Comic Book Swimsuit Issues - Atop the Fourth Wall

[@orezblades]

The Hawaiian shirt still being on under the doom costume really sells Vacation Doom.

[@jamesmallone]

Vacation Doom sounds like it should be an alternate costume in a video game. Also, no Deadpool - because all the Marvel Swimsuit Specials were made before he blew up in popularity and became the comedy character we know and love. That's a missed opportunity right there. I think a Deadpool swimsuit special might be the one inspired angle to justify bringing them back.

[@dnmstarsi]

@@jamesmallone Maybe if there was a new Marvel vs Capcom game that had costumes on par with Street Fighter, I could see Vacation Doom.

[@CaladonianQueen]

Speaking as a straight girl: that Captain America one where he's dreamily washing his hair in a sunset lagoon while wearing stars and stripes trunks is genuinely lovely.💖 And that Collosus one is cute too, even though he has ladies fawning over him to detract from the female gaze. (But seriously: no Nightcrawler???)

[@AzureIV]

Nightcrawler has a swimmer's body and is very flexible, it should've been obvious.

[@AT4W]

I know, right? Nightcrawler makes ONE appearance in this - in the background of a group shot teleporting in.

[@ianr.navahuber2195]

@@AT4W That's discrimination towards the one demonic and elf body shape! Nightcrawler would have pulled out the swimsuit nicely! Let the Elf show his Swashbuckler charm!

[@alicedarhk9790]

Ich liebredich mein Nightcrawler

[@gennybaratta2460]

I’m a bisexual woman and I would eat wiped cream of that Captain America’s abs

[@sirderpington7704]

the best one is the ghost rider one. it's just a naked flaming skeleton on the beach. I swear if I could get a wall print of it I would frame it on my wall.

[@JaelinBezel]

That'd be an interesting conversation piece.

[@keelanbarron928]

@@JaelinBezel yeah no kidding. "Ah, so you have a poster of......?" "It's sexy ghost rider!"

[@redjirachi1]

What are you, Albedo?

[@spookyrosev6467]

As a mostly straight girl (might still be up in the air TBH) it is the sexiest of the male ones ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@darwinxavier3516]

Nah, Albedo prefers body pillows. Something she can hold onto, and caress, and probably finger.

[@wstine79]

Now I wanna see Linkara's Doctor Doom vs Phelous' Shredder.

[@the4thwallkid132]

"You may be a MASTER of ninjutsu shredder, But you will NEVER Master the Stick shift like DOOM has!!!"

[@gtsgreatteacherscathach5550]

The best idea for a crossover ever!

[@YourUncleBenis]

Or a team-up.

[@dnmstarsi]

Maybe in a crossover review. Although I wish there was a TMNT vs Fantastic 4 comic.

[@kitestar]

Crossover episode with phelous featuring that or riot

[@Tamashikiri]

Considering She Hulk is involved in most of these things, I think it's safe to assume that Pip the Troll was promptly sued into ruin for sexual misconduct. And then beaten to death.

[@DarsiPadilla]

Better by the Sensational She-Hulk over Bruce Jenner in Green-Face with steroids.

[@JaelinBezel]

@Trevor Anthony She was so much cooler as a lawyer going through wacky courtroom shenanigans. Instead they took away all her intelligence and made her straight up replace Hulk. They don't even call her She-Hulk anymore. Anytime she shows up in a comic I'm reading, like in War of the Realms or Captain Marvel: Dark Avenger, I want to ask her how her law practice is doing.

[@bug8992]

I was kind of hoping to see batman with his cowl on and just a bathing suit. Just the thought of that makes me laugh.

[@mitchellcowan2500]

“Alfred! Where’s my lei from the Avengers luau party?

[@JohnnyElRed]

We know Selina Kyle would agree.

[@jamesmallone]

Sorry, but it's gotta be the Adam West style Batman with swim trunks over his costume, Old Chum.

[@tskmaster3837]

Cowl, cape and slingshot? "Because I'm Buttman!"

[@TheSeptet]

I feel like if Bats showed up for a swimsuit shoot, he'd come wearing a deep sea diving Batsuit, complete with SCUBA tanks. "What? This is how I go swimming."

