Sarah, this is.

[Below is a short editorial of sorts I tacked on to the end of the article, Watch Two Previews For Kevin Smith’s Upcoming Reality Show, ‘Comic Book Men’ for Nerd Bastards. I’ve included it here because I’m sure it’s relevant to many of you. It is to me, hence why I wrote it.]

I’m really excited for this show and I hope it opens up the “mysterious” world of comic book shops to the unknowing public. I just have one teeny, weeny, itsy, bitsy problem. Did it really need to be titled Comic Book MEN?

First off, I think this is a dumb name no matter what gender it references. I understand Secret Stash could have been misleading, and this new title is very clear, but I still find it dumb. Then again, I’d find just about any reality show name dumb, but even Comic Book Fans, or The Comic Shop or something along those lines would sound better.

Secondly, calling it Comic Book Men makes me feel not welcomed. I love comic books and I frequent a fantastic local shop where I’ve never felt excluded or like a freak of nature for having boobs. To clarify, having boobs and reading the comics as opposed to posing on their covers. This comic shop also has a fairly diverse staff, gender-wise. For people a little weirded about comic shops this is where I send them, because it’s clean, organized, helpful and very welcoming. Comic book stores are in a bit of trouble if you didn’t know, they want your business, not matter who you are. So why would they choose a title that seems to say, “We’re a show for the boys, by the boys”? Why exclude female fans? What I’m afraid will happen is the title and the way they’re promoting the show might turn off other female comic books fans or maybe, women who don’t even know they’re comic book fans yet because they’ve not had the same wonderful experience at a local shop like I have.

Thirdly, it turns out they did audition women for the show and even went so far as to basically cast one until someone decided the show was to go in a different direction. I’m guessing a direction with no women because that’s the only difference I can tell. Turns out the woman was well known geek girl, Zoë A. Gulliksen. She blogged about her experience recently, which is how I became aware of her involvement. She even links to a portion of one of Smith’s podcasts where he talks about how “perfect” she was. But, I guess not perfect enough for this season.

I’m not going to vilify Kevin Smith. I adore him and I don’t think he set out to make a show about comic books where women are not welcomed. Unfortunately, it seems like that’s what happened. I know plenty of people will think I’m freakin’ out over the title for really no reason (and it’s not just me, Jill Pantozzi, who also auditioned for the show, wrote about her disappointment of the show’s new direction over on Newsarama). But after this passed year, which was freakin’ RIPE with controversy over the portrayal of women in comics, the lack of women creators being hired by the big companies and especially after those kerfuffles at conventions between comic book companies and their female fans (I’m lookin’ at you DC Comics at SDDC), you’d think someone would have seen Comic Book Men as a possibly controversial title.

All right, I’ve aired my grievances. I’ll still tune in after The Walking Dead, and I’m sure I’ll love what I see. Why? Because I love comics, and I love people who are fans and enjoy talking about them as much as me. I just would have liked to see someone like me invited to the party.

There are two cool things I enjoyed this weekend. So much so, I thought, hey I should, like, tell people about them. Today, I recommend these things you should totally check out:

HOLLYWOOD BABBLE-ON #43: BABBLE-ON COMICCON THEATRE

If you’re unfamiliar, Hollywood Babble-On is a weekly podcast of Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman reporting on the show business news of the previous week. It’s hilarious, vulgar and probably the absolute best way to get your celebrity news if you’re into that kind of thing. (Guilty.) Actually, even if you loathe gossip rag news, the show is really effin’ funny.

They’ve now produced a sub-show called Babble-On ComicCon Theatre in where they perform comic books, radio style, sort of. To begin, they’ve presented the first issue of Smith’s own comic, Batman: Cacophony. (To avoid being sued, because as you’ll learn they aren’t exactly faithful. Exactly.) I really dug Cacophony and it’s sequel The Widening Gyre. And I might be one of the few who did. I like Smith’s comics, I like his movies and his comics are just a fun, non-canon, adventure of how Smith would envision the Dark Knight. They’re also hilarious. Particularly his Joker, he cracks me up.

It’s even funnier when you hear Ed Wynn as the Joker. Yep. I’m serious. Garman has some damn incredible, spot-on impressions. Seriously, Google him. If you’re lucky find a video. You’ll be shocked at all the voices coming out of his mouth. Wynn is a favorite of his, as is Adam West. If you ever thought West playing a darker Batman would kick-ass then do yourself a HUGE favor and give this podcast a listen.

THE NERDIST WAY BY CHRIS HARDWICK

I currently have this out from the local library, y’know that place where they let you read their mass collection of books for FREE. In my library’s case you can even borrow e-books. It’s the future, man. Anyway, I’ve got this book out right now, The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick. It’s basically a manual for a way to take all your nerdy, geeky idiosyncrasies and get them to work for you instead of against you. It’s also really freakin’ funny, coming from a comedian and all. (You might notice I like funny things. Funny is good. Best news source? Daily Show & Colbert Report.)

I’m totally excited to start my character tome, which is a book you create to RPG your life! I know, rad right? You create your character, yourself, decide what your characteristics are, what are your strengths, weaknesses and map out goals to achieve as you would a video game progress bar. You can even level up and earn experience points and stuff. It might sounds silly, but hell if turning my life into a game keeps me focused enough to actually accomplish something, then fuck yeah, I’m doing it.