Come on ladies, let’s show ‘em again

This coming Sunday is International Read Comics in Public Day. Here is the purpose of the day According to the organizers:

The concept is fairly simple: we’re asking that everyone take an hour or two out of their day on August 28th (also the birthday of Jack “King” Kirby, incidentally) to read a comic book in a public setting–a park bench, a beach, a bus, the front steps of your local library (we do ask, however, that you be mindful of local loitering laws). Let strangers see you reading a piece of sequential art.

Part of the idea behind the day is that by being visible in their love for comics, people may convince a new reader to give comics a try. And in this economy and with the market for comics shrinking, that is a good thing.

But last year I had the idea that if being visible could be a good thing for the comics market, it could also be good for a subset of the market— the female reading audience. With that in mind, Women Read Comics in Public was born. It is a complement to the day that chronicles through photos the diverse set of women who love comics. You can see all the wonderful women who participated last year here.

This was one of the most gratifying things I’ve done in the year or so I’ve been blogging about comics. As the pictures rolled in throughout the day, I was thrilled with the number and diversity of the women who participated.

And now it is time to do it again. First, I hope all people who love comics participate on Sunday

But if you are a woman and a comic lover or know one, send in a picture of you or them reading comics in public on August 28 and I’ll post it here. Don’t worry if you want anonymity - you don’t have to say your name or even show your whole face. Submitting the picture is easy - there is a submit button on the site that anyone, even if you are not on Tumblr, can use. Or you can submit at womenreadcomicsinpublic2 (at) yahoo (dot) com. Or tweet me.

And please let other people know about it by posting in any boards/forums you frequent, on Facebook or Twitter.

Last year’s site has almost 200 women reading comics; I’d love to double the amount this year.

And here is this year’s wonderful logo by Sarah Winifred Searle of www.swinsea.com