A Statement Of Purpose.

San Diego Comic Con was the last straw.

The DCnU has marginalized many characters, most of whom are women or people of color.

But one of the most troubling real-world aspects of the DCnU is the reduction of female creators working at DC from approximately 12% to less than 2%.

While there are a number of accounts of the events, most of which vary to some degree, it is clear that Dan DiDio asked a fan who he should have hired when told that DC should have hired more women. Jim Lee made a joke about whether a fan wanted female characters dead center or off-center on covers.

Basic business principles dictate listening to customers, especially customers who ask reasonable questions about why DC didn’t hire more women to write and draw comics.

More directly, Dan DiDio said “We want the best creators on our books, who should we have hired?” at one point during a panel.

Perhaps Pia Guerra, who won an Eisner and was part of a team that won a Harvey Award for her work on “Y: The Last Man.” Perhaps Jill Thompson or Becky Cloonan, both of whom have won Eisners and have worked on Vertigo titles. Perhaps Rutu Modan, Cathy Malkasian, Carla Speed McNeil, Lynda Barry, Eleanor Davis, Marian Churchland, Raina Telgemaier or Janet Lee, all of whom have won Eisner Awards.

In short, Dan DiDio’s claim that they want the best creators on their books is empirically and demonstrably false. When Rob Liefeld is a creator in the DCnU and Eisner Award-winning creators are not, those claims are clearly not true.

The question now is what to do about it.

I’m a parent. I’m disabled. I have a little girl who loves comics and is being told that she has no place in comics fandom, and that her gender is not welcome in creating comics, no matter how talented, recognized or highly-regarded.

This is unacceptable.

I suggest a simple process to bring attention to this issue.

1. Reduce or eliminate the number of DC titles you buy, especially if you have a pull list at a retailer.

2. Tell that retailer that you are reducing or eliminating DC titles from your list as a direct result of Dan DiDio’s and Jim Lee’s comments at Comic Con, then encourage them to write DC and let them know that the behavior of DC’s executives is costing them revenue.

3. Write an actual letter - not an email or tweet, although such things will also raise attention to the issue - to Time Warner about the behavior of DC’s executives. While DC is apparently not responsive to concerns, Time Warner is a publicly traded company which must answer to shareholders and which is significantly more sensitive to even the appearance of gender bias in hiring. If you currently hold Time Warner stock, note that in the letter.

The question then becomes what to ask for to address this issue. I’m looking for thoughts there. I’m also hoping that other people will help with this Tumblr account because my physical ability is usually limited due to my disabilities.

I’m not an organizer and I’m not a crusader. I’m just a disabled guy with a little girl, and I’m mad that something that both I and my little girl love seems determined to exclude her. I may not be able to stand up that well or stand up for that long, but I’m sure as hell not going to stand for this.