she’s ever put out into the world knows. And it’s not like she’s making any huge revelations here that we didn’t already know. But she DOES deserve credit for latching onto this story and refusing to let go. Like, maybe ever.

Beaton has devoted a good amount of time to reminding us that this kind of tit window costume design is fucking insane.

Oh, and from here on out, there will be some NSFW imagery, because we all know that nipples (well, WOMEN’S nipples) are evil, and even though a huge number of major and independent comic book artists and production/distribution companies are hellbent on making you think you could potentially, luck willing, see a nipple— but if that were to actually happen, PUT IT AWAY, SLUTS!

.

.

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And if you’re going to try that “That’s just how people dress in comic books” argument, fine. But can we finally acknowledge that that rule isn’t universal? And if it’s not universal, it’s idiotic to refuse to see where and how it’s actually applied.

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That’s cool, I’m sure there’s an easy solution.

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Seriously, how is this still a thing?

Look, I know that superheroes aren’t meant to be based in realistic human expectations, but like Beaton said above, it’s time to start just admitting what we’re doing. If they’re serving up “tit window pie,” we’ll eat it! We’re all sex-crazed pervs! Just don’t try to pass it off as a normal outfit that someone could actually function in, that empowers women in any way at all. These artists and publishers know what they’re doing, we know what we’re doing. If you want to put tit windows on your teenage characters, at least stop pretending that there’s anything even remotely logical about that.

Now do yourself a favor and spend a few hours in a Kate Beaton rabbit hole, okay?