Marvel Divas: Bad customer service
[Some months back I got into a bad habit of writing posts but never actually getting around to posting them. I hate leaving things unfinished, so I'm going to try and post a few, despite their being a little dated now.
I haven't read Marvel Divas and probably won't, and I make no secret of that. I'm not much of a Marvel reader. I own a Spider-man and Ghost Rider comic from 20 years ago and an Alpha Flight trade, and that's about it. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not looking for a way to ease myself into the Marvelverse, I just haven't found anything to draw me in yet. (Mostly because I can never ever find any Deadpool trades.)
What bothered me about Marvel Divas was the way it was announced and the way it was originally marketed. In short, it was confusing and stupid. I was more outraged by what I deemed to be bad customer service than any perceived or assumed sexism (but there was that, too).
The following is the post I wrote back when it was still a popular topic of conversation in the comics blogosphere.]
--
I have high standards when it comes to customer service, but I also have a lot of sympathy for those doing the servicing. This comes from pretty much every job and volunteer position I've ever had involving me dealing with varying sorts of customers in a variety of situations and environments. Although I've realized that it's something I don't want to spend all of my time doing, it's my not-so-humble opinion that I'm pretty darn good at it. (At a retail job I worked at, mystery shoppers gave me a perfect score, twice!) But it's also hard, draining, and frequently poorly-paid work.
What I find interesting is how customer service comes into play when it comes to comics. Obviously the retailers and your local (or not so local) comic book store are a big factor. That's where you're actually making your purchase, and you want it to be a place that you feel comfortable in and a place to which you want to return. It's even better if they will pull and hold your comics for you when you ask, as it's not always possible to make it in time on a Wednesday.
But given that so many comics readers go online on a regular basis for information and news about comics, there's a whole other level at which customer service is happening. It's the solicitations that are released online, it's the Q & As that Editors-in-chief like Dan Didio and Joe Quesada do, it's comics creators, editors and publishers talking to and interacting with readers face-to-face at conventions and festivals.
Which brings me to Marvel Divas.
This topic has already been discussed a lot, and it wasn't my original intention to go paragraph by paragraph over Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada's response to a reader's question about the problematic advertising copy for the upcoming comic Marvel Divas. However, when I went back to read it again, I was struck by how dismissive, passive-aggressive and obtuse Quesada was being in response to a legitimate concern.
The question asked and Quesada's response are in italics, what I wrote is in bold.
HOW TO LOSE READERS AND ALIENATE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS IN SEVEN EASY STEPS
Ashley asks:
About the "hating" on Marvel Divas, let's call it what it really is-criticizing how sexist this book appears to be. If Marvel produces comics that are offensive to female readers, why shouldn't people "hate" on it? Why would I want to support a company that produces offensive, sexist material? Why shouldn’t everyone speak out against it? While the book hasn't come out yet, what has been released so far is blatantly sexist. But what troubles me the most is that Marvel thinks people want to read this, and this constitutes strong female characterization. Does Marvel actually want to attract female readers or is the whole point that Marvel Comics are only for guys?
JQ- Ashley, while I completely respect your opinion as I do every Marvel fan, your calling Marvel Comics and this particular mini series sexist is a bit extreme from where I’m standing.
STEP ONE: Make the person asking the question feel bad for asking it by implying you're offended by said question, or make them look like they're "extreme" or really "out there" for even contemplating that anything you produce could ever contain anything offensive whatsoever. By prefacing anything you say with a claim that you respect the other person's opinion, you can dodge being called on any such implications you make.
I’m going to go on a limb here and assume you’re a Marvel reader. It’s an assumption I’m making based upon the fact that you’re responding to this column. If you’re Marvel reader and truly feel we’re sexist, then why are you reading our books? Now, perhaps you’re not a Marvel reader, then if that’s the case, I’m not quite sure what you’re criticizing if you don’t read our books?
