I realise that, to a lot of people, the whole "boobs don't work that way" debate/discussion/rant may seem somewhat... pointless?
Fantasy is fantasy, and people in a position of selling fantasies need to be able to diverge from reality in order to sell a compelling fantasy. And that is all fair enough, all well and good.
I could, of course, comment on the fact that, if comics were marketted as sex fantasies instead of fantasies for all ages, things would be different, but would like to make a different point.
Fantasy is no longer compelling when it becomes so fantastical that you become distracted from the plot.
For example, female characters in comics are, occassionally, drawn in clothing so skintight that their nipples, bellybutton and camel-toe are clearly visible, albeit technically covered by molecule-thick latex. This is distracting. How distracting?
Imagine if Superman's costume looked like this.
Or perhaps not even that much? What if, in every scene, whatever he was doing, Batman's costume looked like this around the groin?
What if Flash' costume were reduced to an improbably-bulging cup, with no visible straps or other ways for it to be attached securely to the body, in such a way that the bulge would be that bulgy? Oh, and a little circle over each nipple. And thigh-boots. Sexy? Maybe. Really, really distracting from the plot?
Oh yeah, and at every opportunity/excuse Flash arches his body so the bulging cup sticks out even more, clenching his arse-cheeks and pouting. And whenever he fights he high-kicks in a way that, logically, his balls should be dangling out of the bottom of that thing by now, and visible for all to see.
Here, have a 30-second scribble-jobbie.
I call him Phallus Man.
He's leaning on an invisible something... Yeah... he's relaxing.
Are all comics like that? Of course not. But whenever you picked up a comic and saw something like that, wouldn't you find it distracting? Wouldn't you be thinking more about the ridiculous costume, or the discomfort, or how impractical it would be, or how you just didn't really waht Flash' junk swinging about in your face, than about the action and the plot and the parts of the fantasy that make it appealing to you? Would it add to the fantasy, or take you out of the fantasy?
I have large breasts. Very large breasts. When I go bra shopping, my equivalent of excitement at a good bra is "Ooh! Steel wire mesh inlays, flexible underwires, extra-support straps! And they managed to fit a bit of lace on there somewhere! And ooh, only £40? Yes please!". When I see a superhero with breasts the same size as, or even larger, than my own, wearing nipple-tassles or a tiny, skimpy bra or something that barely covers the nipples and has no straps. And she's running/jumping/spinning? I keep thinking two things.
Ouch! She's gonna end up with torn, bruised chest-skin! Ooh! I felt that jolt!
And...
How, exactly, are they still upright? And inside that thing? That top isn't supporting her, it's suspended off of her!
That sort of thing takes me out of the fantasy. And that is why I get frustrated when I see another example of how boobs don't work. It goes beyond artistic styles, creative license, fantasy-physics. It enters the realm of the ridiculous.
Hmmm... maybe I should do some more Phallus Man pictures...
Who needs artistic talent when I can just keep drawing crotch...
sweeet! cant wait for the phallus man series!