READING LIST: A Field Guide to Fifteen Feminist Comics

[ed2962]

I just started reading Velvet, but I'd definitely add it to this list. It's particularly notable for being an action series starring a middle aged woman. Intelligently written, layered personality...

[ed2962]

How is "Scarlet" not on this list? She is a one woman revolution in and of herself Attachment 3239

Just my opinion but Scarlet started out really strong, but then ran off the rails by the last issue. Is Bendis ever going to finish it?

[KatyaKatKate]

Just my opinion but Scarlet started out really strong, but then ran off the rails by the last issue. Is Bendis ever going to finish it?

I am guessing that he has dropped to a "one issue per year" kind of timetable...which is really sad, because this series has a lot of potential...but I would love to know where he is going with it. I am *hoping* that it approves. *fingers crossed*

[afrocarter]

I'm surprised to see how many of these are written by men.

I hear ya. On the one hand, it's encouraging to see men able to write balanced & authentic female characters -- but on the other hand, it would be nice to see more women creators out there.

[ed2962]

I am guessing that he has dropped to a "one issue per year" kind of timetable...which is really sad, because this series has a lot of potential...but I would love to know where he is going with it. I am *hoping* that it approves. *fingers crossed*

Bendis has done other work with Alex so it's hard for me to believe they couldn't get their schedules together. I wonder if it's a matter sales, lack of interest of creators, or lack of support from the company...I'm just speculating.

[Crazy Diamond]

That's an interesting list. Another comic to check out is the Aya series by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie. I bought the first collection (Aya) about two years ago and enjoyed it very much. It's about the life of a young teenager living in the Ivory Coast during the seventies. I also enjoyed what I read of the Bitchy Bitch comics by Roberta Gregory. That was from a series called Naughty Bits by Fantagraphics.

[TroubleWithTrebles]

The 2960s Euro comic Satanik. Badly adapted to film.

[DarkBeast]

Great list. Yeah, it's "basic" or whatever, but you pretty much hit on all the things that should be in a top 15 or 20.

Also, I feel like something from '80s Marvel should be represented. Claremont wrote a ton of great X-Woman solo stories; yeah they're dated in some ways, but still pretty important, I think. Lot of girls got into comics reading them. And Elektra: Assassin.

Feminism will soon defeat anti-feminism.

Er, I wouldn't say that until tanks are rolling into Saudi Arabia.

[Pinsir]

Er, I wouldn't say that until tanks are rolling into Saudi Arabia.

The feminist death robots are already built. We are simply waiting for the proper time...

[pools]

In addition to what's already been mentioned, Tank Girl and Martha Washington.

[t hedge coke]

Not that there aren't some fine comics on there, but some of those seem pretty specious to me. Death: Time of Your Life? Because it's got women?

That seriously beat out any Trina Robbins, Jo Duffy, Annie Nocenti, Marjorie Liu, Melinda Gebbie, Carla Speed McNeil, Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse, or any issue of Wimmen's Comix?

"Red Sonja is both feminine and bloodthirsty..." Because we all know that in discussing a feminist comic, it's important to clarify that feminine is very different than bloodthirsty, which is... well, that other thing. Except, you know, obviously, here, it's a quality of a woman.

I love some Fraction, Kelly, Gaiman... a lot of these guys, but seriously. Still, ten years ago, half the list would've been Chris Claremont.

[King Of All Nerds]

I read Saga, Sex Criminals & Rat Queens. I'm not a feminist, I just like good comics.

[Cryptid]

It's strange that this list glosses over major figures like Phoebe Gluckner, Lynda Barry, and Alison Bechdel. The graphic memoir doesn't begin and end with Persepolis after all!

Meanwhile, it's hard to decide what to do with Neil Gaiman on a list like this. Death is probably the wrong choice, in that the title character is a manic pixie dream girl rather than a character with much interiority. She's there to fix our depressive hero with her relentless pep and charming eccentricities. A chunk of Sandman would make more sense, where you actually have things like female focal characters with arcs.

[Cryptid]

The feminist death robots are already built. We are simply waiting for the proper time...

The launch code is #yesallrobots. Throw the switch the next time Rogue hooks up with Magneto. That is the last straw.

[ed2962]

It's strange that this list glosses over major figures like Phoebe Gluckner, Lynda Barry, and Alison Bechdel. The graphic memoir doesn't begin and end with Persepolis after all!

Meanwhile, it's hard to decide what to do with Neil Gaiman on a list like this. Death is probably the wrong choice, in that the title character is a manic pixie dream girl rather than a character with much interiority. She's there to fix our depressive hero with her relentless pep and charming eccentricities. A chunk of Sandman would make more sense, where you actually have things like female focal characters with arcs.

Maybe something like A Doll's House would fit better?