Fan Service in Comics

This post was inspired ozoneocean's forum thread about sexism, as well as a recent update by JustNoPoint. (Quick note: none of my comments about fan service are directed at JNP's work! It was just his joking about fan service that had me thinking about it.)

"Fan service" can mean a few different things, but what I'm talking about today are the gratuitously busty, half-naked ladies that comics are notorious for.

Personally I can't say that fan service bothers me all that much, but it certainly causes a bit of eyerolling when it's excessive. I think I generally do assume that comics with an abundance of ridiculously curvaceous women are not to be taken seriously. I don't go into those comics expecting deep philosophical meaning - not that that's a bad thing! Goofy, campy superhero comics have been one of my great loves since I was a preteen.

Admittedly, though, I would appreciate it if the average comic included as many sexy male characters as they do female characters. Excessive fan service (when it exclusively features women) does sometimes give me a niggling feeling that I'm not the target audience, and that female readers have been forgotten.


What are your feelings on fan service? Do you find it sexist, or titillating, or maybe both? Neither? Do arbitrary half-naked ladies affect how you view a comic?

For those of you who like to include said half-naked ladies in your comics, what are your thoughts? Are you trying to please your audience, or maybe you just enjoy drawing the female form? Do you feel as though fan service means your comic is taken less seriously, and do you care?

Comment below!

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