''It Ain't Me Babe Comix'' is 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'', a ...

underground comic 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, ...

book published in 1970. It is the first comic book produced entirely by women. It was co-produced by

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins ( Perlson; August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024) was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic '' I ...

and

Barbara "Willy" Mendes Barbara "Willy" Mendes (; born January 30, 1948) is an American cartoonist, fine artist, and member of the underground comix movement. She is best known for her work alongside Trina Robbins on '' It Ain't Me Babe'' and ''All Girl Thrills''. Al ...

, and published by

Last Gasp (The) Last Gasp may refer to * Last Gasp (publisher) Last Gasp is a San Francisco–based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Owned and operated by Ron Turner, for most of its existence Last Gasp was a publisher, dis ...

. Robbins and other staff members from 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 Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, also called ''It Ain't Me, Babe'', contributed. Many of the creators from the ''It Ain't Me Babe'' comic went on to contribute to the long-running series ''

Wimmen's Comix ''Wimmen's Comix'', later retitled (respelled) as ''Wimmin's Comix'', is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused m ...

''.

Background

Female cartoonists Robbins, Mendes, and "Hurricane" Nancy Kalish (who sometimes signed her work "Panzika") were frustrated with the boy's club atmosphere of underground comix, which was dominated by male artists glorying in their depictions of sex, drugs and rock & roll—and the casual misogyny typical of those stories. The editors recruited other contributors, including "Carole" (her last name is unknown, though she is sometimes incorrectly identified as

Carol Kalish Carol Kalish (February 14, 1955Kraft, David Anthony. 1984, "Sales Director Carol Kalish: Marvel's Direct Sales Manager Tells Her Side," ''Comics Interview'', vol. 1, no. 18, pp. 57-71. – September 5, 1991) was an American writer, editor, comic b ...

), Lisa Lyons (a cartoonist for a socialist newspaper), Meredith Kurtzman (cartoonist and daughter of '' Mad'' magazine creator

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...

), and

Michele Brand Michele Wrightson, also known as Michele Brand (1941–2015), was an American artist who worked in the comic book industry. She started out as an underground comix cartoonist. Later, she made her name as a colorist. She was a key contributor to th ...

(

Roger Brand Roger Brand (January 5, 1943 – November 23, 1985) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist who created stories for both mainstream and Underground comix, underground comic books. His work showed a fascination with Horror comics, h ...

's wife and, according to Robbins, "a better artist"). Last Gasp publisher Ron Turner was interested in publishing a comic tied to the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

, and he paid Robbins $1,000 for the publishing rights.

Publication history

The 36-page one-shot was published in July 1970. The cover of the first printing featured

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding ...

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She originally debuted in the British magazine ''Wags'' #46 (January 1938). and later made her first American appearance i ...

Mary Marvel Mary Marvel (also known as Lady Shazam and Mary Shazam) is a fictional character and superheroine originally published by Fawcett Comics and now owned by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and Marc Swayze, she first appeared in ''Captain Marvel (DC ...

and

Elsie the Cow Elsie the Cow is a cartoon cow developed as a mascot for the Borden Dairy Company in 1936 to symbolize the "perfect dairy product". Since the demise of Borden in the mid-1990s, the character has continued to be used in the same capacity for the ...

on a blue-and-fuchsia background with the words "women's liberation"; the second and third covers featured the same characters on a dark-blue-and-green background."Underground Comix Collection"
Comix Joint. The first print run sold 20,000 copies; the second and third sold 10,000 each. ''It Ain't Me, Babe'' was reprinted in ''The Complete Wimmen's Comix'', published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

in February 2016."The Complete Wimmen's Comix" page
Fantagraphics website. Accessed Dec. 3, 2016.

Legacy

The success of ''It Ain't Me, Babe'' led Turner to ask two of his employees, and Terre Richards—who teamed with Robbins—to recruit creators for another women's lib comic, which in 1972 became the Wimmen's Comix Collective.Paul Williams, "Questions of 'Contemporary Women's Comics'", in Paul Williams, James Lyons (eds.), ''The Rise of the American Comics Artist'', University Press of Mississippi, 2010, p
138

References

{{Underground comix works 1970 comics debuts Comics about women Comics anthologies Satirical comics Feminist comics Underground comix Last Gasp titles

Background

Publication history

Legacy

See also

References