How to get your girlfriend Interested in Comic Books: Part One of Three

Was it Al Bundy or a bumper sticker that said “Women - you can’t live with them you can’t make them read comics?” Maybe it was neither. We all know how complex women can be. At times they can even be downright difficult, when it comes to things that are unfamiliar. Most women are a little adverse to the realm of comic books because of the stigma attached to it by stereotypes like the Comic Book Guy in the Simpsons, but I am here to help you, should your choose to accept your mission. Granted, my introduction to comics is a little hard to believe, but I swear on the Necronomicon, it’s all true. Growing up in Chicago, the only people I knew that read comic books were girls. I didn’t know a single guy who would go near the stuff, so I thought it was a girl thing until after I graduated college. I’m living proof the rumors are all true- women do, in fact, read comic books and some of us even work on them.

Neil Gaiman, in his Eisner Awards speech last year, put it best: “We are, right now, this minute, in a golden age. There are, quite simply, more good comics available to be read than there ever have been before. More classic books, more good books of recent vintage.” Keep this in mind when looking back at previous attempts to woo the fairer sex into our little subculture. Some women are just going to be stubborn about the whole thing and I obviously cannot make any guarantees, but if there was ever a point in recent history to try, now is the time. You and I both know that comics are so worth the rest of the world reading, but some people just don’t take to it the way others do and I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but we can try.

More women have started getting interested in comic books since 1997 than at any previous point in this art form’s short history. Because of this, the last seven years have provided us with even more opportunities to make this valiant effort to show them what they have been missing all these years. Why 1997 you ask? Good, you’re paying attention.

In 1997, a young blond woman, instead of being chased down and bitten by a vampire, turned around and slew him. Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” premiered on television despite being based on a movie that had a less than enthusiastic popularity. Joss created Buffy because he thought it would be more fun to watch a girl kick a demon’s butt than to watch her be a meal. The female audience started to pay attention and the numbers grew. Fans of the show started picking up the comic book versions and attending conventions - while they were there, they started to notice that there were other things that also interested them. I didn’t start watching the show until the second season, but I fell hard for the style and characters. Now, I will follow Whedon to the edges of space, hoping he will protect us from the Reavers. If that last sentence makes no sense, I insist that you go rent/buy the Firefly series immediately. You are missing out on one of the best shows that ever was on television, but I’ll continue on that rant at another time.

In the beginning of 1998, two stoners who previously just hung out on film in front of a Quick Stop appeared on the pages of a comic book by Oni Press. Some of the fans of Kevin Smith followed him into the realm of comics with his first book “Jay & Silent Bob In: Walt Flanagan’s Dog.” Even more surprising, some of them were women. One of the reasons most give for liking Kevin Smith is that his dialogue sounds more like how people really talk. I actually was won over with Kevin after reading the credits from Clerks. He just seemed to be more like a guy I would have grown up with as opposed to the larger than life filmmakers like George Lucas. I can personally attest to this as a valid way to come to comics, since this was the first comic I ever read. I then picked up “Daredevil” and realized that there were references that I didn’t understand. I made friends with a guy who had a whole box of them and started reading. From there I followed crossover characters into their own comics and then met more people who introduced me to other comics. Just like Kevin thanked Walt for introducing him to Batman, I must thank Matt for doing the same.

The third (and sadly the last) major influence happened in 2000 when a director who didn’t read comics tried directing an adaptation of a popular comic book called “X-Men.” There was a burst of women coming out of the woodwork for two main reasons. There were women with super powers holding their own and these newly converted female fans’ interest was peaked by this good looking yet misunderstood Wolverine creature. This movie also opened the floodgates of having more comic book movies made than ever before. We got the good (Hellboy) with the bad (Punisher). It was simply amazing how the trend started and comic book characters were the thing to do. It was about time that Marvel stood up to DC in the film department. Now DC just needs to learn that nipples on the Batsuit is a huge neon sign that maybe the director isn’t the best choice. Heaven only knows if the Watchmen movie will ever come to pass, let alone be any good. Unless maybe if Peter Jackson tried...hmmm...Rorschach goodness...sorry... where was I?)

Now that I’ve laid the background info down for you, let’s move on to your particular lady fair. The first thing you need to do is a little investigative reporting. Make some notes about her current reading and viewing habits, as well as the styles and types of things that she likes both in literature and art. Don’t lose heart if you realize she only reads romance novels and watches reality television, we can work with that. If she isn’t a big reader at all, it will be a bit more of an effort. Some women will be a bit more open to it than others. The ones who lean more that way got swept up with Buffy or X-Men by now.

It’s not going to be an overnight change to her running out to buy a Wonder Woman outfit. It all depends on the woman. Will Eisner, an icon in the comic book industry and the father of the graphic novel, is married to a wonderful woman named Ann who was asked a few years ago on a panel when she read “The Spirit” for the first time. “The Spirit” was Will Eisner’s most notable work, which he had been writing since before he met her after World War II. She sat and thought about it for a moment and said, “It was about two years ago, I believe.” The Eisners are from an entirely different generation, though, so don’t lose all hope. The other women on this panel of creator’s wives all seem to be interested in comics if not working by their side. There is a great book called, “I Have to Live with This Guy” by Blake Bell. Not required reading, but you might want to check it out. It is all stories from the wives’ perspectives of their comic book creating husbands. Excuse me, but you didn’t hear a thing I just said after Wonder Woman outfit, did you? Fine, think about it for a moment and then when you’re ready continue reading.

Much like drugs, certain comics work better than others to get people hooked on. I’m sure your first instinct is to hand her your favorite arc or graphic novel, but it’s not going to go over well if you hand her “Kingdom Come” or, god forbid, “Watchmen” right off the bat. “Kingdom Come” is phenomenal, but if you don’t know who Captain Marvel is well, it’s a little hard to follow and “Watchmen”, while considered by some to be one of the greatest graphic novels ever written, is a bit thick and cumbersome to get through, not to mention a bit gory in spots. One of my friends is still pissed at me for just relaying Rorschach’s origin story to her over dinner. My bad. You can’t start her off the hard stuff until you’ve gotten her hooked on some “gateway” comics. Now, you may have her read something that you are morally opposed to like an Ultimate series or a book you think is just mediocre at best. It’s for the greater good, I assure you. The more people that read comics, the better the world will be. So, suck it up now and prepare yourself to possible pick her up something unpleasant like a movie adaptation comic *shudders.*

As most anyone will tell you, it is important to know your audience. So, before I start recommending which comic books you should hand her, you need to find out which of the following categories she falls into as to why she doesn’t read comics: she’s not interested in super heroes, there are no stories written for women, there are no stories written by women, comics are for kids, that type of artwork doesn’t interest her, it’s too much of a commitment to keep track of an on-going storyline, it’s too technical based like science-fiction, it’s part of a sub-culture that she doesn’t want any part of, she prefers to read “real” books or her ex-boyfriend/brother tried to get her to read them and she hated it. If the last one is why she doesn’t then, well, you’re screwed.

Now, put your Daily Bugle or Daily Planet hat on and go do some investigative reporting. Come back next week and I’ll show you which books you can use to persuade her to read, depending on the information you gathered. You’re still thinking about the Wonder Woman outfit aren’t you?

Later be, Kathy