STEP TWO: Undermine the question-asker's credibility by implying they may not actually have any. Listen, we had to replace that "NO GIRLS ALLOWED" sign with the "CAUTION: SEXISM" one a long time ago. Now you can either put up with our sexism or GTFO. (Bonus: Ending non-questions with question marks to make it seem like you're not really accusing them of anything?)
Okay, all that aside, I’m going to go with the former assumption. With that in mind, I’m going to be as straight up honest with you as I can possibly be. That’s what this column is all about.
STEP THREE: Reiterate how you answering questions like these is a lovely, precious gift to the world, and how everyone should be grateful you are even bothering to dignify it with a response.
You haven’t read a lick of this story yet!
STEP FOUR: Remind the person you're talking to that they don't know what they're talking about, but that you hold all the answers. Reader = dumb ignorant chick. You = awesome.
Please, I can buy you saying that you’re cautiously pessimistic based upon what you’ve heard so far, but to throw around allegations like that is completely unfair, not just to Marvel or myself, but to the creators and editors who are working on this book. Have you ever read any of Sacasa’s work? Have you ever found him to be a sexist writer? Is the cover image provocative, perhaps, but it’s no more or less than any other book we do.
STEP FIVE: Tell the question-asker their opinions are wrong and unfair, and that being offended may hurt people. How dare you form an opinion from an advertisement without doing substantial research! Don't you know being a customer should be hard work? You're hurting the feelings and possibly damaging the livelihoods of the people who came up with that art and solicit copy! How do you sleep at night? Besides, I can't respect any claims of sexism about this book unless you've kicked up an equal amount of fuss about every other book we produce.
The cold hard reality of publishing and trying to sell our books to as many people as possible, so here’s an example of what happens more often than you may think here at Marvel. From time to time, we’ll be launching a title that doesn’t focus very heavily on the super heroic. From time to time I’ll get a cover sketch and it doesn’t have a costumed hero or villain on the cover, what we internally refer to as a “quiet cover.” On those occasions, more often than not, I ask my editors to direct their cover artist to give me at least a first issue cover with the characters in costume. Why? Because it will help launch a book that will most likely have trouble latching onto a large audience. We want to give every title the best possible chance to be successful. Marvel Divas is no different and that’s why you’re seeing our strong female leads in their super hero personas. Let me try an example outside of comics. I’m a huge fan of Pink, I really dig her music and love her voice. Love her or hate her, I would say that she’s an amazingly strong and intelligent female performer and song writer in the pop genre. In many of her songs she even criticizes the over sexualized female pop stars of the day and their over the top videos. But when you look at Pink’s CD covers, while she’s looking strong and like she’s looking like she’s having fun, she’s also looking really sexy. The reason is simple, she’s trying to grab people’s attention and sell some albums. Comics are no different and as much a part of the entertainment business as any other medium, and the cold hard truth is that if we were to launch Marvel Divas with a “quiet cover,” I guarantee you the book would be canceled before it hits the shelves. That’s it in a nutshell, I could sugar coat it for you and give you a million other reasons that would sound plausible, but that’s not what I do.
STEP SIX: Misdirection! It's an incredibly useful tool, and one that politicians use frequently: veer away from what the actual question was about and head toward vaguely related territory that you can more easily defend. Since the question-asker is a girl, she probably doesn't like the cover because it features "sexy" women. Women in costumes! Clearly, the costumes are what have her all offended, you know, because women are so picky about their clothes. (I know this because I watched, like, two whole episodes of SEX AND THE CITY!)* Also, if Pink is sexy on her album covers, then I can use sexual innuendoes to describe a Marvel comic, written and drawn by men, that is supposed be about what it's like for a women to work in male-dominated fields like superheroing and the comics industry. And Pink is against sexism and stuff, so if Pink is wrong, then that means sexism is right. I am only telling you this because I am such a wonderful person.
To use another example, it's like that time I took the ferry to Shelbyville; I needed a new heel for my shoe. So, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. 'Give me five bees for a quarter,' you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war; the only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...
