Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? I don't know if that's really the definition. I think it's just something some clever person made up that sounded good. Actually, I looked it up. Apparently someone did just make it up.
Fact is, I had a vision. A vision of introducing women to comic books. Here's the problem: women not interested in comic books don't read comic book blogs. I've tried advertising it in non-comic-booky places but it's not working.
How are women introduced to comics? Most of the bloggers I've read seem to have grown up with comics. I didn't, unless you count Donald Duck and Hanna Barbera kiddie comics. I was introduced to comic books through my boyfriend. The first comic I really loved and bought every issue was Ruse. Then Crossgen went bankrupt, figures. In my opinion Ruse was what Minx should have been. But maybe that's the way in - attract male readers and have them tell their girlfriends? Too iffy.
Blogs like Occasional Superheroine, Comics Worth Reading, and the When Fangirls Attack blogrolls know comics much better than I do. And they are where I would go when I'm looking for some info. There is a reason they are successful. They are smart and informed and people know that they know what they are talking about. Yes that made sense in my head.
The other side of the coin would be to post stories that are controversial just to get noticed. That's not my style. There are enough "all boys suck, all girls rock" blogs out there, I don't need to add to them.
I really do wish more "normal" (please don't take offense to that, I mean it generically) women out there could discover comic books. They should know that there's more than just superhero comics out there. Maybe Laurell K. Hamilton has the right idea. She took her uber-successful romance-vampire book series, Anita Blake, and turned it into a comic book. Personally I have not read that series, but it's super successful with women. Actually, has anyone ever seen a man read any of those? So women addicted to the book series and "have to have" everything associated with it will buy the comics. It's actually pretty perfect, if it works. Take some story universe that women love and turn it into a comic series. Like maybe, I dunno, Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Maybe that's the real future. I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels here. I enjoy writing and it makes me happy, but when no one reads it it's like an exercise in futility. And I feel like I'm just stroking my ego. I need to reevaluate, and get a different result.
September 5, 2007
What's the Definition of Insanity Again?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
I stumbled upon your blog here. I'm a 38 year old woman who's read comics sporadically - at best - for most of my life. It took Joss bringing Buffy to comics to get me to read regularly. I'm now hooked on Anita Blake (I almost like the comic better than the book, her narrations get tedious at times and those are cut out of the comic), Dark Tower, Runaways, Fray (I love Fray as much as Buffy Summers), and the Serenity comics.
And to answer your question about Anita Blake, I know of at least five men who enjoy the series.
Joss is now continuing Angel the Series in comic form, canonically like BtVS, doing a S6 which starts in November from what I've seen. I'm psyched for that, too.
There's a whole world out there and I can't wait to get more into it. My next step is to get into Witchblade.
Anyway, enough rambling, interesting blog, I'll be back.
Thanks for the comment. So do the men read the Anita Blake comic or the books, or both? What I meant in the post was I don't think they read the books.
I enjoy the same comics you do, I'll have to pick up Anita Blake maybe.
Hi!
Stumbled on your post through WFA. Just wanted to say I'm male, 25, and was introduced to Anita Blake through my girlfriend.
Must admit I had never heard of her before. And I'm not sure many of my (male) friends have. Don't know about the women, though. I'll have to check!
Oh, and, I loved the books! ;)
Perhaps surprisingly I am a huge fan of the Anita Blake series. Although the later books read more like erotica or romance novels the early ones were just great.
30+ year old male and former LKH reader. Also comics fan from childhood...
How to get women into comics? Honestly, pushing more female friendly books in trade form into regular books stores is probably the way to go. And then to get someone who ISN'T a comics reviewer to pick it up and fully review it. Newsweek, USAToday or similar. Or hell whatever tween girl magazines are still popular...
Hi. Came here from WFA.
Just wanted to note that the Insanity definition actually was said by someone. Sort of. The quote you heard was an Anglicization of a statement by Spanish philosopher/poet George Santayana.
"Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim."
Well, I stand corrected on the men-not-reading-Anita-Blake and the definition of insanity. See? You can learn from the internets.
I am another reader who stumbled across your blog due to my Google Alerts for Laurell K. Hamilton. As a woman who reads comics, I would have to agree with whoever pointed out that they need to be reviewed in mainstream publications and publications aimed at women. Or else, you really on friends and boyfriends. I, also, was introduced to comics via a past boyfriend. I've been picking up graphic novels ever since. Neil Gaiman's Sandman is my hands down favorite. But, since I'm a good Laurell K. Hamilton fangirl, I bought the graphic novel of that as well. The art is great for that universe.
Hi, here from WFA, but I need to point out that a large amount of comic fans seem to think the Hamilton Vampire comic adaption series is mind-numbingly awful. Do a search on Chris's Invincible Super-Blog as he occasionally posts annotations that parody the issue.
Universal, I was more praising the idea of Anita Blake comics than the actual comics (which I have not read). I think that bringing stories from other media is a good way to get more readers.
Post a Comment