Oh, it's all this and more, and it's astounding to see an entire industry that is already struggling for relevancy and cashflow so thoroughly fuck themselves over.
I've been a fan of the industry longer than I care to remember when shit like this happens -- I've read Western comics since I was 8, worked in comic stores, go to comic conventions (but you knew this :D) currently work at a comic company, and even now, even NOW still feel uncomfortable in most/if not all comic stores.
American comics have to get over two things:
-that the format isn't and shouldn't be beholden to the superhero genre (and in fact, most of the break out, critical, mass market successes barring Watchmen have been exactly that: Bechdel's Fun Home, Vaughan's Y The Last Man, etc.)
-that the superhero genre should not, and when it's the most effective, HAS NOT, trade on inherently sexist tropes. Comic fans are so desperate to be considered "cool" and "mature" and "adult" and yet are so quick to give passes to what is, at it's core, wank fodder.
...all that is to say, the recent, critical, mass market successes in American comics: -- Sandman, Preacher, Transmet, Y the Last Man, etc. All of 'em? From Vertigo. An imprint that demands mature storytelling not by way of sex, violence, sex and violence, but by equal consideration to all of its characters (male and female) as people first, happenin' eye candy dead last.
Formed and run by a woman.
I guess what I really wish the industry would realize was this: that including women in your audience doesn't mean you're pandering, doesn't mean you're beholden to sexist stereotypes that girls only like kittens and hearts and flowers (do they not SEE Buffy? do they not SEE Stargate? do they not SEE that properties with a majority female fanbase trade less in traditional romance tropes and more in the ass-kicking? how is this math so goddamn hard?). It means you're committed to telling a good goddamn story. It means you're committed in seeing a medium you love so much thrive again. It means you're committed to acting like the mature adult you've tried so hard to be seen as.
Jesus, I'm sorry. I'm totally ranting in your LJ. But seriously, Joe Q., stop making the rest of us look like twats.
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Date: 2009-05-07 04:26 pm (UTC)I've been a fan of the industry longer than I care to remember when shit like this happens -- I've read Western comics since I was 8, worked in comic stores, go to comic conventions (but you knew this :D) currently work at a comic company, and even now, even NOW still feel uncomfortable in most/if not all comic stores.
American comics have to get over two things:
-that the format isn't and shouldn't be beholden to the superhero genre (and in fact, most of the break out, critical, mass market successes barring Watchmen have been exactly that: Bechdel's Fun Home, Vaughan's Y The Last Man, etc.)
-that the superhero genre should not, and when it's the most effective, HAS NOT, trade on inherently sexist tropes. Comic fans are so desperate to be considered "cool" and "mature" and "adult" and yet are so quick to give passes to what is, at it's core, wank fodder.
...all that is to say, the recent, critical, mass market successes in American comics: -- Sandman, Preacher, Transmet, Y the Last Man, etc. All of 'em? From Vertigo. An imprint that demands mature storytelling not by way of sex, violence, sex and violence, but by equal consideration to all of its characters (male and female) as people first, happenin' eye candy dead last.
Formed and run by a woman.
I guess what I really wish the industry would realize was this: that including women in your audience doesn't mean you're pandering, doesn't mean you're beholden to sexist stereotypes that girls only like kittens and hearts and flowers (do they not SEE Buffy? do they not SEE Stargate? do they not SEE that properties with a majority female fanbase trade less in traditional romance tropes and more in the ass-kicking? how is this math so goddamn hard?). It means you're committed to telling a good goddamn story. It means you're committed in seeing a medium you love so much thrive again. It means you're committed to acting like the mature adult you've tried so hard to be seen as.
Jesus, I'm sorry. I'm totally ranting in your LJ. But seriously, Joe Q., stop making the rest of us look like twats.