A few months ago Marvel announced that 2010 would see a big push for some events built around women — as characters, as creators, and as readers. Here’s one of the first projects out of the box, GIRL COMICS, a three-issue anthology miniseries much in the spirit of STRANGE TALES, featuring comics created exclusively BY women. And that means writing, lettering, drawing — everything. Contributors include Kathryn Immonen, Marjorie Liu, Devin Grayson, Ann Nocenti, Trina Robbins, G. Willow Wilson, Stephanie Buscema, Amanda Conner, Jill Thompson, Louise Simonson, Valerie D’Orazio, Colleen Coover, Molly Crabapple, Nikki Cook, Ming Doyle, Abby Denson, and Carla Speed McNeil. The book is edited by Jeanine Schaefer, and we’re happy to debut the cover of the first issue, by Amanda Conner, colored by Laura Martin.

The first issue is planned for March to tie in with Women’s History Month — 2010 is both the 30th anniversary of the founding of the National Women’s History Project AND the first appearance of She-Hulk. With all the talk all the time about what women want to read or write or smash, we couldn’t wait to talk to Schaefer and find out where this anthology fits in the scheme of things:

THE BEAT: GIRL COMICS — comics starring girls or comics FOR girls? Given all the hoohah about comics from the Big Two reaching female readers, what kind of content are we looking at?
 
SCHAEFER: It’s actually comics BY women—and I mean, top to bottom: written, penciled, inked, colored, lettered. The logo is by a woman, all the interior design, production, proof-reading and editing is all by women.

Although some creators have gravitated towards their favorite female super hero, it’s not specifically focused on our female characters, and I’m not trying to generate content that I think will appeal to more women. I don’t want to give away all the stories, but we’re really running the gamut of Marvel characters, from Punisher to the FF to Mary Jane. We’re making great comics by great women, period—when given the opportunity to create a story about whatever they wanted, the pitches I got back from everyone have been hugely diverse in tone and characters. 
 
That said, I definitely think women and girls will pick this up but not because we’ve hit upon the combination that will make all women like comics. I’m hoping it’ll be encouraging to see so many women who are making their livings in comics, that the idea will be reinforced that comics can be (and already are) as much for them as they are for men.
 

THE BEAT: How does it fit in with the whole Women of Marvel promotion? I know at the retailer summit David Gabriel mentioned an event built around Marvel’s female characters and some programs to spotlight female talent.
 
SCHAEFER: This is actually in addition to those projects—once we started talking about celebrating the women of Marvel (both the characters and the creators), this was the project that I was dying to do. Once some of the other women in editorial and I started talking more about it, it took off like a shot. As for the other projects, we will definitely be highlighting our creators who are women as well as our female super heroes, but I can’t comment more on either of those until the projects themselves are announced.
 
THE BEAT: Although there doesn’t seem to be any doubt that there is a sizable female readership for the comics format, creating material for this market at Marvel and DC seems to have run into some problems. Perhaps the largest one is that it is perceived that men won’t pick up something that might appeal to women/girls. Was that a concern in putting this book together or did you see it as simply reaching a different audience?
 
SCHAEFER: My original hope with this was to show that women in comics are already creating just as diverse a range of stories as men. I think the characters and the stories will draw in just as many men in as women, and will get people thinking that good comics aren’t about the gender of the writer or artist, it’s about where what you like to read intersects with what they like to create. 
 
THE BEAT: Do you think that there are specific Marvel characters that have a higher female readership and if so what factors into that? I know the X-men has traditionally been a bridge book in that way.
 
SCHAEFER: X-Men was totally my bridge book! I honestly have no hard numbers and no background in this (beyond being a woman and liking comics), so I can’t say with any certainty.  But hopefully without looking like a total hypocrite after talking about how there is no one story or character or book that all women would like, I would hazard a guess that the X-Books are top sellers with women and girls right off the bat because there are more female characters. There are naturally more points of view in a huge team/family book, making it easier for more readers, and specifically women, to get personally invested.
 
But I hold to my belief that there just isn’t that magical combination of character and theme that will make women read a specific book.  There are so many more women interested in super hero comics and genre entertainment than most people think (and this isn’t new, it’s like me saying I’ve just cracked the case of comics getting popular in the mainstream, but everyone likes to talk about it like it’s new every time women are vocal about something they like in popular entertainment. Oh, my god, women read comics! Oh, my god, women watch television! Apparently, they even go to the movies and read books that aren’t made specifically for them! Shock! Horror!), and as the community grows, the pull list of “what women like” becomes just as sprawling as any control group. 
 
I talk to my friends and women at cons and the answers seem to range from X-Men to Runaways to Spider-man to Captain America to Hulk, which sounds just like what any reader in any shop would say.  Whenever you see a large concentration of women reading one series in particular, it’s less that there’s something specific there that women gravitate towards and more that they’ve found something that doesn’t have an implied sign on it saying “no girls allowed”.
 
THE BEAT: What were some of the fun opportunities you had in putting together an anthology by female creators?
 
SCHAEFER: It’s been amazing seeing the list of women grow and grow—almost every day someone says, oh, I want to call so and so, and we add them to the list.  It’s also been incredible to be able to talk to creators about writing stories about characters they’ve created—for example, I’m so stoked to be working with Ann Nocenti on a Typhoid Mary story!
 
THE BEAT: Now that we’ve answered the question “Who is stronger, She-Hulk or Iron Man?” will the internet be torn apart?
 
SCHAEFER: Man, I hope so! Torn apart by sheer awesomeness! (cue the 80+ comments only discussing this one point and ignoring the rest of the article.)

175 COMMENTS

  1. Holy cow. I’m ridiculously excited for this. Congrats to all involved.

    I’m also very upset about something about Iron Man and She-Hulk or whatever, etc., etc.

