Comic Book Candy

Comic Book Readers by Ruth Orkin, c.1947 (found on Liszka's Soup ) "Girls read comics, not just Manga either. Girls read superhero comics, indie comics, autobiographical comics, historical comics, literary comics, horror comics, romance comics and even just plain terrible comics. Girls are comic fans. They want comics aimed at them, or aimed not at them, or just comics that are good. They want all the same things male comic fans want. They want to be sold to, they want to buy the cold cast porcelain model of Rogue looking badass and put it on their shelf. They want Wonder Woman underwear sets and Wolverine stationery for the new term. Women are just as whimsical, gullible, romantic and fanciful as men. They are capable of grasping the finer points of all the weird freaky made up stuff that we all commonly know to be “ACCEPTED CONTINUITY.”  They will talk about costume changes and characterisation." - Comic book writer and fan Leah Moore Leah Moore knows a...

  This past Wednesday evening Graham Crackers Comics located in the Chicago Loop looked a little different. As one keenly observant male customer opined a little too loudly, "You guys are swimming in estrogen today!" After manager Matt Streets pointed out that the store's first Ladies Night event was about to begin, he sheepishly took his books up to the register and went on his way. Considering the large turn out, it's safe to say this will be the first of a regular monthly event at the local comic shop. As an employee of Graham Crackers Chicago Lakeview location, I served as a store liaison for the event and also helped to moderate the conversation. Comic book creator and recent transplant to Chicago, Hannah Chapman spearheaded the event and organized it along with store manager Matt Streets. Ladies Night served a few purposes; first and foremost, it was a chance to meet and talk comics with other local female fans. Participants were encouraged to bring books they...

Every headline touting a long-lost comic collection found in grandma's attic is sure to give retailers a slight headache. Whenever genuinely rare comics go for big bucks in auction , phone calls to comic shops from consumers with stacks of worthless comics from the 90's and dollar signs in their eyes are bound to follow. It would be a humorous situation if it wasn't such a time consuming (and frequent) occurrence to explain that no, your Death of Superman is worth less than the bag and board you put it in. Modern comic book readers know better than to believe the prevalent myth that comics are a sound monetary investment. Most fans have come to accept that these are a disposable form of entertainment (if you haven't, the sooner you come to terms with this, the less bitter you'll be later on). Recently I've seen more longtime readers  bringing collections in to sell back to the stores they bought them from, mostly siting concerns for space and wanting store cred...

“You have a generation of girls who have grown up with this stuff and view it as a natural part of culture. You’ve had three ‘Spider-Man’ movies and ‘X-Men’ movies since they’ve been growing up. You’ve had ‘Harry Potter’ books and movies. And this generation has gotten it in a more concentrated level than I had as a kid. I might have had a ‘Superman’ movie every few years. But it was still a bit of a learning process.” - Jeff Katz, former Fox movie executive And yet here we are, readership shrinking and no closer to expanding our niche market. Hollywood has been quicker to recognize the mass appeal of various "nerd culture" properties, but the comic book industry itself is taking its time creating products for the growing female market. There are many creators, fans, and retailers that don't treat female readers like an elusive / non-existant unicorn , but when it comes to the big two, the driving force behind production is short term sales. In an interview with Comics A...

When one starts a conversation concerning women in comics, they are bound to be met with various reactions: "Yes, please!" "What now?" and "What women?" are just a few. The growing number of articles on the subject indicate the times may in fact be changing. Oh please comic book gods, say it is true! Could more and more comic book readers be seeing the giant female elephant in the room? It comes in a few shapes and sizes, but the main ones currently gaining visibility include the depictions of women in comics, the lack of female creators, and the lack of female readers. My blog does not focus on the various topics of women in comics (there are already plenty of wonderful ones out there like DC Women Kicking Ass , Girls Read Comics , The Mary Sue , and Comic Book Grrrl just to name a few) but as a female fan, my perspective is influenced by my experience. Being a woman informs my opinions as much as having worked in local comic shops, too. Even my time li...

Since the beginning of 2012, I have been working on a new look of my rather young blog, and though it is a work in progress, I am pleased with the new direction. It may still be a pre-packaged template, but it does have some comic book related imagery thanks to the wonderful Digital Comic Museum . Open to anyone willing to register, you may browse and download images from a large selection of Golden Age comic artwork that is now part of the public domain. The website does accept donations as well, so if you feel appreciative of their work, do consider making a contribution. The images used for my current background come from Love Lorn #3 . From that same comic, here is just one example of the hidden treasures awaiting discovery in their vast archive:

As a self-professed Buffy addict and reluctant reader of Twilight, it was only a matter of time before I gave in to the multiple recommendation of trusted friends to watch CW's hit series The Vampire Diaries. Thanks to Netflix watch instantly, I've quickly made my way through the first two seasons and I'm enjoying the guilty-pleasure indulgence. I am hooked by the story of feuding Salvatore brothers Damon and Stefan as they vie for the affections of human teenager Elena. There are also witches, wolves, and evil doppelgangers to keep things interesting. My initial assumption about the series was that it was for pre-teens too young to watch True Blood and needing something to follow-up their Twilight binge, but I now appreciate the show for what it is: a love letter to the teen horror romance genre. The writers of the series have seen what was done before and have upped the teen high school dramatics to the max. One may mistake the obvious influences as proof of lacking orig...

So you know your girlfriend / best friend / co-worker reads comics and enjoys various nerd cultural phenomena, but you have no idea what to get them. Sound familiar? It's tough. These are the people that are most likely to buy themselves that highly sought after collectible. They know what they want, and that makes your job as gift giver a tough one. No fear! Here are some suggestions that will have your loved one feeling thankful and hopefully surprised. Enjoy more gift ideas after the jump! Star Trek: The Next Generation - Next Level Blu-Ray The box says it all: "A Taste of TNG in High Definition." This is a perfect gift for several reasons. It will not be released until January, so you know they won't have it, and it's something that not every Trekkie will get for themselves, but they will enjoy nonetheless. This sampler collection contains three classic episodes of Next Gen, the first to be re-mastered for blu-ray. Paramount will surely release a complete se...

It has been widely speculated how Marvel would respond to DC's New 52, especially with DC dominating media attention and market share in the last three months. Would they do a "revamp" of their line as well? Would they try to use their new parent company to gain a wider audience? Would they keep calm and carry on? We may now have our answer with recent announcements that Marvel is canceling several of their lowest selling series, yet offering just as many issues as last year.  Instead of offering a wider variety of titles to appeal to more readers, Marvel's (continued) strategy will focus on "double shipping" their flagship character titles each month, forcing loyal customers to spend more and make up for Marvel's loss in short term sales. As of late, I've found it hard to find the time to write about comics. I have been reading plenty, but few subjects seemed pressing enough to motivate me to make the time to voice my opinion. The month of October ...

(For those joining late, please see the introductory post on Odyssey X, where I explain my attempt to read every X-Men title during X-Men: Schism) Uncanny X-Force #15 Writer: Rick Remender Artist: Jerome Opena Cover Price: $3.99 Uncanny X-Force isn't just the best X-Men titles being released; it's probably one of the best Marvel books period. Remender continues to push the boundaries of the X-Men line by infusing more than a few genres into this super-hero title. At the end of the last issue, Psyloche chose to stay behind in an attempt to save Warren, while her teammates fled from their losing battle to regroup. The Life Seed is being used to alter time itself by creating a new evolutionary path for Earth, one where life's mutation never reached the plateau of mankind. The dreamlike sequences of Archangel and his followers witnessing time and evolution re-form makes one hell of a subject for Opena to draw, and he more than meets the challenge. X-Force feels the lea...