Female comics buyers

[ed2962]

Of course, I'm off in a far corner of the Earth far away from most of you, but comics are, especially these days, very much a young woman's thing in China. Little boys read comics, and then, basically, the stuff you see at the grocery store or at the front of specialty shops is aimed at teenage girls or women in their twenties. This includes the imported, translated stuff from America, Europe, and other Asian countries. It seems to be the core audience for the superhero movies that get imported, as well. Comics-reading is common for most people, to some degree, but it skews to than 13-25 female demographic.

The shop with the most comics, near me, is The Bra Shoppe, where you'd also go for sparkly bracelets, feather boas, t-shirts with rhinestones, plastic novelty hats (and bras, natch). The only comics-heavy shop I've seen with a primarily male clientele was a gay comics shop in Beijing.

LOL I find that interesting, buying american comics in a place called The Bra Shoppe

[dancj]

Let me kick it off. I say that 47 percent of comics buyers are not female. I think the real number is more like 8 percent.

No - Way more than 8% of comic buyers are not female.

(I know what you really mean, but that's how it reads to me)

[ultimate jezebel]

The problem with female buyers is that it is mostly about soap-opera situations over the male standard exploitation. I had this argument with a teacher about graphic novels. She kept on insisting that "comics" was garbage compared to those. Just happens that graphic novels in a nutshell share the same airspace as soap along with comics from the far east.

In fact I would say X-men in my area was popular with women readers.

Many of our female customers dabble with X-Men titles but not as a pull list item, more like random books which pique interest.

[Moral_Gutpunch]

How many comics buyers are female? How many comics readers are female? How do women tend to get into comics?

Uh, +1?

Do most women like the idea of digital comics as opposed to the comics shop experience?

They're both pretty unorganized and lack a lot of my favorite characters.

Do a lot of women have issues with the exaggerated physiques of the female characters?

It depends on the context. If all women look like that, and men are exaggerated to look hot too, I'm only going to wonder about the practicality of the costumes. If everyone looks normal, but the 'hot' woman looks like psylocke (twists liek a pretzel, boobsocks, huge wedgie) or the men look unattractive, I'm going to have a problem. However, I don't like sexism in my comic, even both ways.

If you'e a woman, are you more likely to seek out titles with female protagonists?

I fixed some errors, by the way. Nope. I tend to go by genre or character.

Here's an add-on to the discussion: How many people know superheroes started out aimed at women and the divide between female and male buyers of comics only began in the Cold War?

[Sharkerbob]

The problem with female buyers is that it is mostly about soap-opera situations over the male standard exploitation. I had this argument with a teacher about graphic novels. She kept on insisting that "comics" was garbage compared to those. Just happens that graphic novels in a nutshell share the same airspace as soap along with comics from the far east.

In fact I would say X-men in my area was popular with women readers.

Days of Our Lives was less of a soap opera than some runs of X-Men.

[t hedge coke]

Days of Our Lives was less of a soap opera than some runs of X-Men.

Heck, Spider-Man comics and the Spidey board here are more Lovers, Deceit, and Peter Parker than they're about punch ups. I think sometimes (male) superhero fans protest a little too hard about soap and melodrama. Traditionally, Lex Luthor is a threat to Superman every few months or once a year, but the "threat" of Lois Lane is monthly.

[Cold Water]

Yeah, I am not sure what RegalSin is talking about, we all buy comics for the dramatic stories and art.
Male or female, it does not matter.
Men can try to deny it all they want, but they like that drama, too.
I bought my first romance comics per suggestion of a male.
So.

[ultimate jezebel]

I bought my first romance comics per suggestion of a male.

Busted

[Cold Water]

Busted

That panel got me into soooo much trouble. LOL.
It makes men think they can say whatever they want to you if you post it/use it as your avatar.

[t hedge coke]

That panel got me into soooo much trouble. LOL.
It makes men think they can say whatever they want to you if you post it/use it as your avatar.

I'm pessimistic enough to believe there's enough people out there who don't even "need" that excuse.

[Cold Water]

I'm pessimistic enough to believe there's enough people out there who don't even "need" that excuse.

We see close enough evidence to support your pessimism right here, daily, unfortunately.

[Pat Thomas]

Heck, Spider-Man comics and the Spidey board here are more Lovers, Deceit, and Peter Parker than they're about punch ups. I think sometimes (male) superhero fans protest a little too hard about soap and melodrama. Traditionally, Lex Luthor is a threat to Superman every few months or once a year, but the "threat" of Lois Lane is monthly.

The "soap opera" aspect of comics I read is what I enjoy the most. The fighting is necessary at some point usually, but I like seeing
what happens to these people the rest of the time. Since adults have romantic relationships in life, that's something the writer can
expand upon to cause the protagonist problems, just like any life situation, and readers can relate. All fighting would get old quick.

[ultimate jezebel]

One of my goals is to own every copy of Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) up to #240.

I'm 97% there. The slow down is simple, I collect high-grade and high grade single-digit issues cost a bundle. So I want to see these in person before delving into my handbag.

My being female is completely irrelevant. Or do male buyers think otherwise?

[Shalla Bal]

Here's an add-on to the discussion: How many people know superheroes started out aimed at women and the divide between female and male buyers of comics only began in the Cold War?

Now this is interesting! I am aware that certain genres such as the late 1940s superheroine comics (Timely), romance, the whole slew of Tessie the Typist/Millie the Model books, etc. were created specifically to appeal to female readers, but I've never read that superheroes as a whole were designed for that audience.
Can you supply any sources, MG? I've love to read up on this.

[t hedge coke]

Now this is interesting! I am aware that certain genres such as the late 1940s superheroine comics (Timely), romance, the whole slew of Tessie the Typist/Millie the Model books, etc. were created specifically to appeal to female readers, but I've never read that superheroes as a whole were designed for that audience.
Can you supply any sources, MG? I've love to read up on this.

DC and Marvel do start, in their marketing, to differentiate hardcore in the early 60s. The letters pages for JLA start sniping at girls and women for no particular reason other than it's not a girl's title, but Superman and Green Lantern maybe are. Marvel couldn't hardly mention Millie or Patsy without simultaneously soliciting the book and mocking who might read it/distancing its superhero readers from those comics. And, the ratio of ads aimed at boys or girls changes, too, around that time, in different titles/lines. You are dramatically less likely to see "100 miniature dolls can be yours!" in the same book as "scale submarine! impress your friends!" in the 60s than you were in the 40s or well into the 50s.

This would be around the same time that Marvel started taking shots at their Direct Competition, and vice versa, despite not being the top two publishers at the time and Marvel being carried by DC. The insults served as a way to remind audiences of the two options (but no other options) and cement the idea of camps to support. I think, ultimately, much of the gender divide in those 60s superhero comics was probably just that. (And, probably worth mentioning that this is an era where c-level artists would try to get their ex-girlfriends drummed out of comics, young male writers were getting a much easier foot in the door even by their own admission and actively working out their personal, early, dating and gender issues, the underground comix movement was exploding almost simultaneously to the Silver Age, and that we see gender divides occur along all these lines, too frequently, as well.)

Anecdotally, at least. I'm not going to swear that it doesn't just seem that way with my casual engagement with original issues from those eras and stuff from reading memoirs and histories, from Trina Robbins to tell-alls.