And I was buying Marvel Divas #1. I was carrying it around as I looked at other things in the store and I was feeling … not exactly ashamed, but I was kind of feeling “No, no, I totally like other things too! This is research, this is going to be better than it looks …”

I don’t know why I particularly cared because I know enough about comics to be confident in my purchases. I think it was just that the cover is completely embarrassing.

So, yes, the comic. It’s better than you probably think it’s going to be. Is it life-changing? No. But it’s fun, and I think that’s all it needs to be.

It’s a little exposition-heavy as we get a pile of relationship and character backstory, but it does work, as Patsy Walker, Monica Rambeau and Felicia Hardy each share their troubles with men over drinks after fleeing from Patsy’s book launch party. It’s something women would do. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa keeps the pace moving and they all talk like friends, with gentle teasing and sometimes criticism. They feel like girls I’d like to hang out with.

Nothing much happens until the final three pages when Angelica Jones walks in, crying. The girls rally around her to find out what’s wrong, and she reveals what I assume is going to be the major plot point — she has cancer — in a surprisingly emotional scene (even though I knew it was coming.

Tonci Zonji’s art is playful and animated, making what would otherwise be static scenes of people talking into something dynamic. He communicates the characters’ emotions amazingly well, with body language and facial expressions. The panel when Angelica first appears, holding her purse to her chest with a tear-stained face, beautifully shows her devastation. While Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing does elevate traditional romantic-comedy conventions beyond the usual, Zonjic’s art is really what makes this book.

I think it’s sad that Marvel really screwed up when they announced this. If people do pick it up, I think they’re going to go into it with the wrong attitude and I don’t know if this issue is really strong enough to overcome that. I did like it quite a bit, but it was about what I expected. It’s just a light-hearted diversion, though, even if it is a good one.

I like the tone so far — these are smart, capable women who still have some realistic lapses in confidence (I think the scene where the more popular superheroines show up is fun). I think whatever melodramatic twists and turns this ends up taking, I think Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic will handle them with wit and grace.

Expect a review of the first issue next week (probably Friday, maybe Saturday. Doubtful on Wednesday, but it’s possible).

(And why, yes, I’d love to say I totally knew what I was doing when I picked the image for my Marvel Divas post, but I didn’t. I just got really lucky. I do, however, think that’s awesome that the very image I was attracted to was a concept for the book.)

I am kind of glad to see that this image is changing some people’s minds about the book, but I do fear it may be too little, too late. I do think Zonjic’s work will make the book something distinctive and fun, but I do think that promo cover will continue to stick in people’s minds.

I’ve been avoiding this issue. I figured I’d wait until the comic came out to talk about it. But I do want to bring it up.

At some point recently, you’ve probably read about this. People saw the image, read the whole “Sex in the City” bit and the outcry was predictably understandable.

But I don’t think a lot of people actually read what was being said, or bothered to look a little bit deeper into who was behind it.

Yes, that cover image is ridiculously terrible. Yes, the title is incredibly stupid. And maybe the whole “superheroines do Sex in the City” idea isn’t the most thoughtful, but as a concept goes, it’s not a terrible one.

But let’s move past that for a moment.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is writing the title. I saw Rorschach Theatre‘s production of his play, Rough Magic, a couple of years ago, and it was awesome, geeky fun with smart, strong female characters and a literate sense of humor. While I am not one who believes gay men can always speak for women, I think Aguirre-Sacasa’s part about the comic being about “to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry)” is interesting. As a gay man, I think he understands that the hyper heterosexual masculinity can be alienating to anyone who’s not a straight male.

And then, there’s the art of Tonci Zonjic, which is pretty awesome and is something I’d be delighted to see in a comic about young women trying to balance romance and careers while they’re, oh yeah, superheroines. It’s definitely a far cry from that promotional art. (This title seems to have the opposite problem of Marvel’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation, which had a great cover and bad art on the inside.)

Will Marvel Divas be good? I don’t know. But the elements seem like they’re in the right place. I do hope that people who would connect with this comic — those who seem to be the most vocally against it — will give it a chance. I’m going to.

(And yes, Marvel doesn’t know how to market to women. I think we’ve figured that out. I mean, I still want my lip gloss, after all.)

Image taken from Tonci Zonjic’s Flickr gallery. I most definitely want superhero comics that look like that. Tonci Zonjic says this was actually a tryout for the title.