Report: Only 30 Percent of Marvel/DC Characters Female

[StewShearerOld]

Report: Only 30 Percent of Marvel/DC Characters Female

Despite efforts to balance the scales, Marvel and DC still focus primarily on creating male comic characters.

One of the blatant paradoxes of many a human society is the fact that women make up 50 percent of the population, but are often treated as a minority. In fewer places is this clearer than in the world of <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/comics%20and%20cosplay>comic books where the status quo has long been one tailored toward individuals possessing a Y chromosome. It's something that major comic makers like <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/marvel>Marvel and DC have been trying to reverse in recent years, with some success. That being the case, recent reports on the state of female characters in comics would indicate that there's still a long way to go.

The report, which was recently published but the media site FiveThirtyEight, found that among DC and Marvel's current line-ups, only around one out of every four characters is a woman. More precisely female characters only represent around 30 percent of either company's overall cast, with <a href-http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/dc%20comics>DC Comics claiming a slight lead over Marvel owing, in part, to its early willingness to create female counterparts to its male leads.

The roots of this uneven division are, in turn, likely grounded in what comic companies perceive to be their primary audience: white men. And while this might be true to some degree, there's also some indication that things remain this way simply because comic makers don't create products with appeal for anyone else. In addition to the fact that most of the people working in comics are men, there's a belief among some that they've narrowed their sights on a shrinking demographic of white male readers. "Over time, we started to appeal to the same, dwindling fans," said Thor-writer Jason Aaron.

A possible side effect of this narrowly focused creative process however, could be the passing up of potential profits from other corners. Speaking in the report, Aaron cited the success of Marvel's Ms. Marvel, especially in digital formats. "That book has great digital sales," he said. "Clearly it's reaching an audience we haven't been reaching before through our longstanding distribution system." Fronted by a female Muslim Pakistani heroine, Ms. Marvel's creator G. Willow Wilson expected the book to die less than a year after its release. The wider availability offered by things like digital distribution however have helped it to build a strong fan following that's helped it to be a repeat top seller for Marvel.

Sadly, despite the success of properties like Ms. Marvel, big name brands are still playing things fairly safe when it comes to the creation of new books and characters. Even in the past few years female characters only made up around 30 percent of new superheroes introduced by Marvel and DC. One can only hope that things like the introduction of <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/136159-Thor-Is-Getting-Gender-Flipped-Officially>a lady Thor, the continued success of Ms. Marvel and the introduction of various <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138002-Marvel-Announces-Gamora-Comic-for-Spring-2015>solo series will eventually help tip the tide toward a more balanced comics market.

Source: FiveThirtyEight


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[Johnny Novgorod]

But more importantly, what's the percentage of Marvel & DC characters who identify as female?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

But more importantly, what's the percentage of Marvel & DC characters who identify as female?

And does it take into consideration if your preferred pronoun is "Batman"

 

[Trishbot]

Well, we're getting a Squirrel Girl book. That's all I need.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

But more importantly, what's the percentage of Marvel & DC characters who identify as female?

Discounting newcomers, since the inception of Marvel's Silver Age, how many of their overall loyal demographic have been male and how many have been female? #DevilsAdvocate #Ihatehashtags

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well, we're getting a Squirrel Girl book. That's all I need.

Tell me more. I've heard of this heronine before, but if they're releasing a new book, (and since I've slowly been getting into comics from Marvel as of the past few years,[Runaways] Superior Spidey, and the soon to be released Ms. Marvel Volume #1) mind telling me a little more of this "Squirre;Girl"?

It's a joke character people enjoy and defend ironically.

 

[Zontar]

You know, I don't think people realize just how small the comic book industry in the US actually is. Despite the success of movies and tv series from the big two, the whole US comic book industry in the US only brings in about 600-700 million in revenue each year, or about what a single one of their blockbusters does, and that's split 3 ways between Marvel, DC and everyone else. Gimmicks like turning Thor into a woman for no discernible reason are poor attempts to increase sales numbers by getting people who wouldn't otherwise read comic books to do so (though sales numbers for most which have had gimmicks like this make me certain that the story will be canned within the next 6 months).

