DC to launch "Capes and Cakes," a comic "for the ladies"

Okay, I'd like to say first off that I've been having trouble finding the source for the information cited in the original item. If anyone else has found it, please point me to it so I can update this post, okay?

Anyway, on to the bad. DC, under the aegis of the spectacularly irritating Dan DiDio, is set to launch Capes and Cakes--a superhero comic aimed strictly at girls, where the heroine is a baker by day and a crime-fighter by night.

Not, in itself, godawful. You can get a lot of humor and interesting situations out of someone pursuing two opposing vocations, right?

However, the reason this is raising some hackles in the geek sphere is one straightforward paragraph:

Quote :

“Girls aren’t as interested as guys in fights,” Dan DiDio is quoted as saying. “They’re more interested in relationships, romances, emotional drama. We’re taking the focus off crime-fighting and putting it on the more everyday questions women face, like - how can you put on enough muscle to do your job but still fit into a size 10? How do you attract a guy when you have the strength of twelve men? How do you decide between vigilantism - and raising a family?”

Okay, some of you probably already know that I'm pretty conservative. If a woman wants to be a homemaker these days, it's her choice, and it's fine with me. And I'll cop to the fact that women do tend to appreciate characterization and drama. But what in Mr. DiDio's spectacularly misguided demographics has led him to believe that women don't like fights? Did I just imagine all the women at ComiCon, or all my fellow GI Joe fangirls?

One or two of these elements alone wouldn't be irritating. But seriously, add this all up: romance + fitting into a size 10 + attracting guys + raising a family + working as a baker + less emphasis on physical conflict = a comic starring Superhero Barbie. Does she have a pink costume, too?

There's one ray of light on the horizon: DiDio also said that the comic will star an old favorite heroine, as yet unnamed. If they could arrange to have this helmed by, say, the original Red Tornado, I would read that shit in a heartbeat. Otherwise, though, I don't have much hope.

What d'you think, guys?

I love it when guys mansplain what girls are into.

The whole thing smacks of ham-handed pandering in an attempt to get more women to read DiDiot's shitty comics, instead of, you know, actually listening to the women who DO read his comics and have been critiquing them for years, telling creators what they'd like to see.

Awesome, my first post:

This sounds like absolute shit. You know what other gender-biased thing he forgot about? Girls who don't like fights, and instead prefer romance, cooking, and making sure their appearance remains acceptable to a patriarchal society aren't going to be in a fucking comic book store.

God what a dick and an ass idea for a new series. I hope it bombs.

Dan Didio...Stop! You are quite clearly incapable of figuring out what readers of ANY gender want. How do you still have a job? You're almost as bad as the guy running Marvel right now.

For Fuck's Sake...

Sounds like he watched an episode of Law & Order where a lawyer dramatically talked about how girls who grow up in an environment with rigid expectations based on gender become adept at social manipulation to compensate for how they're expected to not fight, and then he promptly ran away with it as a blanket generalization for all women.

Ugh. Dan DiDio is trying to run DC into the ground. As a longtime comics fan (Batman in particular), I can tell you that some girls/women do like fights (but I also appreciate characterization, which DiDio sucks at). Who wants to bet DiDio is also behind the move to turn Superman into a Twitard?

Not knowing who's involved makes it really difficult for me to believe that this could possibly be a real, actual thing that will exist in the world. Is this DiDio chap a famous crap comic person?

Really, I'm the one of the first people to call patriarchal bullshit when I see it, and even I'm struggling to believe that this could possibly be thought to be a good, marketable idea in 20-fucking-10.

He's the editor of DC comics and know for being sort of sexist. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
is a good place to go for an example

ZoZo wrote:

Not knowing who's involved makes it really difficult for me to believe that this could possibly be a real, actual thing that will exist in the world. Is this DiDio chap a famous crap comic person?

Yep. He's the guy who not only killed Batman, but decided to have a go at revamping his entire backstory, making Bruce Wayne's parents terrible people (and this gutting Batman's entire reason for existing) but also hinting that Alfred was his real father.

Yeeesh... And here's me thinking that Marvel's 'Her-oes' was a silly idea....

Hell, 'Her-oes' was actually not half bad... It just had a silly name.

Has anybody found outside verification? I ask, because I saw comments indicating this is a sarcastic article, and google just turns up other people citing this one as the source.

myeerah wrote:

Has anybody found outside verification? I ask, because I saw comments indicating this is a sarcastic article, and google just turns up other people citing this one as the source.

I haven't yet, which is why I asked for additional information. It's been posted and reposted across the blogosphere, so it could be a fake. I really hope it is. The sad thing is, I can definitely imagine DiDio pulling this kind of crap.

Tungsten Monk wrote:

where the heroine is a baker by day and a crime-fighter by night.

So in other words, the heroine is:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Freezer wrote:

Tungsten Monk wrote:

where the heroine is a baker by day and a crime-fighter by night.

So in other words, the heroine is:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I was thinking more along the lines of:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yeah, I was picturing Cooking Mama too. Actually that smile of hers ALONE could probably frighten criminals, as it's enough to frighten small children.

Personally, there's nothing wrong with trying to focus on a superheroine...as long as it's done WELL.

