“Patronizing Headline About How Comics Aren’t For One Sub-Group of People Anymore!”

I created this site in an attempt to get tell people about the comics that I love, and engage them in discussions about said comics.

Some folks are reading it, though based on search terms a number of you are here because I’ve typed the words “Sex,” “boobs” and “boobs sex comics” one time or another (And apparently stuck around and read some stuff? Good on you, ‘boobs sex comics’ searcher! Excelsior!).

Anyway. One thing I always have trouble getting across is that comic books are a medium for storytelling, they’re not just Super Heroes or Sci-Fi or Fantasy. There are comics about cops, musicians, and people who work at dead end jobs. And then there are, believe it or not, good “genre” comics in which writers and artists explore things like themes about politics, religion or…GENDER!

I think I’ve mentioned before that this was an early exposure to mature comics for me:

Teenaged me thought that was AWESOME. Teenaged me took that comic book into the bathroom and really studied that panel. Really studied it. Hard.

Teenaged me, and comics like Witchblade are probably how most people not reading comic books view the average comic book reader and how the average female comic book character is portrayed. There are people and portrayals like this. Yes. Otherwise it wouldn’t exist in your brain, comic book stereotyper! But there are a number of creators, both modern and throughout comic book history, that have created comic books that have not only attempted to appeal to both genders, but to explore them.

So as someone who is constantly trying to get more people (and many of them female members of my family) reading comic books, I’m really excited to start taking a course taught by Christina Blanch entitled “Gender Through Comic Books.”

The course is entirely online. It’s totally free, you just have to buy the comic books. And Comixology is selling the entire syllabus at 35% off. Click here to sign up for the course and to buy the comics: http://www.comixology.com/mooc

It’s pretty fantastic. Not only are these some great comics, but there are a number of creators on board to discuss these comics, including Read This Comic Book! favorite Brian K Vaughan (BKV!) and new Read This Comic Book! favorite Kelly Sue DeConnick (She’s currently writing Captain Marvel, which I just read the first seven issues of and highly recommend).

I’m excited to be tasked with thinking critically about something again. My brain needs a little bit of that structure to work better. I’m also pumped to be discussing something I’m passionate about with people who share that passion. If you’ve been reading this blog and said, “well, this sounds kind of interesting, but I need something that’s less about Paul’s hangups,” then you should sign up for this class, and learn more about how ladies and dudes are portrayed in the funny books.