  2. I’m not in love with the name of the book, but anything that increases the amount of Marvel Ann Nocenti work in existence is a project to champion.

    Also, Devin Grayson, G. Willow Wilson, and Weezy Simonson? DAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNN. That’s a fucking monster creator list.

  3. It’s interesting that the merits of women are defined in this promo image by being better than men. Imagine the uproar if Iron Man was shown defeating She-Hulk.

  4. Comics… They’re not just for boys anymore!

    Sounds way cool.

    Well… I’m still waiting for She-Hulk to kick Tony Stark’s buns of iron for that womanizing stunt he pulled on the SHIELD helicarrier…

    She-Hulk is stronger. She’s gamma-powered, powers proportional to her Jennifer Walters physique. She’s also one of the best lawyers in the Marvel Universe, as we saw when she sued Tony Stark for inhibiting her powers using nanites.

  5. I’m all for more comics *for* females. But isn’t insisting that they be totally produced by females a bit of a gimmick? Is anyone also screening press operators, forklift and distribution-truck drivers, compositors, etc., also, to be certain that the end-product remains gender-pure?

    That said… yes, there truly is a wonderful lineup of comics professionals involved.

  6. I’m all for more comics *for* females. But isn’t insisting that they be totally produced by females a bit of a gimmick? Is anyone also screening press operators, forklift and distribution-truck drivers, compositors, etc., to be certain that the end-product remains gender-pure?

    That said… yes, there truly is a wonderful lineup of comics professionals involved.

  7. And people say that feminists are humorless.

    I’m very excited about this comic, and I’m pleased that Marvel is making an effort to seek out female creators.

  8. I’d be surprised if there aren’t observable differences in the writing in GIRL COMICS. Since a major reason for enjoying a story is identifying with, or at least empathizing with, the lead character(s), one would expect women to handle heroines a bit differently — although dialogue-only scripts would prevent writers from doing the character embellishments one would see in prose stories.

    There’s also a gender gap in writing skills. Girls perform better than boys on standardized reading and writing tests, at least through the teenage years.

    SRS

  9. Honestly, my enthusiasm for any Marvel announced work is pretty much always at 0, and this certainly doesn’t change that. What I don’t understand is instead of showboating there are women involved in this project, why not just have women working on the normal comics released every month? By delegating them all to this book, it’s almost like Marvel is treating comics made by women as the Special Olympics – good enough when they’re all together but not good enough to participate in the actual product.

  10. Michael…. “Minx Comics” was already taken. }]

    Nate… women are working on the regular comics. They are SHOWCASING specific talent in this series, just as they have showcased the Young Guns new talent working on titles, independent creators in Strange Tales, and the assistant editors writing some pretty damn cool stories.

    And… MORE COLLEEN COOVER COMICS! Give her a series!

  11. While I applaud the exemplary line up of talent Marvel has gathered, I have to ask why they aren’t being given regular runs on actual series instead of this strange ghettoisation of a limited, three issue series?

  12. Also, I disagree with a comment in the interview where Ms. Schaefer says it’s always treated as new when it’s observed women like something in “mainstream” entertainment. I don’t think it’s anything new that women enjoy movies or TV or anything, I just think it catches people, women and men, off-guard when a movie like Twilight has one of the biggest openings ever. The surprise isn’t a movie targeted towards women did well; the surprise is what a phenomenon Twilight has become.

  13. Great line-up of creators; I’m looking forward to this. This may or may not succeed in getting more women to read comics, but it’ll succeed in getting me to read more Marvel comics.

    I second the motion for MORE COLLEEN COOVER COMICS! At the very least, could Marvel please please please publish a collection of her X-Men First Class short stories?

  14. Torsten, I’m not much of a superhero guy, but if your example of Marvel showcasing their regular talent is Strange Tales, you’re just reinforcing my point – unless Dash Shaw, Jim Rugg, Stan Sakai, and Pete Bagge are regularly doing books at Marvel. I’m still saying just give these people work on regularly produced comics and don’t relegate them off to their own little corner of the room to play in.

  15. Anything that allows more talented creators to get exposure to the market place by the big 2 is a good thing. I’ve really enjoyed watching how the Marvel Adventures line and the First Class line (and the DC Kids line) is testing out writers and artists and then pushing them onto bigger and better things. I think this project is a natural extension of that, more women creators that can tell compelling stories is a good thing. It allows a more diverse storytelling viewpoint of our favorite characters out there, always a good thing.

  16. I realize “reading the article” is unfashionable these days, but if you “read” the “article”, you’d discover that they ARE giving many of these creators larger-scale projects, this is just a showcase to kick things off.

    But, you know, that requires the dreaded “reading.”

  17. A showcase for female (superhero) comics creators makes sense, given the huge gender gap in the field, simply as a way of promoting them. It’s not that much different from having a women’s night at a comedy club, although having women doing everything might be excessive.

    Note that there has also been a longstanding gender gap in the SF field. Female authors have tried to narrow the gap in various ways over the years. Feministsf.org has a history.

    SRS

  18. “But isn’t insisting that they be totally produced by females a bit of a gimmick?”

    Oh no! Not a gimmick! How dare you accuse Marvel, of all companies, of stooping to a gimmick! If they were interested in gimmicks, they would’ve had the Marvel Apes covers all drawn by apes.

    (And I so would’ve bought that.)

  19. Great lineup.

    I wonder if they’ll be all-ages stories, or at least accessible to the same girls who buy Tiny Titans, Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Babymouse, etc.

    (And if you don’t know about Babymouse, do yourself a favor and check it out.)

  20. Sounds desperately sad to me, that comics is still such a backwater that they had to do gimmicks like this. The name is not a great choice either.

  21. Where is the “just right” oatmeal that will finally make the internet happy and slumbering peacefully in someone else’s bed?

