Comics by Women
- Posted by Johanna on September 13, 2006 at 11:19 pm
- Category: Comic News
At a reader’s request, I’ve created a reference page of comic works by women. Good idea? Useful? Can you add information to it?
At a reader’s request, I’ve created a reference page of comic works by women. Good idea? Useful? Can you add information to it?
September 14, 2006 at 1:41 am
I dig it. I’d add Bechdel’s FUN HOME, WE ARE ON OUR OWN by Miriam Katin, Roberta Gregory’s Naughty Bits/Bitchy Bitch work, Lauren Weinstein’s Girl Stories, Lynda Barry, Francoise Mouly, Debbie Drechsler, Abby Denson, and Phobe Gloeckner to the list as well.
If editors count, I would say Karen Berger especially deserves a shout-out.
September 14, 2006 at 1:41 am
Ack! And Dame Darcy too!
September 14, 2006 at 3:35 am
I’ll second the votes for Fun Home, We Are On Our Own, Naughty Bits, Girl Stories and Phoebe Gloeckner’s stuff as well (Diary of a Teenage Girl is essential), and add Renee French — Marbles in My Underpants is a terrific collection of her stuff and her children’s books (My Best Sweet Potato is the new one, and Tinka before that, both written as “Rainy Dohaney”) are beautiful and much more clever than the average book in that genre…
Oh, and Corinne Mucha’s mini-comics are wonderful, as are Diana Tamblyn’s.
September 14, 2006 at 5:58 am
I like the idea. The first addition that comes to mind is Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting. Are you thinking of adding licensed manga by women like Rumoki Takahashi and Yuu Watase?
September 14, 2006 at 6:43 am
Goodness, I was not expecting so prompt a response! That’s a great list to be going on with. Thanks.
September 14, 2006 at 7:25 am
Johanna, Here are some more manga adds. Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, Land of the Blindfolded and Penguin Revolution both by Sakura Tsukuba, the works of Erica Sakurazawa, the works of Clamp, Aria by Kozue Amano, and Biker Girl by Misako Rocks!.
September 14, 2006 at 11:39 am
Johanna a great start and the best thing is…it’s only scratching the surface!!!!!
September 14, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Thanks very much for the suggestions. Some of these are on my reading list and obviously need to be bumped higher up so I can add more in-depth pieces.
As suggested by the note at the end of the page, I’ve ruled out including translated manga, since it’s a huge area in itself and I don’t know enough about how to recognize female Japanese names.
Kev, it was a great idea. Now to keep it going and build on it.
September 14, 2006 at 1:03 pm
The just-released graphic autobiography Fat Free, by psychotherapist (and first time comics writer) Jude Lindner and artist Mary Wilshire. It’s a well done portrayal of the author’s struggles with her weight.
September 14, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Daredevil Legends Vol. 4: Typhoid Mary is the only Ann Nocenti work I know of that’s still in print.
September 14, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Don’t forget The Desert Peach & Stinz by Donna Barr or Girl GeniusI/i>, co-created by Kaja Foglio.
September 14, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Just thought of a few others: The Squirrel Mother Stories by Megan Kelso (Fantagraphics), La Perdida by Jessica Abel (Pantheon), and When I’m Old and Other Stories by Gabrielle Bell (Alternative Comics). Bell also has another book coming, Lucky (Drawn and Quarterly). In the co-creator category, Kaja Foglio of Girl Genius (Airship) comes to mind.
September 14, 2006 at 8:35 pm
Do you want minicomics/self-published comics as well? Maybe to put in a separate section?
Also: Carol Lay’s comics and For Better or For Worse if you want to include comic strips.
September 15, 2006 at 7:40 am
I probably won’t add comic strips for the same reason I’m not adding manga or webcomics — it’s a complete field in itself.
Thanks again for all the suggestions! I’ll be doing some revisions this weekend.
