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Gendercrunching August 2016 – Rebirth Vs Prebirth

genderxlogoBy Tim Hanley

After four straight months of growth in their female creator ranks, DC slipped down slightly in August, while Marvel moved in a positive direction that brought them up near their past highs for the first time in several months. We also take a look at the first three months of DC's "Rebirth" initiative and see how it compares to their previous numbers.

DC COMICS

August was a relatively solid month for female creators at DC, though the publisher's overall total fell. In August 2016, DC Comics put out 75 new comic books featuring 675 credited creators, 559 men and 116 women. Let's look at their stats:

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DC's overall percentage of female creators fell 1.2%, not a big tumble but a loss nonetheless. It was the result of drops across the board; only female artists and writers gained on their July numbers, jumping roughly 2% each. Everything else was down, including slight drops for pencillers, inkers, and colorists, and losses in the ballpark of 5% for letterers, editors, and assistant editors. In the end, the losses won out and pulled down DC's overall average.

The Past Year at DC: While a loss is never a great thing, August was still DC's third best month of the past year, and the drop came on the heels of four months of gains:

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On its own, a one month drop isn't anything to be concerned with. The numbers shift all the time. The fall months will tell if this was the start of a downward trend or a momentary lull.

MARVEL COMICS

Marvel posted a noticeable gain in August, ending a bit of a rough patch for the publisher. In August 2016, Marvel put out 90 new comics with 760 credited creators, 624 men and 136 women. Here are their numbers:

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Marvel's overall percentage of female creators jumped 2.2% in August, a solid gain for the publisher. The growth was clear in several categories, including slight upticks for female cover artist and editors, and gains ranging from 5-7% for pencillers, inkers, and colorists. Writers and assistant editors dropped from their July totals, but only by a percentage point each, while letterers remained steady at 0% women for well into the fifth straight year. The gains topped the losses handily, leading to a solid jump for Marvel.

The Past Year at Marvel: Much like DC, August marked Marvel's third best total of the year as well:

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The publisher remained below their highs of March and April, but August could be the start of a turnaround for Marvel after several months of drops and stagnant numbers. Further changes might be coming, however, with a slew of Marvel NOW! relaunches just around the corner.

DC PREBIRTH vs. DC REBIRTH

We're now three months into DC's latest relaunch/revamp initiative, and the publisher has posted their highest percentages of female creators for the year in June, July, and August. But "Rebirth" is only part of their line. DC's got licensed properties, kid's books, digital first series, and Vertigo, all of which contribute to their overall total, so looking at the numbers as a whole isn't enough to render a judgement on the effect of "Rebirth."

To do this, we need to isolate the line and compare the "Rebirth" titles to DC's past output. I've singled out all of the "Rebirth" books for June, July, and August and combined their numbers, and I did the same for DC's mainline superhero titles in March, April, and May. This allows us to compare DC's superhero output side by side, before "Rebirth" (i.e. "Prebirth") and after. Let's take a look:

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In terms of the overall percentage of female creators, the "Rebirth" books are higher than their predecessors, coming in at 11.3% women now vs. 10.2% women beforehand. This 1.1% gain isn't huge, but it's trending slightly upward: the "Rebirth" titles were at 10.3% female creators in June, 11.1% in July, and 11.8% in August.

By category, female cover artists, colorists, and letterers are all several percentage points higher now, with female pencillers posting a tiny gain. Female writers are down a few percentage points, however, and inkers have slipped down a couple of points. Editors are down too, and there is a somewhat larger loss for female assistant editors, who've fallen 8%. DC's "Prebirth" mainline superhero books included series with a wide variety of editorial teams, while many of the "Rebirth" titles thus far have been contained to just a handful of editorial groups. Thus the decline in female editor credits; the women are still working at DC, just more on licensed properties and the lingering "Prebirth" titles so far. This may change as the line expands.

Also, while "Rebirth" has posted higher numbers of female creators than "Prebirth," it's clear that the rest of DC's line is contributing far more to the publisher's overall percentage of female creators. The "Rebirth" books had 10.3% women in June vs. DC's overall total of 17.5% women, July's "Rebirth" was 11.1% women vs. DC's 18.4% overall, and August's "Rebirth" was 11.8% women vs. DC's 17.2% overall. The gap is narrowing somewhat, but "Rebirth" has been considerably below DC's overall average of female creators thus far. This isn't anything new, of course; DC's mainline superhero titles have consistently been DC's lowest performing group for female creators since the "Gendercrunching" project began.

Ultimately, while the overall numbers for female creators are slightly higher with "Rebirth" than they were "Prebirth," there remains lots of room to grow; 11.3% women overall still isn't very much. But progress is being made. Traditionally, relaunches and special events have been terrible for female creators at DC. It wasn't too long ago that only 2 women were writing or drawing books for DC's "New 52" line, and now there are more than 10 women writing and drawing "Rebirth" titles, twice a month in some cases. The progress in the overall numbers is small, but it's progress nonetheless.

To learn more about this statistics project and its methodology click here, and to see the previous stats click here. You can visit Tim at Straitened Circumstances and follow him on Twitter @timhanley01. His first book Wonder Woman Unbound is available now, and his new book Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet's Ace Reporter was released in March 2016.


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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