Does DC now have less regular female readers than Marvel?

[SteveGus]

Captain Marvel did just break the 20k barrier so it's got some time plus it's going to be mixed in with the Ultron War crossover soon so it's still got some breathing room. But that being said I dropped in midway through the first arc the book just really didn't appeal to me it was slow and the art was horrid.

I was interested in Captain Marvel, and rather enjoyed the first arc: but the first artist they got for the book was bad, and the artist on the last issue was worse. I think that if Marvel were serious about making the book succeed they'd have put an artist with a following, the Dodsons or Cho or even Pagulayan on it.

[carabas]

I was interested in Captain Marvel, and rather enjoyed the first arc: but the first artist they got for the book was bad, and the artist on the last issue was worse. I think that if Marvel were serious about making the book succeed they'd have put an artist with a following, the Dodsons or Cho or even Pagulayan on it.

You do realise that T&A artists like the Dodsons and Cho are exactly why female readers are just not that much into superhero comlics, right?

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

I don't know what the ratio is these days, but traditionally DC had the female readership well over Marvel. The primary vehicle that drove women to DC was Vertigo, and especially Sandman.
As for superheroes, I think the DCU women offer more in content than MU women, with the sole exception being the X-Men. But women don't just like female led solos. They also like Batman and Aquaman as well as I, Vampire and Jonah Hex.
Frankly, I think outside media like TV and movies does more to attract women to the Marvel and DC universes. Young Justice had a HUGE female following, and I think the Marvel movies draw in a significant amount of women, too.

[daWWn]

But women don't just like female led solos. They also like Batman and Aquaman as well as I, Vampire and Jonah Hex.

This x 1000. I love reading superhero comics, and although some of my favorite characters are women, there are male superheroes that I like just as much. In fact, I probably like more male comic book characters than female comic book characters, simply because there are more of them. And just because a title has a female lead doesn't mean that I'm interested in reading it (example: Red She-Hulk has absolutely no appeal for me). I want to read entertaining, well-written, witty comic books, regardless of whom the lead character is (or that character's gender).

That said, I could really do without all of the cheesecake art that graces comic book pages.

I don't have any numbers to prove it, but I would think that DC has more women as fans than Marvel, although they're not mutually exclusive (I read DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, etc, etc titles - I don't stick to just one). Nearly every female comic book fan I've run into has always recommended at least one DC title to me.

[SteveGus]

You do realise that T&A artists like the Dodsons and Cho are exactly why female readers are just not that much into superhero comlics, right?

I'm not sure this is universally true, although it generates a great deal of online heat. In my LCBS, a woman is the only person who orders Tarot, and I'm fairly confident that liking that book means liking the visual style. I've not read anybody who complains about "sexual objectification" in superhero books make an issue out of Liberty Meadows, even though it's obvious to me that it's full of good girl art. I don't like manneristic anatomy or extremely improbable poses in pinups, either; which is why Nicola Scott and Amanda Conner are two of the better good girl artists working today, in my opinion.

I suppose the real question is whether an artist like Dexter Soy appeals to women; didn't do much for me. I enjoyed the issue Emma Rios drew. But, overall, I think it's mostly the violence, gore, and grimness that are the larger turnoffs. Many women may like dark, but I've met very few of them who like bleak; and there's a difference.