[ SECRET POST #144 ]

[shahni.livejournal.com]

⌈ Secret Post #144 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

- Con returnee is happy and sleepy. Thus you get early post!

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 75 secrets from Secret Submission Post #021.
Secrets Not Posted: 0 broken links, 0 not!secrets, 0 not!fandom
Next Secret Post: Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 30th, 2007.
Current Secret Submission Post: Here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: #13

[kimirike.livejournal.com]

I hate how people say that comics are geared towards men. They are, in personal point of view, the creation of the artists and story writers. They put the comics in bookstores for EVERYONE to see, read, and purchase. There is no label saying 'Men only'. Comics are read by men mostly because they are written by men, but nothing stops a girl from picking up a comic.

And about the whole comic industry engineering its own downfall what the heck is that supposed to mean? What are comics artists supposed to do? Quit writing about male super heroes and focus on teenage girls? They obviously prefer to write and draw action so how is that engineering its own downfall? They are drawing what they want to draw and they shouldn't be forced to draw something else just to bring in a specific audience because it brings in more cash. That would just be stamping out the artist's freedom.

Re: #13

[levikitty.livejournal.com]

I agree with the above.

...except the comic industry keeps complaining about not getting enough female readership. So yes, they do want the women.

They should start making pinups of men. Then they'd get the female readers they want. Yay, equal objectification!

Re: #13

[ironjill.livejournal.com]

You should look through the Marvel Swimsuit Issues, seriously. There's plenty of good Beefcake to drool over. :)

Re: #13

[cephiedvariable.livejournal.com]

I love those things. I wish they still published them. XDDD

Re: #13

[ironjill.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! My favourite time was when I found the "Ghost Rider" picture. There's nothing funnier than a flaming skeleton on the beach. XD

Re: #13

[katsu]

They'd get women in droves if they gave us something we were interested in. The comics industry is an industry - they're not interested in art, they're interested in marketing so that people will pay money for their products. Their utter failure at reaching a female audience at this point is nothing short of sad, and makes me wonder if they're just that clueless, just that inept, or if they secretly don't want women no matter how much they complain to the contrary. (Or maybe they just think we should be good girls, shut up, and shell out the money for their products even if we're not interested...)

Re: #13

[lostremnant.livejournal.com]

The cold harsh reality is that comic books is an industry. In order to keep going it needs an audience to buy its product. If there aren't enough males buying the product to keep the industry going then they have to branch out and encourage a female audience in order to survive. In order to attract a female audience, they have to give females what they want (whatever that is).

Obviously a lot of women don't like what the comic book industry is offering them or more would be buying the product. You can say that nothing stops a girl from picking up a comic but that's nonsense. What's stopping a girl from picking up a comic is that she doesn't like what she sees. If she liked it she'd buy it and apparently a lot of females aren't buying it.

As far as stamping out the artist's freedom....the big comic book companies are very very good at doing just that. At least they were back in the days when I use to buy comics.

Re: #13

[katsu]

Publishing's pretty much the same. It's an industry, so it wants what it can sell. One of the harsh truths that got beaten in to my skull when I started sending things to the slushpile is that the industry doesn't give a crap about my artistic vision.

Re: #13

[katsu]

There is no label saying "men only," but at the same time, if they're writing things that women aren't interested in, women aren't going to buy their books. So there is nothing to stop me from reading comics, but they certainly aren't giving me a reason to give them money for those comics either.

There is a difference between the individual artists and their freedom to express themselves, and the industry, same as there is in the book industry. An author or an artist most certainly has the right to create as they see fit. However, that does not give them the right to have their artistic vision published and bought by the adoring masses. There's a reason so many manuscripts languish in the slush pile year after year and are never picked up - because the book industry goes for what they think their audiences will buy, hell with the artist's vision. The industry is there to cater to their audience, because they want their audience's money, and they're not going to get that money if they don't provide a product that interests that audience.

So no, an artist isn't forced to draw a damn thing, just as a writer is not forced to write a thing (though if they're smart, they still listen to their editor instead of clinging to their "vision" if they want something the a company will publish) however, the industry is in charge of deciding what it will publish. And the comics industry has been doing a lot of whinging about their losses, and about how they're not reaching much of a female audience (and they can't seem to figure out why), and it is because they are not choosing to publish things that a wide female audience will be interested in.

So yeah, it is their own fault that they've failed to tap into a large sector of the female audience, and at this point, they're probably never going to get them back because manga's caught their loyalty.