I always wondered how Gwen neck snapped when she was caught on the ankle by Spider-man's stretchy webbing. Where does the neck trauma come into it?

I had always assumed DC was the worst offender with these types of incidents, but it looks like Marvel was pretty much snapped-neck-in-neck with them.
When I was 8, I remember the "western Ghost Rider rapes Mockingbird" story in West Coast Avengers messing with my head. But at least she dropped him off a cliff.

At first I was going to say that being tortured, murdered, and dismembered over a BOYfriend is worse than what happened to Sue Dibny, but then I thought about it a little more and now I want DC to stop hiring novelists to come up with the plots for major events.

I'm kind of surprised that Stephanie Brown (Spoiler and, for a while, Robin) isn't on this list. Her seemingly unending torture by Black Mask and death at the hands of the one person who abhors killing more than Batman, Dr. Leslie Thompkins, during the War Games arc, to me, ranks right up there with The Killing Joke and the death of Jason Todd.

How about the Purple Man repeatedly mind raping, then PHYSICALLY raping Jessica Jones for months on end?

Chiroptera, I have to agree. Stephanie's death was really painful to suffer through reading. To add further insult to her death, it happened for no reason at all. DC wouldn't even acknowledge that Stephanie had been Robin by giving her a memorial in the Batcave.

I'm glad DC allowed Chuck Dixon to set things right by bringing the character back, but it seems that he's no longer even at DC anymore...so who knows what's going to happen to Stephanie now.

My understanding in reading the Purple Man story arc is that while he controlled her mind, the Purple Man didn't physically rape Jessica Jones, only made her watch as he raped others. I don't remember why, but I believe she offered a hypothesis. It may have been my misunderstanding, and my distinction here between physical and mental violation is purely arbitrary. Also, Ms. Marvel was apparently mind-controlled into bearing a man's son, who then turned out to be the man himself, reborn. I haven't read that story beginning to end, so I'm a little hazy on the causality, and whether that was a retcon or what.

I suppose the literal definition of "physical" rape may not necessarily apply.

He mentally raped her into believing she wanted to sex him up, which she would never have done without the mental nudge. He DID force her to watch him murder people as well.

Sad, scary stuff. Harper's did a similar list in their index a few years back listing all of the terrible things that have happened to female superheroes. It's amazing how many variations on rape, murder, brutality, and depowerment male comic book writers can come up with.

THis list goes a long way to show the problems with the psyche of the average comic writer--and fan. For some of these writers, and many readers, women are a total unknown, and therefore very hard to write, and relate to. So as writers fumble for gravitas, they continually go to the same buttons they always do--harming women in order to hurt the men related to them. A lot of the customers that come into my stores have huge problems relating to women, and these kinds of stories don't help.

I strongly disagree that Kevin Smith's revelation of a previous Black Cat rape was "bold" in any way. It's been done to death, as we've seen on this list, and not particularly convincingly handled in that particular story (being nearly a year late didn't help either).

So long as this is the kind of storytelling comics writers create, and comics readers buy, the only girls coming into a comic store are going to be the socially awkward ones buying manga.

Dc just pulled a bit of retcon and brought Spoiler back saying that she never actually died and Dr. Leslie Thompson faked Stephanie's death to teach Batman a lesson...Bats figured it out and THAT is the real reason why he never put her costume up for display in his museum of sacrificial lambs..I mean sidekicks

You might also want to bring up the recent scenes in Kirkman's The Walking Dead where Michonne is raped and beaten by the Governor. Granted, she's not exactly helpless or innocent, but it certainly raised a large amount of discussion over race and violence as it was a scene involving a white man and a black woman.

The Walking Dead scene was brutal, but not a superhero book. R. Crumb shoving Devil Girl's head into her chest and having sex with the body would definitely have been on here if it was all comics. Not that all superhero comics should necessarily be held to a different standard, but a mainstream Marvel or DC comic is going to be read by a lot more people than a specialty comic whose audience needs to seek it out.

Re: BlindSquirrel

A thing called "physics".
Ex:
If i grabbed you by the ankle and, assuming I had the strength, cracked your body like a whip,
I'm pretty sure your neck would snap....

(Maybe that's why it's called "whiplash"?)

It works for snakes and chickens...why not people?

@Dc just pulled a bit of retcon and brought Spoiler back saying that she never actually died and Dr. Leslie Thompson faked Stephanie's death to teach Batman a lesson...Bats figured it out and THAT is the real reason why he never put her costume up for display in his museum of sacrificial lambs..I mean sidekicks

I am totaly agree with you.

