I wanted to do a little research on how to introduce more women to comics. I didn’t want to have to hang out at the comic shops while dressed in drag, or do a reverse “Chaz Bono” surgery to gain insight on how women or women characters are treated in comics. Luckily before I had to walk a mile in a woman’s shoes (even though they make my calves look spectacular), I looked to my left and found a woman who reads comics just sitting on the couch next to me.
It was my girlfriend and webmaster Nicki!
She not only reads comics, but can school me on comics trivia any day of the week- and I’ve been reading them for almost 40 years! She is more than qualified to give an opinion on getting women into reading comics, and is pretty easy to talk to.
I asked her what could comic creators do to help attract more female readers to comics?
“Don’t play to stereotypes. Not all women love manga or hate superheroes. Don’t try to write the perfect story for women- just write a good story.”
What else?
“Don’t talk down to readers- don’t patronize. People can fly, shoot laser-beams outta their eyes, climb walls, etc. and I’ll go along with it. But you have to establish your ground rules for that reality and stick to them. There needs to be some rules for that universe based in our reality. For me death is that. In Harry Potter or Star Wars you might see someone’s spirit or ghost, but dead is dead.”
Ok- so we were off to a great start. I then asked her what she thought the retailers were doing to encourage new readers, especially female readers into checking out comics?
“Not a damn thing!”
That question had an immediate response and she followed that answer with-
“Well, most I’ve run across don’t.” She then expanded on that thought.
“Whether it’s retailers not being interested in attracting female readers or just bad customer service- who knows? One of my pet peeves is not greeting customers when they enter a store. They get one first impression as a new customer. Not acknowledging they’re in your shop is just rude. If you don’t do anything to encourage them to stay, look around and explore what your shop has to offer, or to ask questions why should they? I’ve gotten the sense that many retailers have their own niche or share of the local comics market and are good with that. They aren’t really interested in increasing their core customer base or increasing business. Sure there are exceptions out there, but in my opinion comic retailers have that attitude of just opening the doors and waiting for the customers to find their way to the shop. Luckily my local comic shop owner is happy to see me when I stop by to pick up my hold bag on Fangirl Wednesdays. But I see bad attitudes elsewhere and all too often.”
I have to agree. I’ve been to a lot of comic shops all over the country and I can count on probably one hand the shops I was really impressed with their customer service. At one time, there were a dozen or more comic stores in Memphis. Many were badly run and have gone out of business. We’re down to two successful shops now, which is 200% more comic shops than a lot of other cities. I received such bad or rude service in a couple of the out-of-business shops that I put the books in my hands down and walked out.
I next asked her how she felt comic book publishers were marketing to new readers?
“Things are better than they used to be, but they’ve got a long way to go.”
How so?
“They are as guilty as the retailers about growing or not growing the market- otherwise they would be more open and aggressively marketing to women.”
What can publishers do to help expand the market?
“You have to get eyeballs on your products to sell them. The direct market is very narrow, and the distribution is even more so. The comics need to be in more places than just comic shops.”
“When I was a kid I could go down to the corner convenience store and buy comics off their spinner rack. I can’t do that today. Heck, my nephew can’t do that. How many communities even have a local comic shop (LCS)? I can go online and buy a trade paper back or graphic novel from Amazon.com, but I can’t order monthly titles from them. I can go into a few bookstores here and pick up some monthlies along with my trades and graphic novels, but if bookstores are unable or unwilling to carry the comics, then what are publishers doing to market TPBs and GNs to women?”
“Publishers need to highlight female creators- writers, artists, editors, publishers, etc. and promote them. How many people know that there are women working in comics? How many know the head of DC Entertainment is a woman? I’m not saying that women will only read female-created books, but it makes the industry more inviting. Comics are notorious for their depiction and treatment of women. They need to be less misogynistic and sexist- and I’m not just talking about the art. Most of the art doesn’t bother me. Sometimes I roll my eyes or comment on how that’s not anatomically possible. For me it’s more about how women are portrayed in the story, their characterizations. Is she just a plot device or a fully fleshed out character?”
“Publishers tend to sacrifice one female character to build up another female character. Recent Batgirls are examples. You don’t tear down Superman to build up Superboy, so why do that with two females? Recently with the Hal Jordon “threesome”, they tore down two female characters to make a throwaway joke and make Big Hal look like a pimp.”
So what was Nicki’s first exposure to comics? Funny thing, it was pretty much the same as mine.
“It was a spinner rack at a corner store. I got an allowance and I’d spend it on a coke, candy, and comics.” Me, too!
I asked her if she was only drawn to female characters/comics?
“No, I read a lot of Richie Rich, Casper, Archie, and G.I. Joe. ”
Wait, no Wonder Woman..?!
Tim and Traci's daughter Rachel as WW
“I was a HUGE Wonder Woman fan growing up, but I didn’t read the comics because they weren’t available on that spinner rack where I shopped. I loved the Super Friends cartoon and the Wonder Woman TV show. I wanted to be Lynda Carter when I grew up- I still do! My mother made me a Wonder Woman costume for Halloween, and I would wear it everyday. Mom would have to wait until I fell asleep to take it off so she could wash it. I would put on the costume and spin and spin until I was ready to hurl. I hoped if I could spin fast enough I would become Wonder Woman.”
Nicki as Wonder Woman
So had Nicki always read comics?
“No, I kinda grew out of them. You can only read Casper for so long!”
So what brought Nicki back to comics?