*Seriously, WTF is up with this assumption that the problem with the cover is that they are in costume, and that any cover featuring non-costumed characters is a "quiet cover"? Show those powerful characters kicking ass on the cover, show them in action, show a scene where something is happening, give them a god damn reason to be posing! Give them substance and the volume will be high, and it won't matter whether or not they are in costume. A good artist can do all of that, and can bet the fanboys will still be drooling over it, if that's your aim. (But honestly, how many men enjoy the assumption that they are such hormone-driven chumps that they have no discerning taste or critical faculties and will plunk their money down for any book that has anatomically-implausible women slapped on the cover? There's no such thing as "reverse-sexism", folks. Sexism is sexist to everybody.)
Is this a "quiet cover"? Doesn't look very quiet to me, and yet it would have been a hundred times better than what we initially saw. I love how it's the "cold hard reality" of not just comics, but of publishing in general. Damn! If only JK Rowling had insisted that each cover to every new Harry Potter novel featured a scantily-clad Hermione Granger, she could've sold even more books!
So, where does that leave us? Ultimately, it’s up to you. If you somehow feel you know what this book is about sight unseen, then by all means just pass it up when it hits the stores. If you feel like giving it a try, drop me a line and let me know what you think. What I’d like you to avoid however is globally unfair statements like Marvel is sexist. And if you feel like you’re not being heard or like your opinion doesn’t matter, just look at how much column space I devoted to your question. Most companies would just duck stuff like this, but you guys are the reason we do what we do and if you have a concern or criticism, I want to try to address them as best I can. Thanks again for writing and for your question.
STEP SEVEN: After passive-agressively insulting your customer, belittling their concerns and justifying your actions with obscure and irrelevant examples, throw her a bone and remind her that she ultimately has the power to decide whether or not to buy the book. But don't go overboard! You'll want to reinforce your earlier points that, a) it's awfully MEAN to say that Marvel is sexist, and b) if they think you don't care about their concerns, why did you spend all this time talking down to her? And c) Never forget, you are awesomer than everyone else for even giving this question the time of day.
Oh, and be sure to thank your customer: you wouldn't want to be impolite, would you?
Now, part of the objection to the initial Marvel Divas cover is the quality of the art. It's not just that the cover features four female characters with "sexy" but painful-looking and impossible proportions. That's annoying, definitely, but the art itself is not that great. It's the awkward posing, the uniform expressions, no variation in body type, no personality, no background to the image--there is nothing here that tells the potential reader that this book is about anything other than women posing for their hypothetical male audience. It's also the assumption that Marvel giving its female audience anything that has women on the cover and is described as being about women should make us run to the LCS to buy it, as though that segment of their audience is not as critical and discerning and nit-picky as the rest of it.
I don't think it's that far-fetched to speculate that Quesada or whoever decided to go the way they did with the Marvel Divas cover and initial solicitation copy might have intentionally made it provocative, knowing it would outrage some and create a buzz about the book.
It's frustrating is that they are setting themselves up for failure. It's ridiculous. If they were in the retail environment, it'd be like they were standing at the entrance to the store, saying offensive things and scaring off customers before they even get a chance to browse around and check out what they're selling. It's bad marketing. It's bad customer service.
I've seen some people say (both with respect to Marvel Divas and other series) that the best thing to do with a comic with characters or a concept that one may like but one knows is doomed to be terrible is to buy the first issue and then drop it. But that behaviour is also ridiculous. There is no other business environment in which it's logical to say, "Ha, I'll show them, I'll go buy something from them and then never return! That'll show 'em! Mwahahahaha!"
I don't think that really "shows" them anything, other than that putting out controversial advertising works.
I understand that the comics industry is unique in a lot of ways, but doing the pick-it-up-and-then-drop-it thing violates my principals when it comes to how I respond to bad customer service.