[@TheHeroOfTomorrow]

"The fairy tale boob enthusiasts?" Did you mean: Hiro Mashima fans? :P

[@johannesmakila2459]

Well Fairy Tail does have some fan service.

[@TheHeroOfTomorrow]

@@johannesmakila2459 That would be the joke, Ted.

[@KidSnivy69]

I'm simultaneously sad and proud I understood that joke.

[@jamesmallone]

I have no shame in admitting I was thinking it too. I've never read or watched the series, but I know it's reputation.

[@isaacgleeth3609]

@@johannesmakila2459 *SOME* fan service!? Understatement of the decade.

[@bevanurielpetersen6255]

Proof that captain America does read the Constitution in his free time

[@ramdom_assortment]

It's just the Marvel writers in recent years don't.

[@L1701]

S Aurelius Let me guess, you just discovered the X-Men are about bigotry being a bad thing, right?

[@MrSafior]

@@L1701 Freaking Gator, em'I right?

[@chubbubdreamer6904]

@@ramdom_assortment Huh?

[@LupineShadowOmega]

I'm honestly interested in that being a plot point, that Cap is studying to be Constitutional Scholar.

[@natethebluekirby2089]

Me: Who posts a video at 1 AM? Linkara: “Oh boy! 1 AM!”

[@Comic3247]

NatetheBlueKirby 20 it's 9AM over here in England

[@jaredsamples6969]

3AM for me

[@agentq123]

man you be up late

[@HORRIOR1]

11 am here.

[@or_gluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

and 11 am over here in isreal

[@wstine79]

With Linkara saying cheese cake so much, you'd think he was the to get the Goldden Girls there.

[@ADHDListComedian]

... for a second I read that as Goldeen Girls and I just imagined a version where they each just had a Goldeen with them 24/7

[@alanzapreservationtheythem2861]

Blaze best Pokémon spinoff ever!

[@OtakuboyT]

Roses crossover!

[@Gaia_BentosZX5]

He'd also likely summon Wallace from Wallace & Gromit due to the amount of times he uttered cheese.

[@ShinoSarna]

9:00 I think this is parody of Rob Liefeld's artstyle. Despite his quickly rising popularity, a lot of people were critical - or just making fun - of him.

[@leephillips4402]

shinobody seriously his body is screaming

[@Ellthom]

I still love the video of Stan Lee ribbing Rob Liefelds work :P

[@jimduchene]

Funny how a lot of comments focus on sex or sexuality when your conclusion is , in abstracto, "have fun with it, laugh with the subject and try to be different from just porn".

[@lucetubegplusstillsux2678]

Linkara with Sunglasses makes him look ready to start a Jazz Band

[@JohnnyElRed]

If he is going to be any kind of musician, I think he looks more like Stevie Wonder.

[@jamesmallone]

I'm reasonably sure he wore those glasses for a musician-themed one-off joke in one or more of his reviews.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Only if he invites Batman and the Brothers of the Bop. XD

[@matthewmckee3762]

To me, the glasses more suggest beatnik poetry.

[@Avenger85438]

Comic artists need to learn, Time and Place. If the heroes are in a fight or having a dramatic moment. Have the art reflect that. Don't have a close up of their butt or something. If there in a situation where the individual's involved are hot for each other, and would be ogling or acting seductive, then it works.

[@johnoneil9188]

I never thought the day would come to hear Linkara say the word "front butt"

[@Nulthazor]

Pretty sure the artists were going for thighs But front butt is way funnier

[@legoking6165]

I believe the term "front butt" originated from the four part Futurama adventure Benders big score.

[@ZeddtheVHSotaku]

Eliza and pollo in bikinis on the Title Card got me. Also Cable looks like he's going through the final stages of Youngblood's disease unhealthy muscular growth.

[@ForrestFox626]

Does that mean Pollo identifies as a lady?

[@Mobysimo]

@@ForrestFox626 Nah he's said before he dosent see himself as a woman, I think hes just trying it on for fun

[@brianbrant6079]

Pretty sure the Cable jeans ad is a reference to Rob Liefeld's jeans commercial.

[@WCWit]

You can't just say that without linking to it kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2XCi4OvbcuYr6M

[@EmeraldCityVideo]

That was my first thought, too

[@mesektet5776]

With all the villainess I started to wonder where Mystique. But then it occurred to me... “That’s why “Mary Jane Watson” keeps showing up in these.”

