Retailers Go Full on Racist/Homophobic/Misogynist at Marvel’s Retailer Q&A Breakfast
Marvel‘s retailer breakfast before New York Comic Con went sour as what began as a civil discussion ended with one retailer complaining about “black”, “homo” and “freaking females.”
The breakfast began with announcements and was followed by an at first positive discussion about numbering (missing Hulk #700 for instance), including “#1” for one-shots that won’t see a “#2” (something we’ve wondered about), and concerns about comics shipping on time (for instance January’s weekly event). All good and valid concerns. Then things went pear shaped.
The civil discussion went sour as retailers complained about diversity in comics (reports differ it was two or one who then was joined by more). The words “black”, “homo” and “freaking females” were used multiple times as reported by Bleeding Cool. According to Newsarama, the retailer emphasized his distaste for Iceman “kissing other men,” and Thor “becoming a woman.” Other retailers chimed in boo-ing the bigot racist homophobic misogynist concerned retailers and things devolved from there.
Marvel editor Nick Lowe attempted to calm things down explaining “that Marvel try and they tell stories for everyone, that the old heroes are not going anywhere, neither are the new ones, there is room for them both.” Lowe also emphasized that Marvel has changed characters in the past, Jim Rhodes took over as Iron Man, and Thor turned into a frog.
The bigot racist homophobic misogynist angry retailers argued these changes confused shoppers who come to shops after seeing the movies and the comics don’t match the films. Retailers have yet to explain why back issues can’t fill this role and they’re not doing their job of recommending them instead. It also seems to continue to reflect ignorance of comic history.
Marvel did their best to regain control ending the presentation and providing contact information for “concerned” retailers. Afterword, the retailers surrounded Senior Vice President of Marketing David Gabriel in the hall outside the panel to continue to express their racism misogyny homophobic concerns.
Discover more from Graphic Policy
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
How do these retailers stay in business? Granted, Marvel has a LOT of flaws going on right now. My biggest issue in my store is the fact that they have no children’s comics for the most part. I have so many kids who want to read Spider-Man, Deadpool, etc., and Marvel doesn’t have comics for those characters. But the retailers have to do their part in selling freaking books too. We have a policy in our store that you might hate a title, but someone else will like it. Always try to put positive spins on books, even the ones you don’t like. Our jobs as comic retailers is to sell books. That’s it. That’s what we do. Don’t know what a book is about? OH WOW! WE GET A PREVIEWS MAGAZINE ONCE A MONTH WITH EVERYTHING IN IT! HEY LOOK! DIAMOND HAS A WEBSITE WITH SUMMARIES ON IT! These retailers are mad, because they’re not doing their jobs. Someone doesn’t like Jane Foster Thor? Carry classic male Thor comic OR give them Unworthy Thor (which is recent, about the Odinson, and has a trade out now). Don’t like Sam Wilson as Captain America? Give them Winter Soldier, Death of Captain America, etc. Don’t like gay characters like Iceman? Then give them classic X-Men. We have easy jobs! It’s not hard to listen to a customer and direct them to something else.
Also maybe, just maybe think about expanding to more customer demographics. Get more women, minorities, and LGBT customers in your store. Who cares what their gender, sexuality, or race is when they are HANDING YOU MONEY to buy things. Our store is women, LGBT, and minority friendly, and those customers are who help us stay afloat. They account for about half of our customers overall. Do you know what another high seller is in our store? KIDS COMICS! So thank you Boom Studios, Joe Books, and DC Comics with the Super Hero Girls for helping us make comic buying a family affair. I have to give Marvel one credit. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is our highest selling children’s trade. We order 3-7 copies of volume one just about every other week. That puts us at $1500 a year on the low end of sales JUST from Moon Girl alone. So thanks for that, Marvel.
“BUT MOON GIRL IS A MINORITY AND WOMAN SO IT’S A BAD COMIC!”
Maybe to you, but it’s someone’s favorite. So do you damn job to sell it to them.
I worked retail for years. It was my job to suggest comics to people. Whether it was new or a back issue, part of my job was to be able to match a person’s interest with something I could sell. I’m baffled at these folks complaining. Someone doesn’t like “female Thor”? Great, Marvel just put out a trade of stories featuring Thor and Hulk, perfect for Ragnarok. Not a fan of Fal-Cap? Awesome, hand them trades of Brubaker’s run. This isn’t rocket science.
And will someone explain to me that if it’s really SJW/diversity then how come diverse graphic novels/comics not by Marvel are booming? How is it that Raina Telgemeir runs circles around these folks in sales? Her books are everything these folks hate.
Two words:
Steven Universe.
I sell the crap out of those comics and the majority of the people who buy them are women or LGBT.
Some of our highest selling trades:
-Love is Love
-Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
-Harley Quinn
-DC Super Hero Girls
-Steven Universe
These are all female dominated books or LGBT friendly, and they’re constantly in our top 10-15 trades sellers every single month
Is DC getting these kinds if complaints? If not, why not?
Good question. Doesn’t seem like it.
To me, sometimes Marvel can come off as being a little pushy with their characters. They sort of read like a PSA sometimes. I do feel like DC is better at just letting characters do their thing regardless of gender, sexuality, or race. Midnighter and Batwoman are the two coming to mind. Yes, they have romantic side stories, but they feel far more natural than Marvel characters.
And this isn’t all Marvel characters. But there are times I’m reading Marvel, and it doesn’t read naturally, like they’re trying to hard
A forced story with Marvel at times. Depends on the character also. Hell Logan couldn’t be any more masculine has a son who is bi and the multi universes didn’t implode that moment!
Is that the _only_ moment that the Marvel multi universe didn’t implode? ;)
Without wandering into the trap of diversity rage— I am an old school Ex retailer. I do agree that when a new reader walks into my store and wants to read a current book that has Wolverine, Tony Stark, or Bruce Banner—I would have very little to give them. It would be nice if the MCU matched more with the Marvel Entertaiment side of the house—just so that the comics I have to order monthly would match new reader expectations. Monthly comic sales are a huge part of a stores budget. If someone wants to read about Tony, or Peter Parker—I would really like to sell them a new title for $3.00-$5.00 instead of a $20.00 trade—so that they get caught up in the story and come back next week for another. If it’s a good story they want I can recommend trades for days. So, a possible solution would be a Marvel Entertainment title that focused on those heroes and/or a kid’s title that showcased the same. This would solve a ton of logistical and selling problems. Just give me a title that matches or better yet, enhances the movie going experience and I would order the mess out of that stuff. Otherwise, fill out a previews and I’ll order the way I have to in order to stay in business. I hope this helps someone understand part of the problems retailers are facing and some of the frustrations we are dealing with.
And this is quite reasonable as far as an ask. There’s little reason you can’t have this and Marvel’s attempts to diversify the line at the same time. It’s not an either/or situation, it’s a both.
If you are having trouble selling diverse comics, it is because you are creating an environment in your store that makes a diverse crowd feel unwelcome. If you are going into a business meeting complaining about “blacks”, “homos”, and “freaking females”, then it is very clear why your customers feel unwelcome.
Marvel is in business. Businesses need to reach a lot of people so they have a lot of customers, so they have been aiming to be inclusive of those customers. You are in business. You need to reach a lot of people so you have a lot of customers. You are telling your customers to fuck off.