OK, maybe not, but some people are ticked nonetheless.
Here comes another one where you're probably going to like me a little less when this is over.
Y HALLO THAR, DC
There's been a stir lately about the number of women that DC has on their staff. The most prominent incident drawing attention to this was a young women at the San Diego Comic-Con who was dressed as Batgirl and went to every DC panel she could and kept bringing it up. I think it can be agreed upon that having a staff of people from varied backgrounds in such a large creative company is a good thing. If there's a bunch of guys telling stories about women and there's not a female voice in the room to act as a throttle to keep things reasonable things can get offensive quick with that being the original intention.
There's a problem here though. How many women are applying for jobs at DC? Not nearly as many men. So, are we going to have to have quotas now? Ten people try to get a foot in the door, one of them is a women, so the guys are out of luck?You can't just be a company like DC and turn around one day and say, "we're going to hire more women". You're going to have to make women want to work for you. Women read comics. I've seen them with my own beady eyes! I've seen them write and draw comics! Its true! But when I go to the comic shop its still mostly guys buying and reading comics. There's not a lot of local female talent making comics around here either. In fact the only ones I personally know of, last I checked, were off doing their really awful manga. They have no interest in working for DC.
To make matters even dumber, remember Minx Comics? This was a DC imprint that focused on female creators and they did stories with female protagonists. One of the books, EMIKO SUPERSTAR, was a complete gem. It sold horribly. The entire line tanked. So where were all these people clamoring for more women working for and with DC Comics when DC was pushing women working for and with DC Comics. Hypothetically, if Minx had been a success we wouldn't be having this rant. The talent from Minx would have, in all likelihood, transitioned over to some of the DCU main projects.
So what does DC have to do? They have to maintain fair hiring practiced. They've already put word out that they would like more women to work for the company. That's all they really can do, without initiating some stupid like hiring quotas. If you want more women to work for DC then you need to encourage female talent to apply for positions there and put their best foot forward. You also need to support the talented women who already work for the company.
My time buying DC Comics is coming to a close because when that reboot hits, I'm out the door. I don't have a horse in this race. I've got a ton of gripes about the company but their hiring practices concerning gender is not one of them. They've opened the door for fresh talent to come in and there's a real opportunity for a significant and positive change in the medium.
DC has done their part.
Go do yours.
MUSIC!!
Hey, speaking to the ladies...
Hopefully everyone will be in a better mood on Wednesday. See y'all then.
6 comments:
Awww but we like complaining..!
Oh I know. All it is is bitch, bitch, bitch all day long.
Whoops, was that a sexist comment?
Will Dan DiDio hire me now?
Most of what you've written here is bull-honk, though...There is no open door at DC for new or interested talent to come in. Look at the creative teams for the "New 52" relaunch and you see a bunch of familiar names from the 90's Marvel scene...the scene that DC EiC Bob Harras was in charge of when Marvel went bankrupt. It's the Old Boys club, and with several artists and creators recently putting up posts describing DC flat turning down their proposals because they don't fit the "DC House Style," your platitude that people (and women in particular) just need to try harder is pretty hollow.
Looks up "Lois Lane, Girl Reporter" or "Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Ninth Grade" sometime for some blog reading about girl-friendly proposals DC flat out rejected lately.
So where are they putting this word our for hiring?
I really have never seen a now hiring sign for writers for any comic company. I figured you just had to write then show up with a bloody stump where you hand was and say hire me!
There is no word out for hiring. DC doesn't even do portfolio reviews at the Cons anymore. Right now, DC wants two things from their creators:
-You draw like Jim lee
-You write like Geoff Johns
If you don't do either of these things, you will not be employed by DC.
In the last week, they've announced that their other two female creators (Amanda Conner and Nicola Scott) are working on projects that will be announced for 2012. The only thing the announcement was missing was "So STFU, whiny feminazis...."
I feel the same way as Linda Butler, that this is Bob Harras and the old boys club. How did Scott Lobdell get 4 books out of nowhere? Were there really no other talented creators available?
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