[@jamesmallone]

Or Copycat.

[@IzzuZiq]

Between this and the rant about how DC and Marvel suck at marketing their comic books, I'm amused how the Marvel side of things boils down to "at least Marvel put in a bit more effort"

[@wolfclaw719]

I've always found the idea of a swimsuit issue fascinating, well when they're done with a comedic spin like the early marvel ones less so the pinup collections. But back to what Linkara said near the end about having in-universe explanations is funny as I had plans for something like that with my own comic I've been working on for the past few years as the premise involves a group of superheroes who get funding by being in a reality show (think more like 'Tiger and Bunny' as apposed to 'Youngblood' though) so the idea of the sponsors who pay for damages after the fights wanting a swimsuit issue would be brought up within the actual issue to give them a framing device and reason to be bikini-clad and poolside woth some of the cast a little less enthusiastic about the whole spiel, that said this idea was kinda a back-burner concept as I have yet to actually finish issue one... three years of work and nothing to show for it.

[@matthewsimpson5529]

Okay seriously, did Immortal Hulk emerge exclusively for the first two swimsuit issues before the current series?? WHY IS HULK SO CREEPY IN THOSE???

[@alexjames7670]

I'm pretty sure that's the Professor Hulk (comic version not movie one) because when he first appeared there were several promotional images of him smiling insanely. That was Peter David's idea to make this Hulk's smile like the Jack Torrence "Heeere's Johnny!" thing.

[@JohnnyElRed]

The funny thing about the Hulk swinsuit appereances, is that those faces look weird taking into account that's his Professor Hulk persona... but had they made this a few years before, and those faces would have look completly normal and in character for Joe Fixit.

[@hotaru8309]

I can't believe you beat up that blind lawyer for his glasses. They even wound up being too small after all that effort you put into clocking the guy.

[@leephillips4402]

I'd like a deadpool issue that deals with his disappointed at never being invited to these

[@emilsoderman3691]

Bah,no Thanos in a Hawaii shirt? Thats the best one!

[@michaelnally2841]

Thanos in a Hawaii shirt and trunks with infinity stones on them

[@mrbagmon2559]

I like the idea of short stories and in universe parody ads.

[@ItsTheFizz]

"Fairy Tale Boob Enthusiast" Aaaaaaaaand I'm reminded that Alan Moore's Lost Girls exists...

[@InoMercy]

As an (aspiring) pin-up artist, I appreciate you not just shitting on the idea of a swimsuit issue, and actually putting real thought into your critique of these things. For the record, I agree that if Swim Suit Issues are to continue, they should be more parodies of real in-universe magazines, with interviews, joke ads, a framing device, and the whole she-bang. The Grimm Fairy Tales pin ups are pretty bad, especially with their habit of shying away from full nudity. Like the one with the Little Mermaid covering her breasts with her tail fin (Which, admittedly one of their better pin-ups)it's weird she apparently doesn't have nipples. Zenoscope is an independent comics publisher, there is no reason not to have the occasional bare breast in their pin ups. It is what they're best known for. I think an obvious answer to the disparity between the female and male pin ups would be to hire more female artist for the swimsuit issues. I don't know how many woman artist were in the comics industry when those Marvel Specials were coming out; but it might have been a good idea to get some more female gaze images in there. And not just for the men, but also showing the heroines in ways women find sexy in themselves. Kinda like how Bayonetta was designed by a woman.

[@JoeAconite]

9:11 The Cable parody was making fun of Liefeld appearing in the Levi 501 jeans ads in the 90s.

[@Altair718]

I think the parody ads are the best thing to come outta these. Oh and Cap casually reading the Constitution when there is like....am entire ocean to play in. XD

[@mjanssenart]

The entire time Linkara just reminded me of Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, because of those sunglasses

[@eamonndeane587]

I wonder... Did he find a Rubberband?

[@ramdom_assortment]

Rule34 pre-internet.

[@Tomha]

You remember when someone was a legend if they got their hands on hentai and brought it to school before the internet was common?

[@kimifw58]

Check out Tijuana Bibles.

