DC and Female Characters

[Balham's Finest]

Marvel did a good job with Hit Girl but it was a mini - series and outside of Marvel continuity.

 

Marvel had some strong female characters but many of them (Frost, Magik, Mystique) while interesting are not what most would look for in a hero.

 

I think hit the nail on the head (thumbs u

 

Not sure men are well placed to say what women are or are not looking for in a hero.

 

To the extent you are talking about the comic buying public when you say "what most would look for", then I agree - but only because the comic buying public is mostly men. For all you (we) know, women would love to buy solo titles by those characters - of course, there may not be enough women buying comics to make that economically viable, but you've got to start somewhere if you're serious about expanding your readership demographic.

 

[the authority]

Marvel did a good job with Hit Girl but it was a mini - series and outside of Marvel continuity.

 

Marvel had some strong female characters but many of them (Frost, Magik, Mystique) while interesting are not what most would look for in a hero.

 

I think hit the nail on the head (thumbs u

 

Not sure men are well placed to say what women are or are not looking for in a hero.

 

To the extent you are talking about the comic buying public when you say "what most would look for", then I agree - but only because the comic buying public is mostly men. For all you (we) know, women would love to buy solo titles by those characters - of course, there may not be enough women buying comics to make that economically viable, but you've got to start somewhere if you're serious about expanding your readership demographic.

 

Nobody mentioned what women were looking for until now which I wouldn't claim to know. I would liken female characters in comics to electric cars. There is absolutely a market for female comic leads but they don't sell in near the number as their counterparts.

 

The point I was attempting to make is that in spite of DCs attempt to market them (they having been listed in previous pages in the posts), they are not selling in numbers that would make Marvel or any other company think they were missing the boat.

 

If DC builds this market, which in my opinion will not happen to any great extent, Marvel will surely jump in as they are in the business of making a profit. A company doesn't have to pioneer something to be the leader in the market later.

 

Lastly, you do have to start somewhere to grow a business. I will agree that adding a demographic can impove or grow a business but I've been going to comic shops for almost 40 years in both large and small cities. I haven't ever seen a sizable female presence in any of them. That of course doesn't mean its not there, I just haven't seen it. Even if they are coming and I have missed them, it doesn't mean that they would automatically follow female leads. To further display my point my favorite characters have been;

 

Superman an alien.

Batman who is rich.

Apollo and Midnighter who are gay.

Marv and Dwight from Sin City who drink and hang out with strippers.

Wolverine is Canadian and has claws.

Daredevil who is blind.

 

I am or do none of these things yet I enjoy them in comics. So it comes back to what do people buy when trying to figure Marvel's game plan. You can go with what people are buying or try to get them to buy something you really want to sell. What would you do ?

[sakaridis]

If DC builds this market, which in my opinion will not happen to any great extent, Marvel will surely jump in as they are in the business of making a profit. A company doesn't have to pioneer something to be the leader in the market later.

That pretty much sums up Marvel's entire history!

[Comicopolis]

If DC builds this market, which in my opinion will not happen to any great extent, Marvel will surely jump in as they are in the business of making a profit. A company doesn't have to pioneer something to be the leader in the market later.

That pretty much sums up Marvel's entire history!

 

I believe they were pioneers in the early 60's.

 

And in the 70's.

[sakaridis]

If DC builds this market, which in my opinion will not happen to any great extent, Marvel will surely jump in as they are in the business of making a profit. A company doesn't have to pioneer something to be the leader in the market later.

That pretty much sums up Marvel's entire history!

 

I believe they were pioneers in the early 60's.

 

And in the 70's.

In the early 60's, I sort of agree, only in the sense that they tried to appeal to a slightly older readership. But in terms of the characters that were created created, many were obviously influenced by DC characters.

 

I'll definitely concede about the 70's. A golden era for Marvel, with tons of creativity and new ideas! (thumbs u

 

To be honest, I was mostly joking, since it's been a very common occurrence for Marvel to "follow the trends" (going back to the Timely and Atlas years), and after a little while to end up leading the pack in sales and popularity.

 

In any case, I'm happy to be one of those rare comic fans who love Marvel and DC -almost- equally. No "us vs them" mentality on my part.

[the authority]

If DC builds this market, which in my opinion will not happen to any great extent, Marvel will surely jump in as they are in the business of making a profit. A company doesn't have to pioneer something to be the leader in the market later.

That pretty much sums up Marvel's entire history!

 

I believe they were pioneers in the early 60's.

 

And in the 70's.

In the early 60's, I sort of agree, only in the sense that they tried to appeal to a slightly older readership. But in terms of the characters that were created created, many were obviously influenced by DC characters.

 

I'll definitely concede about the 70's. A golden era for Marvel, with tons of creativity and new ideas! (thumbs u

 

To be honest, I was mostly joking, since it's been a very common occurrence for Marvel to "follow the trends" (going back to the Timely and Atlas years), and after a little while to end up leading the pack in sales and popularity.

 

In any case, I'm happy to be one of those rare comic fans who love Marvel and DC -almost- equally. No "us vs them" mentality on my part.

 

I feel the same about Marvel and DC. Love them both and I've leaned more one way or another over the years but I wouldn't want to lose either. i also like the indies and small companies. Choices are fantastic right now (thumbs u

[Comicopolis]

I like the fact that Marvel and DC have always been different in their outlook.

[the authority]

I like the fact that Marvel and DC have always been different in their outlook.

 

+ 1

[Cyclops]

A Black Canary/Zatanna GN is coming next year