Moonstone Forums

Is it true that non-U.S. Phantom comic books show Diane Palmer nude?  That's what I read somewhere online.

I have a Semic (Swedish) Phantom comic that shows Diana in a transparent night gown showing frontal exposure and it's the cover, but if I remember correctly it's from a dream sequence.

There is also a Playboy magazine from Brasil with the Phantom and a scantily clad Diana on the cover. Inside is a series of pictorials including Lois and Superman and The Phantom and Diana. The Phantom begins as Mr. Walker and ends up as the Phantom in a red costume.

Mild nudity is not uncommon in Scandinavian Phantom comics, but it is rare in Frew.

Felmang has painted several paintings of Diana in the nude

http://www.dandare.info/artists/felmang.htm

discussed hear:
http://phorum.thedan.org/viewtopic.php?t=1717

Wow. That's a lot of Phantom-type porn.
I had read online that the foreign Phantom stories use nudity off and on and as A U.S. comic buyer I found that odd. Although they hint at that in mainstream books here it's something they shy away from and I feel rightfully so. It is a comic book after all.
But thanks for the replies.

I'm afraid the mores are changing here too.

Lee was no prude and sometimes had a bit of a baudy sense of humor, but he was aware that his strips were family oriented and kept that in mind when he wrote stories. He did however include nudity in The Silks of Emira. Somewhere I have the original scripts from his typewriter and photocopies of the pencils. When the inks were done, plants were strategically placed to avoid offending readers.
(I will say the nudity was not graphically revealing.)
From the time The Phantom began, mores have changed considerably. In the 50's having a character say "Damn" on a prime time TV show would never happen, and The Phantom had elements that concerned sensors (and even Wilson McCoy.) By today's standards, they would not be problematic.

The art that germ linked to has never been published, so don't think that it is representative of any foreign Phantom comic books.

There have been nudity in foreign Phantom comic books over the years. A breast here and there, but nothing more and no real sex scene as I can recall (although sex has been hinted at). IMHO it has hardly affected the stories in a negative way. I guess I just don't understand why an exposed nipple would harm the reader. (I am much more conserned with the over-the top drawings of busty female superheroes in US comics, who don't look anything like real persons. Even though the artists are very careful to cover the girls in clothes, these are skin-tight and leave little to the imagination)

Well, that's just bad artwork in my opinion.  I suppose anatomy isn't stressed in art schools as much anymore.  Guys with arms the size of thier waists, women on tip-toe with thier chests flung forward, it's all ridiculous.  Most don't realize how much comic books are like pro wrestling and soap operas.
I find it interesting how different cultures view sex and nudity being used in a medium designed for kids.  And you can either like it or lump it, when your average comic book becomes too much (violent, sexual, expensive!) for kids then the whole medium suffers.  I believe that's why comics sell less and less every year, with the rare exception.
Comics have almost been completely forced into the small racks of specialty shops here in the U.S.

Actually, at least in my area, comics are displayed on racks in video stores, newspaper stores as well as specialty shops.

Comics like Archie, which are child friendly and contain an entire story, are in grocery stores near the check out.

For the most part, the comics I've seen are often much more tame than prime time TV.  Even at comic shows anything rated even R is in a special box not available to younger readers.  

I did say "almost" completely.  And while the odd issue or compilation  can be found at some other shops the majority of comic book sales in the U.S. I think can be found in the comic book specialty shop.  It's why the industry is going south as a whole.  An ever limiting of the audience base.
IMO...:coolguy:

Also, to get back to an earlier point, I think there is a level of expected violence in a comic book with the main weapon of its hero being a couple of guns. :cringe:  But the move toward more explicit themes I think can both help, but ultimately, hurt comic books.