Having Rulk getting his ass handed to him by an all female group led by She-Hulk = Good example.
The female protagonist showing old fashioned feminism = Bad example.

GamemasterAnthony wrote:

Yeah, I was picturing Cooking Mama too. Actually that smile of hers ALONE could probably frighten criminals, as it's enough to frighten small children.

She looks like she's going to bite someone's head off.

Quote :

How do you attract a guy when you have the strength of twelve men? How do you decide between vigilantism - and raising a family?

I don't know, let's ask Big Barda.

It's like he heard that women want more women-friendly comics and assumed that meant that women wanted to see gender roles enforced.

Can't believe I forgot to drop a link to this

Tigra vs. Sexual Harassment.

Quote :

How do you attract a guy when you have the strength of twelve men?

You don't.

You attract twelve of them.

They're all VileCorps, but whatever/

The really ridiculous thing is that he's forgotten the most important thing about girls reading comic books.

We don't read them to see an unachievably beautiful amazonian-type princess warrior struggling to find a guy, because that just makes us feel bad. If SHE can't get a man, how the hell can we? What we want is an achievably attractive woman, with an achievable physique, having the guys hunt to get her. Meanwhile she doesn't have the time, because at night she's kicking ass and taking names, or maybe she just doesn't feel she wants a guy because she's always meeting jerks on the street.

Look at Ellen Ripley. She's a woman action movie-faring girls admire, not because she's jumping around in skin-tight vinyl (which she isn't) but she's a real emotional woman WHO'S SETTING A FUCKING ALIEN ON FIRE. She's not concentrating on her weight, she's learning how to use a grenade-launcher/flamethrower combo.

Or Sarah Connor. A woman who is psycho-protective of her son, she doesn't worry about the size of her waist, she's concentrating on building up muscle, firing rapidly at robots and breaking the arm of her psychiatrist.

They're not perfect, but they're a start. You know what those women who are awesome have in common? They DON'T worry about their weight (except for building up the muscle) and they DON'T need to go chasing after men - the men come to them. That is a regular feature of any girl's RP character - she doesn't need to ATTRACT a man because they come to her. Generally the wrong kind of man, but that's another thing we like.

Tungsten Monk wrote:

Anyway, on to the bad. DC, under the aegis of the spectacularly irritating Dan DiDio, is set to launch Capes and Cakes--a superhero comic aimed strictly at girls, where the heroine is a baker by day and a crime-fighter by night.

That in and of itself could be interesting. I mean, Clark Kent works as a reporter, so having a superheroine who's a professional baker could be a neat twist.

This, however....

Quote :

“Girls aren’t as interested as guys in fights,” Dan DiDio is quoted as saying.

Huh, I guess the reason why I like violent entertainment is because I have a sekrit penis.

*looks around for it*

Shit, can't find it.

Quote :

“They’re more interested in relationships, romances, emotional drama.

...I am?

Quote :

We’re taking the focus off crime-fighting and putting it on the more everyday questions women face, like - how can you put on enough muscle to do your job but still fit into a size 10?

Like all the other superheroines do? I mean, seriously, they're ALL tall, slender, athletic, big-boobed...

Quote :

How do you attract a guy when you have the strength of twelve men?

Find a guy who's into femdomme? That's not all that unusual, btw.

Quote :

How do you decide between vigilantism - and raising a family?”

Umm, I don't know. How about making a character like a single dad face that choice?

I read it and I thought, "Running a bakery? Having a family?!"

The flat truth of the matter is that if you choose vigilanteism you CAN'T have these other things. Otherwise everybody who thought costumes were cool would be doing it. That's why characters like Batman are either alone, or have girlfriends who are into the same job as them.

Why do I want to see another size 10 C/D cup crimefighter? If I want that I can read about Batgirl or maybe head the other way, for Catwoman.

Why not a regular-size woman who wears a cloaking costume that conceals her body-shape? Oh, I forgot - they'll probably be having male artists too. A woman doesn't need her female heroine to be wearing barely enough clothing to cover a teacup. She doesn't need her to look stunning. That's for GUYS who buy comics about superwomen.

Harley wrote:

The flat truth of the matter is that if you choose vigilanteism you CAN'T have these other things.

Yeah, I mean it's not like Batman also runs some business empire or that Superman is a full time reporter.

Oh, wait. It's exactly like that.

Malganis wrote:

Quote :

“Girls aren’t as interested as guys in fights,” Dan DiDio is quoted as saying.

Huh, I guess the reason why I like violent entertainment is because I have a sekrit penis.

*looks around for it*

Shit, can't find it.

Quote :

“They’re more interested in relationships, romances, emotional drama.

...I am?

He's probably basing the entirety of his rationale on the popularity of shoujo manga, which for the most part follow the formula of relationships, romances, and emotional drama over fights almost word-for-word. Which, exactly true, not every girl finds interesting, but enough do to make it a viable marketing model. Granted, that still doesn't make "Capes and Cakes" a good idea; that crowd is a far cry from DC's typical fanbase, and if this is any indication they have no idea how to market to that audience. Nobody bought the X-Men shoujo manga and I can't imagine this will do any better.

Just be careful with the "this generalization does not apply to me, therefore it does not apply to anyone" reasoning in the future.

The 50s called. They want their bad ideas back.