Girls With Comics

Let me first say, I’m a 24-year-old woman in a hobby that is mostly made up of older men. I’ve been told all kinds of rude, sexist, and downright stupid things at various conventions. I’ve had dealers laugh in my face, I’ve been told I can’t afford certain books, and yet at the same time I’ve met dealers who are more than eager to talk to me, and I’ve even made a friend or two.

Yet still, I see dealers act like know-it-all to all kinds of people. Lots of customers walk away from sales because they might feel ashamed, frustrated, or just plain angry. Lots of younger fans get discouraged and plain old drop out. Whatever you do, don’t let some dick of a dealer make you leave this hobby. While many people want to pretend that there is no crying in comics, there is. No hobby is 100% peaceful.

If you do happen to come across a bad dealer, do not let them break you. Majority of these dealers do this for a living. Most of them know that if they treat customers like shit, they will not make money. If they don’t make money, they can’t afford food, clothing, rent, hookers or cocaine (ok, maybe not the hookers and cocaine part. But wouldn’t that be funny?)

In fact, do what the members at the gym I work at do. CALL THEM OUT ON IT. I work at a gym where the membership fee is roughly $100/month. That’s $1,200 a year per member. That does not include personal training, Pilates, guest passes, ect. If an employee is coming off as rude to a member, that member will have no issues calling said employee out. They also have no issues complaining very vocally to the director of the club. 9 times out of 10 the employee will get in trouble, and maybe even get fired. However that doesn’t work in the comic business, so the only way to really do anything about it is to call them out, and don’t buy from them.

Many customers forget that they are the back bone to this hobby. Without you buying these books, dealers would not be in business. But even that gets twisted, and a customer will still buy from a dick dealer because they have a certain book you want. Should you buy it even then? No. I firmly believe no book is truly rare. A unicorn is rare. I was told an Archie #2 was the hardest book to find in the Archie collection (bullshit) and I own two of them.

 The bottom line is, people will always need money, so if you hold out long enough that elusive book you want will go up for sale. Customers, do not give up. There are lots of great dealers online and at conventions who are super-duper. Metropolis, Harley Yee, Peperpeddler and Dale Roberts are a few of the dealers I really like and do buy from (well, I buy a lot from Metropolis).

-Lauren

In the upcoming months Marvel Comics will have a new trend in various comics: Vampires! That’s right kids, now everyone and their mother has joined this band wagon of sparkly or not-so-sparkly vampire fandom, and Marvel will be releasing vampire variant covers (as well as story lines) of all your favorite characters! Such as, Namor! That’s right, not only does he kick more ass then that pansy Aquaman, but he’s a vampire as well. But one must wonder…How the fuck does that even work. Does he feed off of fish? Aquaman? I would pay money to see that.

Archie has also jumped on board, with their own Twilight parody. IDW is releasing the True Blood comic, and I predict in about a year DC will catch up and also have vampire story lines. Hopefully by then this trend will die down (harhar) and we can continue on with more believable things, such as men who can jump tall buildings in a single bound.

-Lauren

If you read this blog, chances are good that you like comics (chances are also good that I forced you to read this). Chances are also good that you might like girls! Seeing as how this blog is by girls who like comics (SURPRISE) here’s a nifty, handy list on how to get that girl of your dreams…who hopefuly likes nerd things. If she’s into Taylor Swift and Abercrombie* I can’t help you.

If she likes comics, don’t put down her favorite’s if they aren’t what you like.  For example, I really like Archie. Sometimes when people find that out, they just laugh and go “Oh ok well you like comics that were made for girls!” Don’t do that. I can’t think of a better way for you to not get laid (and ignored) by laughing at a girls interest’s.

If she’s just starting out in the hobby, don’t be a know it all. Showing off your mad l33t comic book knowledge makes you look like a tool. If you were showing off your mad l33t rocket science know how, I would totally understand. But you’re not. Lend her some of the comics you like, who knows, she might just dig them! And if she asks you a question, then you can show off your knowledge. If she didn’t, you really will look like a jerk. And you won’t get laid.

If she cosplays, don’t call her an attention whore behind her back. She will find out. Believe me, there are more guys out there willing to make you look like a tool just to get on her good side. Also, don’t be a creep and follow her around the con. Go up to her, tell her you like her costume, and go from there! Most cosplayers won’t bite, and most are not crazy.  However if you do catch a crazy cosplayer, run. Just run.

If she likes comics you haven’t read, give them a shot! Even if it is something girly like Sailor Moon. It shows that you’re putting an effort into the things she likes. That goes a long way with us ladies.

While nothing is fool-proof, hopefully these few pointers will help you find a potential gal pal that you can call your own!

-Lauren

*If she’s over the age of 18 and still wearing Abercrombie, you don’t want anything to do with her.

Holy shit, I can’t stand this series.

So far it has been a long, drawn out procedure. While Blackest Night was top notch amazing, this title is falling short. That being said, the spin-off series, are really well done.

Brightest Day: The Flash is GREAT so far.

Brightest Day: Birds of Prey is also wonderful!

Brightest Day: Green Arrow is superb.

And so on and so forth. Of course they all tie into the main Brightest Day title, and that’s just annoying. It’s expensive, and BD is just not good.

And that’s my bitching post of the day.

-Lauren

“Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood have launched a campaign to petition to the CEO of McDonalds with a letter that reads;

Your decision to hand little boys the horrifying spectacle of a man engulfed in flames or a menacing figure that explicitly spurs them to violence calls into question McDonald’s reputation as a family-friendly company. I urge you to end this promotion immediately.

The group state;

It’s bad enough that McDonald’s relentlessly uses junk toys to sell children on junk food. It’s awful that this giveaway continues the troubling trend of fast food restaurants promoting toys linked to violent PG-13 movies. And it’s terrible that McDonald’s, the leading distributor of toys in the United States, relentlessly perpetuates the worst gendered stereotypes with its Happy Meal giveaways. During the current promotion, boys get violent action figures with their burgers and fries, while girls are offered cutesy animals that, bizarrely, come with hand bags.”

There are a ton of evil’s in this world. People who are intolerant of others, people who kill for sport, and drugs. McDonalds itself is not without its faults. The food is gross and terribly unhealthy. McDonalds has been under fire for seducing kids to eat their food with the promise of a toy. Like I’ve said in the past, that goes back to irresponsible parenting. Your 4-year-old child doesn’t have money, but you do. If you can’t deal with a temper tantrum for saying no then you need to man the fuck up!

But no, this is about evil terrible Marvel characters. Oh my God! A man on fire! What are we teaching our children?! The Human Torch has been around since World War 2 (well, in various forms). Oh and this toy promotion was done some 15 years ago when these idiots yelling about it probably wanted the toys for themselves. OH MY. If you are incapable of teaching your child what is fact or fiction, you are a fucking nut job. While we’re at it, I blame Archie Comics for giving me a false impression of high school life. I thought for sure some red-headed guy was going to fall for me and another girl at the same time. Batman also made me believe my parents were going to be killed in a dark alley and I would have to avenge their deaths. That didn’t happen either, so fuck you DC.

What it boils down to is some irresponsible parenting, which is 99.9% of the time always the case.

-Lauren