When Marvel Divas was announced a few months ago, the press could barely have been more negative. The comic promised to bring together four of Marvel's middle-tier superheroines - The Black Cat, Firestar, Photon and Hellcat - in a story that focussed on their personal lives rather than their superheroics. As a concept, it's not an especially bad idea, particularly in its sincere attempt to write something that might appeal to female readers, who are largely rendered invisible by the stereotypes of comic readership, and by the marketing teams of comic companies.

It's not surprising that it's taking a bit of work to make superhero comics a more palatable genre for women. Superhero publishers are fighting a constant battle to update the attitudes of a genre that, to be frank, was all but built on soft-core pornography and fetish art from the 30s and 40s. Comics like Marvel Divas are a sincere attempt to redress the balance, so even if the concept is a little forced, it can be forgiven.

Something much harder to forgive is the cover to the first issue (pictured) which was drawn by J. Scott Campbell, and shows almost everything that's bad about the portrayal of women in comics. As a result, the book's very target audience - female superhero fans - were actively turned away from the series, for understandable reasons. As a male fan, it's really easy to tell when a comic cover is sexualised in an offensive way - it's when you'd feel embarrassed buying the issue from a female clerk, or to be seen reading it on public transport.

Since the cover is clearly designed to appeal to the (possibly - nay, hopefully - mythical) section of comics fandom who use comics as a masturbatory aid, it'd actually be funny, were it not so tragic. Should such fans pick it up looking for some hot superheroine action, they're going to find something that doesn't remotely appeal to them. A character-led superhero version of Sex And The City - which is to say, the kind of story that would be perfect for those who are repulsed by the gratuitous and exploitative cover. It's rare you get to see a comic sabotage itself so comprehensively.

Inside, the artwork comes from Tonci Zonjic, who not only has a grasp on artwork, but a grasp on the female form that eludes artists like J. Scott Campbell - for example, a woman drawn by Zonjic might have room in their torso for things like internal organs, and a spine. In stark contrast to the cover, the interior artwork is almost everything the industry should be aspiring towards in its portrayal of women. Zonjic's figures and faces are still attractive, but in a realistic way that acknowledges, for example, that four women of different ages, races and upbringings might have different physiques and postures - something Campbell's cover resolutely fails to do.

Aguirre-Sacasa's writing, too, is ahead of the game in terms of treating the subjects of the title with respect, approaching them as characters rather than gender stereotypes. There are a few moments where the story goes slightly too far into 'female issues' territory, which could seem patronising, but in such cases, going too far is probably better than falling short, which is the current accepted standard.

Surprisingly, for a series that had an extremely negative reaction when it was announced, Marvel Divas has actually turned out pretty good, despite the best efforts of its own marketing. The next step, of course, is to apply the storytelling ethos of the series beyond the confines of a 'superhero comic for girls' ghetto. And for god's sake, choose a better title. Although given that it narrowly avoided being called "Marvel Vixens", well, all I can say is that at least things aren't as bad as they could've been.

James writes Alternate Cover every Monday at Den Of Geek. His previous column can be found here.