It's not really a WiR situation, but I felt there was a strong undercurrent of misogyny in the Dallas-ing of Spider-Man's marriage. Apparently, the idea of Peter having a woman in his life who is a partner, an equal, and an emotional anchor is damaging to the character, and instead a round robin of cookie-cutter females for him to break dates with and angst over the possibility of them being the latest supervillain is the way to go.

I agree, Michael. I don't see why they need to make Spidey single, and not in a relatively happy marriage with its ups and downs, when they have two other books (Ultimate and Adventures) that feature a young, single Spidey. Okay, so Ultimate Spidey isn't for kids per se, but if your argument is that no one wants to read about a married dude, why aren't those other books' numbers higher? It's stupid, is what it is. Have them get a divorce if you want Peter to be single and swinging (no pun intended) -- don't just write her out of continuity. Or, better yet, have Peter make the decision that maybe his Aunt May has lived a rich full life, and his relationship with MJ is worth more to him than a few more years with May. Or DON'T HAVE HIM MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL. Sorry, getting off-topic.

I always thought Gwen died of a heart attack caused by the free-fall. Or so I did read in the spanish translation.

It's worth noting that the Women in Refrigerators phrase does not refer to all deplorable violence done to women in comics. It is both narrower and broader than that. Narrower, in that it refers to women who are harmed [i]for no other reason than to motivate a man[/i]; and broader in that while the original example was in comics (#2) it's now used in reference to use of the tactic in any media.

While I think that the violence against women is often a lazy (and disturbing) crutch used by a lot of writers (comic book and otherwise, I'm not really sure what the purpose of this list is. Is it just to list a bunch of them, or to comment on how common it is? Are all of these examples of misogyny?

One one end, I actually think the Gwen Stacy storyline was a great one, especially for the time in which it was written. Before then, I can't think of an instance where the superhero failed to save the person in distress. (Granted, most of them were "damsels".) Having it be the one he loved just added a huge dramatic arc to it. Since then, there have been countless other imitators, some of which have relied on a leering misogynist bent. But I don't think Stan Lee had that in his head when he was writing that story arc. I mean, he did kill off Uncle Ben before this. He was killing off loved ones of Spiderman, regardless of gender.

I'm more bothered by the Daredevil storyline. I thought that Karen Page was a pretty rich character, and it was a total lazy, dumb way to get a shock by killing her off. (We haven't mentioned Elektra's first "death" BTW.) The Sue Dibney storyline too, I thought, was remarkably exploitative and leering.

Like, they are "Comics", both genders get messed up, often, very often. Someone is pointing to a trend that doesn't really exist.

Isn't there a really old Spider-man comic where he consoles a kid by telling how he too has been molested as a kid? Inserting reference to that into a sexually abused Black Cat storyline would be seriously bold move.

Too bad we don't live in a culture where disrespect is enough of a reason to motivate great revenge stories. Even seeking revenge for something done to us directly seems kind of wrong since religions/philosophies/etc. tend emphasize forgiveness over revenge. That just leaves writers with options to kill or abuse women in hero's life to give him legitimate reason to beat the crap out of bad guys.

Dan, if you're searching for purpose on toplessrobot.com, you should probably keep looking. But yes, this was a list to comment on how common they are, and point out the worst ones to people who may not be as in-the-know as others. The Gwen Stacey one was very early, and not gratuitous, which is why it ranks pretty low. If I'd considered Spoiler's torture and non-death or Ms. Marvel's apparent rape, it wouldn't have been on the list at all.

Tortue, it's definitely a trend, and the killing or assaulting of a female love interest to motivate the hero is different from a simple hero/villain conflict. I left Elektra's death off the list because Elektra got in a duel with Bullseye. Her choice, and a pretty even match-up. These characters were, for the most part, hapless victims.

Some instances you mentioned are bad and exploitative, but the fact is violence does happen to women IRL. It would be "unrealistic" for comics not to deal with it at some point.

Sure, it's a distasteful subject, but it happens.

I do think a lot of examples you mention are pretty badly handled. Or pointless. But some are effective, like the Killing Joke, which made the Joker a much more disturbing villain as a result (though the end where Batman and the Joker share a laugh was pretty bad considering what came before).

your last comment "as he violates a minor character who never hurt anybody" was the most correct thing i've read in your entire article. what else is rape but meaningless? women get raped everyday by people they don't even know. i fail to see how that specific example supports your article. either way, i found it all interesting, there is plenty of violence towards men in comic books from female characters - it just occurs more now than it did twenty or so years ago.

