It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Fat Superman!

Debbie says:

First of all, Laurie and I are both back in town and we should be blogging at least a little bit more frequently. Thanks for your patience.

Second, I was completely charmed by this post from Men in Full, whose mission is to bring out and admire images of fat men.

a picture of a fat Superman, in costume, shown from behind

Apparently, this was a health-club advertising image, but the actual Superman comics also treated the theme:

Fatness, body morphing, and inflation were played for laughs in the early 1960s “Golden Age” of DC Comics. While the body changes were portrayed as negative and everything gets fixed in the end, the tone was still light and amusing, not like today’s hyperventilating rhetoric.

Men in Full has thought a lot about fat superhero and fat pirate imagery, none of which I had ever been aware of, let alone given a moment’s thought to.

I don’t have a lot to add to her post, but I will say that there’s a radical opportunity here: it’s time to start some zines with fat superheroes who don’t get fixed in the end. I’m ready for fat Wonder Woman!

Edited to add: I asked about fat Wonder Woman and Body Impolitic reader BCHolmes found this.

Thanks, BC!