Last night's thread got me thinking about my other projects, so let's take a few minutes to talk about "diversity" in comics!

Data-heavy thread incoming 1/?
This thread is based upon data that I collected in partnership with Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, Inc. WAY BACK in 2016.

While it's a little outdated by this point, and perhaps reflects a niche part of comics readership, I think the findings are still relevant and useful. 2/
I am going to focus this discussion to one specific finding: "How important" diversity is to the purchase of comics.

This was measured both in terms of diverse creative teams and in terms of diverse character offerings. Generally, most folks valued both forms. 3/
...But it seems that folks generally tend to value stories with diverse characters at higher rates than they do stories written by diverse creative teams.

So I decided to look into this more thoroughly.

[Buckle in cause a lot of charts are incoming. Sorry, not sorry.] 4/
Out of 566 survey responses, nearly every participant reported their gender. Among this segment of comic book readers, the largest group was women. 5/
Out of 566 survey responses, nearly every participant reported their gender. Among this segment of comic book readers, the largest group was women. 5/
Out of 566 survey responses, nearly every participant reported their gender. Among this segment of comic book readers, the largest group was women. 5/
When it comes to gender, women reported that diverse characters were important to their purchases at roughly twice the frequency as men.

It was also much more common for women to report that diverse creative teams were important to their purchases (compared to men). 6/
When it comes to gender, women reported that diverse characters were important to their purchases at roughly twice the frequency as men. It was also much more common for women to report that diverse creative teams were important to their purchases (compared to men). 6/
When it comes to gender, women reported that diverse characters were important to their purchases at roughly twice the frequency as men. It was also much more common for women to report that diverse creative teams were important to their purchases (compared to men). 6/
With respect to sexual orientation among this population of readers, heterosexuals were the largest group overall. 7/
With respect to sexual orientation among this population of readers, heterosexuals were the largest group overall. 7/
With respect to sexual orientation among this population of readers, heterosexuals were the largest group overall. 7/
Diverse creative teams were numerically reported as "important" with the most frequent response across orientation groups, but it is worth noting that a similar proportion of heterosexuals held neutral opinions about diverse creative teams. 8/
Diverse characters were overwhelmingly rated as "important" across sexual orientation groups. 9/
83% of participants reported being white. 10/
83% of participants reported being white. 10/
83% of participants reported being white. 10/
Since a large volume of racial and ethnic diversity was accounted for, let's go through each individually.

While the majority of white respondents saw diverse creative teams as important to their purchases, roughly 2 out of 5 didn't. 11/
Proportionally, it seems that more white respondents reported diverse characters being important to their purchases. Fewer neutral and negative responses were reported for characters than creative teams. 12/
Black and African American respondents made up roughly 2% of the population; most saw both diverse creative teams and diverse characters as important. None reported negatively on this. 13/
Black and African American respondents made up roughly 2% of the population; most saw both diverse creative teams and diverse characters as important. None reported negatively on this. 13/
Black and African American respondents made up roughly 2% of the population; most saw both diverse creative teams and diverse characters as important. None reported negatively on this. 13/
East Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander respondents made up a little less than 3% of the population.

For every 10 or so who reported that diverse characters and diverse creative teams were important to their purchases, roughly 1 reported that they were not. 14/
East Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander respondents made up a little less than 3% of the population. For every 10 or so who reported that diverse characters and diverse creative teams were important to their purchases, roughly 1 reported that they were not. 14/
East Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander respondents made up a little less than 3% of the population. For every 10 or so who reported that diverse characters and diverse creative teams were important to their purchases, roughly 1 reported that they were not. 14/
Hispanic and Latinx respondents made up roughly 7% of the population. Most of these folks reported that diverse creative teams and diverse characters were important to their purchases. 15/
Hispanic and Latinx respondents made up roughly 7% of the population. Most of these folks reported that diverse creative teams and diverse characters were important to their purchases. 15/
Hispanic and Latinx respondents made up roughly 7% of the population. Most of these folks reported that diverse creative teams and diverse characters were important to their purchases. 15/
Indigenous (American Indian and Alaska Native) respondents made up roughly 1% of the population.

None reported that diversity was insignificant to their comics purchases (in either context). 16/
Indigenous (American Indian and Alaska Native) respondents made up roughly 1% of the population. None reported that diversity was insignificant to their comics purchases (in either context). 16/
Indigenous (American Indian and Alaska Native) respondents made up roughly 1% of the population. None reported that diversity was insignificant to their comics purchases (in either context). 16/
Indian (including Indian American and Desi) respondents made up a little less than 1% of the population. Most saw diversity as important to their purchases. 17/
Indian (including Indian American and Desi) respondents made up a little less than 1% of the population. Most saw diversity as important to their purchases. 17/
Indian (including Indian American and Desi) respondents made up a little less than 1% of the population. Most saw diversity as important to their purchases. 17/
Trends among Middle-Eastern (including Arab) respondents were similar; most valued diversity in comics.

Slightly over 1% of the population was in this group. 18/
Trends among Middle-Eastern (including Arab) respondents were similar; most valued diversity in comics. Slightly over 1% of the population was in this group. 18/
Trends among Middle-Eastern (including Arab) respondents were similar; most valued diversity in comics. Slightly over 1% of the population was in this group. 18/
Slightly more variation in the "other" category, though most still ranked diversity as important to their purchases.

Among those who preferred not to specify, similar trends emerged. 19/
Slightly more variation in the "other" category, though most still ranked diversity as important to their purchases. Among those who preferred not to specify, similar trends emerged. 19/
Slightly more variation in the "other" category, though most still ranked diversity as important to their purchases. Among those who preferred not to specify, similar trends emerged. 19/
Slightly more variation in the "other" category, though most still ranked diversity as important to their purchases. Among those who preferred not to specify, similar trends emerged. 19/
Slightly more variation in the "other" category, though most still ranked diversity as important to their purchases. Among those who preferred not to specify, similar trends emerged. 19/
Overall, MOST folks in this study reported that diverse characters were important to their comics purchases.

Why are diverse teams deemed "important" less frequently overall? 20/
Now the race/ethnicity data here complicates things because I don't know how to properly model such small group sizes for regression analyses. Thus, the rest of this thread will adopt some sweeping categories, namely: POC, white, and "mixed" race (will unpack this as I go). 21/
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