Recently, the comics world has found itself a-buzz once again with a debate over the worth of diversity and representation in comic books.
In an interview with ICV2, Marvel's Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, David Gabriel echoed conversations he'd heard among comics retailers. "They didn't want female characters out there," he said. "That's what we heard, whether we believe that or not. I don't know that that's really true, but that's what we saw in sales."
Gabriel later clarified his statement, walking back the idea that Marvel's not-white-dude characters don't sell:
Discussed candidly by some of the retailers at the summit, we heard that some were not happy with the false abandonment of the core Marvel heroes and, contrary to what some said about characters 'not working,' the sticking factor and popularity for a majority of these new titles and characters like Squirrel Girl, Ms. Marvel, The Mighty Thor, Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales, and Moon Girl, continue to prove that our fans and retailers ARE excited about these new heroes. And let me be clear, our new heroes are not going anywhere! We are proud and excited to keep introducing unique characters that reflect new voices and new experiences into the Marvel Universe and pair them with our iconic heroes.