Yuku free message boards

I got an email today, and it bugged me. But, before I can take the one step forward in describing that, I have to take two steps back. So give me a minute here:

The second step back is this: there are a lot of women writing comics nowadays, and I'll admit I don't read them--because I'm a man. Most of the women-written comics I've come across are autobiographical to some degree, which is absolutely fine. My wife likes them because she says it's like sitting around with your girlfriend and swapping stories, which women like to do. However, as a man, it just isn't my cup of tea.

For the record, superhero comics aren't my cup of tea, either, for the same reason: they're just too Male. Lots of power fantasies, but not a lot of real meat to the story. You know? Yeah.

One step back:

The email I received is by a woman who writes comics, and writes them very well. She doesn't write the autobiographical kind, which really makes here a gem in my opinion. She writes adventure stories, and I can't get enough of that kind of thing. She's also a much better writer than I am, and so I value her opinion quite a bit. The fact that she's a genuinely nice person is just frosting on the cake.

You'll have to take my word on that, though. I'm not going to give out her name, because I didn't ask her permission before I sat down and posted this.

Okay, now the Step Forward: the email she sent me.

She was kind enough to write to me and tell me she was going to stop reading Locus, and spelled out the reasons why. And they were all very good reasons. She had some very valid points.

The meat of the email was this: while there were a lot of naked girls in the comic, there really weren't any male analogues for the ladies to enjoy. It was starting to feel too much like a Boy's Club to her.

Also, I think, she was turned off by the Isaac & Eden scene at the end of #4, and for good reason. I will admit that the hospital scene really did come off as one of those "Every Man's Fantasy" sort of shallow tales which women (and many men!) shake their heads at. I was wondering at the time if I was taking things too far with that scene, but decided to go with it anyway, for two reasons.

One, Eden's a succubus. Throughout history, the succubus has been this completely laughable caricature of female sexuality, and man's inability to understand it fully. In fact, I'm ashamed of the men who thought up the idea of the succubus in the first place. If I could go back in time, revoke their Man Card, and hit them over the head with a stick, I would.

But I can't, so I'm doing the next best thing. I'm going to stare that goofiness right in the eye, and I'm gonna stare it down hard. I did the same thing with the standard vampire caricature in issue 2, but I might not have done it as well as I could have.

See, there's a reason why Eden jumped all over Isaac like she did, and it's not because she's that way normally. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go into that for a couple weeks yet--it's one of the downsides of forcing everyone to read a comic three pages a week. If you keep reading, though, you'll see that hospital scene as a stereotype I'll be breaking in two over my knee. I'd love to say more, but that would be giving away a lot of story.

Two, the "Unveiled" storyline is really about love. What it means, what it is, and what it makes us do. There's going to be a lot of horror in this story arc, but I'll be saying a lot of things about love in the process. I don't know if it's a good idea to mix love-related drama and oh-shit horror in the same story, but I'm going to try anyway.

As for men in the comic:

I've definitely been letting the ladies down so far in the beefcake department, but it's been due to the story more than anything. I just didn't have a good place to write in a well-rounded, likeable male character yet.

That's all going to change starting with issue five. As you can see already, Isaac is looking much better after being injected with the stuff from the syringe. He spent the first half of the book as a cubicle jockey and the last half as a coma patient, but all that's behind him now! His muscles are more toned, his skin looks healthier, and his hair's grown out. There will be some full frontal Isaac coming within the first few pages of #5, as a matter o'fact!

I will also be introducing Spook's Best Friend by the tail-end of #5, and if you guys liked the Starchild, you'll love Moondoggie. Unless you don't like blonde men, that is. But there are enough Eric Singer fans reading Locus to where I don't think that'll be a problem.

So that's that! Those are my thoughts today. Let me know what you think, when you get a minute. Reader feedback is always good, and reader feedback from those of you who aren't considered the "typical" comic book audience is worth its weight in gold.

Ignore this space! Odd accidental double-post.