''Wimmen's Comix'', later titled ''Wimmin's Comix'', is an influential all-female
underground comics
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
published from
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
to
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused more than other anthologies of the time on
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
concerns,
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
,
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
and
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
in general, and
autobiographical comics
An autobiographical comic (also autobio, graphic memoir, or autobiocomic) is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It i ...
. ''Wimmen's Comix'' was a launching pad for many cartoonists' careers, and it inspired other small-press and self-published titles like '' Twisted Sisters'', ''Dyke Shorts'', and ''Dynamite Damsels''.
Each issue of ''Wimmen's Comix'' was edited by a different editor or two editors who shared the job.
Last Gasp
Last Gasp or The Last Gasp may refer to
* Last Gasp (publisher)
* ''Last Gasp'' (''Inside No. 9''), a TV episode
* '' The Last Gasp'', a 2007 album by Impaled
* ''The Last Gasp'' (novel)
* "Last Gasp" (song)
{{dab ...
published the first ten issues; later issues were put out by
Renegade Press
Renegade Press was an American comic book company, founded by Canadian Deni Loubert, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade included ''Flaming Carrot'', '' Ms. Tree'', and ''normalman''.
History
Loubert was publis ...
and then
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press Corporation, Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and Distribution (business), distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and ''Rip Off Comix'', as well as ...
.
Publication history
Antecedents
''Wimmen's Comix'' debuted a few years after the publication of the 1970
one-shot
One shot may refer to:
Film and television
* One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so
* ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake
* ''One Shot'' (2 ...
''
It Ain't Me, Babe
"It Ain't Me Babe" is a song by Bob Dylan that originally appeared on his fourth album ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'', which was released in 1964 by Columbia Records. According to music critic Oliver Trager, this song, along with others on the albu ...
'', the first American comic book entirely produced by women, which was put together by
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
Bitch
Bitch may refer to:
* A female dog or other canine
* Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female
Bitch or bitches may also refer to:
Arts and media Film and television
* ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins
* ''Bitc ...
'' magazine (April 6, 2009). the most prolific and influential of the women cartoonists in the underground scene. ''It Ain't Me Babe'' was a feminist newspaper in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
.Robbins, Trina "Wimmen's Studies" Comix Grrrlz (May 25, 2010). Accessed Sept. 28, 2010. Many of the creators from the ''It Ain't Me Babe'' comic went on to contribute to ''Wimmen's Comix''. Last Gasp, the publisher of ''It Ain't Me Babe'', was the first publisher of ''Wimmen's Comix''.
The collective comes together
Originally, the group behind ''Wimmen's Comix'' was not an official collective, but rather a few women artists who came together with a common interest to create at least one comic that women could get paid to be in, in a male-dominated comix culture.
Issue #1
With
Last Gasp
Last Gasp or The Last Gasp may refer to
* Last Gasp (publisher)
* ''Last Gasp'' (''Inside No. 9''), a TV episode
* '' The Last Gasp'', a 2007 album by Impaled
* ''The Last Gasp'' (novel)
* "Last Gasp" (song)
{{dab ...
agreeing to publish the comic, the first issue appeared in November 1972, edited by musician and artist Patricia Moodian. Contributors to issue #1 included Moodian,
Michele Brand
Michele Wrightson, also known as Michele Brand, was an American artist who worked in the comic book industry. The former wife of underground cartoonist Roger Brand, she started out as an underground comix cartoonist. Later, when she was married to ...
, Lora Fountain,
Aline Kominsky
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (née Goldsmith; August 1, 1948 – November 29, 2022) was an American underground comics artist. Kominsky-Crumb's work, which is almost exclusively autobiographical, is known for its unvarnished, confessional nature. In 201 ...
,
Lee Marrs
Lee Marrs (born September 5, 1945) is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series ''The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp'', which lasted ...
,
Diane Noomin
Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...
,
Sharon Rudahl
Sharon Rudahl (born 1947) is an American comic artist, illustrator and writer. She was one of the first female artists who contributed to the underground comix movement of the early 1970's. In 1972, she was part of the women's collective that fou ...
