Marvel Comics once edited a Spider-Woman variant cover by Italian artist Milo Manara after it was deeper too controversial for its blatant sexualization of the character. In 2014, Manara's variant cover for Spider-Woman #1 was widely criticized for putting the character in a pose that was deemed wildly inappropriate. In response, Marvel Comics censored the cover and apologized for the "mixed messaging" of the image, adding a title that covered up Spider-Woman's backside.
Milo Manara is a legendary artist and author who is best known for his work in erotic comics. Marana's most beloved projects include The Adventures of Giuseppe Bergman, Butterscotch, and his Click series. However, the now 76-year-old comic creator has worked on several Western Comics, including X-Women with Chris Claremont and his Eisner Award-winning work in The Sandman: Endless Nights with Neil Gaiman. Manara has always pushed the boundaries of how he sexualized female characters. However, he doesn't just do eroticism. For example, he did an amazing series of drawings honoring real-life heroes battling Covid-19 last year. Although, Manara is best known for his more risqué work.
In 2014, Marvel Comics unveiled a new variant cover by Manara for Spider-Woman #1. The image featured Spider-Woman on all fours, in a skintight costume, as her backside was lifted up in the air. There's little question the image is intended to oversexualize the hero. However, once it was revealed to the public, it was called out, leading Marvel to change the image when it actually arrived in comic book stores. Here's the image before and after it was censored.
Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, Axel Alonso, apologized for the mixed messaging for the Spider-Woman #1 variant cover. However, he added that since it was a limited edition variant for collectors, they were comfortable publishing it as it was Manara's vision.
We always listen to fans’ concerns so we can do better by them. We want everyone — the widest breadth of fans — to feel welcome to read “Spider-Woman.” We apologize — I apologize — for the mixed messaging that this variant caused.
Manara responded to the criticism by saying he was surprised by it since there was no actual nudity on the variant cover for Spider-Woman #1.
In the ensuing years since the controversy, Marvel Comics has even joked about the incident in the pages of the current ongoing Spider-Woman series. As for the image, Manara's original art for the variant cover of Spider-Woman #1 sold at auction for more than $37,000, showing that the controversy made for one heck of a collector's item.
Ultimately, Marvel Comics knew what they were doing by hiring such a renowned (and controversial) artist in Manara. Did they expect something tame from him? No. But still, Marvel had to know his take on Spider-Woman would be risqué, but probably didn't expect the backlash they received. So, in response to the criticism, they apologized and censored the Spider-Woman image while continuing to work with Milo Manara on new variant covers.