Girls and Comics

[Green]

Girls are buying comics. We've noticed the number of female customers at comic shows has been increasing for the last 3 years. This year I'd estimate 1/3 of our CA/MA customers were female. A refreshing trend.

 

I can definitely see that trend myself. Refreshing indeed

[skypinkblu]

This seems like a good time & place to bring up this question:

 

Any eBay sellers seeing more females buying comics? About 20% of my sales are to females over the last several months whereas a few years ago it was practically nil. And not titles one would expect either (eg Rat Queens, Saga, etc.), but titles such as Flash, Green Arrow, Star Wars, and Zenoscope ( )

 

I see more females in the LCS lately than in the past too. With all the talk of declining readership, are women keeping the numbers buoyed?

Those eBay accounts could be shared between husband and wife. I've sold some things to female Paypal accounts and the buyer turned out to be a man on multiple occasions. Same with emails from Craigslist. The email will come from something like Jenny1982 and the guy buying it will be named Craig.

 

Or not;) I've had a number of female collectors buying on eBay, when I sold my Westerns of all things, the buyers were about 50/50.

 

I've met plenty of women at auctions, shows...and they were buying the books, not their husbands.

 

They were not buying them for their kids, either. How do I know? I ASK...because I enjoy meeting other female collectors.

 

We are not the majority for sure, but we are here;)

 

BTW, Kav, I have at least a few of the "keys" on your list...

 

Thanks for a nice thread, Tim:)

[ttfitz]

This seems like a good time & place to bring up this question:

 

Any eBay sellers seeing more females buying comics? About 20% of my sales are to females over the last several months whereas a few years ago it was practically nil. And not titles one would expect either (eg Rat Queens, Saga, etc.), but titles such as Flash, Green Arrow, Star Wars, and Zenoscope ( )

 

I see more females in the LCS lately than in the past too. With all the talk of declining readership, are women keeping the numbers buoyed?

Those eBay accounts could be shared between husband and wife. I've sold some things to female Paypal accounts and the buyer turned out to be a man on multiple occasions. Same with emails from Craigslist. The email will come from something like Jenny1982 and the guy buying it will be named Craig.

 

Or not;) I've had a number of female collectors buying on eBay, when I sold my Westerns of all things, the buyers were about 50/50.

 

I've met plenty of women at auctions, shows...and they were buying the books, not their husbands.

 

They were not buying them for their kids, either. How do I know? I ASK...because I enjoy meeting other female collectors.

 

We are not the majority for sure, but we are here;)

 

BTW, Kav, I have at least a few of the "keys" on your list...

 

Thanks for a nice thread, Tim:)

 

De nada.

 

I probably would have posted this anyway, but you know me, I can't help poking the bear occasionally.

 

[Artboy99]

I better stay out of this one

 

[Wally's Comics]

 

 

 

[Catalog-In]

As a woman, I can say that I think the influx of comic books-turned-movies/TV shows has a lot to do with more women becoming interested in comic books. I have always had a somewhat nerdy side, but it hasn't really been so "cool" to be in to comic books until recently. A few years ago comics were perceived as a more fan-boy/nerdy girl type thing (I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but that's how many people have viewed them). Now with good-looking actors and actresses in blockbuster movies, there's something to pull more women (and a different type of men) in to looking at comics. You can see the increase in general popularity by the amount of comic book related merchandise for both sexes that is available in major retailers (Wal-Mart, Hot Topic, Haloween stores), but the amount of "cute" and mainstream merchandise and clothing marketed towards women is particularly telling.

[Fantastic Thor]

My girl of 8 has learned to read by reading comic books..

 

Funny story,

On day one of school I met her teacher in grade 2 . she asked me what we read at home... I said comic books. I got a very bad look and a frown.

Half way through the school year she is on the "honor roll " and I asked the teacher if she should be reading comic books... the teacher just smiled and says whatever you are doing don't stop...

 

Now, we read the Bone books together and I find those to be amazingly fun and entertaining and very challenging for her. (and me ..)

At the end of the day she loves the books now and we have great times reading together while her friends read very basic books.

 

This year I brought her to the Calgary show and we had a great time together.

