My “There Should Be More Female Protagonists in Children’s Movies” Rant

Please visit my new blog location to read all-new articles and reviews, including my recent post about why there should be more female leads in children's movies. GO HERE 

Ms.Comix Is Moving!

Ms.Comix is making the transition from Blogger to Wordpress. Very soon, I will only be updating the Wordpress blog, so be sure to sign up for Ms.Comix email notifications on the other site! Expect even more great content about women in comics, comic writing, and breaking into the comic industry.


Visit the new Ms.Comix here. 

Review and Rating of Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon

http://athenavoltaire.blogspot.com/

Artist: Steve Bryant

Writer: Paul Daly

Color: Chad Fidler and Jason Millet with Kevin Volo

Publisher: Ape Entertainment

Athena Voltaire is Indian Jones meets Xena. This air racer-turned-actress-turned-businesswoman doesn’t let her feelings get in the way of shooting bad guys and throwing sticks of dynamite while flying an airplane. Not surprisingly, the plot and side characters are a little hokey, but I’m writing this review to tell you that you should read this comic anyway. Athena lives up to her namesake’s intelligence and fighting prowess. First and foremost, Athena’s personality (and, at least for me, the fact that she’s not wearing a leather suit) compels the reader, so much so, one’s willing to forget about a couple Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-esque skeletons and a Nazi on the hunt for a secret tribal relic with untold powers (reminding one immediately of the latest Captain America movie). She is surrounded by a motley crew of side characters, including a female Nazi major (who, it seems, has a personal vendetta against Voltaire), two burley cutthroats, a holy man, and a slew of other equally diverse friends and enemies.

The artwork is vivid in full color that adheres to no particular scheme. Bright, bold sound effects in varying fonts give the comic a superhero quality, which adds to the panel after panel of action scenes. The panels are simple, allowing the reader to focus on the artwork within them. The writer uses two types of captions: third person captions to inform the reader of place and time and captions used to denote speech “spillover.” This “spillover” occurs when dialog from a character continues into a panel in which he or she is not present. This caption technique is unique to comics and adds layers, through juxtaposition, to a scene.  The creators of this comic also incorporate a scrapbook-style montage to tell Athena’s background story without wasting a ton of space. This background information was relevant in that it provides the reader with insight into Athena’s character, but since it does not directly move the plot, I’m glad it was not a space-sucking element.

Ultimately, Athena Voltaire is a very enjoyable read, especially if one is in need of a break from male dominated superhero comics but still desires some physics-defying action.

Rating: (see more information here about Ms.Comix’ rating system)

% Panels Devoted to Women

Too many to count. Let’s just say 98%

Women in Action

«««Women often participate in plot-moving action

The comics called Athena Voltaire after all.

Women as Leaders

«««Women often lead the other characters

Athena is in charge of them all.

Woman as Sex Objects

«««Women are depicted as sexy, but their allure does not define their purpose as prominent, plot-moving characters in the comic.

Yes, Athena is hot, but she does so much nonstop ass-kicking, it’s no surprise she’s in shape.

Men Deviating from Male Stereotypes

««Men sometimes deviate from male stereotypes of a logical mind, rationality, and lack of expression and empathy.

Most notably, the British archeologist at the beginning of the story has a hard time understanding how flippantly Athena shoots (and blows up) her enemies.

Something to ponder: How can modern writers tackle the challenge of setting a comic in a historical time period without marginalizing women (as so often occurred throughout most of history)?

Female Comic Writers Represent!

Read this article about Sara Varon's graphic novel "Bake Sale." It's a comic about a cupcake who owns a bakery and plays in a band with his best friend Eggplant. For kids and adults alike. Buy it here.  Female comic writers represent!

Ms. CEO and the Value Perceiver Issue# 1: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

The first of Ms. CEO's adventures in the dog-eat-dog world of business.

Ms. CEO and the Value Perceiver

Issue #1: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

written by Angie Spoto

Page One

Splash page with large long panel on top and small panels below. Title scrolled atop the first long panel.

