You know what the great thing is about being a bent, wizened sorceror who belongs to an Atlantean cult? The great thing is, you can convince the teenage granddaughter of the cult leader that she is vital to the destiny of all mankind and that she should drop whatever the hell she's doing and become your "apprentice." And you can also tell her that oh, just by the way, she needs to dress at all times in a metal bikini top and low-riding powder blue panties with a chrome-plated Ouija board pointer on them.
That's what Dakihm the Enchanter did to Jennifer Kale in some old "Man-Thing" and "Howard the Duck" stories back in the 70's. And sure, she fetched a magic tome from some otherdimensional netherworld and helped repel an invasion from the demon-realm of Sominus. But I think Dakihm mainly wanted to see Jennifer parade around in that outfit. There's something patently creepy about the whole set-up, if you ask me. And that's why I say God bless June Brigman for drawing Jennifer in "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" #6 (May, 1985) like this:
Compare this image with the one of the voluptuous, big-bottomed gal posing on the edge of a table for Dakihm's decrepid amusement. ("Reading this scroll is hard!" *giggle, blush, coquettish head tilt*) Brigman's depiction of Jennifer is really kind of startling in its honesty. She doesn't look much like a stereotypical pulp novel character to me. Instead, it's like a candid shot of a confused, emotionally screwed-up teenage runaway who just happens to be wearing a way-too-revealing costume. It's not so much Frank Frazetta as it is Diane Arbus. Now, I have no idea if Brigman did this on purpose, since everyone she draws tends to look somewhat like a teenage girl. But still, my hat's off to her.
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