Back in February when Campbell posted the cover on Twitter he told fans the Jungle Girl/Spider-Woman comparison was “intentional.” He went on to say, “I don’t buy into the pose boogie man. I think it’s perfectly fine. A bit edgy, but fine. These are unapologetically traditionally sexy women, in the spirit of Frazetta! They can be edgier than @ Marvel. This is comics & I enjoy posing both genders in dynamic poses. If someone reads something into it, that’s on them!”
For her part, Simone addressed the cover on her Tumblr saying, “That cover is very odd for the issue…I like J. Scott Campbell, but I think the covers by Tula Lotay, Kate Leth and Robert Hack are much more indicative of the contents. Glad you are giving us a try, it’s a labor of love!”
Here we have cosplayers Tasha MacKenzie (Dejah Thoris), Chiquitita (Jungle Girl), MoJo Jones (Vampirella), and Tabitha Lyons (Red Sonja) as photographed by Andrew Dobell. Notice anything? With the exception of Vampirella, they’re all posed differently. And you know what? It totally works as a cover too.
Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."