  22. Uninterested. Marvel female characters are totally bores. They’re only saving grace are the X-Women: Jean Grey, Rogue, Storm, Psylocke, The White Queen. The X-Books have the best female characters, and not those generic versions of male heroes. Spider-WOMAN? SHE-Hulk? MS. Marvel? Really? Pass.

  23. I’m excited for this – I’ll read the hell out of anything amanda conner touches and that’s just a simple fact. the rest of the names on here are fantastic too, and I’m excited to see what’s in store for us.

    to the critics: read it before you complain. If you think the concept is sexist or a gimmick, think about all the fantastic creators that are signed on to this – if this truly was a horrible misogynist gimmick, don’t you think the creators on board would avoid this project like the plague?

    Grow up and enjoy good things when we get them.

  24. Tom: I second your wish.

    All: Anybody know if Stephanie Buscema, mentioned above as one of the contributors, is in any way related to artists Sal or John Buscema?

  25. Personally, I think the book’s name is spot on. Why try to come up with anything clever and then have potential customers miss the point? And I applaud Marvel for doing a so-called “Big Two stunt” that I can actually get behind.

  26. Well, if you’re trying to make a comic for girls, having it created by women is certainly the logical choice (obviously). And if it’s done really well, it’ll naturally find a cross-over audience.

  27. So if they are produced by women it’s ok to have lots of cleavage and big fake looking tits on the cover?

    Richard…Stephanie Buscema is John’s granddaughter.

  28. ::Sigh::

    When will straight (mildy chubby) men get a break in comics!

    I’m pitching Boy Comics at this week’s meeting.

    -Wacker

  29. When Marvel puts good effort, faith, and promotion into a female character who is more interested in kicking a$$ than getting married (because that’s just her way, not because “a MAN dun her rong” or she’s a “lez-bean”) — THEN I will add a Marvel title to my pull.

  30. All politics aside, just wanted to chime in and compliment Amanda Conner’s terrific cover. It’s as if these heroes actually have personalities, and faces that…well…move. Nice character “performances” across the board.

    Attention Marvel and DC: more of this kind of art, please. By women OR men.

  31. I’m excited about this, but at the same time dubious. A lot of the time when people look at the phrase “strong female characters” they see the word STRONG before CHARACTER. Just making a female strong physically does not make a strong character. She has to have quirks and failures and nuance.

  32. I think people are a little confused – the comics aren’t going to feature exclusively female characters.

  33. Treating female comic creators as a novelty and marketing gimmick is weak, whatever good intentions started this.

    If these are good short stories use them as backups in the mainstream comics, don’t play up the sex or race of the creators we should be way beyond that in 2010.

  34. I think a lot of concerns being voiced here are actually addressed in what is a really fantastic interview.

    First, it’s a showcase. I understand the worry about ghettoizing, but I don’t get that impression from this at all. This looks like a genuine and thoughtful way to get some attention for people already working in the industry.

    Second, as Jeanine repeatedly points out, these women are already quite visible. So it’s a nice way of pointing out that, regardless of what is often claimed, women can and are actively telling stories people want to read in comics, period.

    Third, the comics are diverse. They’re not all about female characters, they’re about whatever characters the creators wanted to tackle. The teams on the books are all women, showcasing how women are involved at every level of this industry. Every day. That’s not actually a gimmick, it’s reality. One that is often ignored.

    I for one think it’s great. You can’t make everyone happy, and I can understand the concern. But just based on that interview, this is very clearly a thoughtful endeavor. We could use more of those.

  35. @Ian – the fact that everyone involved is female is a selling point, and distinguishes it from the rest of the comics in the marketplace. Why wouldn’t Marvel play that up instead of burying these stories in ongoing titles?

  36. Ian:

    While it shouldn’t be a novelty, it often is. Non-white male creators simply don’t get the same level of attention. It’s a product of our larger cultural problem with valuing one viewpoint above all others, consistently. When you have that issue, you have to call out the inequity sometimes, and do something like this. Otherwise it simply won’t get the same level of attention or acknowledgement.

    Plus, I don’t actually think, based on that interview, anyone thinks female creators are a novelty. That’s the exact opposite of what that interview is talking about. Schaefer repeatedly points that out. I understand your concern, but I don’t think it’s any more helpful to say, oh, just put them in the back of the regular comics. Because that won’t solve anything either. This is, in many ways, the best solution.

  37. Even though I realise the comics within are about a variety of subjects, the cover is of a female character beating a male character in a test of physical strength. The arm wrestle is typically seen as masculine. It’s like saying the only way women can be taken seriously is if they play a man’s
    game and take on masculine characteristics.

    I wish that there were no such stereotypes between the genders, not saying that I WANT arm wrestling to be seen as a purely masculine past time. Not that I want girls on the cover to be just standing there doing nothing for fear of butting up against controversy. To use the stereotypes on the cover is like making those stereotypes even more obvious. But in a way, it’s like saying they are aware of the stereotypes – and are trying to overcome them.

    EH! I’m torn at this point. I do like to see the female comic book creators get out there.

  38. The fact that anyone anywhere could have a problem with an anthology by this list of absolutely stellar, PROVEN creators is a pretty sad commentary on stereotyping.

    A question for the panel: If they had just announced an anthology and the creators without the title and so on what would you think?

  39. A question for the panel: If they had just announced an anthology and the creators without the title and so on what would you think?

    I think the title will cost them readers despite the creative teams involved. Just the discussion here is evidence that the title is overshadowing the excellent lineup of talent, at least to some degree. That’s a shame.

    That said, Marvel anthologies (well, MOST anthologies) are usually pretty hit-or-miss and this probably will be too. Still worth checking out.

