So it turns out, as it usually does, that we are not alone in our despair at the way women are often drawn in comic books. I stumbled across this high-larious website: Girls Read Comics (And They’re Pissed). It sometimes takes a while to load, but it’s worth the wait. Not as funny but extremely fascinating is Project Girl Wonder, who’ve adopted the fantastic strategy of actually lobbying DC Comics to change a storyline that they feel has severely dis-serviced women, by killing off a central female character in a brutal and degrading way.
I was shocked when I discovered that, in writing my complaint about how women in comic books are sometimes drawn (that is, like toothpicks, though with symmetrical cotton balls stuck to their upper regions), I didn’t consult a most obvious resource: Shameless! See Shameless: Summer 2005 for more info. (If you, horror of horrors, don’t have it, don’t fret! You can still buy it here).
And, to finally out myself as a Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con geek, here is a video of Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and the movie Serenity, giving a damn fine speech.
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Alison Bechdel of "Dykes to Watch Out For" fame has a new book out called "Fun Home," which is sort of a coming of age/coming out story and also deals with her relationship with her dad.
Becky Cloonan draws "American Virgin," which I'm not huge on, but her book "East Coast Rising" about pirate punks in the not too distant future is super fun.
I totally agree that Julie Doucet and Marjane Satrapi are great.
Did anyone mention Ariel Schrag? She's illustrating her high school diaries in comic book form. Her books are honest, hilarious and full of dykey teen angst.
I also think there are some male writers creating good female characters right now. Brian K. Vaughn's "Runaways" is consistently full of interesting and complicated female characters. It's also a smart, engaging book that is okay for kids, so you can give it to your little sister.
Ed Brubaker's run on "Catwoman" is pretty amazing too. Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle, is no longer a villain, but has devoted herself to protecting the people that the police, and other superheroes, like Batman, don't care about - like sex workers and street kids. Catwoman's costume isn't super revealing and is actually pretty practical. The supporting characters include an older lady doctor who helps Catwoman out and her best friend, Holly, an awesome, adorable character who is a lesbian. In the new run of "Catwoman" Selina Kyle is a single mom and Holly has taken over as the new Catwoman. Pretty rad stuff in a mainstream comic.
Posted by Tiina PJ
July 18, 2006, 4:34 PM
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