[@skylord2114]

I don’t mind women in comics being in skimpy outfits as long as it makes sense for the character what I mean like power girl she has a reason to me it’s to show for body they’re proud of and it might assist with their ability

[@rebeccahogan876]

I may be a lesbian but... yeah the exaggerated posing doesn't do it for me. Now if the *women* were doing the flexing, it'd be a different story.

[@uberd3323]

Nobody cares

[@rebeccahogan876]

@@uberd3323 Then why did you say anything?

[@uberd3323]

Rebecca Hogan because i was bored

[@CaladonianQueen]

I'd love it if they released swimsuit issues that function the same as anime beach episodes: where the heroes frolic and tie up emotional arcs before the climactic battle.

[@OTheDetective]

That sounds cool

[@BakerMaN-ll8du]

There was a very recent issue of Averagers where Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor just talking in a hot spring. Later on you got Captain Marvel join in but you really dont get to see the swimsuit she's wearing, She-Hulk joins in too, naked, but and it's in her steroid monster form not her usual self. Also the art was bad.....it was really weird issue.

[@jamesmallone]

That actually does sound like a good idea. I know Gen 13 did it, but I think Gen 13 was pretty anime-influence by that point anyway.

[@BodySprayMan]

@@BakerMaN-ll8du Oh yeah, what makes that especially off was that the previous issue was She-Hulk was going on about how she hated being ogled and hit on by her co-workers when she was thinner. Cut to the next issue, she gets full on naked and Tony openly, lewdy ogles her.

[@BakerMaN-ll8du]

@@BodySprayMan Christ IKR! I swear Aaron seems get these spurts of autism when he try's to make fun of fans. The man had the subtlety of a bull.

[@SarcasticSnake64]

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it took me this long to notice that my woodwork made it to your wall! Nearly four months, my goodness. I'm so honored. This has brought me such joy In such a dark time in my life. Also I love that you have finally covered these issues. Keep up the great work Lewis!

[@isaacbailey3681]

_Death-Con: for those who just want to watch the world burn._

[@benwasserman8223]

The weird thing about Grimm Fairy Tales' comics is that the stories are quite intriguing. It's just that every woman is dressed like a scantily glad pin-up model for no reason

[@spawnfyre]

It's mostly just the covers. The 2 main heroines of the univese Skye and Robyn are basically in regular super hero costumes. Yeah they show some skin, but I wouldn't really call them scantily clad.

[@theplaguegamer6216]

12:18 with the klanger thing u almost expected Linkara to make a joke about Darksied and his comfy chair

[@Artista_Frustrado]

the Udon one is even more baffling because most of those artists already upload pinup art for free on DevianArt anyway can we have In-Universe ads issues instead? those are way funnier

[@WraithTDK]

Quite possibly the single most awkward, geeky thing I can say about my teenage years in the 90's is that my friends stashed playboys while I stashed Marvel swimsuit issues. Don't judge me internet, I was young and household internet access wasn't a thing yet. Also, I've seen your fan art...

[@kimifw58]

We understand.

[@michaelnally2841]

I don’t judge dude.

[@justanotheranimeprofilepic]

I get it

[@lsgreger2645]

I kinda wish Linkara found the Punisher speedo and was wearing it over his pants when he got up to walk away!

[@Syurtpiutha]

Regarding Daredevil and Skiing, this may seem surprising, but skiing is actually pretty popular among blind people. Basically, they will wear a vest with the words 'Blind Person' on it, and will follow a sighted person down the slope. They'll stay in contact via a headset, and the sighted person will give instructions on directions and stuff. I have a blind colleague who goes skiing occasionally.

[@joetune1945]

Oh, Linkarra. Sometimes you remind me just how young you really are. About the time of the first Marvel Swimsuit issue, Rob Liefeld starred in an TV commercial for 501 button-fly jeans, the tagline being '501 BUTTON YOUR FLY'. So of course, Marvel put out a parody with Rob's most infamous Marvel character packing a gun with a zipper on it with the tagline '401 ZIP YOUR ZIPPER'.

[@Fyrmer]

Pretty sure that thing Punisher's wearing is a codpiece.

[@YourUncleBenis]

Tbh, I think she should spend a few nights fighting crime in that thing. I mean, the shock of seeing the Punisher bust into your place in a codpiece would probably slow your reactions down a bit.

