(...) As a metatheoretical perspective that provides a critique of many facets of Western culture, ecofeminism predicts global consequences of catastrophic proportion if current interrelated systems of oppression are permitted to continue to exist (see Bigwood, 1993; Caputi, 1993; Johnson, 1993; Plant, 1989; Plumwood, 1993; Vance, 1993). The exploration of ecofeminist themes within the context of a comic series that is rife with elements of horror and erotica is helpful in terms of gaining insight into how ecofeminism is represented to a demographic which would intuitively seem unreceptive to its overarching concern with systems of patriarchal oppression. McCloud (2000) observes that women and minorities have been vastly underrepresented in both comic art readership and production. Further, many comics (particularly erotic comics) present the reader with violent, degrading and frightening images of women (Horn, 1977; Laity, 2002). Thus, the question of how ecofeminist themes function within a comic text that is presumably read by white males who enjoy viewing sexually violent images of women becomes central to this project. (...)