PANEL 1: Ms. CEO, wearing a black pantsuit, sits at her desk. She has enticing, dark brown curls and a pale complexion, but the seriousness in her eyes and posture betray no vain interest in her sex appeal. Behind her, through the expansive wall of windows, we see Chicago skyscrapers. Clearly, we’re up high. A plaque on Ms. CEO’s desk reads, “Jenna Moorehead, CEO of Moorehead Holdings Inc.” The phone on the desk is ringing.

SOUND EFFECT: Brrring, bring

PANEL 2: Ms. CEO pushes a button on the phone.

MS. CEO: Yes?

SECRETARY (MALE): Ms. Moorehead, Sarah Spoto from merchandising is here to see you.

MS. CEO: Go ahead and let her in, David.

PANEL 3: David, a cute blond young man, well dressed, opens the door for Sarah Spoto, the Value Perceiver. In this panel we are viewing the scene from outside Ms. CEO’s office, which we only catch a glimpse of through the door.

DAVID: Go right in, Ms. Spoto.

VALUE PERCEIVER: Thank you.

Page Two

PANEL 1: The VP closes the door behind her. She’s dressed casually and more colorfully than Ms. CEO. She wears black Capri pants and a purple silk button down with a tan and black Ferragamo silk scarf. Her shoes are classic Ferragamo black bow flats. She is shorter than Ms. CEO, with short brown hair and an olive complexion. She is lively and on-task.

MS. CEO: Please tell me you’re just here to report a decrease in employee productivity.

THE VP: I wish that were all. I’ve found ample evidence to suggest Ceiling’s got spies planted in our midst.

PANEL 2: Close up on Ms. CEO. Her eyebrows are knitted together. She’s standing powerfully and leaning into the desk with her fists balled up and planted on either side of her. Her hair looks just a little more unruly.

MS. CEO: I feared it’d come to this. We shouldn’t fire them, should we? They’re Moorehead employees after all, and it would be against company policy…

PANEL 3: Side view of the VP, standing with her arms crossed in front of Ms. CEO’s desk, and Ms. CEO staring at each other.

THE VP: It’s our duty to uphold company policy. But we can’t let this slide.

MS. CEO: Yes. We need to figure out what Ceiling is up to, and stop him before it’s too late. He’s notorious for cutting corners, and when he finds out our secret business model, he’s sure to take it for himself—

THE VP: and create a monster, a poorly run insincere company based on a stolen model. No! We’ve got to stop this.

PANEL 4: Close up on Ms. CEO.

MS. CEO: Looks like Jenna Moorehead and Sarah Spoto are taking work off early today.

PANEL 5: Close up on the VP. A strand of hair has fallen out of place and into her eyes.

THE VP: and Ms. CEO and the Value Perceiver are checking in early!

Page Three

Each of the following panels are cut in half by a jagged line, representing Ms. CEO on the left and the VP on the right.

PANEL 1L: Close up on profile of Ms. CEO.

PANEL 1R: Close up on profile of the VP.

PANEL 2L: Close up on what looks like money woven together.

PANEL 2R: Close up on one of the VP’s shoes, which has grown razor-thin heel.

CAPTION 1: Show!

PANEL 3L: Close up on credit cards layered together in a rounded shape.

PANEL 3R: Close up on the Ferragamo scarf, which is now braided into a lasso.

CAPTION 1: Me!

PANEL 4L: Close up on part of Ms. CEO’s arm, which is bent at her elbow, suggesting hand on hip, and half of her torso. She is now wearing a tighter-fitting pant suit. It looks to be made of spandex.

PANEL 4R: Close up on the same part of the VP. Her silk top is also now spandex, as are her black pants.

CAPTION: 1: The!

PANEL 5 (long panel at the bottom): Ms. CEO in full attire: spandex pant suit, money cape, credit card shield, a head band with a dollar sign in the middle. She stands beside the VP: spandex suit, scarf lasso, kick ass heels. They both stand in front of the glass windows.

MS. CEO: Money!

Page Four

PANEL 1: Ms. CEO is looking out at the street below. The VP stands beside her.

MS. CEO: Alright, Value Perceiver, what’s our strategy?

THE VP: I know which employees are Ceiling spies. We follow one, and he’ll lead us straight to Ceiling’s secret headquarters.

PANEL 2: Bird’s eye view of the street below.

