I don’t know why I put the Hulk scan on this post, either.
DC Comics has announced their forthcoming imprint “Minx,” aimed at female readers that, as the linked article says, “may not be attracted to superheroes or manga.” And, as a person what sells the funnybooks, I think that’s a good thing, but whether this will actually attract a new audience or simply cannibalize sales from other comics remains to be seen.
Just in case you’re curious, here are the comics that, from my observations, have the larger female readerships at our shop:
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
Lenore
X-Men and related
Fables
Love & Rockets and related
assorted manga titles (no particular title stands out)
And then there are titles that used to have a large female reader base…or a large reader base period…like Sandman (sales on the trades have dipped as of late) and Strangers in Paradise (started shedding readers about two years ago…and no, it wasn’t because of anything I did). Interestingly, those are the titles that are the usual clichéd responses to “what comics are good for women?”
And I realize nobody is going to want to hear this, but the original Chaos Comics version of Lady Death had a strong female fan base at our shop as well…and then she moved to Crossgen and started wearing clothes, which must have ticked off the character’s fans something fierce since, now that she’s at Avatar and in her usual bikini outfit, nobody reads her comics.
Just to throw it out there again…my girlfriend’s favorite comics are Spider-Man and the original Marvel G.I. Joe. That’ll throw off the marketing departments.
Dear Dark Horse,
Your window of opportunity to sell your Who Wants to Be A Superhero tie-in comic is rapidly closing. I was getting a lot of requests for it two months ago…not so much now.
But don’t feel too bad…I am loading up on your 300 hardcovers, since there’s no way on God’s green earth you’re going to have them available to comic book stores when the movie finally comes out (see also Hellboy, Sin City).
Love,
Mike