And that is why I'm starting to subscribe to that grudgewanky theory someone suggested a little while ago that all of this is being done on purpose, to "prove" that female-centric superhero comics don't sell.
I haven't read Marvel Divas and probably won't, and I make no secret of that. I'm not much of a Marvel reader. I own a Spider-man and Ghost Rider comic from 20 years ago and an Alpha Flight trade, and that's about it. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not looking for a way to ease myself into the Marvelverse, I just haven't found anything to draw me in yet. (Mostly because I can never ever find any Deadpool trades.)
What bothered me about Marvel Divas was the way it was announced and the way it was originally marketed. In short, it was confusing and stupid. I was more outraged by what I deemed to be bad customer service than any perceived or assumed sexism (but there was that, too).
The following is the post I wrote back when it was still a popular topic of conversation in the comics blogosphere.]
--
I have high standards when it comes to customer service, but I also have a lot of sympathy for those doing the servicing. This comes from pretty much every job and volunteer position I've ever had involving me dealing with varying sorts of customers in a variety of situations and environments. Although I've realized that it's something I don't want to spend all of my time doing, it's my not-so-humble opinion that I'm pretty darn good at it. (At a retail job I worked at, mystery shoppers gave me a perfect score, twice!) But it's also hard, draining, and frequently poorly-paid work.
What I find interesting is how customer service comes into play when it comes to comics. Obviously the retailers and your local (or not so local) comic book store are a big factor. That's where you're actually making your purchase, and you want it to be a place that you feel comfortable in and a place to which you want to return. It's even better if they will pull and hold your comics for you when you ask, as it's not always possible to make it in time on a Wednesday.
But given that so many comics readers go online on a regular basis for information and news about comics, there's a whole other level at which customer service is happening. It's the solicitations that are released online, it's the Q & As that Editors-in-chief like Dan Didio and Joe Quesada do, it's comics creators, editors and publishers talking to and interacting with readers face-to-face at conventions and festivals.
Which brings me to Marvel Divas.
This topic has already been discussed a lot, and it wasn't my original intention to go paragraph by paragraph over Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada's response to a reader's question about the problematic advertising copy for the upcoming comic Marvel Divas. However, when I went back to read it again, I was struck by how dismissive, passive-aggressive and obtuse Quesada was being in response to a legitimate concern.
The question asked and Quesada's response are in italics, what I wrote is in bold.
HOW TO LOSE READERS AND ALIENATE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS IN SEVEN EASY STEPS
Ashley asks:
About the "hating" on Marvel Divas, let's call it what it really is-criticizing how sexist this book appears to be. If Marvel produces comics that are offensive to female readers, why shouldn't people "hate" on it? Why would I want to support a company that produces offensive, sexist material? Why shouldn’t everyone speak out against it? While the book hasn't come out yet, what has been released so far is blatantly sexist. But what troubles me the most is that Marvel thinks people want to read this, and this constitutes strong female characterization. Does Marvel actually want to attract female readers or is the whole point that Marvel Comics are only for guys?
JQ- Ashley, while I completely respect your opinion as I do every Marvel fan, your calling Marvel Comics and this particular mini series sexist is a bit extreme from where I’m standing.
STEP ONE: Make the person asking the question feel bad for asking it by implying you're offended by said question, or make them look like they're "extreme" or really "out there" for even contemplating that anything you produce could ever contain anything offensive whatsoever. By prefacing anything you say with a claim that you respect the other person's opinion, you can dodge being called on any such implications you make.
I’m going to go on a limb here and assume you’re a Marvel reader. It’s an assumption I’m making based upon the fact that you’re responding to this column. If you’re Marvel reader and truly feel we’re sexist, then why are you reading our books? Now, perhaps you’re not a Marvel reader, then if that’s the case, I’m not quite sure what you’re criticizing if you don’t read our books?
STEP TWO: Undermine the question-asker's credibility by implying they may not actually have any. Listen, we had to replace that "NO GIRLS ALLOWED" sign with the "CAUTION: SEXISM" one a long time ago. Now you can either put up with our sexism or GTFO. (Bonus: Ending non-questions with question marks to make it seem like you're not really accusing them of anything?)