,
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
, Shelby Sampson, and Janet Wolfe Stanley. Trina Robbins' story "Sandy Comes Out" was the first comic strip featuring an "out"
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
.Kaplan, Arie. ''Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!''. Chicago Review Press, 2006 (), p.86. Marrs' story, "All in a Day's Work," epitomizes how a woman's only leverage in a male-dominated society is to utilize her body to negotiate politics.
''Twisted Sisters'' breakaway
In 1975, after four issues of ''Wimmen's Comix'', regular contributors
Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (née Goldsmith; August 1, 1948 – November 29, 2022) was an American underground comics artist. Kominsky-Crumb's work, which is almost exclusively autobiographical, is known for its unvarnished, confessional nature. In 201 ...
and
Diane Noomin
Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...
left the collective over internal conflicts which were both aesthetic and political;Williams, Paul. ''The Rise of the American Comics Artist: Creators and Contexts'' (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2010), p 139 Kominsky-Crumb later claimed that a large part of the break was related to her own romantic relationship with
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...
, whose comics and personality Robbins particularly objected to.Kominsky-Crumb, Aline. (2007). ''Need More Love''. New York: MQ Publications. .
Noomin and Kominksy subsequently put together '' Twisted Sisters'', a
one-shot
One shot may refer to:
Film and television
* One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so
* ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake
* ''One Shot'' (2 ...
published in June 1976 by Last Gasp which featured their own humorous and "self-deprecating" stories and art.Noomin, Diane. Wimmen's and Comix" a transcript of Noomin's presentation at the 2003 UF Comics Conference. Accessed July 26, 2016. (Many years later, many ''Wimmen's Comix contributors, including Kominsky-Crumb, Noomin, Penny Van Horn,
Carol Tyler
Carol Tyler (born November 20, 1951) is an American painter, educator, comedian, and eleven-time Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical comics. She has received multiple honors for her work including the Cartoonist Studi ...
Phoebe Gloeckner
Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner (born December 22, 1960), is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.
Early life
Gloeckner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a librarian and her father, David Gloeckner, was ...
,
Carol Lay
Carol Lay (born 1952) is an American alternative cartoonist best known for her weekly comic strip, ''Story Minute'' (later to evolve into the strip ''Way Lay''), which ran for almost 20 years in such US papers as the '' LA Weekly'', the ''NY Pres ...
Mary Fleener
Mary Fleener (born September 14, 1951) is an American alternative comics artist, writer and musician from Los Angeles. Fleener's drawing style, which she calls ''cubismo'', derives from the cubist aesthetic and other artistic traditions. Her f ...
, and
Krystine Kryttre
Krystine Kryttre (born 1958) is an American alternative comics artist, painter, animator, writer, and performer from San Francisco. currently based in Los Angeles. Her work is dark, often explicit, and visually distinctive." Her work has been e ...
, were published in ''Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art'' Viking_Penguin">/nowiki>Viking_Penguin.html" ;"title="Viking_Penguin.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Viking Penguin">/nowiki>Viking Penguin">Viking_Penguin.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Viking Penguin">/nowiki>Viking Penguin/nowiki> and ''Twisted Sisters: Drawing the Line'' [Kitchen Sink Press], both edited by Noomin.)
Publishing hiatus and new publishers
After ''Wimmen's Comix'' issue #7 (Dec. 1976) there was a six-year publishing hiatus before the appearance of issue #8 (Mar. 1983). Last Gasp's final issue was #10 (Oct. 1985), with
Renegade Press
Renegade Press was an American comic book company, founded by Canadian Deni Loubert, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade included ''Flaming Carrot'', '' Ms. Tree'', and ''normalman''.
History
Loubert was publis ...
taking over the title with issue #11 (Apr. 1987). Renegade went out of business in 1988-1989,"Renegade Shuts Down", ''The Comics Journal'' #130 (July 1989), p. 23. but ''Wimmen's Comix'' was saved by
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press Corporation, Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and Distribution (business), distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and ''Rip Off Comix'', as well as ...