PANEL 3: Zoom in to get a closer view of the street. We begin to make out the features of people and cars.

PANEL 4: Zoom in further onto a man walking down the sidewalk. He’s got red hair and wears a white button down with a blue tie.

PANEL 5: Ms. CEO and the VP are hiding in an ally, their backs pressed against the brick wall. The red-haired man walks passed.

PANEL 6: The red-haired man walks into a movie theater. Ms. CEO and the VP look at each other.

MS. CEO: This might be it.

THE VP: Or else he just wanted to catch a movie at his lunch break.

PANEL 7: View inside the theater of Ms. CEO and the VP stepping inside. The lobby is dim. A cardboard cutout of James Bond holding a gun casts an eerie shadow across the floor.

MS. CEO: He walked through that door.

THE VP: Ceiling’s got the upper ground. Let’s see if we can gain some ground ourselves.

PANEL 8: The VP places two fingers to her temple. Her eyes are narrowed, and she is frowning.

Page Five

PANEL 1: This panel has squiggly edges. We see dull shapes of what looks like a man talking to another man behind a desk. The words are scrolled across the entire panel, so we cannot see much of the image behind.

DISEMBODIED VOICE 1: I’ve located the plans, Mr. Ceiling.

DISEMBODIED VOICE 2: Good, good. We shall enact them by tonight and announce our new business model to our stockholders by midnight.

PANEL 2: Close up on the VP, eyes wide.

PANEL 3: Ms. CEO is crouching behind the James Bond cutout with the VP. Ms. CEO has her arm around the VP’s shoulders.

MS. CEO: What did you find?

THE VP: Ceiling’s got our model!

PANEL 4: Ms. CEO is standing with her hands on her hips. The money sign on her headband glistens.

MS. CEO: We’ll show him how an efficient business is run!

PANEL 5: Mr. Glass Ceiling is sitting as his desk, smiling and with fingers steepled. He has a long face and closely cropped hair. He wears a suit with a  red tie.

PANEL 6: View from inside Mr. Ceiling’s office. The door is breaking open, splintering. We see Ms. CEO’s shield breaking through the door.

PANEL 7: Mr. Ceiling is standing up behind his desk and holding a tube of papers that contain the plans. He looks taken aback. The red-haired man is standing off to the side. He especially looks startled and frightened.

Page Six

PANEL 1: Ms. CEO and the Value Perceiver are standing in front of Mr. Ceiling’s desk. Ms. CEO is in her trademark hands on hips pose. The VP is swinging her lasso scarf above her head.

MS. CEO: Hand over the plans, Glass Ceiling, or things are gonna get messy!

PANEL 2: Mr. Ceiling has his arms crossed, and he’s smiling.

CEILING: You could have been a polite young lady and called to make an appointment. No need to burst through the door.

PANEL 3: Close up on the VP, her eyes are narrowed angrily.

THE VP: Don’t you dare disrespect us, Ceiling. You know very well what we’re capable of.

PANEL 4: The red-haired man pulls out a gun and aims it at Ms. CEO.

PANEL 5: The VP’s lasso wraps around the gun.

PANEL 6: The gun smashes into Ceiling’s desk with such power that the desk folds in the middle, sending splinters everywhere. Mr. Ceiling shields his eyes with an arm.

THE VP (off panel): The plans, Ceiling. Now!

PANEL 7: Ceiling looks down at his broken desk and smiles. The red haired man now holds the plans.

CEILING 1: ha ha ha

CEILING 2: You ladies sure are a bunch of fun. Now what makes you think I’d hand over the plans to you two?

PANEL 8: Close up on Ms. CEO. Her headband is glistening.

MS. CEO: Because we’re the only ones powerful enough to stand up to you. And those plans are ours!

Page Seven

PANEL 1: Close up on Ceiling, smirking. His eyes have darkened.

CEILING 1: I can’t entrust you with these plans. You just simply don’t have the innate strength…logic…intuition to enact them properly.

CEILING 2: You must see where I’m coming from.

PANEL 2: Ms. CEO and the VP are looking at each other, concerned. The VP’s lasso hangs loosely at her side. Ms. CEO’s shield is also hanging loosely.