  40. I think the discussion here is only evidence of the need of people to complain about and over-analyze everything. Or did you not see Sandra’s post above commenting on an arm wrestling match between She-Hulk and Iron Man and how it relates to sexism in comics?

  41. Sandra – seriously. They are super heroes. Everything they do (in their fictional exploits) are essentially tests of their physical strength. Or do you think a cover showing Tony (out of armor) and Jennifer (in human form) competing in a Calculus challenge would be a little more compelling and dynamic?

  42. The line-up and talent is incredible, the name while silly, is no sillier than Iron Man, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. That said this should be a solid read, and the eventual hardcover look nice next to my Bizzaro Comics, Bizarro World, and Strange Tales books.

    I also agree with Scott Chantlers post is anyway these ladies who can really draw, replace the tracers like Greg Land on actual Marvel titles?

  43. joshfitz: Yes yes YES, that sounds like a phenomenal idea. Although it should probably be pointed out that whenver Greg Land takes the month off on Uncanny X-Men, there is already a phenomenally talented female creator on the book: inker Rachel Dodson. But yeah, replacing Land with Amanda Conner sounds like a dream come true to me.

    As to the series as a whole, I do think the title is kinda lousy, but the idea is sound, and the way Schaefer described the book sounds write up my alley. Consider me signed up.

  44. What’s Burt Reynolds doing in Iron Man’s armor?

    I’m looking forward to picking this up. I must admit the gimmicky aspect kinda bugs me…. After Marvel Apes, Marvel Zombies, Monster Madness, Marvel Western, Marvels Project, and so on, all of which produced fun stories, “Marvel Girls” (not the real title, I know) just sounds funny to me. Still and all, this sounds like fun. Hopefully the book will adopt a tongue-in-cheek approach to the title.

  45. “I dream of a day when a comic created only by women doesn’t get tagged with a stupid title like Marvel’s Girl Comics. In fact, I dream of a time when it’s not even special enough to remark upon, instead of being some kind of attention-getting stunt that ends up resembling a plea for charity. “Please pay attention to us — look! we’re letting the women do superheroes!” But we’re not there yet, still.”

    I think we are there. When Gail and I work on Secret Six nobody is making a big deal about it being a female creative team, it’s just a monthly by a creative team.

    I think this project sounds AWESOME! I wish I could have been part of it. Look at that line up!

  46. I think that there will be a big difference between female created comics and male created, at least if American comics can be judged the same as Japanese comics. I generally prefer shojou (girl) manga to shonen (boy) manga for several reasons- a) I find the artwork to be more appealing, and b) the storyline is more appealing. Boy’s comics, at least in my experience, tend to revolve around fighting and whatnot, whereas I prefer interesting situations, and yes, romance. Fighting is great too, I just don’t like it when that’s all the comic revolves around. It’s kind of like when I tell someone that I’m a history major and they start talking about warfare. Ew. I’m into social history.

    Don’t judge me when I say this (at least without reading it for yourself), but Sailor Moon was a great shojou manga. It had beautiful artwork, an interesting plot, engaging relationships between the characters (competitive, platonic, and romantic), and there were great fight scenes that didn’t take over the storyline. I’ve yet to find another manga that can compete on that level.

    Getting back to American comics, I generally don’t read them (with a few exceptions), because they’re so male dominated. I don’t care for the art (for the most part) and I don’t care for the storylines. Perhaps if we had some more women doing the writing, then I would be more inclined to read. Likewise for the artwork- draw a woman realistically (*cough*thosebreastsareridiculous*cough*) and you might have my attention. I actually got into an argument with a guy at a convention who didn’t like that the Supergirl artist had drawn shorts underneath her miniskirt. Be realistic. What girl would fly around in a skirt if she knew that her underwear was showing?

  47. i can understand why people would be hesitant before seeing the list of creators- but it’s a great line up.

    It might seem gimmicky, but i think it’s more that it’s straight forward. If it was a book on “women’s issues” or made everyone do female characters, then maybe the complaining would make sense.

    and as for the ‘man’s world’ comment. i suspect that obvious troll is obvious. If not- speaking from my own vag pulpit: shit like this makes you sound like a lunatic AND invalidates any real issues that might be a real problem. no one can hear any real problems over a chorus of “DON’T PATRONIZE ME” and “THERE IS CLEAVAGE IN MY COMIC”. ugh.

    enjoy the damn thing, or don’t. i for one just like getting to see some unusual creators doing different stories.

  48. “Comics… They’re not just for boys anymore!” is the new “BAM, BIFF, Comix aren’t just for kids anymore!”

    call me when Marvel actually hires a decent amount of women to create and edit their comics.

    this lame “girls make comics too!” gimmick is just embarrassing.

    imagine a world where half the x-men comics are written or drawn (or both!) by ladies.
    or one where a long running mainstream title follows up the work of female creators with other female creators.

  49. A question for the panel: If they had just announced an anthology and the creators without the title and so on what would you think?

    Irrelevant, because Marvel chose to market a comic created entirely by WOMEN as “GIRL Comics.” Over on the feminism and politics comms where this article has already been reposted, potential female readers who are not already familiar with the creators involved are promising to stay away from this in droves, simply because of its title. Moreover, Heidi, it’s patently idiotic and wrong-headed of you to expect the name-brands of this book to overcome the sexist title of the book itself enough to sell it to women WHO DON’T ALREADY READ COMICS, and are thus wholly unfamiliar with why these female creators are worth buying.

    Regardless of what the merits of the book’s contents are, this is a failure of marketing on every conceivable level, and the fact that nobody can own up to this simple fact just shows how utterly sunk this industry is.

  50. “Again, haters are gonna hate.”

    Considering that many, many, MANY of the “haters” are precisely the audience that Marvel supposedly created this comic to draw in, that’s not exactly the fault of the “haters.”

