[...] A couple of weeks ago, I made a joke about crocheting a Transformer. [...]

I should have clarified that on that particular Thursday, looking at the shelves of comic monthly issues, I didn’t see anything that suggested itself for that friend in particular, despite finding plenty for me.

It was a moment of personal failure for me – I used to work in comic retail and knowing the gn stock well enough to find an item for any individual in an instant was something I prided myself on, so not being able to parse the shelves of current stock vexed me!

[...] Kate Dacey at her blog, Manga Critic as part of her Shipping News post.  Johanna Draper Carlson picked up on it, and then The Beat at Publishers Weekly.  The focus became about guys trying to get the [...]

It’s a pet peeve of mine, that Joe Lawler tapped into – as you’ve rightly said, with the best intentions, but I suspect paper-editors probably love them a battle-of-the-sexes article and he does need to get paid – but it’s a behaviour that isn’t limited to gender, or comics.

We talk about it for ages, but the upshot of my input is that you attempt to get your significant other to read comics the same way you try to get ANYone to engage in ANY media as broad or deep as comics – you talk to them, you listen to the sort of things they like, and you try to select things that fit.

Like, you want to get a child to enjoy reading, you read them the sort of stories they engage most with.

A good friend of mine asked me to choose him some comics to read recently, and I had to think hard about what to lend him – the stuff on the comic shop shelf didn’t suggest anything – because superhero continuity porn isn’t going to appeal to an airplane obsessed guy with a yen for military history. To assume that women are any easier than other men who aren’t indoctrinated in the medium is to make a major boo-boo.

(I kind of ran out of steam by “boo-boo”, sorry…)

It will probably be awhile before I write anything about comics (the opportunity doesn’t come up much in Iowa), but trust me that I have learned my lesson the last few days.

[...] “I think there should be a new rule: any such ‘how do I get a woman to like comics?’ column MUST be accompanied by a matching column about ‘how do I get a man to like knitting/ scrapbooking/ quilting’ or other feminine craft of your choice. Yes, it would be about as pointless, but reading about a geek trying to crochet a Transformer would amuse me.” – Johanna Draper Carlson [...]

[...] know who writes for doomkopf.com, but whoever he is, he had an interesting response to my Thought of the Day post and others who commented on the “getting your female significant other to read [...]

[...] a tired nerve with a number of female comics bloggers this week.  Kate Dacey of the Manga Critic, Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading, and Heidi MacDonald of the Beat, had understandable reactions to [...]

“I have to read this backwards?”
“Why is there a teardrop on his head?”
“Why did he get a bloody nose all of a sudden?”
“What are these weird squiggles? Japanese sound effects? So I need to know Japanese to understand this story?”
“Why did that character become all cartoony and small all of a sudden?”

Aside from Tezuka and Nekazawa, what other manga would appeal to the general public? (I’m not being evil, I’d like to know… I read lots of manga, and am always looking for stuff to read and recommend.)

There are many superhero graphic novels which can appeal to “innocents”. Many people know the basic mythology of popular superheroes. I’ve hand-sold copies of “Superman: Red Son” just by asking the question: “What if Superman’s rocket ship landed in Soviet Russia instead of the American Midwest?” Or “It’s a Bird…” for those who are literary. Or “Secret Identity” for a different take on the character.

Watchmen is a murder mystery, a superhero story, a Hugo Award winner, a Time Best Book…

As a professional Seducer of the Innocent, the Des Moines Register article is rather good. I use that technique frequently… “What do you like to read?” With so much diversity and excellent graphic novels available, it is rare that I cannot recommend a title which might appeal to a reader. (Except for “how-to”… not many GNs on knitting, but I’d buy it in an instant! ooops… spoke too soon: http://www.comicknits.com/ )

[...] Johanna comments on a particularly dopey “trick your woman into liking comics” article entitled Can women learn to enjoy comics?: Kate Dacey asks why the most recent of those “trick your woman into liking comics” (as she puts it) columns didn’t include any comics created by women or any manga. There’s a simple answer to that. [...]

My advice for comic fans who want to get a female to read comics: Know what she likes. Glance at her books and DVDs. See what shows she watches. If you find “The Complete Stories” by Flannery O’Connor and nothing but Drew Barrymore DVDs, maybe “Marvel Zombies” isn’t for her.

I’m lucky, because my wife already had a few comics when we started dating (“The Maxx” and “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac”). When she wanted to read more, I took her interests (horror, dark comedy) into account and suggested the zombie series “The Walking Dead” and the hilariously profane “Preacher.” She’s been raiding my bookshelves ever since.

And to your point, Johanna, his wife hated Sandman:

I’ve had good luck with the books I suggest to her, and a few surprises. After she loved the Vertigo series “Y The Last Man” and “Fables,” I thought Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman,” which has a large following among women, would be a natural fit. She quit before the end of the first book.

[...] by manga bloggers about this issue of "tricking" your girlfriend into liking your comics here, here, and [...]