DC Comics, Where Are All The Women?

[neenjah]

One thing I've noticed Nicki complaining about around the house is the cancellations of many of the DC books she was reading/supporting. Fans can't buy them if you cancel them. Her pull list just got a lot shorter and sorry, the whole reboot/relaunch/reset just doesn't interest me.

We're lucky here that female fans can go into our 2 LCS and feel like they are welcome- even with the occasional odd stare. I'm seeing more the past year or two at both shops. How do female fans in New England feel about Larry's Comics and the on-line statements he posts that many folks feel offensive- both male and female, gay and straight? Do female fans know the comic shops or comic shows in their area exist? How many comic shops advertise other than putting fliers into their existing customers' bags? Do they even have websites, twitter, or Facebook pages? Do they participate in FCBD? Do they have in-store signings or other promotions- and if so how do they promote them, if at all?

I've felt for years that the comics industry is doing a poor job of growing their audience and seem fine to advertise to the same customers over and over. Seriously- how often do you see comics advertised outside of comics? The recent Green Lantern movie was the first I can remember that actually placed an ad at the end of the movie (would have been nice if there were more people in the theater at the end of the credits). Heck, we're lucky if movies even acknowledge in the credits that it's based on a comic. Usually when they do it's "based on the graphic novel" even when it was a comic series or mini series first.

Occasionally you'll see a comic packaged with a toy or DVD, or a few in a toy store or grocery store. I'm seeing more in the book stores and Hastings these days and that's great. Fans playing the video games and watching the movies or TV shows should be interested in picking up the comics those properties are based on and read them. They should at the very least be informed or reminded that they are based on comics.

How many people that watched Buffy know that Season 8 was out and only as a comic? Same for properties like Angel, Firefly/Serenity, Dr. Horrible, and Dollhouse. They've continued on in comics.

I talked to the owner of Humungo Comics in PA a few years back while I was up there for the CGS Ep300 bash. The store is located near a movie theater and I asked him how traffic was after the Ghost Rider movie came out (which at the time was fairly recent). He said not so you'd notice and that he had a lot of movie merch on clearance.

Were sales slow because movie goers didn't know to go looking for GR comics? Did they not know there was a comic shop close by? Do movies change too much or cast wrong? Was the movie just that bad?

I can say that I saw a bunch of girls wearing Captain America shirts the night Nicki and I went to go see the movie. I see tons of Superman, Batman, Transformers, and other geekish logos on cars all over town- many with female drivers. Nicki is constantly getting compliments on her comic tees.

Nicki's friend Traci (one of the other Fangirl Wednesday participants) wasn't interested in reading comics. She had as a kid, but didn't as an adult. Her husband and I were watching one of our "guy movies" (probably "Cannonball Run") at their house one night, she got bored, picked up one of the TPBs she and Tim had picked up at C4 (Star Wars: Legacy- Broken) to get signed while they were there (Traci didn't know who the creators were when she first met them), started reading it and said, "Hey, this is really good!" She's not only been reading comics since, but will pick up anything by John Ostrander, Jan Duursema, John Jackson Miller, and Gail Simone and has become good friends with them all.

Oh, and both of their girls love comics, manga, and anime- and like their parents they cosplay, too.

When I was publishing Bushi Tales we had just as many female readers as male ones- maybe more. I know the female fans were much more vocal and passionate about reading it.

The female fans and other potential new readers are out there, the industry as a whole is doing a bad job of reaching them and/or pissing off and neglecting the supportive readers they do have- especially DC and Marvel.

They have to do a better job. If you can't handle unhappy customers you don't need to work in customer service. If you can't handle some unhappy or inquisitive comic fans at a panel at Comic Con and put a positive spin on a situation like the 'Batgirl" incident I really don't think you need to be the face of DC Comics. If she was hostile at the mic, it was DiDio and the other DC representatives/creators job to do what they could to make her a happy fangirl when she left. Missed opportunity to sell a captive audience and make them excited about what you have planned.

"PR fail" in my opinion. Not their first, won't be their last, but if they keep it up they may be in the comics unemployment line on down the line.

Let's hope other companies step up and serve their customers better. And by "serve" I don't mean kiss (bleep), bow down to fan demands, or hire because of a gender, race, etc. I mean be professional, be creative, and be out there where fans can find them.

Lin

[torchsong]

I'm as mad as Nicki about several series ending. I'm really ticked Stephanie Brown (the current (as of the end of this month) Batgirl) is getting the short shrift so we can have Babs back in the costume, for example.

Will that stop me from buying Gail Simone's Batgirl? Heck no. I've liked Babs from when I was a wee bairn of a lad, and Gail has yet to let me down as a compelling writer. I'm 95% sure it's gonna be one of the "New 52's" good'uns.

Which is all I'm asking of the DC initiative. I don't care if the book is numbered 1 or pi or 3895. Just make them good, and I'm on board. I'm checking out about 14 of the new titles. I doubt I'll stick with all of them, but some I'm sure I will.