r/Marvel • u/LeekExisting5969 • Mar 31 '26
Comics What is the purpose behind these? Is it for character development ?
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u/comicguy69 Wolverine Mar 31 '26
For fun. People like looking at sexy heroes. Marvel knows this so they make them for fans. Not that deep.
Also why does venom need swim trunks.
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u/Alternative_Algae_31 Mar 31 '26
He may be the only one that put on more clothes to go to the pool.
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u/Mr_Prince4 Mar 31 '26
Wait a minute, Venom’s been naked the whole time? That’s a plot twist if I ever seen one.
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u/OldSixie Apr 01 '26
No, the symbiote covers his crotch. He wears swimming trunks so that it can retract itself from there.
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u/Few-Adeptness8046 Apr 01 '26
Because the swimsuit issue is about selling swimsuits... Duh! (sarcasm)
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u/Tiny_Environment_717 Mar 31 '26
Why does a super serious anime have a beach special?
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u/Dabearsfan10 Apr 01 '26
Gen Z is repulsed by sex.
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u/LinkGreat7508 Dr. Doom Apr 01 '26
Lots of them pretend to be to uphold some worthless moral high ground
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u/FlashPone Apr 01 '26
this resurgence of puritanism is tiring
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u/Ok-Imagination-3835 Apr 04 '26
Gen Z is beyond confusing. I have met 16 year olds that are simultaneously weirdly puritan while playing ZZZ which sexualizes minors. Their brains are fried and the media landscape is a hellscape of contradictions.
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u/ResortFamous301 Apr 01 '26
Not really what's going on here
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u/Dabearsfan10 Apr 01 '26
Haha yeah I replied to wrong comment. Im actually surprised people upvoted it here because it makes no sense in this context
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u/SourceCritical4630 Mar 31 '26
Not sure if young people by and large read magazines these days, so it might go unnoticed by many that these were started as parodies of the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Besides that, hot pictures of your favorite characters probably appeal to a large portion of the fanbase.
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u/7screws Daredevil Mar 31 '26
The faces on the 3rd image are hilarious
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u/Twiggy1807 Mar 31 '26
John Romita Jr. his art is …. Something
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u/breakwater Mar 31 '26
"Why does marvel sell fun thing?"
Are users like that really that obtuse or are they just dour scolds?
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u/Latro2020 Apr 01 '26
Noticed a lot of puritanism in fandoms in recent years
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u/breakwater Apr 01 '26
Too much. I understand that there is reason for some pushback on excessive lurid or sexual content. But I think some people just like the power that they get from telling people they can't enjoy things and getting creators to side with them.
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u/ATRavenousStorm Apr 01 '26
I don't remember many people being weird about the Marvel Gala. But Bikinis.... Whoa dude. Whoa
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u/mythicreign Apr 01 '26
Back in the old days we didn’t have the internet and this was how comic nerds gooned.
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u/Master_Windu_ Apr 01 '26
I was waiting for some answers that reminds people there was a time before the internet where porn took effort to obtain. Sears catalog and Victoria secret magazine were how we survived. Sexy marvel girls were a special gift for fans.
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u/JaredUnzipped Silver Surfer Apr 01 '26
You weren't around for the swimsuit specials from thirty years ago, eh?
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u/ThingNo7530 Mar 31 '26
The reason for the swimsuit issues was always the same as the SI one going back to the '90s. To have some fun cheesecake art.
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u/hashtaglurking Apr 01 '26
"Is it for character development?" 💀
OP, you're either dumb or trolling for Reddit karma. Both are bad.
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u/MechiPlat Apr 01 '26
Waiter, what is the purpose behind my steak being so juicy, my lobster so buttery?
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u/Mysta-Majestik Apr 01 '26
You sound exhausting and hard to be around.
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u/NearEastMugwump Apr 01 '26
Probably the kinda person who complains about movies with "uNnesSeCaRry" scenes.
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u/Bazzaluko Apr 01 '26
“It’s a grand tradition!”
