The series ‘Heroes’ is a modern response and interpretation of Roy Lichtenstein’s artworks.
 

Drawing from two key points of the artist’s artworks, the representation of women and the use of comics imagery, the series introduces a contemporary version of Western women, as opposed to Lichtenstein’s, who true to its time illustrated the damsel in distress. Like the Pop Art artist, the images consist of vibrant colour planes and small white stripes have replaced the famous dot patterns used for the skin, lending a different kind of three-dimensional effect. To resonate with the sandy off-white type of paper originally used for comic books, aside from the base preparation, the side of the paintings displaying the quotes was left bare.
 

Lichtenstein’s Pop Art comics’ aesthetic resonates with nowadays’ popularity of comics, the latter which have taken over the world of cinema in recent years, and their women characters who have also become icons. Unlike Lichtenstein’s characters, these are originally ‘villains’ and yet they have managed to find a strong audience by standing for strong feminist values. This shows a definite shift in Western women’s evolution in society, as popular characters are not the ones from Hollywood romantic comedies crying for Brad, but rather heroins and villainnesses becoming anti-heroes. The latter shift is a true novelty, as tales, myths and legends have mostly always been quite manicheistic, and now characters like the Joker, the ultimate psychopath of the franchise, got his own eponymous movie in 2019 (directed by Todd Philpp’s and starring Joaquin Phoenix).

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Even if characters such as Maupassant’s Bel-Ami, Lermontov’s Pechorin or Balzac’s Rastignac already were examples of anti-heroes, there always remained a clarity as to whether what they were doing was wrong, which is not always the case anymore. These characters’ popularity offer an interesting societal perspective that questions our notions of good and evil, and how permutable they can be with the passing of centuries. DC’s Batman universe has had the particularity over the years of offering a deep backstory to its villains embedded in societal issues, so as to explain why they do what they do and how they became criminals, so it is no wonder that its characters should gain more attention in an age where the line between good and evil seems increasingly blurry. This finds a particular resonance nowadays also in real life, when people like Luigi Mangione, who allegedly killed (at the time of this publication) Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthCare, are considered heroes by a great mass of people on social media. It questions our definition of right and wrong, and which criteria we use to form an opinion.

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To illustrate this, three important women villain from this franchise have been chosen, in part for the themes they stand for, which holds a feminist value, for their shift in status from villainess to hero, and also for the impact they have had on pop culture. The parallel between the women of Lichtentstein, although not defined characters as these are, but stereotypes showcasing women’s issues in his time, show a will to improve one’s condition, reach independence and get out of abuse cycles. These characters, which contemporary times have shaped and transformed as opposed to the decades since their creation, have charmed and inspired generations in the domain of pop culture, but similarly, they have shed a telling light on our society, its expectations, and stands as a mirror of what still remains to be done and fought for.

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Selina Kyle was created in the 1940s as the archetypal film noir ‘femme fatale’, later became a mirror to societal issues faced by women since the dawn of time. In one of her first back stories, the character had to engage in prostitution, falling prey to one of the oldest traps in society, which many women still have to resort to against their will to survive. In Tim Burton’s ‘Batman Returns’ (1991), Selina Kyle is a secretary unable to evolve professionally, because of an employer who harasses her, abuses her and ends up killing her. She then resurrects and exacts her revenge. In all versions, she manages to rise from the gutter and becomes this powerful wealthy woman standing for the voiceless, the animals, by stealing from the rich in the form of her alter ego Catwoman. Her unbearable life and just cause makes it a popular anti-hero representing many of women’s ordeals.

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Dr. Harleen Quinzel or Harley Quinn, was created in the 1990s, but it is the movie ‘Suicide Squad’ released in 2016, starring Margot Robbie, that brought the character to stardom – among other feats, in 2017, Harley Quinn was the most worn Halloween costume worldwide. The character’s story is the embodiment of a woman being coerced and trapped into a violent, toxic, dangerous relationship, who manages to get out of it and to become her own unexpected psychotic saviour, using immoral, lethal methods. Additionally, Pamela Isley, a friend of hers who helped her out of this relationship, went to become her new lover, making of Harley a strong LGBTQ+ character.

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Probably the most interesting case for the coming times, Pamela Isley or Poison Ivy. Long considered a psychopath and a lunatic in many interpretations of her story and interactions with the franchise’s heroes, Poison Ivy defends the environment and plants at all costs. Given the contemporary state of climate change, the societal shift in the popular perception of the character has already started, and from a psychopath, she is slowly becoming a hero. Despite her obvious sadism, what she defends is an eminently contemporary issue in the broader sense and thus she is the one at present blurring the lines between good and evil the most in the franchise, and will probably become a very important and present character in the coming years.

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The title of the painting is the original first name of the character, devoid of its alter ego, to create a sense of proximity and universality with these women standing and suffering from common societal issues. They are followed by the reference of the quote, each of which is a strong stance of the character grounded in feminism, and the name of the actress represented. 

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