THE VP: We don’t…

MS. CEO: Maybe he’s…

PANEL 3: Close up on Ms. CEO’s face. Her eyebrows are knitted together. She’s frowning.

MS. CEO: …right. We did see a decrease in productivity last quarter.

PANEL 4: Close up on Mr. Ceiling, his arms folded smugly across his chest.

CEILING: That’s right. Just leave the men’s work to the men.

PANEL 5: Close up again on Ms. CEO’s face.

MS. CEO: Yes, the men’s work…to the…

PANEL 6 (this panel has rounded edges, it’s a memory panel): A young Ms. CEO smiles while is handed a diploma.

PANEL 7 (rounded): A slightly older Ms. CEO shakes hands with a man in a suit.

MAN: Congratulations, Ms. Moorehead, the company is proud to have you.

PANEL 8 (rounded): David the secretary opens the door to Ms. CEO’s office and ushers her in.

DAVID: Welcome to your new office, chief!

Page Eight

PANEL 1: Ms. CEO’s eyes widen and she scowls fiercely.

MS. CEO: No! I’ve worked too hard to get here!

PANEL 2: Ms. CEO throws her credit card shield at Ceiling. Her curls are wild and her cape flows out behind her. We see the VP in the background. She looks like she’s nursing a headache.

PANEL 3: The shield slams into Ceiling’s stomach and sends him into the wall behind.

PANEL 4: The VP grabs the plans in the tube from the red-haired man who is attempting to make a break for it.

PANEL 5: MS. CEO stands over Ceiling, who is lying in the rubble of his desk.

MS. CEO: I almost believed you, Ceiling, but your sticky words are no threat to a strong woman like myself.

PANEL 6: Ms. CEO looks over her shoulder at the VP, who is holding the plans.

MS. CEO: Got the plans, Value Perceiver?

THE VP: They’re all ours now, Ms. CEO.

PANEL 7: Ms. CEO looks down at her watch.

MS. CEO: Good, we have just enough time to make the two o’ clock meeting.

PANEL 8: Ms. CEO steps through the broken door and looks over her shoulder at Ceiling.

MS. CEO: I hope you learned your lesson, Ceiling. Never mess with Ms. CEO!

Page Nine

PANEL 1: Ms. CEO is back in her office. She is bent over paperwork. It’s a normal day in the office. The phone on her desk in ringing.

SOUND EFFECT: Brrring, bring

PANEL 2: Ms. CEO pushes the button on the phone.

MS. CEO: Yes, David?

DAVID: Ms. Moorehead, Sarah Spoto is here to see you.

MS. CEO: Tell her to just walk right through that door.

PANEL 2: The VP walks through Ms. CEO’s office door. She’s looking grim.

PANEL 3: Pull out to view the entirety of Ms. CEO’s office from a semi-bird’s eye view.

MS. CEO: Please tell me this just another productivity issue.

THE VP: I’m sorry, I can’t do that.

PANEL 4: Close up of the VP, frowning.

PANEL 5: Close up of the VP smiling, and revealing a bottle of champagne that was hidden behind her back.

THE VP: No problems at all to report!

PANEL 6: MS. CEO stands up at her desk and smiles widely.

MS. CEO: Thank goodness.

PANEL 7: Ms. CEO and the VP toast.

THE VP: To breaking the Glass Ceiling.

MS. CEO: To shattering the Glass Ceiling!

PANEL 8: Close up on the phone ringing.

SOUND EFFECT: Brrring, bring

PANEL 9: Ms. CEO’s headband, which is partially sticking out of a desk drawer, glistens.

Comics Do it Better

Read my reivew of Becky Cloonan's short comic "Wolves" at The Lit Pub. The Lit Pub combines the convience of Amazon.com with the personality of a quirky small bookstore.

How to Make a Comic from Script to Print

Sarah Spoto │Contributing writer.

So, one person writes and draws a comic…right? And everything is drawn by hand…isn’t it?

You wouldn’t be alone if you were unsure about how a comic is actually made. Recently, I attended a lecture at the Chicago Comic Con that cleared up a lot of misconceptions about creating comics or graphic novels. Here’s what I learned.

Comics are written in a sort of assembly line process.

