It's ironical how Yenny works in two different markets in a very different way.
When I came up with Yenny I was thinking about local market. So everything that revolves around Yenny has that "pueblo boricua" touch. Stores without air conditioning, Miami windows, alcapurrias...reggaeton, you name it.
Eventually, I decided to introduce Yenny to the US market. And here's where my market research begins.
Like I mentioned before, if you live in a hot island like I do, you get used to see the girls wearing short shorts and belly baring shirts. With the reggaeton fashion running around, the guys wear more clothes while the girls wear less. That was my first cultural shock with the US market.
I got emails on a daily basis accusing me of being a perv. Some said that I was "using" the female figure as a way of making money. Yenny's entrance to the US Market was a shock.
Meanwhile in sunny Puerto Rico, Yenny started to gather the attention of female readers from 12 to 14 years old. Yenny became a Caribbean Bratz for them. In conventions, teenage girls appeared from nowhere to gather stickers and gossip about Yenny's love interest with Kelso.
In the US Market things work in a different way. Teenage girls have no interest in Yenny because american girls have pink rooms and worship the Jonas Brothers while boricua girls listen to Arcangel and hang out in the beach.
Yenny's loyal readership in US are men from 23 to 40 and most of them hace foot fetish or simply read Yenny because of the way she looks.
I get often asked to be more "aggressive" when it comes to writing. And I have to admit that I want to do it. But even though I wish I could be more mature on the storylines, I have to remember the other side of the market target...the latin teen girls.
One day I get a letter from a girl who loves Yenny and wishes that she ends up with Kelso and the other day I get another letter from a guy from Ohio saying that he'll do anything to lick Yenny's feet.
The weekend strips were oriented to the teenage girls. That's why they had drawing contests and the writing was soft. This was because the mayority of Yenny readers in Puerto Rico gather on saturdays. Most of the letters come on saturdays. Facebook and Myspace adds are on weekends as well.
So as you can see, I'm dealing with two different world even though they are about the same character.
...I need coffee...
Hola David, estuve traduciendo tus dos ultimas entradas en el traductor de google :P es lo malo de haber nacido hispano parlante y tercermundista.
ResponderSuprimirAntes que nada, quiero decirte lo que alguna vez ya te he dicho -creo- y es que tienes un trazo fantastico, pulido, un estilo unico y me declaro culpable de haber estado copiando dibujos y dibujos tuyos para conseguir un poquito de esa prolijidad que tienes (igual, siempre termino recordandome que tienes muchas mas horas-tablero que yo y eso me alienta a seguir dibujando), te deseo lo mejor como profesional, realmente el año pasado casi mato de envidia a un conocido que se hizo de varios numeros de Yenny en una convencion de comics aqui, en Argentina (si, los que edito Alias)
Ahora si, respecto a tus ultimas dos entradas... es muy contradictorio, muy muy, por un lado el tema de las sindicaciones (asi es como lo traduce google, no se si estara bien) en el pais de la libertad y la democracia y por otro es una muestra de como los estadounidenses estan flotando en su american dream, como las niñas en cuartos rosas o los cuarentones en sus fantasias pedicas... sera por eso que cuesta tanto entrar a su mercado? sera por eso que, por ejemplo, los japoneses entraron luego de que haya un boom del ameri-manga, y no directamente?
Desde muy al sur veo al mercado yanqui de esta forma: una maquina que copia lo de afuera y solo si ve que no puede competir con el original, recien en ese momento convoca al progenitor de el estilo/personajes/ideas.
mmmmmm... se que me quedan ideas dando vueltas... pero creo que tambien necesito cafe.
Un abrazo desde Argentina, ya volvere por tu blog!!!
I guess I'm not in either demographic for your typical reader, then. I'm a 43 year old woman. I found your comic from Girl Genius (I probably *am* in the Foglio's typical demographic, though).
ResponderSuprimirI love reading comics from other cultures. Yenny doesn't strike me as overly sexy, even though she's cute. I say keep making your comics like you do, and your audience will grow and diversify. And seriously: yuck to the foot lickers.
Hey, Dave! How many nerdy guys who just like cartoony drawings do you get on each side? And Looney Tunes comics fans looking for whatever else this Alvarez fellow has done?
ResponderSuprimirDave, I was pulled in to your work on Yenny based solely off the art alone. The good storylines were just an added bonus ;) Yenny can be dressed like when she had amnesia every day, it wouldn't matter to me. I just like the Looney Tunes style of artwork. There's not many comic strip artists in syndication today who can compete with the quality of drawing shown in Yenny.
ResponderSuprimirHey, Kyle, nice to see you here! I get a few requests every now and then. When I went to the WizardCon in Texas ironically people knew me more for my Looney Tunes work than from Yenny
ResponderSuprimir