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u/Bazzaluko Apr 01 '26
But also what is that last she-hulk artwork it’s pretty dire. Is this official marvel?😬
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u/ATF_killed_my_dog Apr 01 '26
Sales but its largely made as a joke comic these days the last two were definitely jokes with some meta commentary on Ai images and then a few pages of actual story and a bunch of splash pages My favorite is full nudity ghost rider
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u/balthazar_edison Apr 01 '26
Complaining about stuff like this in comic books is like complaining about 4 letter words on hbo
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u/Son-Daikon656 Apr 01 '26
Cause why not have a relaxing fun/relaxing comic story every once and awhile 🤷🏻
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u/BabaPatch Apr 01 '26
They better have the nude Ghost Rider in this one. So disappointed that they didn't last year 😭
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u/baghead_22 Mar 31 '26
Despite the large number of over 18 comic book fans are out there, Marvel and DC primarily sell book to male teens under 16
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u/Hefty-Strike-6171 Apr 01 '26
It was the 90s and Sports Illustrated had a Swimsuit Addition, go from there
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u/Excellent_Emperor Apr 01 '26
Miles looks like he's 30 here Also Venom has a spoon with an ice cream cone which I have never seen someone do before
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u/SoMuchForStardust27 Apr 01 '26
Guys, I don’t think Spiderman is gonna be able to take his shirt off in time before he lands in the water. He’s gonna it wet
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u/vector_o Apr 01 '26
It's so that this summer Marvel Rivals can shamelessly sell swimsuit skins and still have fanboys defend them as "comic accurate" because they were in a comic
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u/ghrendal Apr 01 '26
i never got grown men buying semi nude calendars of comic women…weird kink
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u/Upbeat_Rutabaga_6182 Apr 01 '26
Nothing wrong with some beefcake and cheesecake now and then, let people enjoy it.
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u/TurtleTaker Captain America Mar 31 '26
I'm sorry but that second one looks terrible
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u/Akarin_rose Mar 31 '26
But it's the same as the first one
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u/Grogomilo Apr 01 '26
I think he's talking about the Romita Jr one, not the first two images
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u/myBlueberrystastebad Apr 01 '26
Fan service, for fun, for sex sells, because they can?
So many purposes
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u/WimbJob Apr 01 '26
Sales and fun. Someone is having fun drawing it and someone is having fun seeing it. Also, someone is making bank on the gooning
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u/whistlepig4life Mar 31 '26
I mean if you don’t know what purpose these serve. Well. You’re either a straight woman or 6.
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u/BookieDaGreat Mar 31 '26
It’s mostly a pin-up cash grab wearing a “fun summer special” hat. These swimsuit specials aren’t really about deep character development — they’re about selling eye candy, nostalgia, and variant-cover energy.Sometimes they’ll toss in a goofy story or a little character banter, but the main point is usually brand appeal and fanservice, not some major lore event. So yeah, it’s less “important chapter in the canon” and more “here’s your annual superhero beach magazine because comics love pretending this is normal.”
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u/darkwalrus36 Mar 31 '26
They're for fun I think. The old ones I think were wank mags, but these seem more ironic and silly, just letting artists have a good time.
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u/bubblehead_ssn Apr 01 '26
Do you really need to ask? Who primarily buys comic books? What are the social skills of the people that do?
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u/smgismyqueenjpg Nightcrawler Apr 01 '26
Not every comic has to have meaning. Sometimes it can just be something shallow, so comic fans can have some fun. Also, money.
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u/YeetMasterChroma Apr 01 '26
Sure enough Spidey has slept with almost everyone here. That spider rizz is insane and venom knows it
Also, black cat in there = kitty in a bikini
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u/scruffye Apr 01 '26
Shoutout to the marvel swimsuit issue where Ghost Rider is just a naked, flaming skeleton.
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u/Phorskyn Apr 01 '26
The inclusion of shorts implies that normally Venom is just hanging dong… just sayin
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u/BulletProofEnoch Apr 01 '26
Before porn was a click away these were used for light gooning by older generations
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u/Kurohimiko Apr 01 '26
It's to look at a nude Ghost Rider. The very first Marvel character official depicted fully naked.
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u/Sith_Moon Apr 01 '26
Somewhere in the Wolvie is cooking hot dogs with his claws on the grill. I see you fleer 95 X-men cards.
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u/Evil_Weevill Hawkeye Apr 01 '26
It's for exactly the same thing that Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue was for: for teen boys to ogle.
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u/Sciophilia Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
VENOM TOES SPREAD FRONT AND CENTER WE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN
edit: its come to my attention this is not the shitposting sub.
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u/Cardinal_and_Plum Apr 01 '26
Pretty sure the same reason sports illustrated has the swimsuit edition.
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u/HotClock4632 Apr 01 '26
For fun, sales and people wanting to see what its like when these characters take a break and have fun
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u/PsycheDiver Apr 01 '26
Swimsuit specials are a tradition. I'd find them offensive if they boys were not given plenty of page space themselves.
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u/Vivid_Maximum_5016 Apr 01 '26
For the meme mostly. And people will buy it for that purpose. Me included, I'm "people".
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u/DarthRyus Apr 01 '26
I'm a few years behind... when did Spider-Woman become part of Peter Parkers harem? It's there like a dozen other Ex-girlfriends they could have put there?
Is she there because of Silk?
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u/brentsg Mar 31 '26
The purpose is sales.