glamourpuss preview!

Yesterday when I got back to the store after being away for four days, I was happy to see that I got one of the 200 gold certificate copies of glamourpuss (yes, glamourpuss isn't capitalized) signed by Dave Sim himself! Even though all comic stores will get the preview copy tomorrow to show people, I'm aways happy to be the first on my block to read something.

So now, having read the entire issue, I'll ask again: Who is the audience for glamourpuss? Well the easy answer is people who like to look at gorgeous illustrations of women dressed to the nines in striking poses. The audience is also those who want to read Dave Sim discuss photo realistic comic book artists like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and Neal Adams. And on a lesser level, glamourpuss is for people who like a somewhat subdued satire of the fashion industry.

I'm definitely in this audience subset, but I think I'm going to be in the minority of who Dave Sim is going for as his audience at large. People who like to read and watch Sim emulate photo realistic comic book artists are I think a very niche group of people (mostly men, especially as the artists he's talking about are from yesteryear). I think all of the artists that Dave is talking about in glamourpuss #1 are great and I hope that this book will have those unfamiliar with them, seeking them out, but I'm not too sure that's a likely scenario.

I also don't think that people who like to look at fashion magazines will be too interested in glamourpuss because that's a small part of the book (other than the surface visuals) and anyone who wants to see Sim satire this industry will be mostly disappointed as he seems to be retraining his usual sharp wit seemingly to not offend too much anyone who picks up glamourpuss who actually likes what the fashion industry represents. And anyone who thinks that there will be a female audience for this book hasn't read the last two pages featuring Skank-O's (I think firstly the name of that character is very groan inducing) 5 Signs You've Found Mr. Rigfht! I actually thought those pages were the weakest part of the entire issue and while I understand what Sim is going for with these two pages, I especially don't think they'll click with a female audience. glamourpuss is not a title with a narrative, doesn't have charactrs that look like they'll be involved in any plot (Dave Sim comes out and says right away that this will not be a story driven book) or progressions, but while this doesn't bother me in the slightest and I'm very fascinated with what Sim is doing here (and I'm especially glad that glamourpuss doesn't have anything to do with the bible or religion), again I think that a lot of people that look at this and read this will be very puzzled.

I'll be ordering this and displaying glamourpuss in areas of my store that offer maximum exposure to potential customers line of sight and I hope that Sim's sales will be such that he actually finishes all 20-25 issues because I want to see where this goes. I also of course want to be proven wrong as to whom I think the audience is because Sim is a brilliant cartoonist and he's very committed to his projects (with excellent outreach thus far). And I know what his Secret Project One is (he'll be announcing that the first week in March) and I really really want to read that (and knowing what the subject matter is, I believe that this upcoming book will even give the Sim detracters pause - sorry I can't talk about it and sorry to be a comic tease). Next time those reading this are in the neighborhood of my store, please ask to look at glamourpuss.