Colleen Coover ([info]colleencoover) wrote,
2004-01-08 00:25:00
I'm gonna talk a little bit about comics, now.

Out in the World, people have been reading a lot of Japanese comic books. They got really, really popular here in the United States, and that got right under the skin of a few fellows who prefer the superhero comics they grew up with. Some of these fellows have been conducting an informal debate for the last year or so about how manga is a fad and doesn't deserve the shelf-space it gets in large bookstore chains and is harming the U.S. comics industry.

That's a silly idea, of course, and a lot of people are debating the issue right back and doing it well. If you're not familiar with the issue and you give two beans, look through the archives of Dirk Deppy's Jounalista blog.

This is where I put forth my reasons for believing that popularity of manga is not only not harmful to the U.S. comics industry, but will ultimately help it continue to thrive. It all boils down to romance.

Many manga readers are young girls. They read stuff online, they buy stuff in stores, they swap stuff with their girlfriends, and they check stuff out of the library. They read a LOT of manga. They are girls growing toward adulthood with the habit of reading comic books. The young women these girls become will eventually date young men... and then?

I work in a comic book store, and I can tell you that most American comics readers are men, and that there are two main reasons for a devoted male comic book reader to suddenly stop buying comics.

#1: He's broke.

#2: He gets a girlfriend who thinks comics are stupid.

OK. Now, imagine a generation of women hitting college with tattered volumes of Mars and Peach Girl and Blade Of The Immortal in their book bags. They get boyfriends. Some of the boyfriends also read comics, either American, Japanese, or from some other country of origin. But unlike the male comic readers of the past several decades, their girlfriends DON'T THINK COMICS ARE STUPID, because they grew up reading comics! And so they visit the comic shop, or newsstand, or bookstore, together. Young love is fulfilled, and comics get sold.

Isn't it beautiful?

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  • 25 comments

[info]coitustrek

January 7 2004, 22:45:02 UTC 8 years ago

I had a girlfriend once. She didn't much care for comics until I showed her the Bondage Fairies. Then, she was all excited whenever a new one would come out. Probably not the Manga you were talking about though. Hahaha.

[info]colleencoover

January 7 2004, 22:54:10 UTC 8 years ago

It counts.

[info]mythfish

January 8 2004, 10:17:05 UTC 8 years ago

Mmmmm. Bondage Fairies.

[info]andricongirl

January 7 2004, 22:50:45 UTC 8 years ago

its great
i fail to see how manga will be bad on the comics industry as well, because its will just make more people interested in comics, rather than stop people from reading superheros, those people into that will still buy that stuff any way, and new people will get into comics..

[info]colleencoover

January 7 2004, 22:57:03 UTC 8 years ago

'Zactly. But you know, people fear change... and they like to think that what they like is what everyone should like. Me, I like 'em both!

[info]oldhans117

January 7 2004, 23:50:39 UTC 8 years ago

Super Hero books were dieing a long time before Manga hit the big time. This fact never seems to figure into any of these debates.

[info]chrisisiddall

January 8 2004, 03:27:08 UTC 8 years ago

I totally agree but:

1) Stop making sense, this is the electronic arguing machine aka the Internet we're talking about.

2)Tell me where I can find these nerd loving ladies.

[info]deliriumsbones

January 8 2004, 07:41:38 UTC 8 years ago

Re: I totally agree but:

OK, I stumbled upon this journal entry through Mythfish's friendslist, so none of you know me, I'm sure.
But - I am in fact a woman who reads comics generally geared toward men and have never thought they were stupid, so I'm one of the nerd loving ladies, I guess.

Also, I agree with the point made in the journal above.

[info]sairentohiru

January 10 2004, 13:25:56 UTC 8 years ago

Re: I totally agree but:

::waves::

Nerd-loving lady here!

Then again, I'm a nerd too..does that count?

[info]chrisisiddall

January 11 2004, 05:04:42 UTC 8 years ago

Re: I totally agree but:

Absolutely.

[info]prettykate

January 8 2004, 07:13:32 UTC 8 years ago

I think that one of the reason that superhero purists hate manga is BECAUSE girls dig it.

[info]colleencoover

January 8 2004, 12:14:43 UTC 8 years ago

Unfortunately, I think that is often true, though I hope not consciously.

Many of the "fad" people are retailers who have become very comfortable in their ordering and reading habits, and who know every single customer who comes through their door. When they suddenly have a whole new group of people to deal with and cater to, they can become uncomfortable, which leads to grouchyness.

But like I say, I don't think they're intentionally trying to keep the girls out of the "clubhouse", though it can seem that way.

[info]tohoscope

January 8 2004, 07:22:40 UTC 8 years ago

THAT is brilliant! The more I think about it, the more obvious it is.
-danno!

[info]madlycool

January 8 2004, 10:10:44 UTC 8 years ago

What i don't get is that manga hasn't been cutting into superhero sales - they're totally new customers. That means people (including many girls) get exposed to a medium, and might actually become superhero readers themselves. Or Sandman or whatever.

I was thinking the other day about people who call manga a 'fad' - and it's hard to say whether growth will remain like this forever. But the growth in manga is totally unlike the collector boom of the early 90s - people are actually reading these books. No one is buying Love Hina or Chobits for resale. No one is buying for the metallic ink covers or multiple cover editions or whatever.

It's also fun to note that Shonen Jump outsells all the superhero comics - and if you consider it's about 7 times the size of an average superhero comic, the readership per story is enormous. It's like the top 7 comics in sales.

