Firstly, you have all read Laura Hudson’s piece on DC Comics and the lack of female creators in the relaunched DCU books already, right? If not, go and do so now, I’ll wait for you.
Okay, back? Well, it’s not just female creators who are losing out in the September relaunch; it’s female characters, too. Tim Hanley blogs the statistics, and they make for depressing reading:
There are about a THIRD LESS books with all-female leads in the DCnU compared to the current status quo. I was surprised, and rather bummed out, by this decline. Sure, the number is the same, but men got 9 more books in the DCnU so maintaining at 7 for female characters hardly seems fair… Overall, the DC relaunch is going to result in less lead female characters compared to DC’s current line. Male-starring books and female characters in team books will maintain the status quo, while female-starring books will drop by a significant amount. This is not good. The relaunch is DC putting all of their eggs in one basket, their big argument for why they are awesome and we all should get their books. According to its architects, the relaunch is the essence of everything iconic and great about DC, the core – nay, the heart – of their universe, boiled down into these 52 new series. And this essence, this heart, means less female characters.
Hanley also makes this important point:
I don’t even need to run the numbers to tell you that DC would beat Marvel for female leads… I see all of these books every single week, and DC would win handily. However, come September, DC is going to have a worse percentage of female leads than they did the month before. This isn’t about DC in the context of the industry as a whole… this is about DC against itself, and it’s getting worse. It’s worse for female creators, and it’s worse for female characters. And worst of all, no one in charge at DC seems to care.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Who gives a rat’s ass?
It’s the free market. If there’s such a great demand for female characters than this Hudson idiot is free to write her own books.
No instead she just is some moron leftist PC bully trying to force people to obey her over-privileged sense of entitlement.
I have zero respect for whining, self-indulgent trash like her.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
I’ve gotten to the point now that I wonder why anyone is even bothering with all of this as it pertains to the Big Two. They’re corporate entities maintaining IPs. Why would anyone think diversity would matter to them unless it makes them more money? And all indications are that non-white, non-male, non-straight characters don’t make money and, in turn, they keep hiring white, male, straight creators to write and draw them.
The only real solution to this is to buy more creator owned books. Creators who have been shut out by the Big Two often produce their work this way, which explains why there’s more diversity of content and creators in the indie world.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
I want the best stories, period. I want creators that are going to be the best fit for the books. I don’t want DC to force out great writers just to please people that want to see more of one gender or race writing. Yes, it would be wonderful if there were alot of great female writers. It would also be wonderful if it rained gummy bears, but sadly that isn’t reality. DC went through and determined who would be best.
As for characters, the same thing applies. I want characters that can tell strong stories, long term, with deep backgrounds. I don’t want DC to become like Marvel, where they throw characters at the wall and pray something will stick. If that means they take a chance on more male characters than female, so be it.
I want the best stories. I don’t want DC to become the company where they are so focused on being ‘diverse’ that they deliver weaker products just to please a handful of grumpy fans that are mad their favorite character is no longer in the status quo
July 29th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
@Kevin:
You have a point with this:
“I don’t want DC to become the company where they are so focused on being ‘diverse’ that they deliver weaker products just to please a handful of grumpy fans that are mad their favorite character is no longer in the status quo.”
But not with this:
“DC went through and determined who would be best.”
Scott Lobdell? JT Krull? Tony Daniel?
“The best” is a subjective term, to say the least.
July 29th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
@Jim:
Forget about posting replies. You need to unhitch your trailer and rev up the engine before the next Tea Party rally starts. You’re cousin/girlfriend is sitting in her own filth waiting for you to arrive with your TruckNuts dangling from the bumper.
July 29th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
If the reason for the relaunch is to attract new readers(including females) then the whole “current market,free market won’t support more females or diversity” argument is completely irrelevant and makes no sense when DC is obviously looking to sell their product to people who don’t currently buy it. The question really is will females want to read superhero/adventure comics at all,not whether or not the current market will support it.The current market may not want books like Green Arrow ,Jonah Hex or Hawk & Dove etc.(not that there’s anything wrong with those titles), but DC is going ahead with relaunches of those and a whole lot more properties and creators who currently can barely move product off the shelves.
July 29th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
while they didn’t burn up the sales charts, zatanna and power girl were some of my favorite books every month–each offered a fresh and fun story that rarely tied into big crossovers
i think a doctor light, stargirl or black orchid series would play well, rose and the thorn would work well in ‘the edge’ genre and dr fate could come back as a inza again. and where’s the lois lane series?
July 29th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
I’m sort of curious where this third less books with all-female leads comes from. There are 7 books with all female leads in the new 52, 7 books with all female leads now but she’s saying there was 21 books now with all-female leads?
And for shits and giggles, lets compare that to Marvel’s 2 all-female lead titles (3 if you give them the Spider-Island special) in 80 some titles as compared to DC’s 52 and who’s on who’s shit list here? The same people who came up with the 1% maybe?
July 30th, 2011 at 8:39 am
Sounds like jim should be hired to work DC panels at future conventions. He’d fit right in.
July 31st, 2011 at 4:45 am
I’ve got to agree with Jim, if the demand was there, DC would have more female creators and characters. Even when they had Simone on Wonder Woman it was barely selling more than 40k, and when that’s the best their biggest female writer can do with their biggest female character, it does say a lot about the state of the market.
This isn’t DC’s problem, if you want more women creators, support the ones that are already working for DC.
August 1st, 2011 at 3:39 am
There are over 30 female characters spread anong 20 titles in September. Why does it have to be all-female? If a female character i a core member of group,she is still in the lead. Isn’t it better for a female superhero to be treated as an equal among men?
August 2nd, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@ HolyDiver:
I’m with you. I think it’s important to diversify leads in all mediums, but this is one where the main characters still seem impressively white and male. Women are usually relegated to the sidelines. There’s a largely untapped market out there, and if they can be reached, and provided with characters that they can identify with, then a whole new segment of the population could be added to DC’s customer base.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:03 am
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