Girlfriends and Comics:Peanut Butter and Chocolate They Are Not

My girlfriend and I started going out a little over 6 years ago.We clicked well right from the start.In our time together we have picked up some of each others interests.She got me watching Law and Order(Believe it or not,up until about a year ago,I had never seen even one episode.).She got me to take piano lessons,which I'm quite happy about since I'm FINALLY learning to play a musical instrument.She also got me into classical music.I've always appreciated classical music, but now I'll actually voluntarily put it on.On my end, I've gotten her into Star Trek:TNG(Sorry, but I think the first series is corny as hell.) and turned her into a full-fledged video game geek,with a concentration in RPG's.

The video game thing came as a bit of a surprise and happened early on in our relationship.I wasn't reading comics back then.(I had kept some of my Spider-Man comics from the 80's and had a graphic novel or two,but it was far from a hobby.)Her nerd-fu is quite strong.She has beaten games two times that I couldn't get halfway through.My male ego could be damaged, instead I think it's totally cool that my girlfriend can beat Halo.

About two years ago I started getting back into comics.After dabbling for a month or two,Civil War got my interest up enough to start buying monthlies.Before I knew it,I was a weekly reader.With her strong nerdish leanings, I thought that she might like to get into comics too.

I didn't look at any "Comics for Girls" articles as I find those to be insulting.I just asked her about comics.She said she might read them if I could find one that didn't feature women with a size 3 figure and DD boobs.Okay.I had my parameters and went to work.

Now I didn't go out of my way looking for comics for her.Instead,I bought what I liked and 'if I found something I thought she might like, I brought it up to her.Strangely enough,everything I found was from Vertigo.

First,I found Pride Of Baghdad.This is,if you don't already know, a based-on-a-true-story graphic novel about a pride of lions that escaped from a Baghdad zoo during a US bombing raid.It had everything:a gripping story,interesting characters,beautiful art and,best of all, no huge boobs.She said"Wow.That's cool.",but never even picked it up to look at the cover.

Next was Y:The Last Man.I love this book.The last trade can't come soon enough.Anyway,I presented it to her and got the same reaction:zero interest.Maybe after the movie comes out(provided it's actually good)she might give this a try.

Then I started reading Fables.I'll probably do a whole post on Fables in the future(best.comic.ever).I told her about this and...gasp...managed to get her interest.I explained the concept and told her some of the characters and hooked her at Rose Red.Or so I thought.She shows a little bit of interest in this,but mostly will just look over my shoulder and read a page.She won't pick it up and read it on her own though.If she does,she doesn't do it in front of me.

I've since given up.I figure if she really wants to give comics a chance then she'll do so on her own.I really think she'd like them if she gave them a chance.I show her a few pages here and there,especially if it's something funny.She liked the Franklin Richards strips and Machine Man's insurance agent meltdown from Nextwave.She really liked the A Is For Annihlus rhyming story from last year's Marvel Holiday Special.She liked it enough to start reading another story and got about 2 pages into the Fin Fang Foom story before putting it down.

I think it would be great fun if she started reading comics.We could go the stores and conventions together.We could both look for cool new stuff to try out.She even works at a book store(Barnes & Noble) and can get employee discounts on graphic novels.(You had better believe that I've taken advantage of that perk.)It's just not to be.I can't force her to read comics nor would I want to.It's not a matter of wanting her to like everything I like.I genuinely feel she would find much enjoyment in this hobby if she gave it a chance.Until that day comes, she doesn't know what she's missing.