Bam! Glam! This heroine battles the evil power of pores

Marvel, Benefit Cosmetics

Meet Marvel’s latest – SpyGal, who primps for action with the help of her handy Porefessional pore-minimizer.

By Rick Schindler and Rina Raphael

Wonder Woman may be beautiful as Aphrodite, but she hasn’t got a lick of style sense (bustier, hot pants, all that heavy bling? Tres tacky).

Fortunately, there’s a new comic book heroine in town, ready to battle for truth, justice… and a smooth complexion.

The Porefessional tries to make the world safe from the evil of unsightly blemishes.

San Francisco-based cosmetic brand Benefit wanted a lighthearted way to promote its best-selling Porefessional ($29), a lightweight, Vitamin E-packed skin balm that helps smooth the appearance of pores and fine lines. one of the more popular pore minimizers, it has a cult following online: even Sephora reviews (of which there are nearly 900) rave about its mattifying properties and ability to help reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and acne scarring.

“it blended perfectly into my skin and immediately looked like my pores were nearly gone without having the appearance of ‘cakie’ make-up,” says one reviewer. “it is also a very light substance, which makes it extremely comfortable to wear.”

Why, it sounds almost… superhuman. So to do justice to its product, Benefit turned to experts: Marvel Custom Solutions, the custom-publishing arm of Marvel Comics, home of such iconic characters as Spider-Man and the Avengers. Voila! Meet SpyGal, who brandishes a pore-zapping ray gun and touch-up case in her never-ending fight against unsightly blemishes. Of course, her true purpose is pure promotion. still, she may lure the young and beauty-obsessed into the colorful world of comics, not to mention get them in the reading habit.

Batwoman steals Batman’s thunder in 1956. Note her stylish utility purse.

Says Marvel’s Bill Rosen: “SpyGal dispenses justice, beauty tips and witty life advice with an effortless grace, while also grappling with work and dating issues.” Benefit and Marvel tout the character as “the first beauty-inspired comic book action hero,” conveniently overlooking Batwoman, created back in the 1950s to combat charges by a crusading psychologist that Batman and Robin were gay: She carried a nifty “utility purse” full of weaponized cosmetics, including tear-gas perfume and smoke-bomb lipstick.

But we’ll bet even Batwoman didn’t have a pore-zapping ray gun. Which would explain the mask.

The limited edition SpyGal comic book will be available at Benefit cosmetic counters this month.

Rick Schindler knows more about comic books than beauty products, and Rina Raphael knows more about beauty than comic books. Together they’re the Batman and Robin of online publishing.

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