Amethyst

Okay, it's nice that DC is finally getting around to putting out a collected version of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. A comic book about a young girl who discovers that she is the orphaned princess of a magical land, the series was aimed at a female readership, but as fans of Sailor Moon and My Little Pony can tell you, such franchises can also attract a significant male readership as well, if there are engaging characters and compelling storylines for them to follow.  Amethyst had both, falling squarely into the better-than-it-had-any-right-to-be category, and as a result it had many male readers as well in its day.

The part that bugs me is that this will probably be sold to comic book shops, and perhaps sold digitally, without any extra effort in reaching today's young female readership.  When teen and pre-teen girls want their comic book fix, the vast majority of them don't go anywhere near a comic book shop (and can you blame them?).  They go to the local bookstore, and head to the manga section.  That's where Amethyst belongs, right alongside all the other magical girl characters that are so popular with young female readers (Amethyst was a 'magical girl' a good eight years before anyone ever heard of Sailor Moon).

So here's a plan for DC: collect 4-6 issues at a time, reprint them in the manga 'digest' size format, print the books in color (because when you're dealing with a series that revolves around houses/clans based on different gemstones, color is, y'know, important), actually make the effort to market them to young female readers (yes, DC, that part's actually essential), rake in the cash, and start building up a female readership that, if you play your cards right, might be with you for several years to come.

Of course, does anyone think that DC would really show that sort of marketing savvy and insight?

Anyone?





No, I didn't think so, either.