September 15, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Other Christina Weir books that are in print: New Mutants Vol. 1: Back to School, New X-Men-Academy X Vol. 1-3, Amazing Agent Luna Vol. 1-3, There’s another Seven Seas book whose name escapes me at the moment.
September 15, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Sexy Chix is possibly best forgotten, but y’know it was entirely created by women.
The first tpb of The Book of Lost Souls is out, drawn by Colleen Doran.
September 15, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Dan, would that be Destiny’s Hand?
Allan, I’d almost forgotten!
September 16, 2006 at 2:05 am
Are you doing just artists too? If so Adriana Melo on Witchblade and Pia Guerra of Y The Last Man would count.
September 16, 2006 at 1:45 pm
This is a great list Johanna! Here’s a few more suggestions, hopefully without any duplicates of things other folks have mentioned…
Albion (Wildstorm) - Leah Moore
Banana Sunday (Oni) - Colleen Coover
Belly Button (Fantagraphics) - Sophie Crumb
Charm School (Slave Labor) - Elizabeth Watasin
Commercial Suicide - Alex De Campi
Cuckoo (Green Door) - Madison Clell
Defective Comics (Self Published) - Alex De Campi
Demo (AIT PlanetLar) - Becky Cloonan
Dope (Eclipse) - Trina Robbins - out of print but essential!
East Coast Rising (TokyoPop) - Becky Cloonan
Elf Quest (Warp) - Wendy Pini
Gloomcookie (Slave Labor) - Sarena Valentino
Go Girl (Dark Horse) - Trina Robbins & Anne Timmons
Grey Horses (Oni) - Hope Larson
Hopeless Savages (Oni) - Jen Van Meter
Jane’s World (Girl Twirl) - Paige Braddock
Little Scrowlie (Slave Labor) - Jennifer Feinberg
Lost Girls (Top Shelf) - Melinda Gebbie
Next Exit (Slave Labor) - Christy Lljewski
Rent Girl (Last Gasp) - Michelle Tea & Laurenn McCubbin
Salamander Dream (AdHouse Books) - Hope Larson
Smoke (IDW) - Alex De Campi
Smoke & Guns (AIT PlanetLar) - Kirsten Baldock
Tom Strong (Wildstorm) - Leah Moore
Wonder Woman (DC Comics) - Mindy Newell - out of print, but Newell *was* the first woman to ever script Wonder Woman so I think she deserves to be on your list for that fact alone.
Also I know you’re not doing Manga, but some Junko Mizuno couldn’t possibly hurt! Personally, I really love Cinderalla (Viz) and Pure Trance (Last Gasp).
September 16, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Thanks! I’m trying to concentrate on works in print, though, to make things easy for new readers or those new to the works listed. Plus, Friends of Lulu has a list of female creators from all eras, and I don’t want to duplicate their effort.
So many wonderful books by women out there!
September 16, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I assumed as much, which is why I (mostly) gave you suggestions of things I thought you’d probably either have read already, or might be interested in reading in the not-so distant future.
But even with that in mind, I just couldn’t help myself from giving some extra love for Mindy Newell and Trina Robbins. Those ladies rock!
September 16, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Yeah, that’s one of the pleasant side effects I didn’t forsee — I’ve now got a great list of things to read next!
September 17, 2006 at 1:57 am
Awww… they’re all print comics. *shuffles feet*
September 17, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Johanna I think you should reconsidering including manga and webcomics artists. Some of the most popular manga/anime on earth are written and drawn by women — FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST and RANMA 1/2 to name just two. And webcomics are rapidly becoming a place where women can beheard without all the prejudices of other areas. I think it’s a desservice to segreate these categories away.
September 17, 2006 at 10:48 pm
I agree that those categories have significant impact and immense growth potential, but I don’t have the knowledge to create or evaluate the entries, and I hesitate to make the attempt if I don’t think I can do it justice. With the extensive manga/anime and webcomic reference sites that are out there, I’m surprised that there aren’t such lists already.
Definitely something to keep in mind, though, once I get this phase further along.