You should add into the bit on Sue that she was also pregnant at the time, to add just that extra pinch of tragedy to the event.

uhh actually psylocke DID appear in x-men 3 as a villain

Those bitches got what they deserved.

What a bunch of sissies. It's a comic book.

Doesn't anyone remember the brutalization of Dinah Lance/Black Canary in Grell's Green Arrow re-launch? Pretty gruesome, and cost her her powers, as well.

A few of these events I knew about, but there was one I thought for sure would make the list. In the Green Arrow graphic novel "The Longbow Hunters", by Mike Grell, Black Canary (GA's girlfriend) is captured and sadistically beaten and tortured by a gang of drug traffickers. This was the series that launched the gritty, mature arc of Green Arrow stories where he gave up the silly trick arrows for real, deadly broadhead arrows. The guy who is in the process of cutting her with a knife when GA arrives receives an arrow into his back and out through his chest.

Instead of focusing on WHAT was done, focus on WHY it was done. You may think that this was a direct attack against women for the sake of argument, but you would be wrong.

These women were violated/killed/mutilated/etc. for one reason... to get back at the superhero that they could not harm through fisticuffs. If you were truly evil and really wanted to hurt someone would you not attack their loved ones? I know I would, but that is just my way of "breaking them".

It would be no different that the Kingpin attacking Matt Murdock using his business as a leverage when he found out who he was. Should a paper be written on "The Icebox of Business Abuse in Common Media"?

NO!

And why? Because if you don't understand the motive behind WHY it was done than you will never, and I do mean never, understand the basic concepts of why they would do it to begin with.

Granted these are all fictional characters, but so was Faust. These elements portayed by the writers are deplorable, but they do exist within society. They may even live next door to you. By limiting yourself into believing that "just because it is a comic book-we can control it" type of thinking only limits the amount of praise that we should be heaping upon those writers who see the world as it is and wish to incorporate that into their story.

I'm not sure about you fine folks but I've always had the Superhero I could relate with. As a child it was Spiderman. Gwens death hurt. Spiderman struggled on. He had nothing, couldn't even afford a taxi ride in most cases, but he perservered.

As I grew so did my reading. I moved to Dark Horse. Grendel. Death and mayhem.... Nothing new. Rape. Standard. But WHY someone did the things they did always held the focus. What is behind the mind?

I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. Most of you readers already know WHY and aren't upset by the outcome. But sometimes.... people who don't read*sic* comic books may peruse this. This is the best we can offer? A batch of people getting hurt with barely a reason behind it?

Turn to the news. You stare blank-eyed and delirious wondering WHY?

BLECH! I am sickened. Not by the writing, but by the contextual basis within it was written.

@ WTF?

The fact that sexism and violence against women exists in the real world does not excuse it's typical portrayal in comics. It's degrading, and part of the reason I don't read comics. When is the last time a man was brutally raped in a comic book? By your rationale, I'd think one of worst things an evil villain could do to a superhero would be to hold him down and have him raped by some thugs, wouldn't you agree? Why doesn't that ever happen? Because men's sexual boundaries are treated with dignity and respect. So shove your Faust.

I almost think one of the worst things you've mentioned about Ultimate Wasp is that the whole WIR thing has happened multiple times to her within the title.
And I'm thinking Bendis might have to come out and just say if Jones was physically raped or not. Heinberg dropped in YA that Jones was physically raped when talking to the YA Hawkeye about her rape (it's her origin and all).

I had to comment about the Black Cat storyline. I was a huge fan of Black Cat, she was one of my favorites since I was a child.

This is a very complex issue for women. Rape is shoved in our faces at every turn, its in the news, tv shows, women's magazines, there are classes and discussions from kindergarten through college, it is not a subject that is unknown to us.

The optimist in me clings to a belief that if the storyline in someway somehow helped someone going through rape or at least made them pause to think about how they could try and protect themselves from it, it was worth it.

For me it just hurt. I read comics for the fantasy, to be her. They were my escape and that story line was a smack in the face. It took any safe refuge and ripped me back to reality. It felt like a punishment, that someone was telling me that it didn't matter even if you have superpowers (I know she didn't but work with me here) or above average abilities, as a woman you a never going to be nothing more than some guys rape target.

