Comicsgirl

I am newly arrived home from New York. The train ride was a train ride — fairly comfortable overall (I did doze for a bit) but the Metro ride home and then the walk back to my car weren’t too thrilling (hey, the plan sounded like a good idea on Friday when I left … I think I could’ve sprung for a taxi in the end). I’ll start digging through my pile of comics and stuff tomorrow.

But that’s not the point of this post at all. My last stop in New York was Brooklyn’s Bergen Street Comics. It’s a gorgeous store and if it was nearby, they would be taking all my money. The layout is excellent — children’s comics within easy reach of little hands, graphic novels organized by genre rather than author or title, and a table in the middle with selections of note. The single issues line the walls. It feels like shopping in a boutique bookstore rather than a comic book store.

I am not, overall, a hater of traditional comic book stores — you know, the sort that have lots of T-shirts and posters and action figures. Some of them do this kind of thing very well and they can be fun. But others don’t and they can make some of us a little uncomfortable sometimes.. Those sorts of stores aren’t welcoming to the people who were never superhero fans but will read graphic novels like Persepolis.

Bergen Street Comics is a store for those people. It’s far from being some snobby, intellectuals-only place — owners Amy and Tom are very friendly and welcoming and obviously love comics of all sorts. It’s a store for everyone and that’s an awesome thing to me. They know what they’re doing.

I wish them all the success they deserve and I hope to get back there one day.

(There were many things I would’ve bought, but I picked up The Color of Earth from First Second. Really, First Second needs subscription plans.)

Like many households and companies, I have recently downsized. I am perfectly OK with this — it was, more or less, our choice to do so.

But in the process, I’ve discovered how much stuff I have. Things that have an obvious value are going to go on eBay. Things that don’t are going to Goodwill or whatever.

There are things that are in between, however — things that wouldn’t really sell on eBay but wouldn’t end up in the hands of someone who would appreciate them at Goodwill.

So here’s where the free stuff comes in. Be one of the first 10 people to e-mail me before Friday until I run out of stuff with your address (include whatever other information you’d like) and I’ll send you some comic-related goodies — perhaps a random issues of some Marvel Comics title from eight years ago, perhaps some mini-comics, perhaps something else. I just want some of these things to end up with people who might appreciate them.

(And I’ve just set 10 as an arbitrary number — I really haven’t figured out how much stuff I have I want to give away. I know I have enough for at least 10 people, but basically, just e-mail me and I’ll do my best to give you something.)

This is honestly something of an experiment, but I think it’s going to be a fun one.

Please note: I will not keep your address (snail or e-mail) or use it for any other purpose than this.

(You may have noticed I’m Twittering more now. Feel free to add me and I’ll probably add you back. I haven’t had too much time for proper blog posts lately so Twitter is a good way to share a few random thoughts in the meantime.)

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, which coincides nicely with the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (it’s like … they planned it or something!) and is, in my mind, the very unofficial kickoff to summer.

Free Comic Book Day is always a good time and an inexpensive way to be introduced to comics you may have not otherwise picked up and there is something for every taste (and trust me, if you have any interest in a free title, just get it — I didn’t pick up Umbrella Academy and I still feel stupid about it). And anyway, who doesn’t like free stuff? There are few better things than spending a warm spring Saturday afternoon in your local comic book store.

There. I said it.

I’ve been avoiding this issue. I figured I’d wait until the comic came out to talk about it. But I do want to bring it up.

At some point recently, you’ve probably read about this. People saw the image, read the whole “Sex in the City” bit and the outcry was predictably understandable.

But I don’t think a lot of people actually read what was being said, or bothered to look a little bit deeper into who was behind it.

Yes, that cover image is ridiculously terrible. Yes, the title is incredibly stupid. And maybe the whole “superheroines do Sex in the City” idea isn’t the most thoughtful, but as a concept goes, it’s not a terrible one.

But let’s move past that for a moment.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is writing the title. I saw Rorschach Theatre‘s production of his play, Rough Magic, a couple of years ago, and it was awesome, geeky fun with smart, strong female characters and a literate sense of humor. While I am not one who believes gay men can always speak for women, I think Aguirre-Sacasa’s part about the comic being about “to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry)” is interesting. As a gay man, I think he understands that the hyper heterosexual masculinity can be alienating to anyone who’s not a straight male.

And then, there’s the art of Tonci Zonjic, which is pretty awesome and is something I’d be delighted to see in a comic about young women trying to balance romance and careers while they’re, oh yeah, superheroines. It’s definitely a far cry from that promotional art. (This title seems to have the opposite problem of Marvel’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation, which had a great cover and bad art on the inside.)

Will Marvel Divas be good? I don’t know. But the elements seem like they’re in the right place. I do hope that people who would connect with this comic — those who seem to be the most vocally against it — will give it a chance. I’m going to.

(And yes, Marvel doesn’t know how to market to women. I think we’ve figured that out. I mean, I still want my lip gloss, after all.)

Image taken from Tonci Zonjic’s Flickr gallery. I most definitely want superhero comics that look like that. Tonci Zonjic says this was actually a tryout for the title.

He still makes a couple of good points, but seriously? “The essential comic book geek’s guide to women and dating and sharing the love”?

He covered all the comics that always get recommended to women. Really, spend about two minutes and you can make the list yourself (although it was kind of cool to see Ross Campbell’s Wet Moon in there. And while I like that comic quite a bit, I honestly think my boyfriend likes it more than I do). And no superhero stuff other than Watchmen? There are many superhero comics I’d recommend to the generic woman in this scenario first before Watchmen.

If an individual woman doesn’t care about comics, that’s cool. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Some people love film the most, some people love music. Some love theater. Sure, people can love all three, but we all have our favorites and that’s what makes us unique.

And I guess that’s the problem with these sorts of lists. Yes, maybe I would recommend The Sandman or Blue Monday to women, but only on a case-by-case basis. These sorts of articles — “how to get girls to like comics” — don’t really take into account that women are individual people. My mom read Nick Abadzis’ Laika and loved it, but I don’t think that necessarily means she’s going to love Charles Burns’ Black Hole. A woman I’d recommend Jessica Abel’s La Perdida may not be the same woman I’d recommend Ai Yazawa’s NANA to.

Also, why is it so important for all these hypothetical girlfriends to like comics? Yes, I understand sharing interests and hobbies with one’s significant other, but what if the hypothetical girlfriend really loved jazz or New Wave French films or something? Are the comic-book loving men that write these sorts of pieces interested in sharing those interests? Or is it just all about getting the girls to accept comic books?

Nana O., played by Mika Nakashima, and Ren, played by Ryuhei Matsuda, from NANA live-action movie, released by VIZ Media in the U.S. Seemed appropriate to me.