Sociology

Independent Sources is a local to NYC show that spotlights ethnic and local news. Hosted by Zyphus Lebrun, it's put together by CUNY (City University of New York ) and runs on their cable station. Last week's episode, covers various aspects of diversity in comics, with thoughtful interviews with Marvel's Sana Amanat, Image's David Brothers, Morgan Dubin from Abrams Comic Arts, Jonathan Gray, Assistant Professor of English, John Jay College, artist Dexter Vines and yours truly. Aside from my having to terrifyingly reënect walking into a comic shop, it's a sprightly look at the basic issues of diversity and the widening audience for comics. There's also a nice segment on a cosplayer who designed a Rita Repulsa costume and others for curvier women.

In all the current hoo hah about video games, diversity and propaganda, it's worth remembering that women make up nearly 50% of most kinds of gamers. There are some exceptions, of course. Unlike the comic industry, the video gaming industry has the money to study this sort of thing, and the Entertainment Software Association has put together many statistics on the age and gender of gamers. The most recent study shows that 48% of all gamers are women. I was spit balling with Brett Schenker the other day, he of the groundbreaking Facebook study on comic demographics, and I wondered what his methodology would day about female games.

http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=23ab3edda6d64b96a30b37a512eb5adf&ec=RjNnBlcTp6-ewmVxR2yXDzQrp-yPkK0A Game over, man, game over. UPDATE: You can watch the whole segment exclusively at The Mary Sue.

There was a time not too long ago when you could fit all the "women in comics" at a big table in a coffee shop. Now there re more than 300 women who just work in comics shops. That's the membership of The Valkyries, a private organization for female comics retail employees. and it turns out the group has been instrumental in promoting a coupld of books that have had great success this year, namely Saga and Lumberjanes. Janelle Asselin interviews group founder Kate Leth for all the details:

With attendance of 151,000, this year's NYCC is now the biggest reported North American comics convention, surpassing the San Diego Comic Con's 130,000. According to show runner Lance Fensterman, the increase of 20,000 from last year was due to selling tickets for a full day Thursday, which was previously a half-day "pro day. I'm told neither number includes pros and exhibitors and 'industry support" however, so the exact number of numb and yet enthused people wandering the halls of either Comic-Con has not been released. Given the number of lookie-loos who hang around in San Diego, that event would still seem to be the biggest. Many people wondered how NYCC could be bigger than SDCC when the Javits Center is smaller than the San Diego Convention Center. I'm sure Torsten can give us the exact dimensions, but on most lists I've ever seen, the Javits is actually larger than SD Convetion Center. This stat is misleading however.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1 Oh my! I've been waiting for the story of cosplay harassment at cons to get more TMZed. According to the above teaser, tonights' Inside...

Attendees at this year's New York Comic Con are accustomed to giant-sized announcements for the latest entertainment, but this year a new sign greets...

Lisa Hix of Collectors Weekly sat down with Trina Robbins and runs through a few chapters of Robbins' Pretty in Ink, her third history of women cartoonists. The result is an immense article that could function on a primer on the history of women cartoonists going back more than 100 years, starting with Rose O'Neil:

"But the men in comics are sexualized too!" they have whined since time began, copletely ignring how boob-windows, brokebacks, boob socks and more are not the same thing as a man with a good physique in a dynamic pose. Well courtesy of Sears (!????!!?!?) and the listing for a UNDER THE BED RESTRAINT GEAR here's what it actually looks like when a male is sexualized, just for your information.

What a tiring week it has been even though I'm technically on vacation. You are probably sick and tired of reading about the irrational,...

It was recently revealed to us olds that YouTube and other social media stars are actually more popular with teens than celebs old enough...

Okay, unless the unforeseen happens I swear this is the LAST Beat post about Spider-Woman's butt. But One of the bingo card arguments trotted...