We’ll come right out and admit the truth: Tigra has never been one of our favorite comic-book characters, but your Friend in the Fortress didn’t really dislike the poor dear either.
After all, she’s a tiger woman in a bikini. What’s not to like?
Adding to her appeal, Greer Nelson was one of the few characters in the Marvel Universe who began her career in one guise, only to abandon it a few years later for her more lasting incarnation as a woman battling the bestial nature within her soul.
(And bedding more than a few super-heroes along the way … )
For whatever reason - none of Quesada’s poker buddies like her, we suppose - Tigra has become Marvel’s newest sex toy/punching bag.
After being mesmerized by the newly perverted Puppet Master in Ms. Marvel, Greer was beaten to a pulp in a sickening sequence penned by Brian Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu in last week’s New Avengers.
Judging by the comments on the Keeper’s humble blog alone, it’s apparent the scene struck a chord in a number of readers - perhaps not in the way Marvel intended.
While the always-insecure Fortress Keeper is glad others share our revulsion toward such over-the-top and exploitative brutality, we can’t help but recall a comment Marvel writer extraordinaire Jeff Parker left on Mike Wieringo’s blog awhile back.
The late, great Mr. Wieringo posted his misgivings of DC’s decision to darken Mary Marvel, and Parker responded that although he held similar sentiments …
I hate myself for chiming in on this stuff, because everytime we do so, we’re just giving the companies a free ad for doing it. You can imagine how much I and Mike and other creators here regularly hear ‘yeah, but now everyone’s talking about the book!’ when talking to editorial, and just like with Nielsen ratings, that’s what sends the vote.
Perhaps the Keeper’s criticisms of Bendis’ Tigra are merely playing into Marvel’s hands. In fact, it’s very likely that someone in the Q Continuum is sitting back in contentment because The Hood’s treatment of a longstanding heroine has garnered such a buzz.
Still, isn’t it kind of sick that a company garners it’s success not only by sales figures, but by its ability to tick a a decreasing audience off? Isn’t that pretty immature, even for an industry that packages adolescent power fantasies to adult men and women?
Oh well. The Keeper may be a pawn of Quesada et al, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to abandon “poor, poor Tigra” in her time of need.
In fact, next time out we’ll focus on Nelson in her original guise as the should-have-been sensational character find of 1972 - The Cat!