1. To start, the writer must first write the story. The script resembles a movie screen play. There are two generally accepted scripts: the Marvel method and the Traditional full script method. For the Marvel method, the writer will break the action down page-by-page. She provides a general description of what is happening on a page. This method gives the artist greater autonomy over how to execute the story. For the Tradition full-script , the artist describes the action panel-by-panel. For this method, the writer provides a high level of detail to guide the artist.

Both Marvel and DC have samples of scripts to download. Writers also offer samples of their work on their websites. Another resource for scripts is the book Panel One, which provides examples of real comic scripts. Another suggestion is to write to comic companies to send scripts.

2. After the story is written, the script is given to the penciler, who then draws what the writer has described. Before computers, the penciler would pass the comic on to the letterer. Traditionally, the letterer adds the text to the comic by hand. However, today the lettering is done on the computer usually by the inker. The comic is traditionally drawn 66% larger that actual size of the final comic.

3. The inker scans the pages and inks over the pencil. This is process is usually done now on the computer with programs like Photoshop.

4. In the fourth step, the colorist either colors in the Xerox copy of the comic or colors the comic in digitally. Photoshop is a common software for coloring.

5. Finally, the comic can be printed.

How can writers or artists get their work published?

As a writer, it can be very tough to break into the comic industry. Breaking in is actually easier for artists. For submission, writers should submit a paragraph of an idea as a sample. Writers really must sell their idea to find success.

When submitting, avoid the big guys, Marvel and DC. Instead visit your local comic shop and look at the independent comics for smaller, independent comic companies.

Webcomics are also on the rise. Publishing independently on the web is a good way for writers and artists to get their comics read.

Sarah is an art and business student who enjoys the occasional graphic novel and the more than occasional Marvel hero movie.

Abandoning Feminsim: Does feminism’s radical image hinder the movement?

"It’s the new F-word: It’s taboo, it’s stigmatized, and its use has serious implications. Feminism is so dirtied with images of man-hating, bra-burning radicals that even the most liberal of people hesitate to label themselves as such."  -Abandoning Feminism

Read the article here!

A Comic Strip You Need to Know About

I found the Wonderella comic strip after my amazing twin sister dressed up as Rogue, coerced a friend to dress as Jean Grey, and attended the Chicago Comicon in my stead. She gave Justin Pierce, the creator of Wonderella, my card, he emailed me, and next thing you know I'm sitting in my room alone shamelessly laughing aloud at this comic. I'd like to share it with you now, so when you're taking a break from groaning and/or screaming at the politicians on the news, you can have something to laugh at. 

Check This Out, Especially If Your Day Has Sucked So Far.

Add This To Your Bookshelf

Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers

http://www.amazon.com/Panel-One-Comic-Scripts-Writers/dp/0971633800

Tell someone you’re writing a graphic novel, and you’ll probably hear a response like this, “I didn’t know you could draw!” And then you’ll have to explain, “Actually, I’m writing a graphic novel. A graphic novel script.” Show them Panel One, which includes graphic novel scripts from numerous writinger such as Neil Gaimen. Graphic novel scripts are harder to come by than screenplays, so Panel One is a valuable addition to the new comic writer’s bookshelf.

Interview with Comic Artist Jenny Gonzalez-Blitz

Jenny Gonzalez-Blitz, dubbed by my Gmail account as Jenny DevilDoll, is one hot comic artist. Yes, that was a pun because, “Too Negative,” one of Jenny’s long-time works is a collection of comic strips and mini comics set in a halfway house in hell. She does a bunch of other stuff too (a renaissance woman, like a female comic artist version of Benjamin Franklin) like non-comic art, a graphic novel, and experimental noise collaboration. Read on for some words from Jenny.

Tell us a little about “Too Negative.”

"Too Negative" is about a group of indigent devils and other creatures who live Hell's Halfway House. I don't know if I could truly call it social satire, since it filters the world into this scenario I would like to see. "Hell" in the comic is a sort of urban but still very wild landscape. I was born in a neighborhood of NYC known as Hell's Kitchen, maybe that's why the idea of reexamining the concept of Hell appeals to me? You hear that Hell is a "bad place", though no one's been there, and I've heard that a number of neighborhoods I've lived in were "bad places".