, which published the final four issues, beginning with issue #14 (1989).
''Wimmin's Comix''/cancellation
In 1992, for issue #17, the title of the comic was changed to ''Wimmin's Comix'' following a discussion over the gender politics of words containing "man" or "men" (see
womyn
''Womyn'' is one of several alternative political spellings of the English word ''women'', used by some feminists. There are other spellings, including ''womban'' (a reference to the womb or uterus) or ''womon'' (singular), and ''wombyn'' or ''wim ...
). This, and other political conflicts, along with financial difficulties and the increasing availability of other venues for independent female cartoonists, led to the end of the series after that issue. In explaining the reason for the title's cancellation, then-editor Caryn Leschen said:
Issues
Many issues of ''Wimmen's Comix'' were themed issues with their own subtitles.
# (Nov. 1972, Patricia Moodian, ed.)
# (1973,
Lee Marrs
Lee Marrs (born September 5, 1945) is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series ''The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp'', which lasted ...
, ed.)
# (Oct. 1973,
Sharon Rudahl
Sharon Rudahl (born 1947) is an American comic artist, illustrator and writer. She was one of the first female artists who contributed to the underground comix movement of the early 1970's. In 1972, she was part of the women's collective that fou ...
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
and Terry Richards, eds.) — "International"
# (Dec. 1975, Becky Wilson and Barb Brown, eds.) — "Special Bicentennial Issue"
# (Dec. 1976,
Melinda Gebbie
Melinda Gebbie (born 1937) is an American comics artist and writer, known for her participation in the underground comix movement. She is also known for creating the controversial work ''Fresca Zizis'' and her contributions to ''Wimmen's Comix ...
and Dot Bucher, eds.) — "Outlaws"
# (Mar. 1983, Kathryn LeMieux and Lee Binswanger, eds.) — "The 21st Century Woman"
# (May 1984, Caryn Leschen and Rosemary Dinegar, eds.)
# (Oct. 1985,
Joyce Farmer
Joyce Farmer (born 1938 in Los Angeles, California)Vankin, Deborah"R. Crumb: Joyce Farmer’s ''Special Exits'' on par with ''Maus'',""Hero Complex," ''Los Angeles Times'' (November 28, 2010). is an American underground comix cartoonist. She was a ...
Krystine Kryttre
Krystine Kryttre (born 1958) is an American alternative comics artist, painter, animator, writer, and performer from San Francisco. currently based in Los Angeles. Her work is dark, often explicit, and visually distinctive." Her work has been e ...
and Dori Seda, eds.) — "Fashion Confidential"
# (Nov. 1987,
Angela Bocage
Angela Bocage (b. 1959) Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2022. is a Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
, ed.) — "Disastrous Relationships"
# (1989,
Phoebe Gloeckner
Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner (born December 22, 1960), is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.
Early life
Gloeckner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a librarian and her father, David Gloeckner, was ...
and
Angela Bocage
Angela Bocage (b. 1959) Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2022. is a
Fantagraphics
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
History
Founding
Fantagraphics was found ...
, Feb. 2016) — two-volume collection of every issue of ''Wimmen's Comix''.
Contributors
* Lee Binswanger
*
Angela Bocage
Angela Bocage (b. 1959) Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved Nov. 6, 2022. is a Michele Brand
Michele Wrightson, also known as Michele Brand, was an American artist who worked in the comic book industry. The former wife of underground cartoonist Roger Brand, she started out as an underground comix cartoonist. Later, when she was married to ...
*
M.K. Brown
M. K. Brown is an American cartoonist and painter whose work has appeared in many publications, including '' National Lampoon'' (1972-1981), ''Mother Jones'', '' Wimmen's Comix'', ''The New Yorker'', ''Playboy, among others.'' She has written sev ...
* Dot Bucher
*
Leslie Ewing
Leslie Ewing (born 1949) is an American cartoonist, activist, and breast cancer survivor. Her comics highlight feminist and lesbian themes and her cartoons have been featured in prominent queer comics, including Gay Comix, Strip AIDS, and Wimmen' ...