Okay, all that aside, I’m going to go with the former assumption. With that in mind, I’m going to be as straight up honest with you as I can possibly be. That’s what this column is all about.
STEP THREE: Reiterate how you answering questions like these is a lovely, precious gift to the world, and how everyone should be grateful you are even bothering to dignify it with a response.
You haven’t read a lick of this story yet!
STEP FOUR: Remind the person you're talking to that they don't know what they're talking about, but that you hold all the answers. Reader = dumb ignorant chick. You = awesome.
Please, I can buy you saying that you’re cautiously pessimistic based upon what you’ve heard so far, but to throw around allegations like that is completely unfair, not just to Marvel or myself, but to the creators and editors who are working on this book. Have you ever read any of Sacasa’s work? Have you ever found him to be a sexist writer? Is the cover image provocative, perhaps, but it’s no more or less than any other book we do.
STEP FIVE: Tell the question-asker their opinions are wrong and unfair, and that being offended may hurt people. How dare you form an opinion from an advertisement without doing substantial research! Don't you know being a customer should be hard work? You're hurting the feelings and possibly damaging the livelihoods of the people who came up with that art and solicit copy! How do you sleep at night? Besides, I can't respect any claims of sexism about this book unless you've kicked up an equal amount of fuss about every other book we produce.
The cold hard reality of publishing and trying to sell our books to as many people as possible, so here’s an example of what happens more often than you may think here at Marvel. From time to time, we’ll be launching a title that doesn’t focus very heavily on the super heroic. From time to time I’ll get a cover sketch and it doesn’t have a costumed hero or villain on the cover, what we internally refer to as a “quiet cover.” On those occasions, more often than not, I ask my editors to direct their cover artist to give me at least a first issue cover with the characters in costume. Why? Because it will help launch a book that will most likely have trouble latching onto a large audience. We want to give every title the best possible chance to be successful. Marvel Divas is no different and that’s why you’re seeing our strong female leads in their super hero personas. Let me try an example outside of comics. I’m a huge fan of Pink, I really dig her music and love her voice. Love her or hate her, I would say that she’s an amazingly strong and intelligent female performer and song writer in the pop genre. In many of her songs she even criticizes the over sexualized female pop stars of the day and their over the top videos. But when you look at Pink’s CD covers, while she’s looking strong and like she’s looking like she’s having fun, she’s also looking really sexy. The reason is simple, she’s trying to grab people’s attention and sell some albums. Comics are no different and as much a part of the entertainment business as any other medium, and the cold hard truth is that if we were to launch Marvel Divas with a “quiet cover,” I guarantee you the book would be canceled before it hits the shelves. That’s it in a nutshell, I could sugar coat it for you and give you a million other reasons that would sound plausible, but that’s not what I do.
STEP SIX: Misdirection! It's an incredibly useful tool, and one that politicians use frequently: veer away from what the actual question was about and head toward vaguely related territory that you can more easily defend. Since the question-asker is a girl, she probably doesn't like the cover because it features "sexy" women. Women in costumes! Clearly, the costumes are what have her all offended, you know, because women are so picky about their clothes. (I know this because I watched, like, two whole episodes of SEX AND THE CITY!)* Also, if Pink is sexy on her album covers, then I can use sexual innuendoes to describe a Marvel comic, written and drawn by men, that is supposed be about what it's like for a women to work in male-dominated fields like superheroing and the comics industry. And Pink is against sexism and stuff, so if Pink is wrong, then that means sexism is right. I am only telling you this because I am such a wonderful person.
To use another example, it's like that time I took the ferry to Shelbyville; I needed a new heel for my shoe. So, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. 'Give me five bees for a quarter,' you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah, the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have any white onions, because of the war; the only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...
