Movie Reviews for Writers: She Makes Comics

 

Some movies tell stories. Some movies teach. Some movies inspire. Some movies really (we're here to) pump you up. And some fortunate flicks manage to do all of that. 

While being a straight-up documentary, She Makes Comics is also the biographic story of the changing role of women in an industry that is largely considered THE home of the adolescent male fantasy trope.

I'll admit I haven't reviewed a lot of documentaries for this series of movies about authors, but so many of them suffer from being so scholarly that they don't really hit the proper cylinders for the mass market viewer. Well, this one overcomes that potential pitfall admirably. In fact, the director, Marisa Stotter, actually addresses than in an online interview with Bleeding Cool: 

"The trouble with a documentary that tries to span a long period of time is avoiding the 'classroom movie syndrome,' where you're throwing a lot of facts at the viewer and little of it has any emotional resonance. So we tried to find the middle ground between demonstrating the breadth of women's involvement in comics and highlighting particular women's stories that we felt were representative of the major milestones of comics history."

The real beauty of this documentary is not that it just has something to say not just about (and for) writers but about (and for) readers as well. In fact, historically, prior to the comics code pretty much reducing comics to a single market -- super heroes -- the readership was about 55 percent female. Quite an accomplishment. Now, that's a time when comics might be anything from westerns to sci-fi to horror to crime to romance to, yes, even superheroes, and women enjoyed them as much as men. The advent of the comics code pretty much wiped out a lot of the non-costumed hero books (either for being unsavory with all that kissing or all those creepy ghoulies and those violent goons with guns), and with them went that high percentage of female readers. 

Of course, that started to change again when a certain young editor, Karen Berger, climbed the ladder at DC and was allowed to start her own imprint, Vertigo Comics, for the company, an imprint renowned for opening its doors for more diverse topics and creators. 

And since then, the market and comics publishing world has continued to change and be a lot more welcoming to female artists and writers and editors. 

All the greats you'd expect are here: Louise Simonson, Trina Robbins, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Gail Simone, Marjorie Liu, Karen Berger, Jenette Jahn, Colleen Doran, Amy Chu, Jill Thompson, Wendy Pin, Nancy Collins, Ramona Fradon, G. Willow Wilson, Ann Nocenti, Felicia Henderson, and more. Their stories are tales of struggle, tales of endurance, and most important, tales of triumph. 

If there's a writer's theme to this film, it's this -- persevere. Stick it out. Chase the dream. Even when -- no, especially when -- the whole world stands against you and tells you it's pointless. 

Without women who chose to live that theme, well, this documentary wouldn't exist, and neither would so, so, so many of the industries favorite titles and characters. 

It works for comic books. And it works for major publishing houses. And it works for mid-size and indie houses too. 

It works for women. But it also works for all disenfranchised writers. Even you guys who can't get a leg up. It's not a gender thing. It's a keep at it thing. Write. Write some more, and then when you feel it's not getting you anywhere, keep at it and write even more. 

She writes comics. But you write what you write. And it'll take perseverance from you too, my friends.

10 Comic Books by Women You Really, Really Need to Read!

Fantastic creator-owned or non-mainstream comic books written by women who aren't Gail Simone (not that there's anything wrong with Gail, but she'd be the first to tell you she's far from the only mondo-talented woman in comic books). These are books from a few years ago and books from now, and books from even more than a few years ago still worth reading...

The Book of Mer -- Afua Richardson

Simply, breathtakingly beautiful book. Perhaps one of the finest comics artists working today. Afua has done beautiful work for others, and it's a joy to see her telling her original mermaid story here. 

Monstress -- Marjorie Liu

Another epic tale of looking past the surface of situations and people. This dark fantasy is full of longing and wonder. 

Pretty Deadly -- Kelly Sue DeConnick

Cerebral, oddball fantasy that really crosses a lot of genres. It's a sci-fi, western, fantasy, dystopian, utopian nightmare as only Kelly Sue can create it.

Grindhouse/Grindhouse Drive-In, Bleed Out -- Alex De Campi

Perhaps the best anthology to come out since the old Witching Hour and House of Secrets/Mysteries books. A little bit of many genres cover covered, from horror to sci-fi to exploitation to you name it, and all with the best kind of drive-in style.

Go-Girl -- Trina Robbins

People who said there weren't any fun, awesome books for girls must have never seen this phenomenal book. She flies, that's it, but it's also a story about kids and parents, generational issues, fun adventures, and super cute art. 

Peepland -- Christa Faust

Perhaps her only bio says it best, "A Veronica in a world of Bettys." And it shows. Any work Christa touches feels the special kind of grimy only she can deliver. But it's totally the best kind of grimy. 

Lady Killer -- Joëlle Jones

This is the pulpy masterpiece I wish I had written. Housewife by day, assassin by night. She can bring home the bacon and kill her prey with a pan. The weaker sex?! I don't think so. 

Relative Heroes -- Devon Grayson

Fun, super-hero action that really deserved broader attention. Grayson's super-powered family of adolescents tours the DC Universe and learns to get along with each other, It's the super hero version of "ohana means family."

Cairo -- G. Willow Wilson

Writing a book this good is how you land sweet Ms. Marvel and Wonder Woman gigs. Breathtaking story. Beautiful art. Literature told in pictures. One of the best graphics to come out in years. 

Elfquest -- Wendy Pini

The original and still the highpoint for classic fantasy comic books. I originally didn't include this on the list because I figured it was already so well known. 

[Link] Women Who Conquered the Comics World

by Lisa Hix

The day after she returns from the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International, comics icon Trina Robbins sits down with me outside at a café just around the corner from her home in San Francisco’s Castro District. As we talk and eat, trains from the Muni Metro railway come thundering by. Robbins’ partner, Steve Leialoha, a comic artist for Marvel and an inker for the DC/Vertigo series “Fables,” arrives fresh from Comic Con with his bags and joins us at the table for half an hour or so.

“When I got to San Francisco in 1970, I discovered that maybe it was the mecca of underground comix for the guys, but not for the girls.”

As both a comics creator and historian, Robbins is particularly interested in the unknown history of female cartoonists and the ways they were celebrated and thwarted throughout the last century. Late last year, Robbins published a Fantagraphics book called Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists, 1896-2013, and now, the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco is presenting an exhibition of Robbins’ personal collection based on the book.

The subject is particularly relevant right now, given that new comic-book-based movies are hitting the big screen every few months, yet not a single one has revolved around a female hero. Marvel has taken bold steps by making a Pakistani American teen the new Ms. Marvel, in a comic-book series written by a woman, and turning Thor into a woman in its upcoming revamp of the series. At the same time, the major publisher raised feminist ire with a sexualized variant cover of its new Spider-Woman series. If a woman had drawn Spider-Woman instead of a man, it’s unlikely she would have sacrificed the hero’s comfort and mobility in favor of an erotic pose.

Robbins knows something about the glass ceiling for women cartoonists because she first hit it herself in the early 1970s, when she tried to join the male-dominated “underground comix” movement based in San Francisco. After the men cartoonists shut her out, Robbins joined forces with other women cartoonists to create their own women’s-lib comic books. She went on to become a well-respected mainstream comic artist and writer, as well as a feminist comics critic who’s written myriad nonfiction books on the subject of great women cartoonists and the powerful female characters they created. Naturally, Robbins has spent some time hunting down the original cartoons from the women who paved the way for her career, and as luck would have it, she found the very first comic strip ever drawn by a woman, “The Old Subscriber Calls” by Rose O’Neill, practically in her backyard.

Read the full article: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/women-who-conquered-the-comics-world/