One day I may pick up a comic with her in it, but it will not be anytime soon. I actually haven't read any comic books since that storyline.

As a woman my end question is, why can't we have our fantasies and heroes too?

Even though Dr Light was suspected of being the murderer of Sue Dibney, it turns out it was Jean Loring who was the Atom's wife ... or widow. She became crazy and thought that doing this would somehow bring her husband back. Well event though it's a woman that killed her, still deserves to be on here. Being a chick in comics is harsh.

http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i1830185_RacerXCountdown43p25.jpg
http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i1830184_RacerXCountdown43p24.jpg

Did anyone read the first issue of the Ambush Bug Year One that just came out? They do serious satire of the Women in Refrigerators to the point where there's dead women lying around in every few panels.

what the hell? i mean i know adults also read comics, but don't like 10 yr old kids read this stuff? its weird to have kids reading the comic book writers weird sex-male-domination fantasies lol

Grim Beefer asked "When is the last time a man was brutally raped in a comic book?"

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Pretty heinous scene, actually... disturbed the living hell out of me.

And the one I found missing was Watchmen. The Comedian's brutal beating and rape of the first Silk Spectre, followed by the callow, insensitive admonishment from one of her 'colleagues' who interrupted the violation to clean herself up and get moving, leaving her broken and bloody on the floor, as though nothing had happened to her. THAT was the part that really disturbed me...the rape was brutal and painfully detailed to the point that I was genuinely shaking, but the capper... that complete disregard for a bleeding, beaten, freshly-raped woman lying on the ground, a woman who is supposed to be your friend and equal.

It kinda pissed me off that Moore had them become voluntary lovers later... I don't know if he was going for the Stockholm Syndrome angle or just being an idiot for once.

Where's the line here? Should superhero comics never show violence against women? That wouldn't be realistic. Most of these weren't gratuitous and served an important purpose in the story. I'm not a fan of most of these editorial decisions, but one can argue that in some cases they made for effective storytelling. Barbara Gordon, for instance, overcame her disability and forged ahead, becoming an even more important ally to Batman. I think you're stretching political correctness in this article. An article like this can't be funny like your normal stuff, so you're playing up controversy that, I think, is overblown.

The line is simple, and is defined by the editorial motivation behind the incident.

Sue Dibney was raped not not to tell a story but to titillate the reader. The guy in charge, without any concern for story or characterization said "we need a rape" and no one had the guts to tell him that he was a moron, and a perverse one at that.

When you have a beloved female character raped, tortured, and\or murdered because you think that a significant number of teenage boys will masturbate to it, you've crossed a line.

Other than this, the big question is how it is handled and executed. If it is treated with apparent casualness or callousness, there are going to be problems. That's one of the reasons The Night Gwen Stacy Died really doesn't belong on this list, it was treated as a real tragedy with lasting consequences. Gwen was always a person, not just a victim, and it showed.

Killing off, harming, or threatening a love interest has been a genre staple since before the genre existed. The fact that most superheroes are heterosexual males means that this is going to happen to females more often than not, unfortunately. That is really unavoidable. The key is to do it right, with less focus on titillation, gore, and shock value and more focus on the emotional impact of the loss on everyone.

Giving gratuitous tragic backstories to characters who don't need a tragic backstory (or already have one) is nothing new and does happen to males, but it is still jarring when a male writer decides retcon a strong female character as being a rape victim in the past and it is very difficult to do right. The Black Cat's rape retcon rubs many people the wrong way because it was simply unnecessary.

The Ultimate Wasp example was really more of mutual combat taken too far by one party, as is often the case in real domestic altercations, and it was treated with the gravity it deserved. It wasn't just an excuse for Captain America to Giant Man's kick butt and it was never presented as an excuse for Captain America to kick Giant Man's butt. It was real, and frankly good, development as an extremely violent and dysfunctional relationship.

The Killing Joke is an interesting example because Barbra Gordon's injuries should not have been permanent, given the medical technology that she has access too, but actually healing her injuries would trivialize the attack and perhaps cause even more of a backlash.

As fucked up as violence against women is, it's natural. It happens in real life and it should happen in comics. Violence against men happens in comics all the time. Sure it's usually men instigating the violence in the first place, but it's real. I don't see why there should be a group that promotes violence only happening to men. It's not like it's Gor which actually depicts it as a good thing.