Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
I bought a Marvel comic book today. And I read it. I know, I know. Not only that, it was called Girl Comics. I am SO getting kicked out of the clubhouse for this one.
I jest but you all know I’m a DC fan through and through so this was a big deal for me. To be fair, I did purchase the Marvel Oz books last year so this was not my first Marvel purchase but my first Marvel superhero purchase. And guess what? I didn’t like it…I loved it. I’ll wait for you to pick yourself up off the floor before I continue.
Better? Ok, so when I first heard about Girl Comics I gagged. Seriously, it’s still a horrible name. I get it, it’s a comic for women, by women but I felt weird picking it up in the comic shop today in front of all the boys. It’s like when you’re walking down the feminine hygiene aisle at the super market and throw the first tampons you see into your cart because some guy was walking by. Surprisingly, Girl Comics turned out to be the Tampax Pearl of…girl comics.
Ok, I know I’m getting totally off track and I’m DEFINITELY getting kicked out of the clubhouse now that I’ve talked about tampons on my blog but I don’t care. Girl Comics #1 was great. The best part about the series is it’s an anthology. You couldn’t have paid me to pick up Marvel Divas, not only because it sounded ridiculous to me but also because it was one story about characters I didn’t really know to begin with. Marvel has done themselves and casual fans a great service by producing the book this way. Not only is it easy to jump into and understand, it’s giving readers a look at some characters they might want to discover more about.
Contrary to what I had imagined though, Girl Comics isn’t exactly an introduction to the Marvel Universe. Half the stories feature notable superheroes; Nightcrawler, Punisher (you’ll lol at his dialogue), Cyclops and Jean Grey, while the other three focus more on, for lack of a better term, cute stuff. To my delight the two combined in one story,”Shop Doc” by Lucy Knisley, which featured Doctor Octopus shopping for cereal and was far and away my favorite segment of the book. Seriously, if you were wavering on picking this one up, do it for that short story.
Amanda Conner provided the cover to this first issue and the array of creators involved were, Colleen Coover, G. Willow Wilson, Ming Doyle, Trina Robbins, Stephanie Buscema, Valerie D’Orazio, Nikki Cook, Knisley, Robin Furth, Agnes Garbowska, Kristyn Ferretti, Devin Grayson and Emma Rios. Jill Thompson did the cover to issue #2 while Jo Chen finishes the series up with #3.
I really hope some guys were brave enough to pick up Girl Comics today. It’s well worth it and not, as one would imagine, as embarrassing as going to the store to buy tampons for your sister. Sigh. I’ll hand in my secret decoder ring at the door…
I was going to pick this up but I decided on Red Sonja omnibus instead. That counts as a girl comic right?
There's something to that.
The gf digs both Nightwing and Mr. Terrific. :)
Hysan, I don't know why DC appeals so much to women, if that's truly the case. For me, it's what I grew up with. My parents read DC, or the comics that were published by DC under its earlier name. My mother liked Batman and my father like Superman (this was in the '40s, when my parents were already teens), so my love for comics was encouraged and DC was what I was exposed to the most and what appealed to me (back in the late '50s, although Archies, Classics Ilustrateds, and romance comics came first). I didn't read my first Marvels until the '70s: Man-Thing, Killraven, Howard the Duck.
DC might have wonderful female characters, but it also has lots of cute male characters, which was a selling point for me and continues to be the case. ;)
I've noticed more women seem to love DC. My girlfriend loved Checkmate and watched Justice League Unlimited religiously with me, but usually finds any Marvel cartoon or comic book confusing and weird (although she digs Wolverine).
Is it because of the more powerful women aspect of DC, just better-written women, or what? Or is it not even a gender thing, and just falls along what you prefer lines?
Totally bought into this comic (it was all that I bought this week) and I loved it to death.
The Frank Castle story was my favourite and I found the Venus story frustrating.
If any guys struggle to pick up this book, then shame on them for being so fickle.
I did some early comic book shopping (for me) today, and one day later, 2 shops near me were sold out of the issue! :)
But I went to a 3rd and picked it up! Haven't read it yet, but just glad it's apparently being sold.
nerdy bird (i just love writing that) my local comic store only had power girl up to #5, but i'm totally hooked! i love how they write her and the art is good also. i love the attitude they give her. so two thumbs up for power girl! if there's anything else that you would suggest that is like power girl, i'm all ears. like i said this is my first dc comic so i know nothing about the characters of the dc universe.
Alternate series title:
The Vagina Demigogues
Dude Where's Your Penis?
Marvel Melons
X- not- Y -men
Okay, yeah, it was a stretch, but its late in the day. I'm tired.
Hrm…you know, I didn't even consider that guys would be embarrassed to pick up something titled "Girl Comics". I went to the shop with my male comic buddy and he didn't even flinch; in fact he was pretty excited especially since Ming Doyle's art was featured. Maybe it's more of a "people who aren't geeks and don't know what this is might poke fun at them" sort of thing?
Tampons are a whole other story, though. Hahahaha! I still beeline for the female checkers!
Mollie, it makes me SO happy that you picked up Power Girl!! Let me know what you think of the rest. :)
LOL, Jon, um…sure…
Rich, yeah I was a little shocked by the price too but it's 40 something pages and you're getting quality stories and there's also some extra articles in there as well that I didn't mention.
Sure, TS, you can say that…whether or not they'll believe you is another story. :P
If I pick one up, is it ok to tell the clerk who checks me out that it's for my sistergirlfriend?
See what happens when you women leave the safety of your batcave?
I rarely even look at Marvel comics on the rack, but this looks intriguing. And I adore Amanda Connor's art. Guess I'll have to look for this next week.
Your post the other day about geek girls and the uproar inspired me to write this.
http://www.csdaley.com/2010/03/geeky-theory.html
Haven't got to the store yet but this is definitely one I'm looking at. At $5 a pop though, I may wait for the trade.
I am definitely picking this one up when I pick up my pulls later this week.
I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, guys have to buy tampons too, right? …right?
I used to be a Marvel fan. The reason why I am not anymore is way too complicated to go into here.
That being said, when I heard about what this was and who was involved, I thought I might actually seek it out and buy it. I would have bought it yesterday, but my LCS was sold out. He should be getting more next week.
So here's one guy who would buy it.
i'm a huge marvel fan and when i saw that there was going to be a comic call girl comics, my eye started twitching in a i'm-going-to-punch-something way. but after reading your post it made me think that maybe i'm being to harsh and i should give it a try. thanks for the post. and if it makes you feel better, i'm kicked out of the marvel club-house this week for i bought my first dc comic. i bought power girl #1 and loved it! now i need to go back to my comic shop and pick up all the rest of power girl. so don't worry, you weren't the only one kicked out of the club-house.