Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kelly sue deconnick, marvel, New York Comic Con 2013, Women of Marvel Panel

"I Was Smurfette At The Avengers Panel… This Job Ain't Done" – What Kelly Sue DeConnick Said At NYCC

Published Wed, 16 Oct 2013 14:01:35 -0500

Kelly Sue DeConnick had plenty to say at New York Comic Con, particularly in the Women of Marvel panel, so in case you missed it, here are some of her calls to action and commentary geared toward women in comics.

In the Women of Marvel panel, which you can read in full here, she said:

DeConnick: Any notion that we have that women don't read comics, we're setting that aside. That's over now. We need you to be ready. There is room up here. Get your shitty comics out of the way now. You will need each other. You will make stories that make you feel connected to others and the world and we will need that from you. Don't be afraid. Start now.

During Q&A in the Women of Marvel panel, she responded to these questions:

Q: My friend, who happens to be female, and I, argue that I make too much of a big deal over female representation in comics…

DeConnick: She's wrong! It is a big deal. I am willing to make people uncomfortable so that my daughter doesn't have to! I was Smurfette on the Avengers panel yesterday and NO! That's not good enough. I appreciate and I am proud of the progress that's being made and I don't want to sweep it under the table. But this job ain't done. Nobody sit down!

Q: Talking about representation of women, women of color and everything—what's the most important message you'd like people to get?

DeConnick: I think that the message is that no one is "other". That white males are not the "default human being". There is no such thing.

Q: I heard recently that Marvel and Natalie Portman have gotten together. I'm a science student myself, but I gotta admit that I was a little skeptical about that. How genuine is this one? Or is it just promotional?

DeConnick: Who cares if the end result is the same? And we end up with more women in science. I have no way of knowing how sincere the motivations are of those involved. I have a line of t-shirts that I curate for We Love Fine and my commission for that goes to the Girls Leadership Institute. At first, we raised enough to send a girl to camp, and now we're well on our way to a full scholarship. If the people buy the shirt just because they like the design, we still get the same result.

Q: It's still a really sexist industry. But I would love to hear any stories of interactions you've had with dudes who were being sexist, but you walked away from feeling great.

DeConnick: Every time we get some kind of "garbagey" Tumblr question, I get a thousand extra followers out of my response so I'm ok with it. Sometimes spite is the only reason I get out of the bed in the morning. We tell our daughter "You don't have to be a nice girl, but you have to be kind". I've gotten a "You'd be prettier if you smiled" essentially on an Image promo photo because I didn't smile. I know that [the photographer], like most people have the best intentions, but they are just blowing it.

And, of course, in the Superior Spider-Man and Friends panel, the last of the con, DeConnick was announced as the writer on the re-launch of Captain Marvel, to great elation from fans. You can read a few things about that announcement here.

Hannah Means-Shannon is Senior New York Correspondent at Bleeding Cool, writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org, and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress. Find her bio here.