You’d actually be surprised. This traveling exhibit (it originated in New York at the Yeshiva University Museum) may seem a little small at first, but as soon as visitors begin to explore it, does it richness and diversity become apparent.

It may not cover the depth of comics being created by women (even Jewish women) but that’s not the point — it’s meant to be about Jewish women and their stories and why they’ve chosen to tell them in the form of comics.  There’s a delightful range, from legends like Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Diane Noomin and Trina Robbins to the younger generation of artists like Sarah Glidden and Miss Lask0-Gross.  Some have specific stories to tell about their lives while others just seek to capture moments.

I was awed at the different styles and techniques of the artists on display. Some have loose, open styles that are then reduced down to the printed page. Others draw in tiny refinement. Blue pencil marks can still be seen, as well as sections of White-Out and other corrections. I love looking at original art anyway because hidden process behind creating comics becomes much clearer. It’s fascinating and beautiful to see these pages as they are.

No, it’s not a huge exhibit, but I don’t think it needs to be. After spending quite a bit of time feeling jealous that my New York friends had this and I wasn’t going to get to see it, I was more than excited to see it was going to be in D.C. I was not at all disappointed. I’m only sad it’s only up through Sept. 2, which means that people in the area for Small Press Expo won’t get a chance to check it out.

I am, however, sending everyone I know in the area to it. It’s absolutely worth seeing and I’m quite proud D.C. is one of the places that gets to have it.

But there are some things it does not do well. A user asks “Which graphic novels should I read?” and explains what she’s read recently — for example, she really liked How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden and thought Julia Wertz’s Drinking at the Movies was really funny for the most part. She liked Persepolis OK.

She wants to know what she should read next, specifying she’d prefer strong female characters and more funny than serious.

The first two recommendations she gets are The Sandman and Strangers in Paradise. I was actually surprised at how long it took someone to bring up Y: The Last Man.

Certainly, taken as a whole, there are some good recommendations in there for her mixed in with things like The Dark Knight Returns (and I’m biased, sure, but thank you kind user who pointed her to the Ignatz winners and nominees because that is a good starting point).

And no, The Sandman and Strangers in Paradise are not bad comics. They are, for the most part, good comics. They are comics I like. But they’re not the first comics I’d recommend, especially under circumstances like this. They aren’t specific to what this woman was asking for, to begin with, but mostly, they are incredibly lazy recommendations and basically say to me “I stopped paying attention to what comics women may like about 10 years ago because we only need those two.” (When I started Comicsgirl way back in the dawn of time in 1998, do you know what were some of the first comics I wrote about? Oh, that’s right: The Sandman and Strangers in Paradise.)

There are so many great comics out there right now for and/or by women. I don’t think you have to look very hard to find them (at least, I don’t — I have shelves full of them). I personally feel like the asker of the question already has a pretty good handle on some interesting comics in terms of that. I’m sure if the typical “comics for women” were of interest to her, she would’ve found them already. After all, that she’s picked up both Julia Wertz and Sarah Glidden makes me think she knows what she’s doing more than she thinks she does.

I just think if the usual answers is all someone has, not answering the question is always a valid option, too.

Strangers in Paradise image taken from Terry Moore’s site.