The absence of women issue is by no means confined to science fiction. The comics industry appears to be far worse. Nevertheless, there are still a few hardy souls willing to risk public humiliation by using the f-word in public (that would be “feminism”, of course). This blog post interviews one such: Kyrax2, who was busily asking awkward questions of people at the recent San Diego Comic-Con. There’s not a lot of point in clicking through unless you enjoy making yourself depressed, but I did want to highlight one thing from the interview.

Kyrax2 is talking about how the head of DC, Dan Didio, had been cleverly avoiding answering her questions. She then goes on to say this:

On the other hand, Paul Cornell came directly to where I was sitting as soon as the New 52 panel ended and said, “I heard what you said, and I’d like to take a minute to try to sell to you directly.” He told me that his new swords and sorcery comic, Demon Knights, would have a majority female cast and that he was committed to keeping it that way. I am utterly uninterested in swords and sorcery, but I will be subscribing to a full year of Demon Knights anyway, because Paul Cornell made me feel like he cared about my opinion, both as a fan and as a human being. I want to give this comic a chance, and I think it would be fantastic if everyone reading this article would at least pick up issue #1 of Demon Knights and give it a chance, too. Cornell’s also writing Stormwatch, and says of Apollo and Midnighter in the linked article, “Yes, Apollo and Midnighter are still gay men. They’re still out and proud. I wouldn’t have written it otherwise.”

And that, dear readers, is how to deal with shouty feminists.

Paul mate, I am so very proud of you.