Yesterday, I was a speaker at Library Con at the Petworth Neighborhood Library. It was a small, mostly family-oriented event but well-organized and fun. I am always going to be a fan of events that make comics — of all genres and styles — more accessible to more people.
I first saw Jacob Mazer of Animal Kingdom Publishing discuss his work and the anthology of comics, prose, poetry and criticism he edits. It’s still a young publication, but I definitely think there’s room in the world for more things like this, allowing comics to reach audiences they may not otherwise. Not everything in the second issue is to my tastes, but there is some thought-provoking work in it.
Then I saw Gareth Hinds, whose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet came out last year. He talked about always loving to draw as a child and comics ended up coming naturally to him. He worked in video games for a long time before quitting to create graphic novels full-time. He broke down his process for each book and I was interested to hear he changes techniques and styles for each specific book. He also spoke about the challenges of adapting classic literature.
After that, it was my turn. I talked about comics by women (what else?) and I think it went well for it being such a big topic. My concept was not to give history but offer up titles that people can buy right now. I had a good discussion with the attendees too.
You can download my PowerPoint presentation or a PDF of it, but I’ve also created a list of the creators and titles I discussed below (with links to their websites where appropriate).
I have reviewed some of these books and written more about some of these creators. You should be able to find what you need through the tags.
History/background
- Trina Robbins: Pretty In Ink
Mainstream: Superheroes
- Kelly Sue DeConnick: Captain Marvel
- G. Willow Wilson: Ms. Marvel
- Gail Simone: Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Red Sonja
Mainstream: Sci-fi/Fantasy
- Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios: Pretty Deadly
- Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, Brooke A. Allen: Lumberjanes
- Carla Speed McNeil: Finder
- Fiona Staples: Saga
Children and Young Adult Comics
- Raina Telgemeier: Smile, Drama, Sisters
- Faith Erin Hicks: The War at Ellsmere, Friends With Boys, The Adventures of Superhero Girl
- Hope Larson: Chiggers, A Wrinkle in Time
- Jennifer Holm: Babymouse
Autobiographical
- Alison Bechdel: Fun Home and Are You My Mother?
- Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis
- Mari Naomi: Kiss and Tell, Dragon’s Breath
- Ellen Forney: Marbles
- Ulli Lust: Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life
- Nicole J. Georges: Calling Dr. Laura
Manga
- Kyoko Okazaki: Pink, Helter Skelter
- Moto Hagio: A Drunken Dream, The Heart of Thomas
- Takako Shimura: Wandering Son
- Moyoco Anno: In Clothes Called Fat, Insufficient Direction
UK, Europe and Around the World
- Mary Talbot: The Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, Sally Heathcoate: Suffragette
- Isabel Greenberg: Encyclopedia of Early Earth
- Julie Maroh: Blue is the Warmest Color
- Marguerite Abouet: Aya series
- Rutu Modan: Exit Wounds, The Property
Online comics
- Molly Ostertag: Strong Female Protagonist
- Allie Brosh: Hyperbole and a Half
- Meredith Gran: Octopus Pie
- Kate Beaton: Hark! A Vagrant
- Danielle Corsetto: Girls with Slingshots
- Kate Leth: Kate or Die!
Minicomics & cutting-edge creators
Publishers, groups and events
Top Picks of Comics by Women for 2014
- Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
- How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis
- Operation Margarine by Katie Skelly
- Over Easy by Mimi Pond
- This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
- Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
And I wanted to do a superhero title. I wanted to do a superhero title that had an all-female creative team. I tried to find something that had either one woman doing both the writing and the art or two different women taking the main roles.
 X-men: Firestar Buy at Amazon.com |
I’m sure this exists but I just couldn’t find it (if you know of any, please tell me). Writers were easy, but finding artists were harder — I know they’re out there. For instance, I really wanted to include something by Marie Severin, but collections that are just of her pencils seem to mostly not exist (part of my goal here is to point people to things they can buy easily. I don’t want to send people after individual issues).
So yes, Firestar and Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds.
The collection of the Firestar limited series from the ’80s, revealing the character’s origin story. It’s a slight book, sure, but it’s a lot of fun. Mary Wilshire’s art is honest and appealing — it’s maybe a little dated, but in a charming way. Angelica Jones is all flowing hair and teenage emotions, and Emma Frost is awesomely icy here. And you can always laugh at the fashions (I loved Angelica’s “formal” dress. But surprisingly — or not — Emma’s outfits haven’t changed much over the years).
Tom DeFalco’s story is simple and melodramatic, but highly entertaining. I get the feeling this is probably going out of print, but it’s cheap enough that it’s worth seeking out (and the original issues don’t seem like they’re that much more expensive).
 Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds Buy at Amazon.com |
Everyone, of course, loves Gail Simone (the whole #gailhateswomen thing notwithstanding). Those of you who weren’t around in those days don’t know how cool it was when people figured out the Gail who wrote “You’ll All Be Sorry” at Comic Book Resources was the same Gail behind Women in Refrigerators. We’re lucky to have women like her in comics.
Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds isn’t the very first story of Birds of Prey but it is Simone’s first, and provides a good entry point into the title.
I love Simone’s deft handling of the characters here. Her women are well-rounded — intelligent, thoughtful, funny, but also prone to making mistakes. She has a wonderful talent for letting women be in peril without making them victims. I love this and need to read more of Simone’s work. Ed Benes’ pencils are strong and clean. This is just appealing all around and I’m going to be buying more soon.
So that’s this month’s books. I promise I’ll go back to one for March.
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And just to piggyback on this post, I am associate editor of Geek Girl on the Street (in case you haven’t noticed from Twitter). There will be some comic stuff there (like my preview of Crogan’s March) but there will also be plenty of other geekiness that won’t necessarily fit here.
It’s a new but growing site and I think we’re doing a lot of fun things. Follow us on Twitter and add us on Facebook.
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