  51. Mary: you pretty much summed up how I feel about the “Big Two” comics, as I also like my comics about relationships and characters in interesting situations and wish there were more. Comics about men fighting or flexing their superpower just sends me to sleep.

    K-Box: I agree, “Girl Comics” isn’t a great title for something aimed at women. It’s a bit patronising. It’s like when DC had those comics aimed at young women but chose to call the imprint “Minx”. Come on! Are dirty old men naming these comics?

    Looking forward to the anthology immensely.

  52. “Treating female comic creators as a novelty and marketing gimmick is weak, whatever good intentions started this.”

    Nonsense. If comics wasn’t such a male-dominated hobby, then you might have a point here. But just for the sake of discussion, let’s flip the script a bit…what if Mattel began marketing their most famous doll line to the male gender as “Barbies for Boys”? Would that be sexist and degrading as well?

    Or perhaps the correct response is that there’s always gotta be somebody who gets their underwear in a bunch over the incidentals.

  53. Joseph – One of the reasons I don’t like discussions about this kind of shiz is the fact people seem to think girls are always being too serious and complaining when they try to dissect things.

    People have in depth conversations about nerdom all the time. How many fans pick over every part of a Star Trek episode? Or gush about what Spider-man did in issue 345? Or complain about a character’s reinvention? I’m not saying that I’m not being over-analytical, just that that’s not unusual for the comic book world. It’s just an expression of my interest.

    As well, yes I’m aware it’s about super heroes, but I don’t often see superheroes needing to prove how strong they are in an arm wrestle. Superheroes are strong and they know it, and they shouldn’t have to be fighting one another to show that.

  54. As well as comics I also work as a comedian. I’m used to the “Women of the Night” or whatever cutesy sexy/sexist nickname people call an evening of all women comedians. There’s usually a pretty good house ready to enjoy the show. A good time is had but the evening always has the * next to it. It shows that things are still at the point where an evening of just women comedians is odd, enough of a novelty that it can be marketed that way.

    I know a lot of women comedians who wouldn’t go near a night like that. The ones who do are getting stage time where they can and it’s understandable. It’s just sad that it’s still the case that we’re still at that point.

    A book like Secret Six shows it doesn’t have to be that way. They’re so good, it becomes a non issue the sex of the creators. To me if the people involved in this comic are good enough to be published they should be. But in 2010 we shouldn’t be doing books like this.

  55. hey K-Box, do you ever talk to women?

    Like real live women who have interests and personalities, as opposed to knee-jerk reactionists who would attach a hate-boner to anything remotely associated with gender? Because many, MANY of them seem to dig this idea so far.

  56. addressing that one point, I am fairly shocked that wolverine would be betting on armored Tony to beat She-Hulk! as the rest of the men so astonished.

    That said, though this rings kinda gimmicky, I am VERY excited about this just because of the sheer talent of women who will be contributing to this!!! :)

  57. is it all-ages or is it aimed at little kids? girl means little kid, woman means grownups so why is it girl comics? it’s for little kids?

    i’m not excited about it but i like collections with themes that tie them together. marvel characters written and drawn by girls doesn’t sound like a theme

  58. Dave Thompson

    why does adding “boner” to any word make everything so hilarious?

    also yes. and this is no more gimmicky then the indie anthology. i don’t care- this is gonna be cool.

  59. I don’t care what plumbing these people have, that’s a great line-up and I hope this book is a huge success. Some of my favorite creators are going to be in this book and I’m betting it will be a stunner. It’s particularly nice to see some of my favorites who haven’t worked in comics for a while come back and do something high-profile like this.

    Knock them on their asses, ladies.

  60. The fact that K-Box thinks this is dumb makes me know it is, in fact, a winner.

    Did anyone bother to R_E_A_D the editor’s thoughts on this? It is NOT a comic FOR girls/women/womyn. It is a comic BY women. NOT THE SAME THING. Those of you who say you won’t by it because it’s by some of the industry’s finest creators are the ones showing what close-minded reactionaries/internet whiners you are.

  61. @The Beat

    Good point. Just because something is made by women, that does not mean that it’s for women exclusively. It’s just refreshing to have a woman’s point of view in a male-dominated industry. If we’re going by the logic of most of the whiners, then only girls/women can should be allowed to read Harry Potter.

    Also, my favorite series of Star Wars books was the Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin, a series that focused on a man, but was written by a woman. Her writing in the books was detailed and engaging, and in my opinion, her portrayal of the female characters was much more believable than many of the other Star Wars books that I’ve read.

  62. that’s what’s confusing. it’s not aimed at girls, but it’s called girl comics. in almost all ads for anything girls means for little kids. its not by girls its by women who are in the industry. if the girls refers to the women writing the comic…uh…why? they’d never call an anthology of male written comics “boys” comics. not a dealbreaker for anyone already into the women involved just confusing and apparently to some people insulting

  63. “Hello I am a single individual who really believes he represents the entire comics reading audience. I also have issues with women”

    We all know its going to be awesome. And for every one comment added to this, I feel like that’s another reader who’s going to pick it up out of curiosity.

    Seriously, why is mainstream comic books’ fans viewpoints towards sex stuck in the 1890? Why should a thread like this get 100 comments?

    Also, I loooove the work of Kathryn Immonen. That Hellcat Book was hella high fives. As exciting as this is, the upcoming Punisher Max book is probably the coolest move regarding women creators that Marvel has made.

  64. No matter what the intention is behind a book, when it goes on the stands, it competes with all the other books no matter what color, gender or orientation the creators might be.

    With this line-up, it’s going to be killer. Good for the creators involved.

    Gail

  65. I’d just like to add my anonymous internet voice to the other people looking forward to this project. I’m a fangirl, and this project looks awesome.

    The End.