*
Joyce Farmer
Joyce Farmer (born 1938 in Los Angeles, California)Vankin, Deborah"R. Crumb: Joyce Farmer’s ''Special Exits'' on par with ''Maus'',""Hero Complex," ''Los Angeles Times'' (November 28, 2010). is an American underground comix cartoonist. She was a ...
*
Mary Fleener
Mary Fleener (born September 14, 1951) is an American alternative comics artist, writer and musician from Los Angeles. Fleener's drawing style, which she calls ''cubismo'', derives from the cubist aesthetic and other artistic traditions. Her f ...
* Lora Fountain
*
Melinda Gebbie
Melinda Gebbie (born 1937) is an American comics artist and writer, known for her participation in the underground comix movement. She is also known for creating the controversial work ''Fresca Zizis'' and her contributions to ''Wimmen's Comix ...
*
Phoebe Gloeckner
Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner (born December 22, 1960), is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.
Early life
Gloeckner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a librarian and her father, David Gloeckner, was ...
Joan Hilty
Joan Hilty (born December 27, 1966) is an American cartoonist, educator, and comic book editor. She was a Senior Editor for mainstream publisher DC Comics and currently works for Nickelodeon as Editorial Director for graphic novels, comics, and l ...
*
Aline Kominsky
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (née Goldsmith; August 1, 1948 – November 29, 2022) was an American underground comics artist. Kominsky-Crumb's work, which is almost exclusively autobiographical, is known for its unvarnished, confessional nature. In 201 ...
*
Krystine Kryttre
Krystine Kryttre (born 1958) is an American alternative comics artist, painter, animator, writer, and performer from San Francisco. currently based in Los Angeles. Her work is dark, often explicit, and visually distinctive." Her work has been e ...
*
Carol Lay
Carol Lay (born 1952) is an American alternative cartoonist best known for her weekly comic strip, ''Story Minute'' (later to evolve into the strip ''Way Lay''), which ran for almost 20 years in such US papers as the '' LA Weekly'', the ''NY Pres ...
* Caryn Leschen
* Kathryn LeMieux
*
Lee Marrs
Lee Marrs (born September 5, 1945) is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series ''The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp'', which lasted ...
* Patricia Moodian
*
Andrea Natalie
Andrea Natalie (born 1958) is an American cartoonist. She is the creator of the ''Stonewall Riots'' collections and founded the Lesbian Cartoonists' Network.
Biography
Andrea Natalie spent her childhood in Arizona and moved to New York to atten ...
*
Diane Noomin
Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...
* Margery Peters (as Margery Petchesky)
* Chris Powers
* Terry Richards
*
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...
* Kay Rudin
*
Sharon Rudahl
Sharon Rudahl (born 1947) is an American comic artist, illustrator and writer. She was one of the first female artists who contributed to the underground comix movement of the early 1970's. In 1972, she was part of the women's collective that fou ...
Cheela Smith
''Dragon's Egg'' is a 1980 hard science fiction novel by American writer Robert L. Forward. In the story, Dragon's Egg is a neutron star with a surface gravity 67 1,000,000,000 (number), billion times that of Earth, and inhabited by cheel ...
* Janet Wolfe Stanley
* Leslie Sternbergh
*
Carol Tyler
Carol Tyler (born November 20, 1951) is an American painter, educator, comedian, and eleven-time Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical comics. She has received multiple honors for her work including the Cartoonist Studi ...
*
Jackie Urbanovic
Jackie Urbanovic is an American New York Times best-selling author and illustrator. The majority of her work consists of children's picture books, including her self-authored ''Max the Duck'' series. She regularly speaks at libraries and at other e ...
Mary Wilshire
Mary Wilshire (born 1953) is an American comics artist best known for her work on ''Red Sonja'' and '' Firestar'' for Marvel Comics.
Early life
Mary Wilshire graduated from the Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting.
Career ...
Lambiek
Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...