[@RabblesTheBinx]

@@YourUncleBenis I think that would work better with someone like Batman and a pair of fuzzy Bat-Boxers: "Oh, God, I'll go legit! Just put some clothes on!"

[@EvilTurtleSlash]

Given the blowup doll with Dr. Doom, could that have been an early sign of his crush on Squirrel Girl?

[@legoking6165]

That would be pedophilia. Squirrel girl is a teenager and Doctor Doom is at least in his mid thirties.

[@StealthMarmot_]

Oh cheesecake is so fun when it is so blatantly shameless. Make me chuckle. Self awareness is a good thing.

[@johnnycage112]

Tis the time of year for SWIMSUITS! :3

[@misterabbadon977]

18:19 "The Lady Death Swimsuit issue..." AKA literally every issue of Lady Death, bar none

[@weirdotzero7065]

While the Captain America one gave me a reminder of why I love me some beef, I do wish there was more beef in these. Like real, delicious, hot smoldering beef, not that fast food, barely qualify as food beef.

[@KidSnivy69]

He does have America's Ass

[@OTheDetective]

Primo meat

[@darwinxavier3516]

So no Flash or Quicksilver for you.

[@uberd3323]

Shut up

[@JaelinBezel]

I’m not entirely certain you still mean men by the end and not actual 🥩

[@SereneDancer]

I always love it when you delve into things like difference of how women and men are represented. Overall a great episode and i loved the DeathCon bit in the credits

[@majamystic256]

If I ever make a comic or manga series, I want to make a swimsuit issue for fun.

[@GarlicPudding]

AC Comics' Femforce had a swimsuit issue. Most of their heroines are size-shifters, so LOTS of giant woman hogging the beach there.

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

And then you get Nightwing, who IS often portrayed as being sexualized, his butt front-and-center in a lot of panels, his flexibility on-display, and...he has a MASSIVE FEMALE FANBASE. And he's basically the only mainstream male hero drawn that way.

[@GenericProtagonist118]

I remember that infamously there was those images of heroes standing in front of all their other versions throughout time. While Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman were doing their regular hero stances, Nightwing was standing with his back turned showing his extremely toned cheeks. Some people thought it was funny, other's hated it. Personally I don't care about such squabbles but if that does it for you... I completely agree as to why.

[@adamf.charles5857]

Liknara had been turned into Morpheus? I dont watch plot parts for most of the time, so I dunno

[@jamesmallone]

I think the idea is supposed to be that he's wearing sunglasses as part of a summer theme - for example, the tropical themed shirt. Considering he's INDOORS, it's understandable your mind didn't go there.

[@backupaccountforcooldaddyj7895]

Looks more like Crowley fro Good Omens to me.

[@BATCHARRO]

Yes a battle with Mechalinksano has left the Comicron trapped in a virtual reality where Linkara became the leader of a resistance.

[@zephyrfields9977]

"Post new fifty-two" and "reaaaal bad"... Is it time for Heroes in Crisis?

[@KidSnivy69]

You'll have to wait for Event Comics Month next year

[@zephyrfields9977]

@@KidSnivy69 Riiight. Sorry, got ahead of myself.

[@MarvelMan4]

Not yet...got to do some of the OTHER bad stuff Tom King did first.

[@KidSnivy69]

@@zephyrfields9977 P.S. I love your Robin avatar

[@ForrestFox626]

Dude, where did you get your avatar!? 😍

[@tonyjoestar2632]

I agree with your opinion on hero attire, but I figured at least in a sexy swimsuit issue is meant to entice people who are into dudes too.

[@samalinder]

My own addition to the Grimm fairy tales comic line, at our local comic shop they are actually black bagged because of the covers. Also, neat sun glasses

[@BlackHook13]

Sometimes cheesecake is more alluring than straight up nudity and porn. Just saying.

[@OPLOmega]

I mean, fair, but there's still a large amount of cheesecake that can be gotten free online in this day and age.

[@BlackHook13]

@@OPLOmega Sometimes artists need money to live.

[@KidSnivy69]

I think I've lost that ability, because it does almost nothing for me nowadays. Then again, maybe I've watched too much echie anime.

