Also, the OP suggests that the women are misrepresented as having huge jugs due to their being athletic. This has never been the intent of the strips. These women aren’t supposed to be thought of as benchpressing triathletes. Their big ones are like their super powers: wonderful and mysterious gifts.
That’s why I like Spider-girl (the one that’s PP’s daughter). She’s just an athletic (read, small boobies) woman in a spiderman outfit. Nothing exploitive about it.
There was an attempt a few years ago by the courageous (and extremely talented) Rob Liefeld to even the playing field, as you can see in this picture. Unfortunately it didn’t catch on.
::Snicker:: That’s brilliant, Max. ::Snickersnicker::
As to the question in the OP: IME, one has to be a very, very good artist to pull off small boobs without making the lady look like a 12 year old. There aren’t that many comic book artists with the talent to pull it off, and most of those aren’t amongst the big names.
Just my own observations, though.
Omigods! 
Reminds me of Bob in ‘Fight Club’–the man with the big boobs.
I think women in comic books looked better in the 60’s/70’s and even in the early 1908’s. Actually, all comic books looked beter back then, even If I wasn’t around to read them then.
Look, this is all important stuff to be sure, but what I want to know is why do manniquins now have nipples?
The mind boggles!
-pinky
HA HA! That infamous drawing is considered they worst rendering of Captain American ever.
Marc
Now that’s just pornographic;)
…that’s kinda the whole point.
I know I didn’t misunderstand the intent. That single picture has been the focus of Rob haters ever since it was published. It just made me laugh.
Marc
For an example of the sort of comic book exploitation you’re describing, look at the issues of Red Sonya that Frank Thorne drew – Sonya looks like she stepped out of a beauty parlor (perfect hair, lipstick, and eyeliner) while wearing a bikini made of silver dollars over her perfect-implant boobs. How you could fight in that outfit, or how much protection those silver dollars gave you, were beyond me.
For comparison, look at the first artist to draw Sonya – Barry Smith (before he became Barry Windsor-Smith). He had a realistically-proportioned woman wearing a complete chain mail shirt, short pants, and reasonable boots (I think Thorne had her in high heels). Your perfect female thief.
Just for the record, Sonya as she appeared in the Conan comics was a creation of Roy Thomas. I believe that Robert E. Howard had a character Sonya in a story, but she wasn’t a contemporary of Conan.
Quoth Tengu:
Maybe “small boobs” are difficult, but could we at least get “large but humanly possible” boobs? Say, 36 C or D cup, rather than 72 NNN? There are certainly artists who can pull that off… You see reasonable breasts in newspaper comic strips, for crying out loud.
If you want more realistic looking characters, the “spandex” comics are not where you’re going to find them. Check out DC’s Vertigo line and similar titles, where the characters are drawn to fit the story.
Squish has the right of it. Most of the Vertigo line dooes a pretty good job with how they porrtray women.
Also, for the most realistic-looking comic-book women I’ve yet seen, as far as body types, I look no further than Francine and Katchoo in Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise series. These are women who don’t need huge breasts or tiny waists to look sexy… they’re just lovely with their natural bodies. Their hair is Moore’s only real exaggerated feature, but what hair! I love the flowing way he draws it.
My wife looks a bit like Francine… long dark hair, a natural body type, and irresistably sexy.