Marvel Knights is getting relaunched with Donny Cates at the helm

[TheFerg714]

Marvel (and DC) has always had a weird, almost inexplicable gender imbalance when it comes to comics creators. It's good to see that it's not informing their future hiring decisions, and that they reflect the real world better.

The romance novel subgenre has always had a weird, almost inexplicable gender imbalance when it comes to their authors.

So what, do we need more male romance novel writers? Is that your logic here?

[The tall man]

I hope we get a Cloak and Dagger book out of this. They would fit right in with the tone and feel of the marvel knights brand.

[Frontier]

I hope we get a Cloak and Dagger book out of this. They would fit right in with the tone and feel of the marvel knights brand.

Cloak and Dagger is part of their new digital-only series.

[Tiamatty]

There may be an imbalance, but it's not because the editors go "hey, you know what.. let's purposely exclude the women." It's just that less women are interested in comics, therefore, less women are interested in writing comics. And companies should hire from a pool based on talent, not quotas.

Women actually do make up somewhere around half the comic-reading audience. (I think it's just over half for the industry as a whole, and around 40% of Marvel's audience, but I'm going by memory because I'm too lazy to look up the actual stats, so I could be off.) They just get fewer opportunities. And it's an industry-wide problem - pretty much all publishers give fewer opportunities to female writers than male writers. And the comics industry, while not in the dire straits everyone thinks it's in, does need to expand by reaching out to a wider audience. A big part of that is going to be women and minorities, groups who've traditionally felt excluded from mainstream comics. Beyond that, we live in a time where more and more straight white men want to read stories by people who come from different backgrounds, with different perspectives on the world. I mean, I don't like the Punisher. At all. I oppose him on a conceptual level. But if Vita Ayala wrote him? That's something that would grab my attention. Because a brown person writing a character who's killed a looooooot of brown folks over the years? I'd be curious how their racial background shapes their view of the character.

So, yeah. Gender, race, sexuality, there's a lot of things that actually do matter.

[The tall man]

Cloak and Dagger is part of their new digital-only series.

But isn't that a limited series only? I would like a new ongoing with a gritty, urban feel. Maybe a tinge of the supernatural but definitely street.

[Mike_Murdock]

Or maybe a tighter, more focused Inhumans title in light of "Death of the Inhumans"?

If the books they're releasing for the 20th Anniversary of the original Marvel Knights is any indication, they probably won't do an Inhumans book.

[KurtW95]

Women actually do make up somewhere around half the comic-reading audience. (I think it's just over half for the industry as a whole, and around 40% of Marvel's audience, but I'm going by memory because I'm too lazy to look up the actual stats, so I could be off.) They just get fewer opportunities. And it's an industry-wide problem - pretty much all publishers give fewer opportunities to female writers than male writers. And the comics industry, while not in the dire straits everyone thinks it's in, does need to expand by reaching out to a wider audience. A big part of that is going to be women and minorities, groups who've traditionally felt excluded from mainstream comics. Beyond that, we live in a time where more and more straight white men want to read stories by people who come from different backgrounds, with different perspectives on the world. I mean, I don't like the Punisher. At all. I oppose him on a conceptual level. But if Vita Ayala wrote him? That's something that would grab my attention. Because a brown person writing a character who's killed a looooooot of brown folks over the years? I'd be curious how their racial background shapes their view of the character.

So, yeah. Gender, race, sexuality, there's a lot of things that actually do matter.

This is ludicrous. Comics are a fantasy genre and this kind of thinking, that identity should be a prerequisite to writing a character, is going to limit your options to extreme levels. And it really perplexes me that you would use an example like that. That you would only buy a book about a character based on the race of the person writing him. And I REALLY don't think the Punisher singles out any race when doing his job. He kills horrible criminals. He doesn't care what race they are. I don't know why anyone would assume he unfairly gunned down minorities, unless you think less of them as a whole or view minority criminals as somehow morally superior to their white counterparts.

[Tiamatty]

The romance novel subgenre has always had a weird, almost inexplicable gender imbalance when it comes to their authors.

So what, do we need more male romance novel writers? Is that your logic here?

Romance is also the genre that still gets far and away the least respect in the literary world, funny how that works, huh. In fact, the book world remains horribly misogynistic. Women get reviewed far less often, get nominated far less often for awards (and win few), and are simply not part of discussions regarding Great Literature.

I'd also point out that misogyny and toxic masculinity are the main reason why there aren't more men writing romance novels. They're seen as "feminine," as something meant for women. Men are so damn afraid of looking less like men that we've sworn off an entire genre of fiction, and we have so much contempt for women that we've declared that genre to be lacking literary value.

[KurtW95]

Romance is also the genre that still gets far and away the least respect in the literary world, funny how that works, huh. In fact, the book world remains horribly misogynistic. Women get reviewed far less often, get nominated far less often for awards (and win few), and are simply not part of discussions regarding Great Literature.

I'd also point out that misogyny and toxic masculinity are the main reason why there aren't more men writing romance novels. They're seen as "feminine," as something meant for women. Men are so damn afraid of looking less like men that we've sworn off an entire genre of fiction, and we have so much contempt for women that we've declared that genre to be lacking literary value.

Let's test that theory. How many of these book reviews are for works from female authors?

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/book-reviews

[Baseman]

Romance is also the genre that still gets far and away the least respect in the literary world, funny how that works, huh. In fact, the book world remains horribly misogynistic. Women get reviewed far less often, get nominated far less often for awards (and win few), and are simply not part of discussions regarding Great Literature.

I'd also point out that misogyny and toxic masculinity are the main reason why there aren't more men writing romance novels. They're seen as "feminine," as something meant for women. Men are so damn afraid of looking less like men that we've sworn off an entire genre of fiction, and we have so much contempt for women that we've declared that genre to be lacking literary value.

Misogyny or simply lack of interest? Its seen as feminine because its a genre that tends to appeal more to Women that to Men. Look that a any type of romance centered story and you'll likely find a mostly female audience.It has noting to do with fear.

[KingNomarch]

Who is that on the right of OP's image? I can't make them out.

It‘s Karnak

[dan12456]

that is Luke Cage

No it's Karnak.

[Johnrevenge]

that is Luke Cage

Nope that is Karnak.

[CaptCleghorn]

White males make up maybe a third of the adult population Marvel can get for their creative staff. It would seem to me to be advantageous to expand your search for talent to a population triple what it had been previously. And yeah, the 33% I used may be off, but the general idea stands.

[Cloudman]

No it's Karnak.

Nope that is Karnak.

Well I guess that's one Inhuman safe from the 'Death of the Inhumans'.