It is seldom that I go into a comic shop that I do not get at least one strange look. At first it might be assumed that I am there to perhaps find a gift or maybe I am just lost. After all, I am not really supposed to be there. You see, I am part of the most misunderstood and unwanted minority in our country. I am a girl who reads comics.

At one time, girls read comics just like boys did. When first introduced in the 1930's comics had a variety of materials that appealed to boys and girls alike. Somewhere along the way, however, this changed. Maybe it was because the people who made comics were mostly men. Maybe they just thought that little girls should be doing more feminine things than reading. Maybe they just thought that little boys would be easier to separate from their hard-earned dimes. Whatever the reason, when the sales for comics started to drop in the 1950's the first books to disappear from the stands were the ones that appealed to a female audience. What few "girl comics" there were included romance titles and Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane. How enticing could this be to a potential little girl comic reader- while the boys get to read about the real thing, I get a book about the hero's girlfriend. So, for the most part, girls stopped reading. If the comic book publishers didn't want their money, there were plenty of other companies willing to work for it.

These little girls grew up to be women who had little appreciation for the world of comic books. That seemed to be just fine with the boys who published comics. They knew what the little boys wanted- war stories, horror comics, cowboy tales and of course, superhero comics. The problem to which the publishers awoke too late was that in alienating girls, they cut off half of the population in one shortsighted move. Now, desperate to find more readers in toady's soft comic market, they would like to get that half back, but they don't have a clue as to how to do it.

Is there something intrinsic about the art form of comics themselves that make them more appealing to males than to females? Certainly a lot of research that has nothing to do with comics says that men are more visually oriented than women are. Beyond that, however, I certainly can think of only one thing that makes comic books more interesting to males than females and that is content.

The overwhelming majority of comic books today concern one over muscled boy beating the crap out of some slime dripping villain while a unnaturally endowed, helpless female cheers him on. While this plot has kept a substantial portion of the boys entertained for most of comics history, it just doesn't do much to attract any self-respecting girl to read one.

Now I'm not saying that superhero comics are bad. Not in the least. I read a number of them myself. But just because a few women enjoy action movies doesn't inspire Hollywood to quit making any other films which might find a female audience. The traditional book market acknowledges that females make up the largest part of their buyers. Let's face it, women read more than men. And they have money to spend. So why not spend that money on comics?

When I walk into a new comic shop I can find material that interest me, but only because I know what to look for. To a civilian walking in for the first time a comic book rack can be pretty intimidating. The occasional "female friendly" titles like Leave It to Chance and A Distant Soil are sandwiched in between Spawn and Venom and Cyber-Death-Vengence-Blood-Squad. They might even notice that there are some female superheroes littered among the titles. Unfortunately, these are not females as we know them. These "females" have breast the size of Montana, are stupid enough to wear a thong to fight crime, and boy are they limber! Now I'm sure that the writers of these books spend a lot of time developing the characters and motivations of these women, but all I see is a bimbo with a sword (or some other weapon, as long as it's not a big gun. Only the boys get to have the really big guns- it's not hard to figure that one out.)

I'm not completely alone. There are other girls who read comics. There is even an organization attempting to promote comics to females and increase female readership of comic books. It's called Friends of Lulu and anyone who cares about the future of comic books should be a member. It has something to offer both for chicks who might be interested in comics and for non-chicks who simply realize that the girls are out there and might find comics just as entertaining as the boy's do.

So what are we reading? Well, it's not as unfathomable as you might think. I really like Witchblade. Sure, she's half-naked most of the time, but the character of Sara Pezzini has a little depth to go with that perfect figure. The art shows a great deal of care and most of the supporting characters are fully realized. I also like most of the Vertigo books from DC. They're obviously written for someone with an IQ over 40. Hellblazer is a particular favorite, but Books of Magic and The Dreaming are also at the top of my reading pile. I've been reading Teen Titans and Avengers for a really long time now. These probably are not traditional female friendly books but both have large cast of characters which provides for a lot of interaction between them. We chicks like that. (If you're a guy who reads those, don't be embarrassed. They fight a lot in them, too.)

I'm not completely satisfied, though. As much as I like comics, I still feel that they could provide so much more. There are whole genres that are terribly underrepresented. I like pure fantasy, but find little of it on the shelves. Still, I do find enough to keep me coming back. If only more girls could find the same thrill it might no be such an exclusive club.