To which my replay is, “So what.” As someone who loves comics, I want EVERYONE to know about them and read them – not just the current majority audience. I’d love for soccer moms to pick up Astonishing X-Men or any of the X-Men comics.

If you didn’t see The View this morning (and I’m guessing you haven’t) The Mary Sue has the clip. It’s very short and a bit teleprompter-y; it’s pretty obvious the ladies are out of their depth with this announcement (let’s just thank the stars Elisabeth Hasselbeck didn’t have anything to say for the minute of airtime this received). But the point is a whole ton of people whose (most likely) only comic purchase is Archie for their children now know about something pretty cool happening at Marvel Comics. Something that they might even be interested in reading. Gasp!

Statistically speaking, women in the U.S. spend approximately $2 trillion each year. Women account for approximately 85% of all consumer purchases. So ignoring The View‘s demographic is a stupid move, even though comic publishers have done so for ages. While I am not at all a fan of gender advertising, telling target audience of The View that a New York Times Best Selling author of paranormal romance novels is writing a comic book with a wedding is good marketing sense.

I think this was a really smart move on Marvel’s part. It’s a bit sad how unconventional a move it was, and even sadder that it baffles people. But I’m hoping it does enough good that comic publishers start to take advantage of opportunities like this instead of passing them up. I’d absolutely love to see something like DC Comics announcing their newly gay character on Ellen. I’m still holding out to see comic previews in magazines like Bust and not just Maxim.

In the very little bit of commentary around Marvel’s news, Whoopi Goldberg said, “You know what I love about this. When I was a kid and buying these magazines, you never saw this array of people. There are black people there. There are gay people. It’s kinda amazing!” While we definitely should be striving for more, there is diversity in comics. And there’s diversity in comics because there’s diversity in their readership. Comics aren’t just for white dudes. They’re for everyone. And everyone should get the opportunity to hear about them.

Grey’s Anatomy is an X-Men comic masquerading as a medical drama.

If you’ve read any of the old X-Men comics, softball was a pretty regular thing (and it was awesome). While the game is what made me think of this little theory, it’s not the only evidence.

As we speak (… er, as I type), I’m watching a re-run of the What If episode. They even advertised it with the words “What If”. I mean, it doesn’t more Marvel Comics than that. While we don’t actually see the Scarlet Witch, quite a few strings are pulled in the Grey’s universe so that Meredith gets to grow up in a “traditional” family like she’s always wanted – she has a supportive father (and it’s the Chief), her mom never got Alzheimers, and everyone is just a little bit off their typical center. It’s a totally bonkers episode (and I love it). But at their core, the characters are still essentially the same. By the next episode everything is back to normal and there are no more mutants.

About twice a season there’s a crossover event with Private Practice. The crossovers focus on some kind of medical disaster that requires the cast of Grey’s to team up with the doctors from Private Practice. With the addition of Derek’s sister to the Private Practice… um, practice they don’t have to crowbar some sort of prenatal emergency in to bring Addison back to Seattle, which is kind of nice. It’s really the only time I watch Private Practice because as much as I love Addison, that show just doesn’t do it for me.

Then there’s the cast and all of their gloriously dysfunctional relationships. Like any good prime-time soap, or X-Men comic, there’s quite a bit drama surrounding these characters and their interactions with each other. The cast doesn’t really rotate, but it has grown significantly from the “original five”. Enemies become friends; once new characters become an integral part of the team; the central character isn’t the most popular with fans; even death isn’t the end-all for a character. Also, Lexie is totally Kitty Pryde.

What I love most about Grey’s and the X-Men is how characters grow and evolve. They may not always be likeable, but their experiences change them and their relationships in a real way. Well, as real as it can for TV and comics. It’s not a static environment where there’s a reset at the end of each episode. I’ve really enjoyed watching the way these characters develop, even if it’s a train wreck at times (usually, it is). They’re complicated and dark and twisty, but they’re a family. And together, they’re the best at what they do.

It is so ridiculously awesome and mind-blowing, that I have to resort to interwebz speak and caps lock to describe it’s epicness. Like, for real. I will, however, try to talk about this comic like a rational human being instead of an LOLcat.

I know I’m late to the party with this one. People have been raving about Rick Remender’s tale of the X-Men’s covert assassination team for close to a year now. And with very good reason. Call me a late bloomer, it just took me a bit more time to get where everyone else has been.

I checked out Uncanny X-Force pretty early on. There was a ton of buzz right out of the gate. So I grabbed issue three, thinking I could just jump on. It didn’t quite work for me. I can’t exactly say what exactly it was, but from this one issue, the story just wasn’t resonating with me.

My second attempt was issue five-point-one, part of Marvel’s campaign to get people interested in a title with self-contained single issues. I really dug the one-shot for X-Force, so I decided to pick up the next issue, which was part two of a storyline that (I think) pulled from the previous arc. All I know is that there were zombie-robot thingies, some French dude’s mom died, and there were lots of explosions.

At this point I was thinking, “maybe this book just isn’t for me.” And I was kind of OK with that. I mean, I tend to go for brighter action/adventure stories. Dark and twisty killing squad is not typically in my wheel-house. So I settled on letting this title go.

Another six months of fervent internet buzz and my rapidly increasing X-Men obsession drove me to pick up the first Uncanny X-Force trade at my comic shop a couple weeks ago. And that’s when everything clicked into place.

So last week I grabbed all the issues of the current “Dark Angel Saga” story and just devoured them. I’d finish one issue and audibly squee. I’d finish the next and “AAAH!” Then “GAAAHH!” Until finally “GAAHKJWOERJSGKLJGAK” and I fell out of my chair.

Because this comic is amazeballs.

Maybe it doesn’t lend itself to “just jumping on” but my god this story has such a fantastic build to it that it’s worth the bin-diving to catch up. Remender and artist Jerome Opena (and Mark Brooks) have a pitch-perfect sense of pacing, tension, and character. And Dean White’s colors brilliantly set the tone for the comic. The story and the art move together with clockwork precision, and the fast-paced narrative leaves you needing more. Quite simply, Uncanny X-Force is a perfect package of a comic book.