Where did you come up with such an unusual concept for a comic strip?

I began sketching a lot of the characters and initial strips in early 2001, I was also going through a slow mental breakdown at the time. I just sort of stuck all that together in a mini comic in January of 2002, despite the fact that a lot of it was more fragments of ideas than fully realized comic stories. 

What is your favorite “Too Negative” strip?

That changes a lot, what I like about my work or think could be better. I'm happy with the wordless one, where Dahlia is in this desert and tears out and replaces her heart, and the hummingbird appears from the discarded black one. It was from this vision/hallucinatio

n I had one morning, just played in front of my eyes like a little movie. 

You recently started drawing “Living in La-La Land,” which is an auto-biographical strip about the everyday life of you and your husband. How is creating this strip different than “Too Negative?”

Well, it's a little looser in the drawing style, yet more of a representational depiction of surroundings, the buildings of Brooklyn and such. I also tend to break away from the panel-to-panel comic narrative more because to me life isn't always neat and linear--some days are just a jumbled impression of various things that happened or that I saw.

My mom, a 25 year lawyer, is planning to take her first creative writing class. After writing in a serious, straightforward lawyer tone for years, she’s worried about not being humorous enough. Much of your work has a biting, ironic humor. How did you develop the humor in your writing? Any advice for my mom (and others writers striving ty o be funny)?

I think in my case, it's just my way of coping with my utter disbelief about what's happening, whether it's something the other person is doing, something I'm doing despite myself, coping with mental illness, which can be overwhelming sometimes, despite all the new talk of "dangerous gifts" and such -- I've heard it said that humor has a meanness to it, but at its core it's a bit defensive. Like in our primal tribal brain we're going "If I laugh at the thing that's threatening, it will be less powerful." Hmmm, I'm not sure if that really explains to someone else how to be funny though. 

You mentioned you’re starting the script for a graphic novel. That’s awesome! Is going from writing comic strips to a full out graphic novel daunting? Does your approach to your writing change when you work on a longer piece?

It seems more rife with possibilities. Instead of setup-punchline you can delve into stories and characters. At the same time there's more of an onus to convince them this is worth their time--to publish, to sit and read. With strips it's like, don't like this joke? Here's another one.

You’re not just a comic artist. You do work in art shows and perform with an experimental noise collaboration called Doll Hospital. Can you tell us a little more about these other forms of artistic expression?

I've started painting in the past few years, with both acrylic and watercolor. It's weird how I started at first feeling that some things could be more compelling as standalone images than full comics, and would work better as paintings. And the things that could be done with paints, textures, brushmarks. I've been in some local art shows, most recently my work was in the Underground Howl Festival, which is an annual art event on the Lower East Side, named after Allen Ginsberg's poem. Various galleries participate. 

With Doll Hospital, Eric has been studying percussion since he was a kid, primarily jazz, rock and improvisation. We've both played in rock bands, but with this the focus is on sound creation and spoken word, free form, and vocal intonations. We've performed out a few times, both with other musicians and once just as vocal and percussion. Eric described experimental music to me once as "painting with sound" and it just clicked for me! We're also part of a group (Urchestra) that performs Kurt Schwitter's piece "Ursonate" with sound collaboration. 

Do you ever notice any crossover between your comic art and the other art forms your create?

Yeah, I think there are themes and obsessions that recur in all of them. 

Did you always know you’d like to draw comics, or was your journey to comics a winding one?

I always liked cartoons, I guess I wanted to have my own cartoon series, and drawing comics was a way to do that since I didn't have the means to do animation at the time. I drew derogatory comics to amuse my friends in middle school about the imagined secret lives of the meaner teachers and principal.

Comment upon the current state of women in the comic book industry. Do you think your experience as a female comic artist differs from that of your male peers?

I think there's still sexism in the comics industry and scene, sure, but then again there's still sexism in society at large. I mean recently there's been the controversy about Dan Didio's remarks about hiring women at DC, or Scott Adams' remarks likening women to children or regarding rape, or the whole blowback after Gabby Schulz did that comic about sexism on the internet, resulting in a bunch of online commenters pretty much proving the point of the strip. I know Anne Elizabeth Moore has begun a column over at truthout.org examining discrepancies in the comics industry. Personally I've found that a lot of individual comic creators have been very cool. I've also encountered some of these types of guys in the indy scene--not the bulk of them, but they are there -- who exhibit a lot of hostility towards women but deny that THEY personally are sexist because they personally don't read books where the women have huge breasts and skimpy outfits, therefore they feel their behavior gets a pass.

