* You know, to me the most interesting thing about Hope Larson's survey of 198 female comics readers wasn't the idea that many girls and women are uncomfortable visiting the majority of male-run comic shops (because...fucking DUH, you guys) but that so many of the young women who become fans of comics at a young age said they were introduced to the medium by either their dad or a male friend. I wonder how that percentage would skew if the sample was taken from an entirely younger/teen audience or how much different the response will be in ten or even five years from now.
If the point of Hope's whole survey is to find better ways to get her books and other comics made for younger girls into the hands of their ideal readership, then it sure feels like creators are going to need to push like all hell on their publishers to really advertise outside of pre-existing comics circles. I mean, that's probably a given too, but I'm sure many have the view that there is some kind of stronger comics community through which young women can be reached, and I just don't believe that idea will hold up under scrutiny if Hope keeps trying to collect more and better data (which it looks like she is!). It's great that the best elements of the traditional, male-dominated comics readers are passing their love for comics on to their daughters, but the potential audience dwarves those efforts.
And I know manga will probably change how all that happens as the next generation of comics readers comes up, but just looking at how women have been introduced to comics so far, the idea that we've got one method that's inadequate for what we'd all like to see in terms of readership expansion and another method (TV tie-ins) that's either shrinking (anime) or being pushed more and more boy-centric (superhero 'toons) is really disheartening and scary to me.
Oh, and I should note that Hot Gimmick has very little to do with Hope's survey, but I think it has some of the best design of any girl-specific comics in recent memory (even if it is SUPER fucking pink), so I used it to illustrate. La de da.
* Not exactly related: this group of women who love "Smallville" have made their own TV commercial to show their support for Chloe staying on as a character in the final season, which apparently aired in LA last week. Its CRAZY to me that there are people out there so dedicated to that show and that so very few of them follow that love back to comics in some way. Then again, there's no DC Chloe comics, are there? *sigh* Anyway, whether it was because of those ladies or not, looks like Allison Mack will return as the character for part of the next season, so I hope that makes them happy.
* I'll admit that I never knew "Love Is All Around" from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was
Do you think they ever played that live back-to-back with "Diane"? That would be pretty fucked up.
* Tom Spurgeon links to updates on the Danish cartoons controversy all the time, but occasionally I come across stories like this one on my own, and I'm reminded how crazy and scary and upsetting that whole thing is and how much bigger than comics it became and continues to be.
* Like I've said in the past, I know squat about video games, but enough people have talked up this Portal thing that when I noticed Mac users can get it for free until May 24, I downloaded it.
* Am I the only one who things this Tokyopop "Ride on a bus with Stuart Levy" contest/"reality show" is just FUCKING ABSURD?
* I've always thought of "fanboy" as a real comics-specific term both in terms of its meaning and its usage, but I've had to get used to the idea that its really become more of a general "nerd" label. Either way, this piece on the origins of the word credited fanboy to comics in a way that felt strangely accurate to me if that makes sense. Also: Freakazoid nod, FTW!
* My boy Pauly and I both want to play drums like this dude:
* If you're on the Facebook and have been worried about privacy settings as long as I have, this chart is both helpful and yet somehow super annoying.
* Check out two fun Crossword Puzzle comics here and here. (Thanks, Scott McCloud!)
* My friend Slayer really nailed the description of the London 2012 Olympic Games mascots when she called them "Teletubies x Gumby x Anime." They're SOOOOOOOOOO ugly.
I'll admit that I never knew "Love Is All Around" from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was by The Troggs originally until I found this Husker Du cover of the song:
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is. The Troggs' song "Love Is All Around" is the one later covered by Wet Wet Wet and used in Four Weddings and a Funeral. The MTM show song is written by one of the guys from Buddy Holly's Crickets; I think he wrote it specifically for the show, and I don't think the Troggs had anything to do with it.
Ahhh! YouTube's lying to me again! Thanks for the info, Matt!
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