Producing and branding gender in comics: My So-Called Secret Identity and the ambivalence of an alternative address

Jones, Bethan 2017. Producing and branding gender in comics: My So-Called Secret Identity and the ambivalence of an alternative address. Palabra Clave 20 (4) , pp. 1073-1104. 10.5294/pacla.2017.20.4.9

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Abstract

As media consumption becomes increasingly specialized and distribution extends beyond the old print and networking models (Lotz, 2007), media producers continue to refine their marketing to increasingly targeted audiences. However, while fan-focused franchises and crowdfunding projects have attracted some academic attention, there has been less discussion about how gender, race, and sexuality intersect with media production and marketing. This article discusses the crowdfunded comic book, My So-Called Secret Identity (MSCSI), and its attempts to appeal to female comic book fans. MSCSI was launched in 2013 with the aim of countering misogynistic portrayals of women in comics. Created by academic professor Will Brooker, the series centers on Cat Daniel, an ordinary girl who becomes a superhero. In this article I examine how comic book production and branding processes were used in paratexts to market MSCSI to women as gender-specific audiences. In particular, I consider the implications of gender (and gender-neutral) media texts on the ways in which content producers imagine female audiences, as well as the way in which they commodify and capitalize on these audiences. I argue that the comic book's tagline, #smartisasuperpower, website design, and deliberately female creative team serve to attract female comic book fans and introduce the genre to new fans. However, I suggest that MSCIS's paratextual elements generated ambivalent responses from comic book fans and critics, demonstrating the contradictions and difficulties of producing and creating a gender-responsive text for a gender-differentiated audience.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	Universidad de La Sabana
ISSN:	0122-8285
Date of Acceptance:	25 April 2017
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2025 16:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177556

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