I actually want to know where the problem lies here? Is it that there are less people who have a name in these books who are women then there are men? That's not an inherent problem in my eyes. People can argue about inclusivity all day but it's something both have to meet in the middle for it to work: if you want them to change you need to buy the things which are like what you want to see more of. It's the same reason triple A gaming will probably never make the radical changes some people want it to, the money just isn't there due to those making the complaints not typically being people who bought their products in the first place, and if a market as big as triple A gaming isn't going to do more then token gestures towards it, well let's just say the ammount that Marvel has (temporarily) done is shocking.

 

[TippiestRook]

So?

I'd rather have 30% of charaters being male/female and the authors of the books making them male/female because they wanted to make the character that way rather than it being 50/50 and authors being denied creative freedom with their charater for the sake of political correctness.

 

[nekoali]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_Girl

She's a mutant squirrel/girl crossbreed. She has a cute fluffy tail and the proportional abilities of a human sized squirrel (except holding large amounts of food in her mouth. I don't think she's ever been shown doing that.) Despite being not very powerful, she's defeated some of the most powerful villains in the Marvel Universe, like Doctor Doom and even Thanos.

Yeah, she's a joke character that has just kept going. People just love her and she keeps showing up in books. So they're giving her a series of her own where she deals with super villains and college life.

 

[Baresark]

There certainly would be nothing bad to come from more well written female characters in either universe.

That said: It's not really an issue that there isn't a 50/50 magic ratio that articles like this think should exist just because. Just because the readers of comics are 45% women doesn't mean that 45% of characters NEED to be female. I have read plenty of comics with female leads in comic reading career. I'm sure plenty of women read comics with male leads. In my experience, a comic fan is a comic fan. A good book is a good book. A bad book is a bad book. The sex of the main character may be important when you first start reading, but it means very little over the long run. It probably doesn't help that the majority of comic writers and artists are men. There is nothing wrong with that either, of course. I know that a lot of people read a majority of a single sex exists in a given industry due to sexism, but it's ridiculous that is automatically the idea presented.

But, as I stated above: More good female characters are welcome, and I have never heard anyone make the argument that there should be less or shouldn't be more of them.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

So?

I'd rather have 30% of charaters being male/female and the authors of the books making them male/female because they wanted to make the character that way rather than it being 50/50 and authors being denied creative freedom with their charater for the sake of political correctness.

Agreed. I also find it weird that people are happy to half ass a female character like making Thor a woman, instead of wanting a brand new female superhero.

 

[Jacked Assassin]

So for every 3 male characters there is 1 female character.

....

No wonder Fantastic 4 is getting cancelled.

 

[Trishbot]

Well, we're getting a Squirrel Girl book. That's all I need.

Tell me more. I've heard of this heronine before, but if they're releasing a new book, (and since I've slowly been getting into comics from Marvel as of the past few years,[Runaways] Superior Spidey, and the soon to be released Ms. Marvel Volume #1) mind telling me a little more of this "Squirre;Girl"?

This sums her up entirely. This is what she represents:

 

[faefrost]

/raises hand cautiously...

Has anybody done an analysis comparing the number of Female to Male protagonists in the genre of Romance Novel's such as the classic Harlequin Romance books? How does that breakdown stand up when compared to comic books? How many gay protagonists in those stories?

Does anybody get why I am asking? No matter how much some people rant rave and complain about how things SHOULD be, oddly people nod there heads, agree, and each goes back to the things that they individually like and identify with. And this continues to fall into predictable patterns. You really can't fix people to be what you want them to be. The best you can do is get them to not be complete bastards to each other.

 

[AidoZonkey]

Why do I feel as though story's in comics, games and movies will be made using tick boxes some time in the future.

Yes I like female characters, and I enjoy the fact we are getting more and more female character, but there is no shortage of quality female leads. Yes there are more male leads in comic books, but the amount of female leads doesn't or at least shouldn't matter if a character is good. If you want a great female comic book, there are plenty that marvel and dc have written. I wont deny that the industry does lead towards a more masculine audience, but its changing and growing, heck Thor becoming a woman and the creators saying "Its going to stay that way" is great, but don't demonize the industry based on inconsequential numbers

Oh and the original source used for this article is just the most one sided thing I ever read, and feels like its there to start a flame war

 

[Plunkies]

This is the most tragic thing I've ever read. We should just do away with the first amendment, round up all of the comic writers in a government controlled camp, and force them to create female characters at the end of a whip. How else will we ever free ourselves from this patriarchy? This is what happens when people are allowed to freely express themselves. Oppression.