“I got back into them a few years ago at Midsouthcon, a local sci-fi/lit convention in Memphis. John Jackson Miller was on a Star Wars panel discussing the comic series Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic that he was writing for Dark Horse Comics. I had read a lot of the Star Wars EU (expanded universe) novels and read the Star Wars: Obsession comics mini-series, and I had played the KOTOR video games and was familiar with the era his story was set in. The way he described his story became infectious and he hooked me on it.”
Tim Brown, JJM, Jim Hall at MSC2007
“When I got back home to Nashville I bought and read the first two KOTOR trades and fell in love with them! I was only going to buy the trades, but I couldn’t wait for the story to be collected so I started buying the monthlies via mail order.”
Nicki, JJM, and Traci at Midsouthcon2008
“After my friend Traci had her epiphany with (Star Wars) Broken, she kept harassing me to read (Star Wars) Legacy- which I also loved. I was happy in my own little Star Wars niche until you and I started dating.”
“How did that change you view of comics?” I asked.
“I knew you were a big Batman fan and my only exposure to Batman was the 60’s Adam West TV show, SuperFriends, and the movies. I asked you what I should read, and you gave me The Killing Joke hardback…and that book pissed me off royally! I was so mad after reading that damn book and seeing what had been done to Barbara (Batgirl) by Alan Moore and The Joker. I had very fond memories of the 60’s show and Batgirl, so I googled ‘Barbara Gordon’ to see if she ever got better. People in comics come back from the dead more than people in soap operas. It happens all the time in comics. I got even madder when I found out she never got out of the wheelchair until I saw the name ‘John Ostrander‘. I was familiar with his work on Legacy and found out that John and his late wife Kim Yale had created the Oracle persona for Barbara.”
"Uncle John" at Midsouthcon2009
“In that bit of research I found out that Oracle led a team of women superheroes called ‘The Birds of Prey‘. I had to read that! There I found Gail Simone’s work on the series, and my friend Traci turned me on to Gail’s first story arc, The Circle, in the current Wonder Woman series. That was when I started to look outside the Star Wars universe for comics.”
Nicki, Gail, and Traci in Metropolis, IL 2009.
Speaking of looking for comics, have conventions become fan-girl friendly?
“Ok, I’m not a fan of Twilight, but it disturbed me the way Twilight fans were treated by comic fans at the San Diego Comic Con recently. It was as if a hostile takeover was occurring by these mostly young girls who were Twilight fans. It was not Nazis invading Poland. It’s acceptable to male comic fans for women to be at the con as long as they’re ‘booth babes’ or scantily clad cosplayers to ogle, but heaven forbid they take up any space in a panel room or share the same dealers room. Sorry guys- that’s sexist.”
I’ve seen the same thing with some comic fans and their feelings towards manga/anime fans, especially the young cosplayers. It’s almost like a silent turf war! “What are those kids doing here? Stay away from my comics- get that manga comic-wanna-be crap outta here! And get off my lawn!”
“Harry Potter and Twilight and even Star Wars have proven there are female fans out there. When we saw Wolverine at the theater it wasn’t all guys there. If Hugh Jackman can sell a comics property to women, then I’m all for it!”
I agree. I wish more comic based movies would promote the fact that they came from a comic and not try to hide the fact. Don’t know why there aren’t comic commercials before the movies or advertised in media other than comics.
“The comment about “sexist” goes for the publishers, too. The publishers are the gate keepers. It’s up to them to say, “No, you can’t portray our characters this way.” or, “No, you can’t treat our female readers that way.” They should demand better from their creators. Same goes for creators of the publishers. Marvel Divas was mismanaged from the get go and Joe Quesada made it worse every time he opened his mouth to defend their actions. This is how not to market to women! We as readers should demand better. We have to vote with our ‘pocket books’, which sometimes paralyzes us as readers. We unfortunately can’t buy a book featuring one of our favorite characters because of the characterization, bad plotting, or other offensive objections. On the flip side of that we need to support the books and creators that are doing it right. If you think a story or series is good, then you have to support it. It’s a business and the numbers have to be there for it to continue, whether it’s for the big two or an independent.”
Nicki with her comics stash at Cape Comicon 2009
So what is Nicki reading and supporting these days?
“My current pull list:
Batgirl
Power Girl
Secret Six
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Legacy
Star Wars: Dark Times
Star Wars: Invasion
Stuff of Legend
Wonder Woman
I also check out the Bat titles on your pull list – Detective Comics, Streets of Gotham, Batman & Robin, and Gotham City Sirens as well as Green Arrow/Black Canary.
I just finished reading the Y: The Last Man series, and I’m about to start reading the Fables trades. My library has a good selection of trades and graphic novels, so I’m able to read many titles like Y: The Last Man that I might not be able to afford to read otherwise.”
Nicki looking for treasure at Cape Comicon 2009
“I also love digging in back issue boxes for hidden treasures. I had a geek-out moment when I found a copy of John Ostrander’s Batman: Seduction of the Gun in a quarter box at a recent con, and he was kind enough to autograph it for me at Metropolis. I’m enjoying reading older series like Suicide Squad, Grimjack, Birds of Prey, Huntress and previous Star Wars series like Republic and Empire.”
Yes Virginia, it’s ok for girls to read comics.
Thanks to Nicki for sharing some of her thoughts on women and comics. I learned a lot and really enjoyed our conversation!
Hope you did, too.
Lin
Tags:
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G.I. Joe,
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Gotham City,
Grimjack,
Halloween,
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John Jackson Miller,
John Ostrander,
Joker,
KOTOR,
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