  66. Actually, sales wise, this’ll be a blip on the radar, won’t it? Passed over to make room for Hulk Issue 634: Deadpool Begins.

    Unless there’s an epic plan for this…

  67. So far as the internet chatter goes, this sounds like a redo of the fuss made over the Marvel Divas packaging. Here’s hoping the “all this talk will translate into sales” contingent is actually right this time.

  68. “Like real live women who have interests and personalities, as opposed to knee-jerk reactionists who would attach a hate-boner to anything remotely associated with gender?”

    Dave, I’m so glad that you’ve taken it upon yourself to be the ultimate arbiter of what women SHOULD be like. What’s next? Gonna do some jokes about how women who don’t shave their legs are nothing but man-hating dykes? Because that’s about the level of misogyny you’re trading in right now, jackass.

  69. “So far as the internet chatter goes, this sounds like a redo of the fuss made over the Marvel Divas packaging. Here’s hoping the “all this talk will translate into sales” contingent is actually right this time.”

    And therein lies the rub – unless Marvel suddenly gets a 100-point boost to their marketing IQ, this thing could be more brilliant than the Sistine Chapel and it’ll STILL die a quick death on the stands.

  70. “The fact that K-Box thinks this is dumb makes me know it is, in fact, a winner. […] Did anyone bother to R_E_A_D the editor’s thoughts on this?”

    I’ll start reading when you do, you idiot. If you’d bothered to read what I wrote, you’d see that I wasn’t debating the merits of this book, but rather, I was pointing out the stupidity of its marketing, because no matter how much you BAAAWWW otherwise, it’s beyond denial that it HAS been marketed stupidly, and I, for one, would actually like to be able to purchase a comic made by women without feeling like I’m buying into some sort condescending ghettoization of female creators as a whole, and calling a comic made by WOMEN “GIRLS Comics” really ain’t helping.

  71. I’m kind of weirded out that this actually creates controversy of any kind. Honestly I just can’t wait to read it. The majority of comics creators are men, why not showcase comics made by women?

  72. I agree that it looks to be similar in tone and intent to the Strange Tales books which featured indie-types working on Marvel characters. It’s a great idea, and it allows for creators to create and not be saddled with the cement shoes of continuity. Most of the stories probably couldn’t be told in monthly books, and it’s smart of Marvel to give these talented creators a forum to cut loose.

    Relegating them to “back-up stories” could be seen as ghetto-izing them, for the individual who suggested this.

    For those complaining about the title, Girl Comics is so insulting, right? Selling a book with the sole intention of featuring female creators is a slap in the face, isn’t it? May as well have called the book “Sexy Chix” if they really wanted to marginalize all these women and be done with it, eh?

    I must now boycott Marvel in protest. (no, not really.)

  73. Strictly from the writing standpoint, critics of GIRL COMICS might be right. Most superhero comics readers want to see stories about particular characters and to see the stories done well, not to see a writer display an idiosyncratic style. From a competence point of view, since superhero stories are widely regarded as sexist in the handling and depiction of characters, women can make their points by performing qualitatively better than the stereotypical male writers do. Their performances, in that respect, have to be judged separately from sales figures and from reader reactions, since some readers might prefer sexist junk. Presumably, professional female writers would be as good as men at writing to conform with a set of editorial guidelines

    I’m nearly as character-oriented as the average reader. If the anthologies don’t have characters I’m interested in reading about, I won’t buy them. Ann Nocenti might be notable for her “Typhoid Mary” stories, but I have no interest in them.

    The sex of the artists, letterers, et al., shouldn’t matter.

    SRS

  74. “I’ll start reading when you do, you idiot. If you’d bothered to read what I wrote, you’d see that I wasn’t debating the merits of this book, but rather, I was pointing out the stupidity of its marketing,”

    Uh, K-Box, The Beat was also talking about the marketing. You said it was badly titled as a comic created to draw in new women readers, The Beat then pointed out that isn’t the aim at all, as laid out by the editor of the comic in this interview. That’s why she said everyone should read the interview.

  75. “A question for the panel: If they had just announced an anthology and the creators without the title and so on what would you think? “

    I see your point, but I think you’re subtracting the thing some of us have an issue with. This book isn’t spotlighting everyday creators at Marvel – by virtue of its title and marketing, it’s saying “look at this! Women don’t belong barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen anymore,” and I don’t think most of us thought that in the beginning anyway.

    Taking Heidi’s question and turning it around to illustrate my point: How many people read Air, Magic Trixie, Nana, or any other (quasi-) serial book made by women? Do you feel these books are distinguished by being created by women, or are they distinguished by their quality?

  76. Joe: I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic by saying “Sexy Chix” would be a worse name than “Girl Comics,” or because he knew of the previous “Sexy Chix” book. And really, isn’t this just the same basic premise as that book, only with recognizable superheroes in it? They even share a lot of the same creators: Amanda Conner, Colleen Coover, Carla Speed McNeil, Trina Robbins, and Jill Thompson all participated in both projects.

  77. would it be any different if it was a showcase of chilean creators, or a showcase of septegenerian creators? Showing off the awesome talent of a group of people doesn’t have to be some misguided liberation attempt. it can just be a celebration of great talent.

    k-box: okay dude.

  78. OK, I’m convinced. This is a great idea that is ruined by the title. It should be titled “Women Comics”, although that doesn’t flow well, or “Women’s Comics”, although that implies it is comics for women. Maybe they should retitle it “Comics Completely Created by Women, Although not Specifically For Women, Who Are Already Working in the Industry”.

    I have also just realized that the Ennis’ comic “The Boys” is offensive and should be retitled “The Men”.

  79. Joe Lawler Says:

    12/16/09 at 10:44 am
    “Too bad that name’s already taken, eh?”

    I’m pretty sure Fun Gnome was being sarcastic.