[@keelanbarron928]

That's because whatever is covered up is ALWAYS going to be more alluring then what you don't. (I mean it, at one point knees were considered sexy because they were rarely shown. I'm pretty sure those hijab things were put onto females so that men wouldn't get boners from hair.)

[@aros0018]

I think it was That 70's Show that had kind of a funny line that Playboy should have a swimsuit issue. "Sometimes I need to be teased!"

[@SgtKaneGunlock]

I Appreciate that you called it the huttslayer outfit

[@adeadphish7931]

SgtKaneGunlock I am so glad that term is gaining traction, both in SW canon in real life pop culture stuff here

[@chris7263]

I'd never heard it called that before, but I love it.

[@darwinxavier3516]

Never heard it either. I like it. People keep forgetting how badass Leia was for choking a space monster to death in impractical fantasy armor.

[@Shadoestar]

Grimm Fairy Tales is actually a really good series. Zenescope has a bunch of other good titles as well, like Van Helsing, Robyn Hood, Wonderland, Oz and Fly. Zenescope also has a pretty large female readership that they didn't expect who were attracted to the strong female characters in their books. The women are actually portrayed respectfully and are pretty fleshed out (no pun intended).

[@elrick44]

Never felt inclined to read Grimms Fairy Tales, you say... whelp, someone's gonna patrion request that

[@JohnnyElRed]

He should have learned not to say those things in his videos a time ago. From here to a year, I'm seeing a whole string of Zenescope comics in the timetable.

[@keelanbarron928]

Specking of that, can i get specifics as to where i can patrion request stuff? I have a few suggestions that need to be made.

[@littlekuribohimposte]

Keelan Barron You gotta watch his patreon. I believe he sells slots at the $80 tier and they go really fast. I’m sad we never got his review of Chrono Trigger since the requester picked something else for him to do

[@keelanbarron928]

@@littlekuribohimposte really? Damn. (Also that chrono trigger review would've been good for me since i never played it before and it would be an interesting way of seeing it.)

[@littlekuribohimposte]

@@keelanbarron928 It's about 17 hours and a great rpg. If you can't find a copy in a used game store, it might be on Steam or your phone. Good way to spend a weekend

[@cartoonkelly7924]

“Do not judge DOOM!” That’s a different comic XD

[@kimifw58]

There's a Roger Rabbit comic?

[@Andy_Draws0209]

I watched this last year about a week or two before I left for Anaheim to sell my artwork at the 2019 Anaheim Power-Con! This vid gave me both a good laugh and in a way reminded to not sweat the convention and just have fun drawing while selling!! So again thanx #linkara

[@saintdane05]

My personal favorite swimsuit issue happens to come from the wicked and the divine,and it's not even a swimsuit issue. It's a fashion magazine that uses the various characters. It's all done by the amazing Kevin Wada, who actually does pin-up material. He has a pretty decent balance between men's and women's fashion, lots of very spoilery in Universe interviews, some of what you're actually pretty revealing. Definitely check it out, I think it's either issue 23 or 24

[@Merit2397]

On an unrelated note, HOT DAMN, those are some SUEDE SHADES 🕶!!! Seriously, Lewis should have worn those back in the "Captain America: War on Drugs" review and had the "I Ware My Sunglasses at Night" song play in the background!!!

[@PaulSebert]

The Jeans commercial is a parody of the Levis commercial that Rob Liefeld appeared in shortly before bolting to Image Comics. I'm guessing drawing Cable in the most Liefeld-esc fashion was a massive "Take-That" to Rob. Even in '92 people where joking about Rob's art style.

[@Andy_Draws0209]

Wouldn't ya just LOVE to go fishing with Ol' Venom there, I mean what could be wrong with fishing with a completely bloodthirsty man eating psychopath whom is obsessed with Spidey! Lol haha

[@juliewinchester1488]

Linkara would have done this in his own swimwear, but he realized our eyes weren't ready to bear witness to his gorgeous, manly muscles that would put the superheroes from the comics he reads to shame - so gorgeous in fact that it'd make our eyes burn from inside our skulls. Not because KZbin would flag it as advertiser unfriendly or due to his own comfort, no - he did it for us, the viewers. Not all heroes wear swim suits.