(we even went and said hi to the boys at clobbering time)

 

I think with the media attention , walking dead , My little Pony , cos play, Disney / Marvel connection and real good stories girls will continue to come towards comic books... (Disney didn't buy marvel for fun.. )

 

In my situation it has really grown our relationship while also being educational ..

[Artboy99]

At the Clobberin' Time Comics booth at the Calgary Comic Expo we saw lots of girls buying comics. The age range was younger, my estimate is 10 yrs old to 25.

For years this trend has been growing. Here is a collage I made of many of the girls that bought comics, poking a little fun at my bud thehumantorch who loudly proclaimed several years ago to a pair of 20 something girls that were buying comics off of me "Girls don't buy comics!". He was joking of course.

 

The real interesting thing to me is what they are buying. First appearance of morbius, first McFarlane art on Hulk, silver age Metal Men, and a 12 year old buying Walking Dead.

It is a very cool trend that is growing and it is great for the hobby.

[miraclemet]

As a woman, I can say that I think the influx of comic books-turned-movies/TV shows has a lot to do with more women becoming interested in comic books. I have always had a somewhat nerdy side, but it hasn't really been so "cool" to be in to comic books until recently. A few years ago comics were perceived as a more fan-boy/nerdy girl type thing (I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but that's how many people have viewed them). Now with good-looking actors and actresses in blockbuster movies, there's something to pull more women (and a different type of men) in to looking at comics. You can see the increase in general popularity by the amount of comic book related merchandise for both sexes that is available in major retailers (Wal-Mart, Hot Topic, Haloween stores), but the amount of "cute" and mainstream merchandise and clothing marketed towards women is particularly telling.

 

good points, and you're right I think the widespread licensing (in all the various media/mediums) has created a ton of different "on ramps" for people to discover and gain an interest in comic books, sometimes even well before actually reading a comic book itself (plenty of kids get hooked via cartoons/movies/toys and the comic books come second or third...)

[StuporMan]

... The real interesting thing to me is what they are buying. First appearance of morbius, first McFarlane art on Hulk, silver age Metal Men, and a 12 year old buying Walking Dead.

It is a very cool trend that is growing and it is great for the hobby.

 

Truly awesome

[StuporMan]

... You can see the increase in general popularity by the amount of comic book related merchandise for both sexes that is available in major retailers (Wal-Mart, Hot Topic, Haloween stores), but the amount of "cute" and mainstream merchandise and clothing marketed towards women is particularly telling.

 

I still have to buy my 3 yr old daughter her comic book themed shirts from the boys section from places like Target. No one seems to notice/care that she wearing a "boys" shirt either. Her teachers always love her in those superhero shirts

 

 

[Catalog-In]

I usually buy my superhero shirts from the boy's or men's sections too. The selection is generally more varied and less pink/foofy. I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, but I guess there is not that much superhero for girls at the mainstream level. Usually it's foofy, the Batman logo, or the Superman logo. I think from a marketing standpoint, girls are much more of a gamble than women to market superhero stuff to b/c there is so much else competing for their attention, they're not really at an age where they make their own buying choices, and many them just don't get on the superhero/comics bandwagon until they're older.

[jaybuck43]

I was at Target two weeks ago to pick up some stuff and walking through the girls section noticed that they had some nice Wonder Woman shirts as well as some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirts. I think the selection is out there BUT not as easy to find as it is for guys. Hopefully that mentality will change soon. I for one welcome are female comic reading/loving overlords. (P.S I'm not too ashamed to say that I totally bought a pair of TMNT boxers (that for some reason have a cape))

[Catalog-In]

I was at Target two weeks ago to pick up some stuff and walking through the girls section noticed that they had some nice Wonder Woman shirts as well as some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirts. I think the selection is out there BUT not as easy to find as it is for guys. Hopefully that mentality will change soon. I for one welcome are female comic reading/loving overlords. (P.S I'm not too ashamed to say that I totally bought a pair of TMNT boxers (that for some reason have a cape))

 

I'm glad they have TMNT shirts for girls, I hadn't seen any. Please tell me you're going to show up to the new TMNT movie in your boxers, with your cape and some pizza. And yell," Cowabunga!" when you get your ticket and concessions. It's okay, I will never admit on a message board that I once bought a "High School Musical" underwear/tank top set from the girls section. Don't judge me on the theme. I was really excited that someone had made a mainstream musical that might get more kids interested in theater. Plus they matched my "High School Musical" shoes, sweatpants, and all the other "HSM" stuff that my students were buying me.