    Jason Green Says:

    12/16/09 at 11:11 am
    Joe: I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic by saying “Sexy Chix” would be a worse name than “Girl Comics,” or because he knew of the previous “Sexy Chix” book. And really, isn’t this just the same basic premise as that book, only with recognizable superheroes in it? They even share a lot of the same creators: Amanda Conner, Colleen Coover, Carla Speed McNeil, Trina Robbins, and Jill Thompson all participated in both projects.

    If I knew how to insert a hyperlink, I would have considered doing what you did, Jason, but I don’t. I’m almost sad that someone did point that out so soon as it was an experiment to gauge the collective memory of The Beat’s peanut gallery. The point is that this type of project isn’t anything new and we should all be past bickering over it by now.

    I think it’s a good project, and the sales numbers don’t really matter to me because it will accomplish its goal simply by being published. For example, we can all be 99% sure that Collen Coover will never be the regular artist or writer of Invincible Iron Man, but if she happens to have a particular Iron Man story she wants to tell, it’s great that Marvel is going to provide an outlet for it. It would be nice if that was something we could all agree on. And yes, the title does kinda suck, but sales on anthologies tend to suck anyway so you almost need to have a gimmick or attention-grabbing aspect to make people think about giving it a shot. I’d rather they have a crappy title than an excellent title and 450 variant covers. I may have named the book something different, but it’s an anthology full of random stories with the one unifying characteristic being they’re all created by women. The book practically markets itself as Girl Comics even without having it titled as such.

    and I would have never intentionally used an “X” in that word or any word where people seem to think doing that is better than the way it’s supposed to be spelled.

  80. I think the title is what’s throwing people. For those that haven’t read this interview, and other press surely to follow, it feels kind of condescending, as if this is the Marvel comic girls are allowed to read and the rest of Marvel’s line is for boys. I know it’s being created with both genders as their target audience but the title by itself, to me, says “girls only”. The largest comics demographic won’t think it’s for them, or that it’ll be “male bashing”. I realize that’s stupid and lame, but I don’t think people are inventing objections just because they’re using the internet.

    Having said that, and knowing better, I’m obviously getting this. Fun concept of having female creators top to bottom. Pretty staggering line-up of creators.

  81. @Suzanne – misleading as well, implies that all the stories are about female heroes when this is not the case.

    Still don’t get why the title is bothering people. It is not inherently an offensive or derogatory word, and it is not being used in a derogatory or negative manner. In fact, there is nothing about this project that is in any way negative, regardless of whether or not one is going to purchase it.

  82. Corey: “The largest comics demographic won’t think it’s for them, or that it’ll be “male bashing”. I realize that’s stupid and lame, but I don’t think people are inventing objections just because they’re using the internet.”

    Oh, come on! Women frequently scream “misogyny” over comics. Why should they have all the fun?

    Some people may think it’s not for them because they aren’t interested in it.

  83. @Dave: How do you know you want to read it before finding out about it? Obviously, we here are the converted (or nearly converted). The real trick is convincing the comic shop browser who doesn’t visit The Beat or Newsarama religiously that it’s worth buying. Then the even bigger trick is getting new people into shops or book stores (when it’s eventually collected) to buy it. The title and cover are still the most instant messages to the consumer at point of purchase. Or Marvel could hire people to stand next to the store displays and pitch it, explaining how they’re being coy with the title but it really means this other thing and it’s comics for everyone.

    @Rich: True, some just won’t be interested even if they do know more, which is too bad. No product is universal, after all. Well, except for funeral services, I guess. And food.

  84. @Corey: because I’m a fan of so many of the creators that are onboard, and I want to read what they’ve got in store for us. male or female it doesn’t matter, that list of names at the very least should be getting people’s attention just for all the talent involved.

  85. @Dave: I absolutely agree. Like I said, we’re sold. The indie/alt comics readers will, for a good part, pick this up without too many problems, I would think. Basically, approximately the direct market numbers that Strange Tales got, plus or minus stray people here and there.

    The Marvel Zombies or the superhero readers probably only recognize Gail Simone and Amanda Connor, maybe Devin Grayson, and possibly Ann Nocenti and Louise Simonson. For some, that’ll be more than enough incentive, so there’s some more readers.

    For more casual comic readers, they have tragically never heard of anyone here. Check out the incoming blog link to the Word Warrior above for a perfect example. It’s not Alan Moore, it’s not Joss Whedon, it’s not Neil Gaiman, it’s not Art Spiegelman. So it’s “who are these people?” (Imagine if they got Marjane Satrapi to do a story in “Girl Comics”!) No one’s fault, really. Everyone’s trying to get their own names out there as much as possible, and consumers can’t be aware of everything and everyone. So, since the names are meaningless to most of the “outer world”, it falls back to the title and cover, and the brand of Marvel Comics and the characters seen on the cover.

  86. Joseff:

    There’s nothing inherently insulting in about calling a girl a girl. There is an insult in referring to a woman with decades of experience in her field as a girl, especially when you’re calling attention to her as a professional, and it’s a descriptor made more problematic by women being typically undervalued for their workplace contributions and by western comics being such a male-dominated field in addition to that.

    The title is likely going to make selling this book a headache no matter how you slice it, but if the intent is that the title is to refer to the creators behind the book and not the content, then it’s a better bet to go for the least insulting of the potentially confusing labels available.

  87. There are so many great creators on the bus, that where ever they’re allowed to sit doesn’t matter. Front, back it’s nice to see them all allowed back on for a ride again.

    Having a women’s channel on TV provides work for women but it doesn’t make things better for women in mainstream network shows. If you want real change to happen it’s not through books like this. It actually takes things back a step because it’s the illusion of movement when things are really just staying where they are.

