Help! I need some advice on some books for my girlfriend to read.

[carswell13]

So...................here I sit pondering, while my 28 year old girlfriend is laying in bed beside me being forced to read Volume 1 of Nextwave. That's her punishment for reading my Wizard magazine the day it arrives and trying to deny it. I kid, I kid.

That..........was probably not the best choice I had of getting her introduced to my comic book reads. So.....I ask you lovely folks for help with this matter. The only other reads she has looked at was both volumes of Mouse Guard, and she enjoyed them. The only reads I could think of were possibly Fables, Sandman, Maus, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Starman, Y:The Last Man, Hellboy and BRPD(She enjoys both movies) and Runaways. I'd love some recommendations...cause, um, my top five favorite characters of all time are - Dr Bong, Deadpool, Spider Jerusalem, Ambush Bug, and Machine Man. So.....yeah, my taste is a bit odd. Anyways, thank you very much.

[dancj]

What sort of fiction does she like outside of comics?

[anansi11]

I'm trying to get my wife to read comics. I got 'watchmen' for her because she seemed interested in that after seeing the film trailer. i also think its one of the most "literate" and intelligent comics. i still haven't gotten her to read it yet though lol. on a totally different note, i got some of the emily the strange books which seem like fun. i'd also recommend 'death: the high cost of living'. but probably after she has read some of 'sandman'. i'm sure i will think of more later and will post then. good luck!

[Nitz the Bloody]

What I have learned in my own attempts to get my partner to share my interest in comics are these guidelines...

1.) Superhero continuity sounds incredibly stupid when you explain it out loud to a non-comics reader. Trying to explain the fact that there have been three incarnations of Jean Grey in Classic Marvel ( OG-Jean, Phoenix-Jean, Maddie Pryor ) makes one realize that the old comics are generally ridiculous to people that didn't grow up with them.

2.) Comics are not inherently easy to read if you didn't grow up with them either. To us afficionados, it seems natural to read the pictures like regular English text ( horizontal, then downwards ). But it's not an inherent skill to everyone, and it gets harder when you get the random, haphazard panel layouts of an artist like Jim Lee.

3.) Ultimately, it's not about girls being so different that they can't appreciate comics, so much as it's about most of comics morphing into something that is very hard for newcomers to appreciate. The hyper-masculinity inherent to most superhero comics is often a turn-off to women, when the genre is ruled by men in tights punching each other, with women having roles as either victims or sex objects.

What I've done to help get my partner into comics is to guide her through issues of Grant Morrison's X-Men, speaking the dialogue out loud and informing her on how to get through Morrison's more incoherent passages. It's a very fun couples activity, and helps her understand my interests and background ( New X-Men chosen because it's a good marriage between superhero history and art comics ). I also read with her books that she likes, so that it's balanced out.

All I can say is when you find someone who will walk with you through Jean Grey swimming through a psychic representation of semen, never let them go :)

[stealthwise]

My Little Pony
Strawberry Shortcake
Barbie

[carswell13]

My Little Pony
Strawberry Shortcake
Barbie

My Little Pony ROCKS.

[Omar Karindu]

Good lord...not one of you thinks of Strangers In Paradise when you think of comics that appeal to women readers?

[stealthwise]

Good lord...not one of you thinks of Strangers In Paradise when you think of comics that appeal to women readers?

I did, but that's insulting to women, as that title is the dog's shite.

If I gave it to my wife she'd likely slap me for thinking so little of her.

[Deep_Sleeper]

Runaways, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Whiteout and Whiteout: Melt, Astonishing X-Men.

Those just off the top of my head.

[Nitz the Bloody]

Barbie.

Ultimate Barbie solved this problem with the revelation that the reason why Ken has no genitalia is because Barbie confiscated it. Ken is not a proper human being, but a vat-grown genetic servant that is the blueprint for Mad Doctor Barbie's race of Aryan shock troops. The Barbie world is entirely a construction of Barbie's depraved genius; her adventures occur on a small island where the natives were long since exterminated to make way for her Dream House ( and the secret genetic lab underneath ).

[foxley]

Sandman and Fables would be top of my list. Perhaps of Birds of Prey if you want to give her a traditional superhero book.

[K'Nort]

The only reads I could think of were possibly Fables, Sandman, Maus, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Starman, Y:The Last Man, Hellboy and BRPD (She enjoys both movies) and Runaways.

Well, I'm female and I read (or have read) all of those except Y. But we're not all the same. The question about what she enjoys in terms of books, movies, tv, etc is really important. Also, it depends on your exact goal. Do you just want her reading comics (and really, why?) or would you like to actually share the interest to the extent of being able to enjoy the same titles and discuss them?

I do regularly loan my comics to interested friends. Runaways doesn't actually tend to catch on with them. There are a LOT of in-jokes. A consistently popular one you haven't already listed, however, is Scott Pilgrim. For the friends who are gamers. Also, Planetary for any X-Files fans.

Good lord...not one of you thinks of Strangers In Paradise when you think of comics that appeal to women readers?

Yuck.

[GRANT!]

I'd love some recommendations...cause, um, my top five favorite characters of all time are - Dr Bong, Deadpool, Spider Jerusalem, Ambush Bug, and Machine Man. So.....yeah, my taste is a bit odd. Anyways, thank you very much.

Um that's nice but what are her tastes (in movies, books, music)? This is about her right?

I've loaned out a variety of stuff to non comic reading friends from Hard Boiled to Scott Pilgrim to Persepolis.

[owlz]

i got my girlfriend to read identity crisis and she loved it. It took a little time explaining a few things to her, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.

[stealthwise]

i got my girlfriend to read identity crisis and she loved it. It took a little time explaining a few things to her, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.

Well, the test worked then.

Run.

Run like hell.