*Seriously, WTF is up with this assumption that the problem with the cover is that they are in costume, and that any cover featuring non-costumed characters is a "quiet cover"? Show those powerful characters kicking ass on the cover, show them in action, show a scene where something is happening, give them a god damn reason to be posing! Give them substance and the volume will be high, and it won't matter whether or not they are in costume. A good artist can do all of that, and can bet the fanboys will still be drooling over it, if that's your aim. (But honestly, how many men enjoy the assumption that they are such hormone-driven chumps that they have no discerning taste or critical faculties and will plunk their money down for any book that has anatomically-implausible women slapped on the cover? There's no such thing as "reverse-sexism", folks. Sexism is sexist to everybody.)
Is this a "quiet cover"? Doesn't look very quiet to me, and yet it would have been a hundred times better than what we initially saw. I love how it's the "cold hard reality" of not just comics, but of publishing in general. Damn! If only JK Rowling had insisted that each cover to every new Harry Potter novel featured a scantily-clad Hermione Granger, she could've sold even more books!
So, where does that leave us? Ultimately, it’s up to you. If you somehow feel you know what this book is about sight unseen, then by all means just pass it up when it hits the stores. If you feel like giving it a try, drop me a line and let me know what you think. What I’d like you to avoid however is globally unfair statements like Marvel is sexist. And if you feel like you’re not being heard or like your opinion doesn’t matter, just look at how much column space I devoted to your question. Most companies would just duck stuff like this, but you guys are the reason we do what we do and if you have a concern or criticism, I want to try to address them as best I can. Thanks again for writing and for your question.
STEP SEVEN: After passive-agressively insulting your customer, belittling their concerns and justifying your actions with obscure and irrelevant examples, throw her a bone and remind her that she ultimately has the power to decide whether or not to buy the book. But don't go overboard! You'll want to reinforce your earlier points that, a) it's awfully MEAN to say that Marvel is sexist, and b) if they think you don't care about their concerns, why did you spend all this time talking down to her? And c) Never forget, you are awesomer than everyone else for even giving this question the time of day.
Oh, and be sure to thank your customer: you wouldn't want to be impolite, would you?
Now, part of the objection to the initial Marvel Divas cover is the quality of the art. It's not just that the cover features four female characters with "sexy" but painful-looking and impossible proportions. That's annoying, definitely, but the art itself is not that great. It's the awkward posing, the uniform expressions, no variation in body type, no personality, no background to the image--there is nothing here that tells the potential reader that this book is about anything other than women posing for their hypothetical male audience. It's also the assumption that Marvel giving its female audience anything that has women on the cover and is described as being about women should make us run to the LCS to buy it, as though that segment of their audience is not as critical and discerning and nit-picky as the rest of it.
I don't think it's that far-fetched to speculate that Quesada or whoever decided to go the way they did with the Marvel Divas cover and initial solicitation copy might have intentionally made it provocative, knowing it would outrage some and create a buzz about the book.
It's frustrating is that they are setting themselves up for failure. It's ridiculous. If they were in the retail environment, it'd be like they were standing at the entrance to the store, saying offensive things and scaring off customers before they even get a chance to browse around and check out what they're selling. It's bad marketing. It's bad customer service.
I've seen some people say (both with respect to Marvel Divas and other series) that the best thing to do with a comic with characters or a concept that one may like but one knows is doomed to be terrible is to buy the first issue and then drop it. But that behaviour is also ridiculous. There is no other business environment in which it's logical to say, "Ha, I'll show them, I'll go buy something from them and then never return! That'll show 'em! Mwahahahaha!"
I don't think that really "shows" them anything, other than that putting out controversial advertising works.
I understand that the comics industry is unique in a lot of ways, but doing the pick-it-up-and-then-drop-it thing violates my principals when it comes to how I respond to bad customer service.
And that is why I'm starting to subscribe to that grudgewanky theory someone suggested a little while ago that all of this is being done on purpose, to "prove" that female-centric superhero comics don't sell.