    I want more women in comics. I want more comics for women. This isn’t the way to do it.

  88. The creators involved in this project are grown adults and fully aware of what they’re doing.

    As consumers, we can either buy or not buy it. But telling them they’re doing the wrong thing by being involved is a wee bit paternalistic. Or a lot paternalistic.

  89. I’m not saying the creators are wrong for doing it. I’m saying the publisher is wrong for suggesting this is the right way to do things.

    I was a big fan of Action Girl Comics years ago. That was all female creators but it was in the indy comics industry where there were a good amount of female creators and readers already. It was what this project should and could be but because women aren’t represented as well in mainstream it can easily become a kid’s table.

  90. So the answer is to not have a TV network for women? Or something like BET, for that matter? These may not be the ultimate solution, but I think they absolutely serve a positive purpose and are not a step back in any way.

    As has been pointed out previously, these are all working professionals. This project is calling attention (in a positive way) to the fact that there are women working in all aspects of the comic book industry. There is every possibility that at least some of these creators will obtain additional fans and/or work as a result of this book being published. In addition I will be able to give this book to my daughters (both of whom are Marvel superhero fans who love to draw) who I expect will be at the very least interested in, if not inspired by, the fact that the comic was entirely created by women.

    I’m as cynical as the next internet denizen, but to suggest there is anything about this project (including the name), that will set back women’s progress in mainstream comics is absolutely absurd.

  91. “So the answer is to not have a TV network for women? Or something like BET, for that matter? These may not be the ultimate solution, but I think they absolutely serve a positive purpose and are not a step back in any way.”

    Okay, let’s take BET. It started in 1980. How many sitcoms or dramas have mainly African American casts on mainstream television today after 30 years of progress? I mean your CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX stations? Has developing that side market helped changed the mainstream? Or has it just been its own thing?

    Ann Nocenti created Typoid Mary, Mojo and Longshot. She wrote Daredevil. She’s now writing for a book called Girl Comics. If that scans well with you, then fine. I do hope the book does well and I hope we’re beyond this kind of thing soon.

  92. @ Allison…

    “that’s what’s confusing. it’s not aimed at girls, but it’s called girl comics. in almost all ads for anything girls means for little kids. its not by girls its by women who are in the industry. if the girls refers to the women writing the comic…uh…why? they’d never call an anthology of male written comics “boys” comics. not a dealbreaker for anyone already into the women involved just confusing and apparently to some people insulting ”

    Well, the thing to remember is, that while this is a sort of celebration of wonderful female creators in the comic book industry, the book, itself IS being produced by a company run by men! ;)

  93. It’s something good that I hope will lead to better ideas involving female talent. I’m for diversity not only because it’s just better for humanity but also because for my own selfishness I want as many fresh points of view introduced in my comics world as possible.

  94. Judging by the cover – might as well call it ‘Cleavage Comics.’

    Super = big boobs.

    Otherwise, bravo gals. Y’all rock.

  95. Its really hard to understand what could be wrong with giving talented creators a platform to publish. All the creators are fabulous and experienced and likely to bring a fresh vision to a category that can always use a little new juice. Certainly its worth a discussion although these things (especially when the topic is women and super hero comics) seem to devolve into name calling and, well, hatting for the sake of putdowns. Oh, well. I think I’ll just read the comic when it comes out. it looks really interesting.

  96. One thing I didn’t see in all the back and forth re female creators was speculation on how women writers would separate themselves, if at all, from the men. Would they choose particular characters that men wouldn’t, or would they focus on certain aspects of the major Marvel characters, while men emphasized others?

    One area of SF that women dominated was (is) Star Trek fiction. Novelists such as Diane Duane, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Vonda N. McIntyre were, as I recall, much better than the men. The women explored characters and their worlds, while the men wrote straight SF that happened to have ST characters. The attention to character development versus combat might not be apparent in comics stories, given the natures of the characters, but it would be interesting to know how women would profile the heroes.

    SRS

  97. I’ll buy it. It sounds interesting. I’m glad I found this info, otherwise I would probably walk right past it this Spring. The title alone infers just another chunk in the glut of Marvel Divas, Models Inc., et al.

    Is Janice Chiang getting involved?

  98. When I heard the title of this thing, I thought “It’s gonna be about nothing but girls, and somehow, this is supposed to appeal to us, because we have a uterus” and rolled my eyes, but this? This sounds so amazingly cool. I was afraid it would be a feminist themed thing, which always seems more sexist than anything else, but this really, honestly seems like a blast.

    I will totally be picking this up!

  99. ‘It’s actually comics BY women—and I mean, top to bottom: written, penciled, inked, colored, lettered. The logo is by a woman, all the interior design, production, proof-reading and editing is all by women.’

    Now this, this I like. I already check mastheads for female illustrators and writers. If it hasn’t got a single one, I tend to drop it. Silly or petty, some may say, but I vote with my dollars.

  100. The thing I find condescending about the title is not the whole “oh, girls can read this one” thing it’s the fact that this has been written by WOMEN not girls. In professional life, women often have to deal with a “she’s one of the girls” or “she’s just like one of the guys” mentality. I just think it’s kind of sad and more than a little indicative of the cluelessness of the industry as a whole that this is the name Marvel chose for their comic of stories written by women.

  101. Nat Gertler has a point. I think. I was too busy reading Marvel Apes!

    This is an excellent interview and allayed some of my fears (no, ‘girl’ is not inherently insulting, but it certainly is when used where ‘man’ might be – something female comic fans are awfully used to seeing when it comes to superheroes).

    Here’s hoping boys and men have the balls to buy and be seen reading Girl Comics. There’s such a pathetic, sexist, homophobic fear in the air these days (Oh no! If I wear that/watch that/like that I’m gay!), especially in the US, but hopefully comic fans are smarter than that.

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