NOT YOUR DADDY'S COMICS: www.Girlamatic.com

Who reads comic-books? Ask most people, and they'll tell you: teenage boys. And they would be right. Well, half right. According to a reader survey by Diamond Comics, the average age of comics readers is 34. 45 percent of respondents were college-educated, 33 percent had finished highschool. Unfortunately, only 13 percent of respondents were female. Factor in that only about one in one thousand Americans even read comics to begin with... and you get the picture. Now you know why geek boys are so lonely. So why aren't women reading comics? Mainly, because comics aren't being marketed to them. Most of us are introduced to comics through the super-hero titles at our local comic shop, titles full of massive guys and huge-breasted, stick-thin women beating the hell out of one another. Chances are, if you have even an iota of interest in this, you are male. The mainstream comics industry is turning women away at the gates. This is sad, because just beyond are a plethora of intelligent, female-friendly works. Thankfully, we live in the age of the great gatecrasher: the Internet. Online, comics are thriving with an audience far beyond the scope of the print world. This is the hope of Girlamatic. Girlamatic is a comics anthology website, featuring 24 works that update once a week or more, like a comic strip. The latest update is always free; to get the full archives of each work you pay $2.95 a month (or $29.95 a year). Since $2.95 is the average price for a 24-page comic, and with Girlamatic you get about four times that much content, it's quite a steal. Girlamatic's aim seems two-fold; it provides female creators with an outlet, and it provides female readers with something worthwhile. This is not to say that all Girlamatic's creators are female (about a third of them are male), nor should you expect nothing but romantic comedies and Oprah. While some of the works do contain romantic elements ("Chasing Rainbows," "The Stiff"), the site contains everything from action-adventure to sci-fi fantasy, and even a super-hero or two. You just won't find Conan riding around ravaging maidens. Sorry, Arnold. The sheer variety of content is Girlamatic's best quality, hands down. If you're looking for a quick laugh, there is the more traditional comic-strip, "The Wisdom of Moo," by Adrian Ramos. Ramos tells the story of a young girl becoming a teenager (and the plot of her old toys and best friend to put a stop to it), with simple, clean lines and a keen imagination. For something a little wider in scope, there's Dylan Meconis's "Bite Me!," a recently completed graphic novel still available for paying readers. Beginning as a spoof of Anne Rice novels and other vampire fare, "Bite Me!" quickly grew into an amazing character-driven comedy, and one of the funniest things I've ever read. Set in revolutionary France, the story begins with a much-put-upon bar-wench, who "accidentally" becomes a vampire and is whisked off to rescue the rest of the coven. I'm short on space, so let's just say "Hijinks ensue." If comedy isn't your thing, try "Dicebox" by Jenn Manley Lee. This epic tale of two drifters, moving from planet to planet in search of work, is one of the best comics on the site. The level of detail and color in each panel is on par or better than anything you'd see in a comic shop. While the setting is superficially sci-fi, it has very little to do with the story; "Dicebox" could be set anywhere. The characters themselves are the focus, and Lee does an excellent job of developing them, through dialogue, action, and expression. The role of gender, or its lack of a role, is especially interesting: androgyny and bi-sexuality are as mundane in "Dicebox" as the missionary position is in our own world. As for those super-heroes, check out "Spades" by Diana Cameron McQueen. The story revolves around Kanon, a different kind of super-hero. He can fly, as well as survive high-impact collisions... he just can't remember who he is. Tossed into a gritty world of magic and paranoia, this gets him into trouble pretty fast. The art is as dark and shadowy as Kanon's memory, and McQueen uses color sparingly, but to strong effect. I should also mention that she's a graduate of UNCG's design department. It's a small world, after all. In the end, perhaps Girlamatic shouldn't be described as a comics site for women. It simply doesn't exclude them, as the mainstream market has. As a result, Girlamatic has something for everyone, a comic to suit any taste, male or female. Go browse through the latest updates, and if you find something you like, subscribe. It's cheaper than an issue of "X-Men."