Reading and Language 17 Sep 2006 01:58 pm
Because all knowledge is contained…
Something I love about Aaron, owner of The Dreaming comic book shop, is that I can walk up to him and ask, as I did yesterday, “So, can you recommend anything with a really good story that isn’t a bunch of sexist twaddle? Because I have reached my limit with the sexist twaddle.” And he does not twitch and cover his groin; he laughs loudly and knows exactly what I’m talking about. That “Friends of Lulu” sticker on the front door tipped me off, years ago, that this was a cool comic book store for women.
Unfortunately, I’m already reading all the stuff that came to mind: Finder (my very favorite) , Mouse Guard, Castle Waiting, Polly and the Pirates, Y: The Last Man, and Fables were some of the more-or-less current titles we mentioned. I might also have mentioned Astro City and Scary Godmother. They’re not exactly current now, but I loved Transmetropolitan, Amy Unbounded and Hopeless Savages. I also like what I’ve seen from Andi Watson.
So, I’m looking for some new titles, not necessarily written from an explicitly feminist point of view, but necessarily written from an implicitly feminist point of view: you know, the radical belief that women are people. I’m not looking to be empowered; I manage that perfectly well on my own. I’m just looking to be entertained without being thoroughly annoyed. I haven’t yet found any shôjo manga that I’ve found particularly riveting, but it’s probably out there. Mostly, though, my tastes tend to run to independent, Western, creator-owned titles. Stuff for kids is fine, as long as it’s intelligent.
Any recommendations?
on 17 Sep 2006 at 4:08 pm 1.Josh said …
There’s Scott Pilgrim, but we’re already reading that, too.
on 17 Sep 2006 at 7:38 pm 2.Kathleen said …
I don’t know if you count graphic novels, but have you read Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home yet?
on 17 Sep 2006 at 9:49 pm 3.Savannah said …
Have you already read Girl Genius? I can’t remember… (Adventure, Romance, Mad Science in an alternate Victorian Europe where Mad Scientists rule the world, but not very carefully). I used to work for the authors and they’re fabulous people. You can read it free at girlgeniusonline.com and of course there are also graphic novels (5 of them). The author of Finder is very fond of Girl Genius, you might like it as well.
Friends of Lulu was actually of two minds about the first Girl Genius graphic novel, quite honestly, as the story pretty much starts on the worst day of the heroine’s life; she doesn’t spring fully formed from Zeus’s thigh and they were impatient.
on 17 Sep 2006 at 9:57 pm 4.Cam Sculpin said …
Darn, I’ve read both of those and should have mentioned them. Also Dykes to Watch Out For.
But thank you for recommending them! I recommend them too!
on 18 Sep 2006 at 6:48 am 5.McJulie said …
You didn’t mention it, but I bet you have already read Persepolis, and if you haven’t, do so. Jill Thompson wrote an adorable girl power Death Manga. I think she was planning to do more.
Oh, and Goth House? Have you heard of that?
on 18 Sep 2006 at 6:48 am 6.Brian said …
Re: Comics with brains and real people.
In general I find Warren Ellis’ creations are very well-balanced. For example, Planetary, although lacking female characters as front-and-center as Transmet, shows women as their own bosses, equal partners, and co-conspirators.
In the same vein, Robert Kirkman, writing Invincible and The Walking Dead, has many of the same sensibilities. Although ‘page-time’ is biased towards the central male character in each, I don’t find that the female characters are window dressing; they are complex people who refuse to hang around just waiting for something to happen to them. Admittedly, one’s angsty teen-superhero, and the other is post-zombie apocalypse, so YMMV.
And, of course there’s Moore’s Promethea. Admittedly, he uses it as a platform for his discourse on the tradition of Western magic, but the characters are very strong. The issues where he dissects the roles of the sexes (both traditional and real) in such practice, are illuminating, to say the least. That, and the comic’s just gorgeous (jaw-droppingly so at times).
on 18 Sep 2006 at 7:58 am 7.Karen said …
We’ve been enjoying Little Scrowlie quite a bit, when we can find it (Lovecraft, scrowly cats, and fashion zombies - yay!). And I’ve just become addicted to Scary-Go-Round, but since you’re the one who recommended it to me, it would seem like something of a cheap shot to recommend it back.
on 19 Sep 2006 at 2:27 pm 8.Joy said …
If you want to borrow Promethia, I have the first few bound collections. Of course that will require me finding them or figuring out who I lent them to at the moment.
Also Persipolis (sp?) which I can actually lay my hands on right this minute. Question: did the Dreaming move physically? I swear I went to go by there and couldn’t find them, but I could be confused, too. Where are they located?
on 22 Sep 2006 at 3:32 pm 9.Administrator said …
Thanks, folks!
The Dreaming is at 5226 University Way N.E.; it’s a small shop that isn’t all that easy to see. Look for the big white boards in the windows with comic strip characters on them — not so much the caped crusaders, but Spider Jerusalem, Milk and Cheese, etc.
on 23 Sep 2006 at 11:57 am 10.naomi said …
Have you read Jason Lutes’ Berlin series? Also, his Jar of Fools is another great story. There are some intelligent female characters, and Lutes’ illustration style captures so much emotion with just pen & ink.