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The Importance of Portraying Men in Comics in a Realistic Fashion as Well as the Women

Kymera Press attended Comic-Con Revolution, Ontario this month and had a good time meeting new and old fans. I also had the pleasure of guesting on a Women of the Darkside Panel with some incredible women. Name women.

Women on the Dark Side

Featuring Amy Chu, Debbie Lynn Smith, Susan Lee, Angi Viper. Hosted by Joelle Monique.

Saturday 5/18 12:30pm, 100 A/B

Not all female artists/creators are about unicorns and glittery vampires and silly pseudo-bondage. Some women create truly dark and challenging art and content, with just enough humor and whimsy to counterbalance all that darkness. Whether it's comic books, novels or art, these are the women who are creating content that connects with the deeper, darker side of all of us. Join Susan Lee (Wraith of Love), Amy Chu (Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life & Death), Debbie Lynn Smith (Gates of Midnight) and cosplayer Angi Viper.

At one point in our conversation, I mentioned that our comics were not only presenting women in a realistic light but men as well. Joelle asked me to elaborate on that point, and I realized that this was a significant point I hadn't considered.

One of my favorite movie quotes is from The Fools Gold. I won't go into a synopsis of the movie here, but if you haven't seen it, it's entertaining and one of my go-to movies. Back to the quote: "I thought about it consciously, and then I did it subconsciously."

When I say that Kymera Press was formed to support women in comics, some people think that means we're anti-men. We're not. We simply want to use women to portray strong women in a realistic light. We like men. My husband is an amazing man without whom my company would have folded due to my health problems. We are partners in life and in business. I have, and have had, a good relationship with my father. I love my brothers-in-law. I've had good men all around me for my entire life. So nothing if farther than the truth than to say Kymera Press is anti-men.

In our comics, men have realistic bodies.

Think about it; men use the same media as women. There are male models on television, and in magazines, superheroes who look like gods come to earth (which, if you think about it, is true in some cases). I don't know if men have body image problems as women do, but if they do, they find Kymera Press a place where men look more like what we see in the world around us.

My point in the panel, however, was that I portray some of the men as good partners. I think that is missing in our pop culture today. One of the things I loved about Avengers: Endgame (and if you haven't seen it yet, don't continue reading and shame on you), was that it showed men and women fighting together, back to back. Iron Man and Pepper in her Iron suit, Ant-Man and the Wasp. The men weren't protecting the women; they were working in equal partnership.

We don't see enough of that.

We see men dominating women, women dominating men, men protecting their women, men seeking revenge for whatever happened to their woman and on and on. But where are the partnerships? Men can make excellent partners.
While Kymera Press is primarily about strong women protagonists, that doesn't mean we can't have strong male partners work with them There's Alex in Gates of Midnight, Robert in Dragons by the Yard, and eventually John in Ivory Ghosts.

I hadn't thought about it before Joelle asked me in that panel. But I think it is just as crucial for men to be in a realistic light as it is for women. Instead of having our boys think that treating girls like they were underlings of the male overlord, let's teach them to be equal partners. Isn't that a lofty goal.

So it seems I did things a little backward from that line in Fools Gold. I did it subconsciously, and then I did it consciously

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