Sean recently posted:It'd be relatively easy to believe that the notion that comic shops with creepy stuff on display or creepy people in their employ are a barrier to female readers was some kind of Comic Shop Guy-style self-loathing comics-community stereotype, but no, it's true, they're a barrier to female readers as Hope Larson's survey of some of them confirms. My wife and I haven't gone to many comic shops together, but I can tell you that the creepy one--the defunct Village Comics--is the only one she ever talks about. Bad impressions last, and a few topless Nazi women in a display case at the checkout counter can go a long way toward making someone never want to visit any comic shop again. (Via Tom Spurgeon.)It's funny how quickly and vividly that memory seems to leap to mind, especially since display of such material isn't quite directly addressed by anything Larson explicitly mentions (sexualized images of superheroines comes closest).
Speaking to the issue of comic shop customer-friendliness, well, I've spoken to that before (also here), and let's just say that even as a guy, every damn LCS in driving distance has basically killed my interest in continuing with floppies. I dutifully kept up with Blackest Night, and for a while even branched into other floppies that looked interesting on the racks--Beasts of Burden, those Batwoman Detective Comics (which I'd still like to review here), etc. A halfway decent comic shop could have just not consistently spoiled New Comics Day! for me, and let it become a Wednesday ritual worth looking forward to, and kept me coming back for more, even just to see what looks interesting that week. But no. So, beyond all of Larson's very good points, comic shops (at least the ones I know) have a loooong damn way to go in not actively driving interested customers away, period.
As for topless Nazi women, the image above almost got me booted from one forum (not a particularly tame one, either), and provoked this special mention in a link to my fumetti cover flickr set from Cyriaque Lamar at io9: "Most are raunchy and ridiculous, but be forewarned that some are in absolutely poor taste (two words: Nazi cunnilingus)."
What is it about those topless Nazi women?
Oh, P.S., from the comments to that io9 post, check out this blog about sexy/sleazy Mexican comics covers!
6 comments:
Nice fumetti collection. Will you ever scan and upload complete issues of Terror?
People today always forget when criticizing the Italian Fumetti of yesteryear the social context of the 70's when these books were produced and always only see these books with their present day eyes and not their historic value and context! Italy, being an ultra catholic country with the Pope in Rome, having almost every other year a new often corrupt government and elections, living under constant violant bloody treat of the Maffia and terrorism at that time, having a very heavy Mussolini ultra right period during WO II in agreement with Nazi Germany and Hitler... not having those outlets like today like video, dvd, commercial television stations,... the erotic and violent fumutti were nothing more, among other things, than a way to revolt against all this mentioned before and showing the free spirit of its creators via these books and a way to escape for a few minutes every day reality! Therefor Italy is also the home the Giallo movies with often killers being the priest, business men..., the hard crime sadistic photo fumetti's like Sadik, Killer,... Diabolik killing criminals, the list goes on and on.
Dave--nope.
Mirko--interesting perspective!
Nothing wrong with Topless Nazi women.
I may have been married to one.
Curt,
As you pointed out, it seems that you and Sean Collins are talking about two different aspects of comic-book shops.
Your negative experience seems entirely focused upon the service industry angle. And you're right: it's ironic that by giving you bad service they ended up preventing you from getting back that particular habit and spending more money in their stores.
Given the transgressive fumetti-fantasies you reprint, I'd assume you have no problem with their existence. It's not clear to me if you share Sean's distaste for seeing them on display in a general-interest store. But keep in mind that there's a school of thought that says they shouldn't exist at all, and I would think that would be in its way even "creepier," or at least scarier, than any titillating displays.
I have to agree w/ Mirko - one has to take the historical perspective into account.
I have a collection of 300 or so Eurotrash DVDs - horror and giallo mostly - which I used to loan to co-workers whom I considered open-minded enough to explore the subject. I even occasionally sent out reviews or musings on the same to these select few through our company email. And much of the subject matter I'm talking about here is pretty close to mainstream stuff - "Danger Diabolik", or "Black Sunday", for instance. The raciest thing I loaned out was "Cemetery Man", and that went unwatched.
I stopped all that, having gotten over time the creeping perception that my co-workers felt I was foisting smut them. The dead silence I got in response to my emails was preferable to that feeling.
No, I think those who go for this stuff are a dedicated few with a singular taste. It's a delicate line sometimes between this sort of thing and pornography - which ironically has a much huger audience, and is therefore by definition more mainstream. But it's a definite line nonetheless.
All that said, I wouldn't expect an uninitiated woman who steps into a comic shop and sees the "Terror" fumetti pictured to feel comfortable in her surroundings. It's an acquired taste as well - meant to titillate and shock. But in our zeal, those of us who have it can easily overlook the fact that it can just as easily offend.
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