Comments | foresthouse: In Which We Talk Comics and Comics Merchandise

foresthouse

In Which We Talk Comics and Comics Merchandise

Feb 08, 2010 22:32

OK, before I reach the Ranty part of my post, I shall share with you the Awesomeness parts.

1. My lovely friend John K. Snyder III (he of the Sirius Black prison mug shot sketch that was donated for fundraising to Help Haiti Heal (which, btw, raised over $120,000, y'all! Three planes of medical supplies! WOO!)), has sent me his last two A-Team ( Read more... )

comics, picspam, john snyder, linkspam, shopping, rant, charities, art, marvel, deadpool

Comments 14

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foresthouse February 9 2010, 05:55:52 UTC

They are SERIOUSLY losing out on a lot of money, 'cause guess what? That silly stereotype about women loving to shop? Might be true. Why wouldn't a company want to cash in on that??THIS IS WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND. It's a big enough market that they should really LEAP ON IT. Not to mention in areas like the t-shirts and stuff, for most of it they wouldn't even have to change things much. Sure, I want new designs, but along with that they can slap some of their old designs that work with the female frame onto womens' shirts. Voila ( ... )

maisontv February 9 2010, 04:59:51 UTC

I ♥ this post. I am very intrigued by Iron Man Noir. I'm a big fan of film noir so it'll be interesting to see how they adapt to fit into the genre. And Ryan Reynolds having a lot of creative control in the Deadpool movie is massively reassuring to me.

I completely agree with your rant about the lack of merch appropriately geared towards women. I would totally buy a female-cut shirt with the Stark Industries logo on it. And I would buy EVERY SINGLE MOLLY HAYES HAT if they made them.

The problem is that they're not marketing to women who love comic books. They're marketing to women with boyfriends who love comic books. They're marketing what male comic book fans think is sexy, which includes a statuette of Mary Jane doing her husband's laundry in a thong ( ... )

foresthouse February 9 2010, 05:39:36 UTC

The problem is that they're not marketing to women who love comic books. They're marketing to women with boyfriends who love comic books. They're marketing what male comic book fans think is sexy, which includes a statuette of Mary Jane doing her husband's laundry in a thong.

YES (and I hate that statue). You have just summed up between 80 and 90% of the reason we find it necessary to rant about this. The other 10-20% being when they DO try to market to women, they somehow manage to get it wrong most of the time anyway.

maisontv February 9 2010, 06:06:51 UTC

That statue is a monument to Things That Are Wrong With the Comics Industry.

The other 10-20% being when they DO try to market to women, they somehow manage to get it wrong most of the time anyway.

And the problem with their approach here is that they assume women like comic books for reasons that do not match up with what we actually like about comics. They assume they need to produce titles like Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane to bring in female readers when they have plenty of female fans reading their action-oriented titles.

foresthouse February 9 2010, 20:35:36 UTC

Tell me about it. I mean, I have nothing wrong with there being a variety of titles and storylines provided for different readers; just the idea that *females* in particular will only like certain titles written about certain things (with the Spider-man symbol shaped like a heart! Because no men will touch that, but women will LOOOOVE it!) is stupid. Gah.

Give me Marvel Civil War over Spider-man loves Mary Jane ANY day. At least one of them tried to discuss serious issues (even if it didn't always follow through).

wmslawhorn February 9 2010, 05:03:21 UTC

I can't believe you ignored Ms. marvel...

foresthouse February 9 2010, 05:35:44 UTC

I didn't ignore her. :) For costumes I was trying to steer clear of the really, REALLY skintight ones that no one except supermodels would feel comfortable wearing in public. Look at Ms. Marvel's outfit: it's a tiny leotard, thigh-high boots, gloves, and a little scarf around the waist. Not something I would encourage them to market as a costume. Jean Grey's retro costume, on the other hand, is more like real clothes than a spandex suit. So it would work well and be comfortable to wear. :)

foresthouse February 9 2010, 05:41:51 UTC

P.S. I'm not saying it wouldn't be totally awesome if someone wanted to dress as Ms. Marvel - just that if we're looking at practically marketable items, they should look at stuff that is cool but also something the optimal number of women/body types would feel comfortable wearing. :)

skybreak_seeker February 9 2010, 05:40:17 UTC

Speaking as a male comics nerd, I'm with you 1,000% here.

A girl in a Blue Lantern t-shirt and a Deadpool bag? Pardon me whilst I swoon.

foresthouse February 9 2010, 05:44:09 UTC

WAIT LET ME GO GET A BLUE LANTERN SHIRT. J/k. :)

But srsly, I really don't get why this is so hard for Marvel Marketing to grasp. Do I need to go to NYC with a printout of this post and shove it in someone's face, all, HERE LOOK HERE DO THIS DO THIS DO THIS? I mean, come on!

I'm glad both male and female folks seem to be agreeing so far. :)

P.S. I secretly covet a Molly Hayes hat, even if they are more kid-oriented. They're so CUTE!

chrryblssmninja February 9 2010, 08:57:52 UTC

thank you for writing that rant. GEEKY WOMEN UNITE

foresthouse February 9 2010, 20:36:15 UTC

YESSS!

chrryblssmninja February 9 2010, 20:39:00 UTC

this is my my geek shirts tend to be big - I just get the guy sizes; the girl's stuff is usually bad or nonexistent.

foresthouse February 9 2010, 23:48:40 UTC

Yeah - and sometimes I end up buying the shirt because I just REALLY WANT THE DESIGN and then only sleep in it because it's too big to be flattering. *sigh*