Hmm... It's possible the industry needs to be gutted by some very public lawsuits and protests. A sort of housecleaning.

I really cant imagine anyone saying that Previews isnt trashy... but of course, one can become used to anything.....
and think it is normal.
Back when Diamond spun off their "adults only" catalog, Dave Sim (of all people) said that they had it backwards needed to make the small catalogue "family friendly" and make everything else in the adults only big catalog.
I imagine if some of the big retailers complained, and stated they needed a non-trashy Previews, it would help -- maybe complaints to DC as well
-- if someone is buying more Marvels due to their not being in previews (not me, i buy no superhero comics).

Laura, I highly advise you submit this link to the next Carnival of Feminists, as the subject is going to be Feminism and Pop Culture. I'm going to try to write something myself for it...

I don't use Previews, because I usually just buy manga, so I'm not sure what it's like...

But what if you made a group (on Yahoo or something), and only one person bought Previews, and then copied the order form or whatever and gave it to the rest of the group? And the person who bought Previews changed every month. So if you had just twelve people in the group, you'd only have to read it once a year!

Elayne, I don't think this post is particularly coherent. I'm just trying to get some of my feelings down. I started a discussion with my friend who works at my local comic shop (which is run by a woman with another woman as the main help on new comics day), but we didn't have time to really go into it.

My feelings on this are so mixed. I like superhero comics. I'm well aware that they are only one genre in a medium that has limitless potential, but I do like them. How do I square that with the feeling that I'm supporting soft-core porn when I buy certain books?

Libby: Part of why I go through Previews is to see what artwork in new series might catch my eye. The problem is that Previews is full of trashy images, so you have to wade through a lot of eye-attacking garbage to see the good stuff. There are text-only Previews files available, but for a lot of things I really need to see a sample of the artwork.

A couple months ago my shop gave me a "Previews" so that I might consider setting up a pull list. I pulled it out on the bus and was so embarassed by the cover that I put it away. It was the kind of embarassment and anger you feel for or at a rascist uncle who says something usually reserved for the dinner table (where it's already embarassing) in public. I've taken crap for saying this in other blog's comments section but I think anybody who cares enough about comics to read them should refuse to support this sort of thing.

Just to add another voice, here:

During all my time doing comics, I never felt harassed, or even particularly uncomfortable about the sexist imagery. I think the reason, however, is that I don't go into shops very often, I don't read Previews or Wizard, and I'm always off in the small press ghetto at shows. The stuff is there, but it's not quite real to me. It's something I walk past to get to my table, like walking past peepshow venues in the seedy part of town. Stay with your group, and don't go out at night -- take sensible precautions and you won't get hurt.

What I DID feel, strongly, is a glass ceiling of sorts. That one could do superior-to-everything work, like Finder, and still be barely in the black. That the avenues out of the ghetto were barricaded -- we had to wait for people to come in to us, we could not, somehow, get out to them. I banged my head against it as hard as I could bring myself to (not being as hard-headed as some, alas), with the only result being severe burnout, anger, and a 3-year (and counting) hiatus. I tend to blame the toddler for the hiatus, because he's convenient and because it's partly true, but I was furious for a long time, and that's contributed as much if not more.

I love making comics, but I'm now writing mostly prose because I feel like the playing field is a bit more level there. What little comics I do now, I will probably do online -- things seem a bit more equitable on the new frontier, but I guess that remains to be seen.