Getting More Female Comic Readers: Modest proposal #3 — Those that Serve

Did you know that during WW II comics books were given out to soldiers for entertainment but also to provide them with tales of heroism? Today women make up 20% of the U.S. military. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had access to the tales of female comic heroes?

Soldiers have plenty of work but they also have downtime. Those on active duty overseas are looking for books, DVDs, and magazines to help pass the time. I thought it might be a good idea to provide the women who serve with comics and the opportunity to read about the Birds of Prey, Power Girl, Batgirl, the women of the JLA and JSA and others.

I asked the blogger Ragnell, who serves in the military, about the idea. She said:

I think it would be a decent idea for DC. I already see the free Marvel Comics in the PX. Just last week I was in there and heard an Army Guy shouting “Oh, hey Avengers!” and nearly knock me over trying to get one. I was glad, though, because I’d overlooked the pile.

I’ve met a few women in my own career fields who are into comics, too, but we’re about as rare as on the outside. There are a number of us who are bored and in deployed locations, and you’ll probably find a higher than average interest in heroic stories among the military. Every PX/BX I’ve been to does have comics on the magazine rack, so there’s a market.

So Marvel is providing comics already. I wonder if DC is? As I’ve said before, I see a lot of swag being given out by companies like DC at comic shows. I would hope that some of that could be shared with the men and women serving our country. It provides needed entertainment and potential long term readers who continue to pick up the book once they leave the service.

Hoping that DC and Marvel make comics available is one thing. But you can also help. Just recently the podcasters at Geektress (which you should listen to!) put together a set of comic book care packages for some female soldiers. Here is the rapturous response:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for the care package! When we originally asked for the comics I was expecting maybe the latest from the Batman and Robin series, never did I dream we would get a whole box!

Personally, when I returned to the office and was shown the box I was jumping with joy and immediately dug in to see what treasures I could find.

Thank you again, I am still finding myself in the comics and rereading through them.

Geektress just announced they will be collecting comics for solidiers during their NYCC event on October 8. They found the soldiers looking for comics through anysoldier.com. If you are interested in sending comics to members of the military requesting them please check out that site. You can also check out Books for Soldiers where they match donors with requesters from the military.

Operation Comix Relief has been sending comics overseas to soldiers for years. You can read the letters of gratitude from the soldiers who have received these packages on their web site. Please read their web site to see how you can you help.

There are approximately 280,000 women on active duty in the military (This is based on on the number of active military totaling approximately 1.4M). If even a small percentage of them get hooked on comics and continue to buy them, they will increase the ranks of female comic readers. If any readers are in the military I would love to hear your thoughts. You can read the original post in this series here.