[@WJCuffe]

I'm really surprised you didn't include the Elementals Swimsuit Special from Comico and the subsequent books' quick slide into adult themes. You could probably get a whole episode out of just Fathom's (not the Aspen one) dalliances.

[@aaronbourque5494]

Maybe it's just me, since I'm pretty sure this just barely predates her, but Doom's blow-up doll... looks like Squirrel Girl. Seriously, it's about the right height, and the hair... maybe it's just a loony fan's brain finding connections where none exist. At least, I sure hope so...

[@maakujiten3812]

Why did he choose Zenoscope? The regular issues are a swimsuit issue already.

[@blondbraid7986]

Regarding the "equality" of the beefcake men, I'd say that the vast majority of women don't find men who look like steroid abusers sexy. If they'd actually wanted to have broad mass appeal to women, look at Edward or Jacob from Twilight or basically any yaoi characters ever. Sure they might have some toned muscles and visible abs, but they don't look like a human version of a Belgian Blue bull full of visible veins and sinews. And Namor at 15:00 just looks like he was straight up flayed alive.

[@pgj1997]

These reminded me a lot of the Touhou manga "Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia", an in-universe tabloid that also features some in-universe ads. Like Doremy Sweet selling a brand of pillows, or Sakuya Izayoi putting out a shady employment ad for the Scarlet Devil Mansion. (one of my favorites of the Touhou print works, by the way)

[@devlinburgess2463]

These are so much weirder and more surreal than I had expected. I always figured they were just straight up fanservice, not these pseudo-sexual fever dreams. That gargantuan image of Cable will never leave my nightmares.

[@TheUncomplicator]

I’m sorry Linkara,but with those sunglasses you remind me of the blind guy from men in thigh

[@rna151]

Oh come on, if Cable leaves his guns behind *they'll get lonely*! You don't want that, do you?

[@TerryB01]

Oh yeah! Now we're talking! DC and Marvel need to bring these back :D

[@TOK150]

Wow. I have officially been watching AT4W for 10 years now(since about 2 weeks ago actually) ever since Superman vs the Terminator: Death to the Future!

[@weirdotzero7065]

Awesome. Mine won't come around til May 2021, with the 10th anniversary of Superman Meets the Quik Bunny.

[@spawnfyre]

Great video! The red headed woman from GFT is Keres, she's their embodiment of Death, and she appears in the Grimm Tales of Terror series kind of the host. It's an updated version of Tales/Crypt and if you enjoy those types of stories check it out. To their credit, Zenescope does offer non cheesecake covers for almost all their books too. :)

[@ShyBiiteVT]

Not gonna lie. For the first half of the video, it felt like I was watching an older video of yours. I'm certain you already did an in depth video looking at swimsuit issues. Possibly another case of the Mandela Effect for me. Update: I think I now know why I felt like I've seen this before. This topic was covered by Comic Drake in a video. My memory on the video must've been so hazy, it replaced Drake with Linkara.

[@tylersaez4095]

I can't wait to see Linkara rip into Tom King's Batman next week.

[@fermintenava5911]

As a bisexual man, I don't find most of the men in the Marvel issues very attractive. Not with the amount of sinews they add to the muscles. Compare that to the women, whose skin is drawn immensely smooth and soft. (Though that picture of T'Challa really was quite dreamy 😍)

[@JohnnyElRed]

I attribute that to the 90's style of drawing. Had they made a swinsuit number today, I'm sure the men would had look actually sexy, instead of simply inflated with steroids.

[@BakerMaN-ll8du]

As a bi man, forgive if I word this weird, what poses does another man have to make to come off sexy and alluring? The same as the women?

[@jamesmallone]

@@BakerMaN-ll8du I was wondering that myself. In general, I think it's nice to see women and LGBT viewers chime in the comments to give their perspective, since Linkara seemed to be just making assumptions about what they would think of the male pinups (not saying he doesn't have an idea of the frame of reference from interactions with fans, friends and colleagues, he might, just saying that's how he came off in the video)

[@rickpgriffin]

@@jamesmallone Well, I am bisexual and even though superheroes in general aren't my type I can give my two cents-- I like the guys in these issues. Well... depending on the art style anyway, that first one with creepy Hulk is just plain insofar as it comes to the body appearances. No see, my main thing is that I LIKE muscle. Not exclusively of course, I like lots of body types, but the women just tend to all look the same after a while. I keep wanting to see a bit more meat on them but a lot of superhero artists seem keen on drawing women so you can see their skeletons and that's just a turn-off for me.

