Dear Marvel,
Five months ago, my daughter got a superhero color-wonder book in her Christmas stocking. Since my daughter is currently crazy about superheroes, and we the adults see fit in encouraging her into our own geeky comics hobbies, it was an "Avengers" coloring book.
Of all of the comic choices, "Avengers" was chosen because it has, depending on your universe, it has several female characters (and my daughter is in the phase where she wants only girl stuff). I was holding out hope against hope that Pepper Potts could make an appearance (however unlikely). There was 1 picture of Black Widow. Iron Man was featured in nearly every image. Male characters appeared in their own pages and in 'group pictures', but female characters were ignored. 50% of the population appeared in .06% of the pages in the book (the numbers are more dismal if you start doing math by the # of people pictured.
I wrote a letter, to both Crayola and Marvel. Crayola sent me back a form "this is Marvel's fault" letter--it wasn't the response I wanted, but it is the one I expected. Marvel ignored my letter (and email). So I wrote a second letter, which was ignored. So I wrote a third letter, which was ignored.
I didn't (and don't) expect Marvel to overhaul geek-dom in a day. I don't *actually* even expect that Marvel is going to change the portrayals in its books marketed to preschoolers. I did actually expect a nod, acknowledging that there are female fans (of all ages) that they are being given the short end of the stick.
I'm posting the letters (I'm getting there, I'm also slow). I'll post a response (if I actually get one). But it's time for Marvel to pay attention to fans of all stripes.
-D
#DearMarvel, #StanLee, #Marvel, #Crayola
Five months ago, my daughter got a superhero color-wonder book in her Christmas stocking. Since my daughter is currently crazy about superheroes, and we the adults see fit in encouraging her into our own geeky comics hobbies, it was an "Avengers" coloring book.
Of all of the comic choices, "Avengers" was chosen because it has, depending on your universe, it has several female characters (and my daughter is in the phase where she wants only girl stuff). I was holding out hope against hope that Pepper Potts could make an appearance (however unlikely). There was 1 picture of Black Widow. Iron Man was featured in nearly every image. Male characters appeared in their own pages and in 'group pictures', but female characters were ignored. 50% of the population appeared in .06% of the pages in the book (the numbers are more dismal if you start doing math by the # of people pictured.
I wrote a letter, to both Crayola and Marvel. Crayola sent me back a form "this is Marvel's fault" letter--it wasn't the response I wanted, but it is the one I expected. Marvel ignored my letter (and email). So I wrote a second letter, which was ignored. So I wrote a third letter, which was ignored.
I didn't (and don't) expect Marvel to overhaul geek-dom in a day. I don't *actually* even expect that Marvel is going to change the portrayals in its books marketed to preschoolers. I did actually expect a nod, acknowledging that there are female fans (of all ages) that they are being given the short end of the stick.
I'm posting the letters (I'm getting there, I'm also slow). I'll post a response (if I actually get one). But it's time for Marvel to pay attention to fans of all stripes.
-D
#DearMarvel, #StanLee, #Marvel, #Crayola