With its debut onto the comic-book calendar only last year, the Kapow! event managed to garner a lot of headlines, interest and, ultimately, a very strong line-up of comic and multimedia guests over its weekend. Fans and professionals mingled, Thor and Loki gave some cinematic secrets and stall-holders did a brisk trade.
There was one complaint, that female comic creators were under-represented and this subject has been raised again in a column here: http://bit.ly/xOYZzO ahead of the 2012 event in May.
Lack of successful female creators (proportionally) in the business is a valid observation, however blaming Kapow! for a lack of female guests at their event is perhaps aiming at the wrong target and misunderstanding the nature of the event. Kapow! is loud, proud and fun... but it's a first-class mirror, not a boutique stylist.
Take the film world... If a wave of Hollywood blockbusters are dominated by the casting of testosterone-scripts and A-List men, then it's understandable to bemoan the lack of strong female roles (though that's certainly changing to some degree) and would rightly suggest that there's still sadly a large amount of sexism out there. But if a film distributor doing the publicity for a studio's release looks at their finite marketing budget and chooses to fly in George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise rather than that the talented actress who had a good but small scene and who isn't a big name yet, surely that's a pragmatic business decision not an attack on the actress or some scheme against the entire female gender? True, said distributor may be missing a beat and losing out on an opportunity to present someone who's funny, intelligent and charming, but in the real-world case of business, you have to play the odds and the hand you're given. Cruise, Clooney and Pitt are guaranteed to make the column inches that off-set those flights and payments... the lesser-known actress, through no fault of herself or the distributor can't guarantee that. The film distributor is a mirror - not there to represent parity or change attitudes with altruistic ventures, but as a market stall with overheads. Blame the directors and producers, to be sure and give that actress a better role worthy of her talents but getting irked at the publicists probably isn't a great place to start.
News-flash. Comic-cons are the same - and actually working on similar scales on a fraction of that budget. While it's easy to look in at an event like Kapow! and trumpet all the creative forces on show, the hard fact is that it's not being put on as a philanthropic weekend for comic fans. It's a business venture... one that at the very least must make its considerable costs back (and anyone who hasn't put on a convention, trust me, you're probably not aware of all the hidden costs in place even before those doors open and you cross your fingers) For every foot of floor-space, airline ticket, big name creator or cinematic preview it schedules, it needs fans buying tickets, stall-space purchased and the best publicity spread and interest to get you through the door. Those fingers remain crossed until well AFTER the event closes those doors. Truthfully, I've seen people first-hand bemoan big events and try and put their own events the way THEY think it should be done. Notably, those people usually have to sell their house to their bank-manager later and never run one again.
Equally, another valid question is whether the fact a creator is female should be any factor as to why they're invited. Personlly, I judge the work and THEN find out who created it. Once you start playing the percentages game, it gets difficult to stop. Hardly any black writers on the list? RACISTS! What about the lack of invites to LGBT community's talented artists? HOMOPHOBES! Don't even get me started on the anti-vegan colorists agenda. *shakes fist at a radish* Seriously, if it's wrong to say 'I don't like that writer's work because in their personal lives they are X, why is it okay to say 'I think they should get prioritised because he/she IS X?' Do newsagents get chastised for not displaying magazines in proportion to cultural differences, or do they display what they know sells because they have limited shelf space?
It's true that just like the idea of the Oscars devoting more time to worthier documentaries rather than song and dance numbers, Kapow! might score points for being seen to have something to say rather than reflect the current trends... and having a panel about the lack of attention female creative talent gets in the business. (There's certainly a valid, topical, ongoing discussion to be had... and pity the fool that doesn't think that the female of the species can be just as compelling as their male counterpart!) but this isn't a niche film-festival nor a local comic-mart, it's a ton of big name, capital-letter material shouldering each other out of the way for space. It 's main agenda is not to make you successful or give you a spotlight, it's there to showcase people who are already are and allow you to meet them. Equally, like anyone else - and for the same rates - you CAN buy floor-space and promote your work. If it's good enough, word will spread - and it doesn't matter if your reproductive organs are inny or outey. As long as there ARE other events that offer the outlets and showcase for the NEXT wave of creators, of whatever hue, faith, creed, sexuality, etc... then to single out Kapow! - which certainly attracted a lot of female comics fans last year (who generally didn't seem to be overwhelmingly irked) - for any bias other than holding a mirror to a industry itself, seems disingenous.
Don't get me wrong...more women = good and maybe Kapow! could do more if it felt it wanted to make a singular statement, but I don't think it can be accused of sexism, maybe simply going for the sure-things. I'd love to see the likes of Jane Goldman, Leah Moore and others there (and while Moore's busy elsewhere, my understanding is that with the TV/multimedia line-up yet to be fully announced, so who's to say?) purely because they are interesting PEOPLE... but if you specifically want more female creators there you need to buy their books and sing their praises and lobby the publishers into putting more on shelves - because it's the publishing houses' glass ceilings not the shiny Kapow! windows that need your bricks. In an age where anyone with a computer, 'net connection, time, talent and a small amount of money SHOULD be able to generate their own revenue stream and considerable exposure, perhaps - regardless of age, sex, religion, skin-colour or geography - THAT's the place to start. Screw Marvel and DC... create your own phenomenon.
You want Kapow!'s slate of guests to have more female guests at their weekend - me too - but even if treated unfairly by big publishing houses you already have the capacity to get noticed. There's an argument that some already deserve such attention and that's probably true but only to the same extent that others deserve it equally, so how DO you decide if con-spaces are limited? Man or woman...if you want that precious seat... there's already a huge amount of competition.
You are powerful. You are creative. You are clever. You are woman. Let's hear you ROAR at the right, guilty targets not whinge at the wrong people.