If you could recommend one comic book, what would it be?

There's so many! But recently Feminist Press put out a short graphic novel on Ana Mendieta (another artist who was Cuban, confrontational, and feminist in her work) called "Who Is Ana Mendieta?" It deals with her work and how it (and that of other woman conceptual artists) was received by the art world at the time, and a bit about her early life and "mysterious"(maybe murder?) death. It's written by Christine Redfern and illustrated by Caro Caron. 

The Quest Begins...

            I just watched Captain America for the second time, and although part of me was consumed with pure joy when viewing the action and solid story arch, another part of me sits in that fancy rocking movie theater chair seething. I sit (and rock, those chairs are so irresistibly rockable)  and wonder:

 “When can I watch a great action movie with a female lead, not romantic interest, damn it!?”

 “Why the hell did Stan Lee write primarily about women? I give him props for creating some of the most renowned and compelling comic heroes, but he kinda screwed us women over by, well, forgetting (or dare I say, ignoring?) us.”

“And why oh why is Black Widow (who happens to be the only female Avenger) the only Avenger without a  solo movie? Newsflash Marvel, I think a huge number of women and men would pay money to see Scarlett Johansson kicking ass in a spandex suit.”

            And this is where I figuratively take a deep breath and let anyone reading this know that I personally take it upon myself to find answers to these questions. I shall look under every rock, in every dusty textbook, and in every digital nook and cranny if I have to find some way of answering the age-old question, “Where are all the women heroes?”

            Want to help me on my quest? Post your ideas below and feel free to include any references you suggest I check out!

Bookmark This

Scott McCloud talks about his journey to comic book creating.

Review and Rating of "Wolves" by Becky Cloonan

http://estrigious.com/becky/

Writer & Artist: Becky Cloonan

Publisher: Self-published

I was drawn to “Wolves,” a short 20 page comic in which the readers follow the story of a hunter on a mission that will change his life, by the beauty and simplicity of the artwork. Happily, the writing follows suit. Cloonan rarely uses dialog, but reveals the depth of the character through first-person captions and compelling full-panel close ups. The plot is sophisticated, employing flashbacks and memories, yet simple. The world of the hunter is depicted as chilling and cold by the sharp lines of the black and white artwork. Cloonan’s panels are expressive as well. Square panels enclose events happening in real time, rounded panels, the past. The last panel on the second page encloses a smaller panel within it, an interesting technique. 

It’s hard to talk about the writing separately from the artwork, since the two work together so closely. This syncing of art and writing is no doubt the result of Cloonan’s work on both aspects. She even self-published the piece, making me re-think my prejudices against self-publishing. The only disappointing elements of "Wolves" are the occasional lack of clarity in artwork and the somewhat cliche fantasy motifs. Nonetheless, it's a lovely read.

% Panels Devoted to Women

11%

Women in Action

˜˜ Women occasionally participate in plot-moving action.

The one female character provides the romantic interest and the personal motivation and internal struggled for the male protagonist.

Women as Leaders

˜Women are followers, not leaders.

The woman in the comic is significant, but her role is passive.

Women as Sex Objects

˜˜Women’s features are over-emphasized. Their sex separates them from male characters, but they do engage in plot-moving action.

Cloonan does a lovely job of creating a sexy female character who isn’t over the top sexual.

Men Deviating from Male Stereotypes

˜˜Men sometimes deviate from the male stereotypes of a logical mind, rationality, lack of expression and empathy.

We’ve got a hunter as a protagonist, so luckily the first-person captions reveal his inner struggles and emotions. This guy’s a fighter and a feeler (Yeah, I made that term up for the sake of alliteration, but you get it, right?)

Something to ponder: As readers, do we expect women writers/artists to create works with female protagonists? Do we, without knowing the gender of an author, assume that books with female leads are written by women?