Comments on: What Do Women Want?

By: Katherine Dacey-Tsuei

Katherine Dacey-Tsuei — Tue, 22 May 2007 02:58:26 +0000

Those mega-series can be daunting for the committed manga fan, too! Maybe in my next life I’ll try reading all 35 volumes of Ranma 1/2.

There are a number of one-short and short series that I’d highly recommend to someone looking to branch out from American comics (indie or mainstream). Planetes, for example, is a great five-volume series that’s free of schoolgirls in sailor suits and sword-wielding teenage boys. It’s an intelligent sci-fi series that explores social, political, and philosophical questions without being pretentious. I could see it appealing to a fan of BSG, as it also boasts a cast full of smart, capable female characters.

By: Erech Overaker

Erech Overaker — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:44:40 +0000

I actually have 2 copies of it, if you email me a mailing address I’ll give you one.

I really like bitches, it seems.

By: Erech Overaker

Erech Overaker — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:43:48 +0000

Guy, it’s the latest issue, came out last month. The mag is bi-monthly or so, so you should be able to find it on the racks still.

By: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:03:56 +0000

@Erech: Which issue of Bitch is that? Have to check it out.

@Ryan: Every genre has its core readership, while also having a range of peripheral fans. The reality is, with Marvel and DC, female readers are on the periphery and as such, have little of the necessary economic clout to effect any significant change in their books. Looks like you’re getting some solid responses on your post, so it’s all good.

@Katherine: That’s definitely an issue with Marvel/DC superheroes, even for a fan like me; triply so for a newbie coming in through the movies or cartoons. Interestingly, I’ve found the overwhelming number of volumes available for some of the more popular manga series to be off-putting, though my following Fables in TPBs has helped to change my perception of that a bit.

@ACBG: If pageanty means clear and right-to-the-point, then yeah. ;-)

By: ACBG

ACBG — Sun, 20 May 2007 15:55:34 +0000

This is going to sound like a beauty pagent answer but its the only way I could express it.

I want female charaters to be written in the same standard as their male counterparts. I want more female charaters in comic books. I want more female charaters with their own titles. I would like a female character in every comic book but that’s in an ideal society.

By: Katherine Dacey-Tsuei

Katherine Dacey-Tsuei — Sat, 19 May 2007 17:48:37 +0000

One of the biggest barriers to entry with the tights-and-capes stuff is the complicated mythology that surrounds older characters. As Dirk Deppey has pointed out, one of the reasons that Naruto sells well is that there's a pretty close correspondence between the original comic and subsequent anime adaptations. The same is seldom true for the most popular superhero comics, however. Where on earth would I begin if I wanted to learn more about the characters in Spiderman? It certainly wouldn't be obvious to a casual browser, whereas I can buy volume one of, say, Crying Freeman or Bleach and know that I'm actually reading the very first installment of the series. This isn't just a problem for female readers, of course, but I think it's one of the reasons that I don't invest much in mainstream DC/Marvel superhero titles.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 19 May 2007 04:35:44 +0000

I’m currently begging forgiveness for how the question was phrased. I am not asking men what they think women want, which is sort of SOP for this question. The question was written as a response to numbers presented by two sources that suggested that 90% of superhero comic readers were men, but that number did not appear to be reflective of other genres of comics.

I’m hoping to poll female readers of comics what would make them not roll their eyes at superhero comics. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late before I realized my question could be read in a “mass minority” context, and I apologize.

I hope female comic readers (and non comic readers alike) feel welcome to respond at Comic Fodder.

By: Erech Overaker

Erech Overaker — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:06:40 +0000

“One could argue that it’s not a good question simply because “women” — like “the black vote” and “teenage girls” — are not some monolothic entity that can be categorized and bullet-pointed into a ready-to-serve demographic”

LIES. They all server under the uni-gina-mind, goals include – learning to please their man (see also “standing by him”), decoupage, and “naggery as a sport”.

Actually, spun from that statue debate, and the recent article in Bitch about women in comics, I’m not really sure ALL the women who are calling comics on their insane fetish/sexism towards women WOULD buy comics under most circumstances. Just because I think (well, know) porn does the same thing, and call them on it, doesn’t mean I’d start buying any of it if they toned it down, ya know?

I see people trying to spin the debate from “yeah it’s sexist and creepy BUT there are some good comics out there that you should try”, when instead everything before the BUT should be addressed by the people in the industry.

But we won’t. Nerds love our whore statues. The whole Bugs Bunny in a dress thing…