A variant cover for Marvel's upcoming Spider-Woman #1 has caused immediate controversy for disproportionately featuring the title-hero's buttocks as a focal point.
Spider Woman... Totally yes! pic.twitter.com/7IdAG2ZZuP— Daniel Villalobos (@danielitob3ar) August 20, 2014
The cover, drawn by artist Milo Manara, has received wide-spread criticism for what many feel is the unnecessary sexploitation of the character for simply being a woman.
"If you're wondering what the hell Jessica Drew, a.k.a. Spider-Woman is doing, I believe it's what's known in the animal kingdom as 'presenting,'" criticized Gawker's sci-fi and science news imprint io9.
"All in all, the image seems to toe the line of pornographic," observed Megan Friedman of Elle.
"Imagine Spider-Man in that position instead, and the concept would have never gotten this far."
Friedman's criticism is a common one within the speculative fiction community, as many artists and models have taken to displaying the artistic hypocrisy between female sci-fi heroes and their male counterparts.
Manara's artwork has a long history of exploring the female form and implied eroticism, and the book's other cover by artist Greg Land -- despite featuring a gluteal-centric background -- is much more in line with contemporary comic book style.
I've always had problems with Greg Land (details here: http://t.co/wLoc0Tchww) but drawing Spider-Woman without LEGS? pic.twitter.com/I9L4t9iUI9— Andrew Dyce (@andrew_dyce) August 20, 2014