Varför finns det inga stora kvinnliga superhjältar?
”If there was an idea that extra dollar could be made with female-led comics, Marvel would have more lady-led books than Avengers titles”
Det är svaret i korthet som det gavs av Kelly Sue DeConnick, som skrivit Ghost, Captain Marvel & Avengers Assemble, vid hennes redditAMA för två år sen. (AMA = ask me anything)
http://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/134f6k/i_am_kelly_sue_deconnick_writer_of_ghost_captain/
Den AMAn förklarar mainstreamseriemarknaden (i USA, men mycket av det påverkar det som ges ut i Sverige ). Varför läser mest killar superhjälteserier? Varför läser många tjejer Manga? Därför återger jag bitar här.
Serieförlagets kund är seriehandlaren, inte läsaren
Citat i urval nedan. Detta gäller i USA, synnerhet serieförlag som gör superhjälteserier, Marvel och DC.
”The publisher’s customer is not the reader. The publisher’s customer is the retailer. //. It matters how many copies of the book the retailers order before the book even hits the shelf. ”
http://www.blastr.com/sites/blastr/files/styles/blog_post_media/public/marvel_character_group-crop.jpg?itok=JaqfFGey
” Kvinnor läser inte serier/äventyrsserier”
”The perception is that women do not buy comics in significant numbers and that men do not support lady-led books, unless those books are loosely-disguised T&A books.
”The American notion had always been that women would not buy comics in significant numbers. There was even a commonly bandied about notion that ”women are not visual.”” (!!!)
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2013/11/Untitled-214.jpg
Seriehandlaren kan inte ta risker
”The retailers have limited budgets, limited shelf space, and hundreds of new comics that come out every week. With rare exception, comics lose their value quicker than used cars (quarter bins, anyone?) so retailers must order very, very carefully.”
Slutresultat: Det man tror blir sanning.
”What’s the takeaway here? Change is hard. Retailers, understandably, cannot take risks. Perception becomes fact.”
Att kringgå seriehandlaren skapade utrymme för Manga
http://img06.deviantart.net/3b4e/i/2013/250/f/1/big_eyed_manga_girl___mark_crilley_by_karentje123-d6lcexm.jpg
”Who bought manga in the US? Largely women and girls. At ten bucks a pop, no less. Women spent literally millions of dollars on what? On comics.”
”Well, for one thing, they didn’t have to venture into comic book stores to get it….They could buy manga at the mall. What’s more, they didn’t need a guide.”
”Contrast that with an American comic books store experience for a new reader. First challenge–find the store. ”
(obs: Manga hittas numer i seriehandeln. I Sverige i alla fall)
http://www.cruzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/002-hot-manga-art-roka.jpg
Our industry is built to sell Batman (literally–all of our sales figures are relative to the sales of Batman) to the same guys who have always bought Batman and change is hard.
Paulo Barcellos Jr. Wikimedia.CC BY-SA 3.0
So what can we do? As readers, the most powerful tool we have is the pre-order. PRE-ORDER, PRE-ORDER, PRE-ORDER.
Why? Because when you pre-order with a store, that is a sale to the store. The store is not assuming any risk.