Taking a Stand: I Support Janelle Asselin's critique of Teen Titans #1

[Groo Odyssey]

Come to think of it, I think I just saw an article the other day that said the majority of attendees at Seattle's Emerald City Comiccon were female, as well.

The market is changing. It's moving in that direction. It's not all the way there yet, where it's more inclusive without BOOBS (always a top advertising trick) front and center at all times, but it's getting there.

I was at the Vancouver Comics Fan Expo last month and I would say the attendees were 50/50 males and female as well. I might even say that the females might actually outnumber the males, it seems like every girl brought all their female friends to the expo. Now I no doubt believe that a large majority of them are there to see their favorite tv and movie stars but I saw a whole bunch of these young girls buying up independent artwork and comics. There was so much a variety of different genres that there's something for everyone. I went to a Q&A panel with Mark Bagley and there were tons of girls there too. This was something I never saw growing up.

I do have one beef with this Fan Expo though, I'm not sure if it's the same for every where else. Overall it was a positive experience but I find that the comic book vendors there were price gauging the attendees, everything was really marked up for outrageous prices for the expo. This was my only complaint. From talking to some of the regulars at my LCS they felt the exact same way that the comic book vendors specifically were taking advantage.

[Jonah Weiland]

Folks, keep it on topic please. This isn't a chat thread.

[king mob]

Come to think of it, I think I just saw an article the other day that said the majority of attendees at Seattle's Emerald City Comiccon were female, as well.

The market is changing. It's moving in that direction. It's not all the way there yet, where it's more inclusive without BOOBS (always a top advertising trick) front and center at all times, but it's getting there.

The market has changed for superhero comics. Vastly changed, but it's got a long way to go to catch up with small press comics or independent comics, let alone a large chunk of mainstream comics (superhero comics also need to realise they don't dominate the medium of comics and they're just a genre) which do have a large amount of female creators like Alison Bechdel or Mary Talbot.

[Kees_L]

The market has changed for superhero comics. Vastly changed, but it's got a long way to go to catch up with small press comics or independent comics, let alone a large chunk of mainstream comics (superhero comics also need to realise they don't dominate the medium of comics and they're just a genre) which do have a large amount of female creators like Alison Bechdel or Mary Talbot.

Meh I think it's about personal awareness more rather, like how what you describe has always been pretty much the case at least eversince the 1960s, with females or freethinkers abundance-bound and then some, and with (some) readers capable of taking it.

The insisting on fan entitlement both as unemancipatedness - such as nerdy manboys owning their titles - is not what generally will be met with acceptance, but it will be met with treating it like the crummy ridiculousness that it is.

Not every comic reader rushes to become part of some dominant fanny entitled clubs and the internet or a comic shop or Con is not some secret clubhouse or stinkycave, so at all those places would nobody need to get crummily ridiculous I'd say.
Although y'know, plenty of baller riot girls such as Christine de Pisan or Jane Anger have already made that point 600 years ago, in their acclaimed and collectable action books.

[king mob]

Meh I think it's about personal awareness more rather, like how what you describe has always been pretty much the case at least eversince the 1960s, with females or freethinkers abundance-bound and then some, and with (some) readers capable of taking it.

This is a sweeping generalisation, but on the whole we're talking America, and American politics which don't have the same sort of discussions we have in the UK or in the Netherlands. We developed a more socially democratic model in the last 60 years while the Americans went another path but now, there's a crossover as the internet dissolves some of the old borders.

The insisting on fan entitlement both as unemancipatedness - such as nerdy manboys owning their titles - is not what generally will be met with acceptance, but it will be met with treating it like the crummy ridiculousness that it is.

It's not though. The problem is that you do have males who see superhero comics as 'their' place and certain characters are 'theirs', as many think the internet is theirs to play with. That's part of the problem. Opening up communities, cons, titles and shops to all is what we all need to do, but mainland Europe hasn't got the traditional problems with sexism in comics the US have, or the UK has, though it's slightly less bad than the US here.

Not every comic reader rushes to become part of some dominant fanny entitled clubs and the internet or a comic shop or Con is not some secret clubhouse or stinkycave

No they don't and with the rise of digital you don't even need a shop for your weekly fix. But a lot of people do want to be part of a community be that online, or by going to cons or arranging groups. Closing things off to them, which people are doing, is the problem.

[Kees_L]

This is a sweeping generalisation, but on the whole we're talking America, and American politics which don't have the same sort of discussions we have in the UK or in the Netherlands. We developed a more socially democratic model in the last 60 years while the Americans went another path but now, there's a crossover as the internet dissolves some of the old borders.

Well, aside from any generalisations, I know I personally could become a ridiculous poopyhead over things, but I don't want to, so I try not to.
So you won't hear me generalize or lose faith in countries or demographics - I hope.

I'm saying anyone can appreciate and love comics without excluding others, without showing entitlement over others. Boys, girls, Americans, anyone.
Because respecting and including other folks wouldn't mean the spoiling of anything at all.
Because respecting and including other folks isn't anything hard, but instead it's just necessity both as good form, even for people reading, even for "fans".

[George Caltsoudas]

They can, easily. Go look at some of the teenaged boys that compete in the Olympics, or who are into serious weight training; there are even teenaged bodybuilders at that age, too. Only kids who are not gym rats have little pipecleaner arms. Look at Taylor Lautner in New Moon; he's 16 and barely turned 17 at the time it was filmed, and has much the same build Tim has at that age - considering Tim is hired at 16 and spends at least a year as Robin, he's 17 years old in Teen Titans.

Yeah except teenage superheroes' bodies don't ever look like that, they tend to be drawn more like this:

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