Interesting...
This makes me incredibly happy. I love to see the big comic companies actively trying to court female readership, even if the new graphic novels in question don't really seem to be to my own personal taste.
Any recognition of women/girls as an untapped market can only be a good thing.
Now if only they could start writing a few more superhero comics geared toward women, we'll be gold! Birds of Prey can't carry that weight all on its own.
Actually, what I'd really like to see is more comic heroines in the "Magical Girl" sense. Like Amethyst. There are a lot of similarities between Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and a lot of young girl centered "magical girl" manga, so it seems like there could definitely be a crossover market. It seems like there's a lot of untapped potential in that sort of concept in a superhero context.
I do have to wonder one thing: who uses the term Minx nowadays?
Any recognition of women/girls as an untapped market can only be a good thing.
Now if only they could start writing a few more superhero comics geared toward women, we'll be gold! Birds of Prey can't carry that weight all on its own.
Actually, what I'd really like to see is more comic heroines in the "Magical Girl" sense. Like Amethyst. There are a lot of similarities between Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and a lot of young girl centered "magical girl" manga, so it seems like there could definitely be a crossover market. It seems like there's a lot of untapped potential in that sort of concept in a superhero context.
I do have to wonder one thing: who uses the term Minx nowadays?
posted by kalinara @ 5:53 AM
16 Comments:
At November 26, 2006 6:46 AM,
Marionette said…
Yes, it's great that they are going to do graphic novels for girls, but I'd be more enthusiastic if they weren't all being written and drawn by guys, and if any of them were aimed at female fans of the stuff they already produce.
At November 26, 2006 8:17 AM,
Elayne said…
I agree about the "magical girl" concept. Working on it.
At November 26, 2006 10:15 AM,
Anonymous said…
Oh, dear God! I LOVE the idea of bringing back Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and gearing it for a younger girl audience. But, I think they'd have to retcon a bit and give her her back her young girl alter-ego to make it more interesting.
At November 26, 2006 11:46 AM,
Anonymous said…
Bringing back Amethyst would be very cool.
We also need to make female character books successful, because nothing works better to get more of something than for the something to be successful. Meaning, we need more people buying and reading Manhunter.
At November 26, 2006 11:51 AM,
Dave Menendez said…
I'd be more enthusiastic if they weren't all being written and drawn by guys...
It's not explicitly mentioned in the Newsarama writeup, but Cecil Castellucci is a woman. There's more about her in the Times article.
At November 26, 2006 1:51 PM,
Flidget Jerome said…
The problem with marketing superhero comics towards girls and women, I think, is that superhero comics have such a lowbrow rep. I have plently of female friends who love V for Vendetta or Transmetropolitan or Y the Last Man, etc., but won't go near Watchmen or Nextwave or Ex Machina or so on.
At November 26, 2006 2:13 PM,
Tom Foss said…
I would love to see a new Amethyst series. She's tied into so much of the DCU these days that, done right, it could be high fantasy and a perfect primer on the DCU for new readers.
At November 26, 2006 8:32 PM,
Matthew E said…
I rolled up a superhero named Minx once for a Champions game. She was a martial artist with luck powers.
At November 26, 2006 8:33 PM,
Marionette said…
Okay, how was I supposed to know someone called Cecil was female?
And yes, Amethyst is perfect magical girl material, but I would say start over from the beginning, keep what worked, fix what didn't, and ignore anything beyond the second series.
At November 26, 2006 9:39 PM,
Anonymous said…
Okay, how was I supposed to know someone called Cecil was female?
Just to make things even more fun, Robert Kirkman and Joe Q have an ongoing running joke about "Miss Aubrey Sitterson," an editor at Marvel.
Aubrey is a guy. I never would've known if he hadn't put his picture and something to the effect of "Aubrey is actually a guy" in one of their recent bullpen bulletins (though they don't call them that any more?).
At November 26, 2006 11:34 PM,
Anonymous said…
I never understood that joke, because I've never heard Aubrey used as anything other than a guy's name. And it's not like Sitterson doesn't make appearances at conventions.
At November 27, 2006 12:31 AM,
Anonymous said…
My experience is just the opposite. I've never met an Aubrey that wasn't a woman.
At November 27, 2006 7:07 AM,
Anonymous said…
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld was one of my favorite books when I was in Junior High.
Bringing that back would rock and I'd also ret-con her young girl alter ego.
Zatanna should be DC's number one female character. Again, some ret-conning and you can redo the classic arc of her looking for her father.
I'd create a new Batgirl (and I'd do a Batwoman series that wasn't aimed at horny 40 year old men, horny year old men would read a Batwoman series anyway).
I'd get Colleen Doran to do Supergirl.
And, I'd create a Wondergirl series as well.
Arguements have been made about female counterparts before, but I believe they are popular. Following the adventures of teenage superheroes who must live up to the expectations of older sisters (WW), older brothers (Superman), or authority figures (Batman) is something that every kid (male or female) can relate too.
At November 27, 2006 1:57 PM,
Anonymous said…
Personally, I prefer making a new character with ties to the old one, rather than retconning the old one's history away.
That said, it's a good idea. "Minx" bothers me for a totally silly reason, though: It reminds me of the company that eventually became Tokyopop, "Mixx Comix", and their "Chixx Comix" like of badly translated shoujo manga.
At November 27, 2006 10:29 PM,
Erica Well said…
I used to LOVE Amethyst!
(But of course, if they brought her back now they'd probably screw it all up ... sigh)
But one can hope!
At November 30, 2006 2:07 AM,
Marionette said…
Yes, but Erica, they would be hard pressed to screw it up worse than they already did.
Okay, the art was pretty on the final miniseries, but the dialogue had turned into cod-Shakespeare, Amethyst had lost her humanity, and the story was basically a lame origin for an already established DCU villain.
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