[info]mythfish

January 8 2004, 10:15:08 UTC 8 years ago

Hmmm, I don't like manga. But I never considered its impact on the comics market as a whole one way or the other. Interesting.

I've stopped buying comics many times for reason #1, but never for reason #2. As far as I know, I've never had a girlfriend who thought comics were stupid. And if I did, I'd tell her to deal with it. Hmmm, maybe I've just had better than average luck in finding geek-friendly girls.

[info]ed2ward

January 8 2004, 10:52:30 UTC 8 years ago

Thank you for saying this

I wish it were being said much louder and more pervasively within the online comics community. I'm getting sick to death of the doom and gloom people are constantly forecasting for comics while there is the biggest boom of new readers in years happening RIGHT NOW! It's the inability to look outside of insular fannish boxes that is the biggest danger to the industry. Not new readers. New readers are an assett. A resource. New people on our (the comic-lovin' people's) side. How could anyone not see that?

[info]rare_bit_fiend

January 8 2004, 12:31:22 UTC 8 years ago

yeah i work at a minneapolis comic shop, and it't totally true, all the growth that is happening in things like manga and alternative fantagraphicsey drawn and quarterlyish comics. it's the stuff that's bringing new people in off the street. and it's good comics. it's like the "comics industry" and it's fan boy alterboys, refuse to aknowledge this, and also refuse to aknowledge the stale booring state that so called mainstream comics are in. i say this because i thing something like Igort's 5 is the prefect number is something that appeals to a much wider audience than any green lantern or iron man book, or anthing ever published by crossgen ever.

[info]rare_bit_fiend

January 8 2004, 12:43:24 UTC 8 years ago

and may i add that the old saying that girls think comics are lame is totally not true at all. they might think lame comics are lame, but who can blame them? criminy! back in my highschool days, if you strange hair and a few issues of david mack's kabuki casually laying on your desk with your books. it't wouln't be long before all the punk girls and goth girls and arty alternative smartypants girls were all going "ooOOo what's that? may i see it, te he" or "oooOOOhh Kabuki,you like Kabuki? that's my faaaaavorite comic...te he i'm a girl".
and let's not even get into johnny the homicidal maniac, how manny love letters addressed to Jhonen Vasquez a day do you think get sent to slave labour, from teen age girls?
every girlfriend i've ever had was a comic book reader in some form.
but only one i can think of was ever a regular reader of "mainstreme" (which realy should be rechristened "boys only streme") comics.

[info]r0n1n

January 8 2004, 16:33:21 UTC 8 years ago

You should dig this.

My former fiance (who, on a happy note, it should be pointed out I'm still dear friends with) was never really into comic books and, while she was a goodly amount perverse, had some nascent hatred of all things porn. This was always sort of a drag for me, since, like Bill Hicks, I share an affection for smut that is rivaled only by my desire to continue breathing.
And while she still isn't really into comics (big anime geek, but she doesn't bother with manga), it was 'Small Favors' that finally got her to appreciate porn as something other than the vice of lecherous elders. She liked your comic even more than I did, and that's saying quite a bit.
Like I said, she still has no real appreciate for comics, but thanks for at least making her acknowledge the joys of sexy art.

[info]colleencoover

January 8 2004, 21:17:11 UTC 8 years ago

That's extremely gratifying; thank you! ^_^

[info]colleencoover

January 8 2004, 21:16:21 UTC 8 years ago

I should add that I don't think that the girlfriends in these senerios are actively trying to get their guys to drop the comics habit, but it's a lot easier to lose interest in something when the object of your desire doesn't give a damn about it. And it's a lot easier to justify spending money on something when your mate doesn't regard it (overtly or covertly) as a "waste."

Anonymous

August 13 2005, 16:08:22 UTC 6 years ago

Why manga fans won't buy super hero comics ?

I'm a manga fan and tell you why manga more popular then super hero comics. But before I start I have three question to ask you.

When was the last time you guys read a novel?

Have you ever found a character which made you feel that you in the same. Also was this charater powerful enough to make you cry for him or her?

Final question what makes a good story?

Anonymous

August 13 2005, 16:13:14 UTC 6 years ago

Re: Why manga fans won't buy super hero comics ?

I meant in the second question I have you ever found a charater which you could relate to the point where felt that charater was exactly like you.

Anonymous

August 13 2005, 17:18:03 UTC 6 years ago

Re: Why manga fans won't buy super hero comics ?

What I meant to say in the second question, have you ever found a character which you could relate to so much you felt that character was exactly like you.

Sorry for posting three times. I’m not a very good writer so bear with me.

Anonymous

July 30 2005, 01:14:56 UTC 6 years ago

how do i get a copy of Banana Sunday?

colleen, don't know if u remember me, but its Ron (the filipino dude that came in to Daydreams a lot and was a friend of Randy Buchannan). I'm in DC/MD bout to start my 2nd year of med school. Are u guys still in IC?

How do I get myself a signed copy (or regular copy) of Banana Sunday. I saw a review for Small Favors on www.thefourthrail.com and saw a blurb in it about Banana. I distinctly remember you guys talking about that waayyyyy back in 2002 or so. I will even send u guys a check if I can find a way to get it. I don't think my store in MD (Alliance Comics) carries it. But even if they do, I'd like a signed copy.

I'm proud of you and Paul. You guys stayed on the grind in the industry and are finding some deserved success. I wish you all the best. Please hit me up at my e-mail ronaman35@hotmail.com or www.myspace.com/ronaman35 (or www.myspace.com/ronaman). Please tell Paul (and Adam if u still see him) that Ron says hello. drop me a line!

-Ron C
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