New Line Of Comic-Themed T-Shirts Have Some Screaming 'Sexist'

MANHATTAN BEACH (CBSLA.com)  —  A new line of t-shirts with superheroes has some shoppers thinking the clothing sends the wrong message to children, especially young girls.

The theme of many of the shirts -- licensed by DC Comics -- is that young women can aspire to marry superheroes like Superman or Batman but not actually be superheroes.

CBS2's Joy Benedict went to Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach to gauge reaction from the people who know comics the best -- the fans.

"I'm more on the side that they are offensive," said Megan Madrigal.

There is Superman "scoring" with Wonder Woman and t-shirts aimed at teen girls saying "Training to be Batman's Wife."

There are even new baby onsies that imply that girls can only date heroes. A similar boy's onesie says "Future Man of Steel."

"It's basically telling little girls you can't be a super hero, you only can be a superheroes wife," says Madrigal.

The t-shirts are available at Walmart, Target, Amazon.com.

"We live in a time where you need to be sensitive," says Mike Wellman, owner of Comic Bug.

Many comics, Wellman concedes, have a history of being sexist.

But with Wonder Woman, Batwoman and Super Girl have their own books and followings.

"There's a lot more female readers coming in to comics and I certainly want to invite them and Superman scoring with Wonder Woman may not be the message Marvel and DC, the big companies, should be sending."

DC Comics agrees.

They issued a statement that said, in part "We understand the messages on certain t-shirts are offensive."

The company has vowed to take a closer look moving forward.

"I do think they need to take a second glance at it and say can this be taken in a sexist way?" says Sara Bergman, a comic book fan.

Benedict reports that judging by sales, the shirts seem to be very popular. "Training to be Batman's Wife," for example is out on stock on Walmart.com.

Regardless of the controversy, fans told Benedict they just hope the t-shirts don't keep potential new readers from becoming fans of the genre.