These two pages of the upcoming Grayson #13 previewed by ComicVine have caused considerable commentary by the commentariat. Some of which has seen writer Tim Seeley responds on Twitter.
The sexual objectification of Dick Grayson has been a central running gag of this series (and others) but it may have reached an apogee this week.
In which Grayson is given a through going over.
A very thorough one.
I believe "anal probe" is the suggestion. And some are not really happy about this, given the context. But Tim Seeley has been giving his rationale.
@holypixieboots @TomKingTK there were no actual physical victims & I would suggest you may need to seek assistance w/ your discomfort.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @TomKingTK we can't win them all. But it is meant to challenge & explore objectification. & stereotypes.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@wordsandsense @holypixieboots @TomKingTK and we may very well do that.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK I have complete sympathy.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @TomKingTK the vast majority of our readers, male & female s&m to enjoy the turnabout & subversion of spy tropes.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @TomKingTK fiction is allowed to make you uncomfortable.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK I'm sorry for that & I would recommend not reading the book then.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK perhaps someday you'll find the book more to your liking. Thank you for your input.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK I am sorry that you had a very hard & uncomfortable experience. Truly.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK it's not exclusive. It's just clearly not working for you.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK i am not aiming to specifically make you uncomfortable.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@holypixieboots @wordsandsense @TomKingTK I've been nothing but open to your concerns & viewpoints.
— Tim Seeley (@HackinTimSeeley) October 25, 2015
@HackinTimSeeley @wordsandsense @TomKingTK I've been in this fanbase since I was 12, and I have NEVER been alienated from my fav hero before
— Shelly Pistachio (@holypixieboots) October 25, 2015
@HackinTimSeeley @wordsandsense @TomKingTK Your writing dredges up memories of situations I've been in only to feel like it's laughed off — Shelly Pistachio (@holypixieboots) October 25, 2015
@HackinTimSeeley @wordsandsense @TomKingTK I grew up with DG. I am a fan https://t.co/dDg3OhNoR5 + https://t.co/tebZE3rqZR
— Shelly Pistachio (@holypixieboots) October 25, 2015
@HackinTimSeeley @TomKingTK once the comedy is gone. we have is a person being (unwillingly)naked,with people making weird comments about it — Kura (@Kurawastaken) October 25, 2015
@HackinTimSeeley @TomKingTK It's not appealing, its uncomfortable. And as sexy as getting your ass groped at a bar by a drunk dude
— Kura (@Kurawastaken) October 25, 2015
There's a continued discussion scross Tumblr, where one post here,…
But you know what makes me feel disgusted? When things like that are written in the narrative as being okay. When it's just a joke. When it's really not that bad. When it's treated as fanservice. Man, Dick is so sexy. I love when he gets touched in ways that make him uncomfortable! I love when his supposed friends watch this happen! I love when he can't do anything to stop this behavior because she's in a position of power over him!
…is replied to be another reader here…
I would also appreciate it if people stopped speaking in the name of others who have been sexually harassed. I have been sexually harassed (hello, I am a woman), and I'm not uncomfortable with the sexual content in Grayson. (I think it's too on the nose sometimes, but I never really found it all that distracting, tbh.) And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. People have different ways of dealing with these things, and it's indeed something that a writer actually cannot anticipate. I would talk differently if Seeley was actually penning raunchy rape comedy or something equally terrible, but he's not.
Now Bleeding Cool has long championed creative freedom and expression, and when it comes to Grayson I've always read this as a reversal of tropes. It's the the wider context of decades of action adventure pulp storytelling, which might not always be present on each and every page.
Except for a nagging aspect I find hard to shake, that Dick Grayson was a character created to appeal to child readers. And although hardly any children read comics like this anymore, some read it to reconnect to their inner child. Which is why this kind of story may sting more…
Grayson #13 by Tom King, Tim Seeley and Mikel Janin is published this coming Wednesday by DC Comics.