[@BakerMaN-ll8du]

@@rickpgriffin So you like muscle on your men. God this feels weird to ask, but do you like your men doing certain poses? If so which ones and why do you like said poses.

[@dmore454]

Interestingly enough, the swimsuit issues weren't the only time Marvel would do magazines that were written from the perspective of people who lived in the Marvel U, as if the magazines were in-universe artifacts. I wanna say it was the Marvel Year in Review magazines they started putting out in the late 80s into the mid 90s. You'd get stuff like interviews with characters and top ten best and worst costumes lists with commentary by the Wasp.

[@quirkstormjet3986]

"A Post N52 Storyline that's REEEEEEEALLY bad" JL Vs SS? Heroes In Crisis?

[@MarcoPolo-gr4xy]

Nope it’s a Batman two parter called “The Gift.”

[@JunAoi]

I get you didn't read Gen13 or DV8 but Bliss' power (at this point in time) was literally death boners. She could stimulate people's pleasure and pain receptors via telepathy to the point. Not excusing naked Bliss in a bunch of NATO rounds or anything but it's shockingly in-character for her to lie naked in a symbol of death. Bliss is probably the best character after Sublime in DV8 btw.

[@akhannar9368]

Wait... Lady Death had a swimsuit issue? I know nothing about Lady Death comics, but unless she actually wore more clothes on in the regular comics, than her more well-known design, I expect the swimsuit issue to actually have her more covered than usual.

[@ReaperJ202]

5:50 I have only one question, "Does Medusa's drapes match the Carpet"?

[@leephillips4402]

GravediggerJones201 considering its her that may be what we're seeing

[@legoking6165]

Can you please not say that? I do not want to envision women with pubic hair.

[@HenshinHeroesMedia]

Linkara, zenescope has some good stories. Fly is a pretty good story and the author, raven Gregory (I think that's his name), actually put his own personal struggles and life on the comic but with some twists

[@DoomMomDot]

I like the idea of them being in universe with interviews and ads. it would make sense that companies would try and get superhero endorsements. As to why DC never did one, somebody probably asked Wonder Woman to pose, she flattened them, and nobody dared bring up the idea ever again ...

[@jfdrac]

OMG the Morbius meme began in the swimsuit special

[@BuddyL]

I like that when you mention Male Gaze/sexualisation of women at 16:44 you show the infamous Namorita-in-a-green-👙 pic... as the character WAS MEANT TO BE UNDERAGE AT THE TIME! Good God! The 'Street Fighter' one was probably their (belated) attempt to get in on the 'DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball'🏐🎮 audience.

[@tuvyamaeir4684]

I posted this comment on your last video when you said you were doing this, but look up DC's swimsuit stuff from very recently. They do it a LOT. Usually based with actual collections of tiny stories, but then including pinups and variant covers that do exactly what these do.

[@lavernebennet7395]

I'd question the inclusion of Tiffany Lords (the girl standing next to Guile on the beach) in that Street Fighter issue, considering she's in high school, but her design is already really sexualized and her official title is "Sexy Cheerleader" so I guess it's essentially to be expected.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Curse Words as a whole is really tongue in cheek. I really enjoy the series and was really surprised to see it pop up here. Kudos.

[@SasukeUchiha-ix2yk]

Venom fishing just made my morning lol. ths whole episode did

[@chaoticjusticezero]

7:52 "What does The Punisher use when he has cockroaches?" Napalm. Lots and lots of napalm.

[@AGoodBrentDogs]

The last Hulk grinning face totally looks like the “u mad?” meme.

[@CanuckWolfman]

Cap's singlet in his first picture reminded me so much of a certain Olympic Hero that I started chanting "you suck!" Out of pure reflex.

[@MykiiMescal]

Thanks for this strange birthday present Lewis.

[@KidSnivy69]

HAPPY (strange) BIRTHDAY! 🎉🎈🎁🎊🍹🍰🎂🍰🍹🎊🎁🎈🎉