Ladies in Comics: An Annotated Reading List

[nymeth]

I had the idea for this post when Renay told me that a project she has been busy with (on which more in the near future) really drove home the point that women are still hugely underrepresented in the comics industry. In addition to this, just the other day my awesome librarian friend stormfilled was commenting on the huge gender imbalance among the special guests to the London Super Comic Convention (33 guests, one woman. I wish I was joking), and saying how uncomfortable she’d feel giving the fliers to her students, many of whom are girls and big comics and manga enthusiasts.

I’m a big fan of sequential art, but I’m also someone who cares about the gender balance of her reading, and reconciling the two can be a challenge. I love series like The Sandman, Fables and The Unwritten with all my heart, but there’s no way around the fact that they’re very male dominated. Renay brought to my attention the fact that things are even more uneven if you take into account all the contributors to a work of sequential art. For this reason, I decided to limit this list to works where both the writing and the art are by women. Sometimes I can’t be sure about the full credits (including pencillers, inkers, etc), but this is a start.

Also, I decided to include even the most obvious recommendations because “obvious” is relative: I don’t want to take for granted the knowledge I acquired over the past few years, nor alienate readers who don’t share this knowledge. The main selection criterion for this list is, well, my taste. They’re either books I’ve read and enjoyed or books I would like to read.

So, without further ado, here is the list. Titles will link to reviews, some mine, some in other blogs or sites.

• Persepolis, Chicken With Plums and Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi – Satrapi is a major name in comics for a reason. I love her work for its combination of political consciousness, humour, and personal stories with real emotional resonance.
  
  
• Fun Home and The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel – the first is a memoir about Bechdel’s troubling relationship with her father; the second a compilation of her ongoing strip, famous for originating the Bechdel test. The former is more well-known, but I might actually prefer the latter: Bechdel chronicles the lives of a community of glbtq characters over a long period of time, and I didn’t want to ever part company with them.
  
  
• I can’t of course fail to mention Kate Beaton’s Hark a Vagrant!, which exists both as a webcomic and in print. Some of her historical references are too obscure for me, but feeling ignorant is more than worth it for all the times she makes me laugh out loud.
  
  
• Castle Waiting vols 1 and 2 by Linda Medley is a brilliant fairy tale-inspired story about a community living together at the castle that gives the series its name. What I love about this series is the fact that its focus is so clearly the (feminine) stories left out of most fairy tales because they don’t fit traditional definitions of exciting or heroic. I should probably warn you before you start that due to creative differences between Medley and the rest of her team, the series is likely to remain incomplete; but trust me, you want to read it anyway. Spending time with these characters is completely worth the frustration of the lack of a proper ending.
  
  
• Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki: a thoughtful and moving glbtq coming of age story.
  
  
• Nylon Road by Parsua Bashi – a “graphic memoir of coming of age in Iran”, currently on my TBR pile.
  
  
• La Perdida by Jessica Abel – What could have been yet another “an American tourist visits the ‘third world’ to find herself” story became instead a commentary on the political implications of this kind of narrative. An excellent book.
  
  
• Dolltopia by Abbey Denson - The premise (sentient dolls) might sound silly, but this is actually a smart and fun book about identity, body image and social expectations.
  
  
• Scheherazade: Comics About Love, Treachery, Mothers and Monsters edited by Megan Kelso - The women are equal but different introduction kind of drove me nuts, but this anthology of comics is worth reading anyway. The stories themselves are mostly good, and what an excellent way to discover even more comics by women.
  
  
• Emma by Kaoru Mori – I’m by no means a manga expert, but this is my favourite series to date. A lovely, subtle and sensitive Victorian romance. I want the whole world to read it.
  
  
• Wandering Son by Takako Shimura - Another manga series, whose first volume I finished just the other day. This one deals with two transgender pre-teens, and like with Mori’s work, the subtlety and sensitivity are what makes it stand out.
  
  
• Ivy by Sarah Oleksyk - A coming of age story with a difficult but ultimately loveable narrator. I read this one last year but sadly never got around to reviewing it.
  
  
• Tamara Drew by Posy Simmonds - As above, and I regret not reviewing it even more because I found it such an insightful and biting examination of slut shaming and of life in a small community. I definitely want to read more of Posy Simmonds’ work.
  
  
• Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brogsol – Every bit as good as the whole blogosphere says it is.
  
  
• Dramacon by Svetlana Chmakova - Oh, this book! I love it so much. A three part story featuring an anime convention, a wonderful protagonist, and a lovely and extremely satisfying romance. Get the one-volume edition – you’ll read it in a couple of hours and then cry because there isn’t any more.
  
  
• Anyhing by Hope Larson - I have yet to read a book of hers I didn’t enjoy. Her first, Salamander Dream, is available online.

• Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian - I read this a long time ago, and all I can remember was that it was extremely strange, but not in a bad way. I should seek out more of Malkasian’s work.
  
  
• Slow Storm by Danica Novgorodoff – a thoughtful and contemplative story with absolutely stunning artwork.
  
  
• The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Guay - I didn’t love this book (possibly because I have really high expectations of anything involving Jane Yolen), but I had to include it for Guay’s artwork alone. So pretty.

And then there are creators like Lynda Barry, Megan Kelso, Sara Vernon or Lucy Knisley, whose work I’ve been meaning to get to for ages. If you have any other suggestions, I’d absolutely love to hear them.

Comments

[laisserais]

This is a fantastic introduction to the topic, thank you. I'd only heard of one or two of the writers.

I know she doesn't exactly write in this style, but have you considered Gail Simone? Whenever she takes over a series, the characters seem to get deeper, funnier and more human. I really enjoyed The Secret Six. But I mean, it's superheroes stuff, so I'm not sure if she'd be an appropriate addition.

Thanks again! I'm bookmarking this.

[nymeth]

I'll definitely look up Gail Simone! I like some superheroes stuff, so that's not a problem. And you're most welcome :)

[laceblade]

I like everything Faith Erin Hicks has ever touched.

Ashley Cope's Unsounded is like, the best webcomic I've ever read, I think.

Plus, you know, tons of manga written tons of women.

[nymeth]

I really love the art style on Unsounded. Thanks for the rec, I think I'm going to have a ton of fun with it.

[caramarie]

Here are some older female-created comics, which I loved as a teen:

Everything Chynna Clugston ever did (Blue Monday, Scooter Girl). I think she might work more as an editor these days, which is a shame, because she does great YA comics.

Hopeless Savages by Jan Van Meter and (mostly) Christine Norrie is awesome. It's about the children of a famous punk-rock couple and it's fabulous. Van Meter's been writing for the big two more recently

Another one illustrated by Norrie that I love is Breaking Up, written by Aimee Friedman. That's a friendship breaking up, not a romance.

Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil is a pretty obvious one, but that. Gorgeous epic sci-fi with a similar feeling to the most awesome manga.

(Obviously, too much manga to go into. There is no trouble finding female-created comics there.)

[nymeth]

Thank you! I haven't read any of those, though I've been hearing about A Distant Soil for ages.

[renay]

See? You should start reading manga! I have recs~~~~ :D

[nymeth]

Did you not promise me an e-mail with them a little over 3 years ago? I think so ;) NOT to guilt-trip you or anything, just saying that I'm all ears :P

[renay]

I think it got trapped in a fugue state. I will look for it!

[chrisa511]

OMG this is an awesome post!!! And there are so many GNs I haven't even heard of before! How did that happen? The one thing I'll give Sandman when it comes to gender is that Neil play's with gender a lot which I loved. And Death has to be one of the all time best female characters. I know that's not the point of this post :p But I couldn't help but comment.

[nymeth]

Oh no, I agree! I meant in terms of creator credits only; not diversity of the characters.

[xicanti.livejournal.com]

I just reread AMY UNBOUNDED: BELONDWEG BLOSSOMING by Rachel Hartman and fell in love with it all over again. Not only is it a female-authored/drawn comic with a female protagonist, but it's intimately concerned with how women harness their power in a male-dominated world. I love it so much that I want everyone and their dog to read it, but alas, it's out of print. :(

[nymeth]

Booo :( Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a used copy some day. It does sound absolutely wonderful!

[(Anonymous)]

Have you tried Cecil Castelluci's Plain Janes's series? Her female cast of girls named Jane wreck havic with stealthy art in a way that is just deliciously awesome. I really enjoyed those. This is a great list; I'm bookmarking for future reference as well.

Heather on her Nook, that can't seem to log on at the mo'....

[nymeth]

I haven't, but I've been meaning to get to it for ages - since Dewey reviewed it, actually (sniff). But I didn't think to include it because even though Castelluci wrote it, the rest of the credits are still pretty male-dominated. Obviously being outside my focus here doesn't make it any less awesome, and it doesn't mean I think reading it is bad or anything like that :P

[capriciousreadr]

Aww, Dewey. I was reading some of your old reviews and saw her comments. :\ I was looking at King Rat by China Mieville, btw.

Anywho, you should read Plain Janes. I think you would enjoy it and somewhere perhaps it would make Dewey happy as well. :)

[be_themoon]

There's Gail Simone, of course. While I have issues with some of her stuff and views, she's also done a lot of great things for female characters in comics.

Rashida Jones recently co-wrote a miniseries, Frenemy of the State. I quite enjoyed it.

Artist-wise, I LOVE love love Amy Reeder's work, and Amanda Connor's is quite good too. Amy Reeder did all the art for a gorgeous Vertigo series on Madame Xanadu - the writing was good and the art was to die for.