 

I just read a post reviewing a con, and the woman noted that there were more women in general getting in on the costumes (before it had mostly been "hot" chicks). I think that the fact that women of varying sizes and looks are into it enough to dress up is a great thing and shows an uptick in female interest.

[BaltimoreLauren]

Girls have been reading comics longer than most people have noticed. It's not a big deal.

[retrothecollector]

It obviously is.

[ttfitz]

Girls have been reading comics longer than most people have noticed. It's not a big deal.

 

Yeah, like I said earlier, 20 years ago when he was doing Sandman I would go to Neil Gaiman signings, and a large percentage of the crowd was female.

 

[jaybuck43]

I was at Target two weeks ago to pick up some stuff and walking through the girls section noticed that they had some nice Wonder Woman shirts as well as some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirts. I think the selection is out there BUT not as easy to find as it is for guys. Hopefully that mentality will change soon. I for one welcome are female comic reading/loving overlords. (P.S I'm not too ashamed to say that I totally bought a pair of TMNT boxers (that for some reason have a cape))

 

I'm glad they have TMNT shirts for girls, I hadn't seen any. Please tell me you're going to show up to the new TMNT movie in your boxers, with your cape and some pizza. And yell," Cowabunga!" when you get your ticket and concessions. It's okay, I will never admit on a message board that I once bought a "High School Musical" underwear/tank top set from the girls section. Don't judge me on the theme. I was really excited that someone had made a mainstream musical that might get more kids interested in theater. Plus they matched my "High School Musical" shoes, sweatpants, and all the other "HSM" stuff that my students were buying me.

 

I just read a post reviewing a con, and the woman noted that there were more women in general getting in on the costumes (before it had mostly been "hot" chicks). I think that the fact that women of varying sizes and looks are into it enough to dress up is a great thing and shows an uptick in female interest.

 

Well I will be in them but jeans will be on on top I know it's NYC but its not a good idea to just wonder around in just my boxers . I am cautiously optimistic about the movie, though I am going to bring my pizza in from across the street, it's cheaper . Here are the boxers w/ cape.

 

 

Target has alot of girls superhero stuff actually, looking on their website. This shirt is available in the girls section but isn't frilly, pink, etc.

 

[Noodlez]

This seems like a good time & place to bring up this question:

 

Any eBay sellers seeing more females buying comics? About 20% of my sales are to females over the last several months whereas a few years ago it was practically nil. And not titles one would expect either (eg Rat Queens, Saga, etc.), but titles such as Flash, Green Arrow, Star Wars, and Zenoscope ( )

 

I see more females in the LCS lately than in the past too. With all the talk of declining readership, are women keeping the numbers buoyed?

That's likely mom paying for junior's comics.

 

 

Or BAD husband using wife's account.

[thehumantorch]

My girl of 8 has learned to read by reading comic books..

 

Funny story,

On day one of school I met her teacher in grade 2 . she asked me what we read at home... I said comic books. I got a very bad look and a frown.

Half way through the school year she is on the "honor roll " and I asked the teacher if she should be reading comic books... the teacher just smiled and says whatever you are doing don't stop...

 

Now, we read the Bone books together and I find those to be amazingly fun and entertaining and very challenging for her. (and me ..)

At the end of the day she loves the books now and we have great times reading together while her friends read very basic books.

 

This year I brought her to the Calgary show and we had a great time together.

(we even went and said hi to the boys at clobbering time)

 

I think with the media attention , walking dead , My little Pony , cos play, Disney / Marvel connection and real good stories girls will continue to come towards comic books... (Disney didn't buy marvel for fun.. )

 

In my situation it has really grown our relationship while also being educational ..

 

Nice story Thor