''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 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: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...
. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused more than other anthologies of the time on
feminist 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 pe ...
,
sex 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 stud ...
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 is c ...
.
''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 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 publi ...
and then
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and '' Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from ...
.
Publication history
Antecedents
''Wimmen's Comix'' debuted a few years after the publication of the 1970
one-shot ''
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 bec ...
,
[Johnson, Kjerstin]
"Adventures in Feministory: Women's Comics of the '70s and '80s"
''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
* ''Bit ...
'' 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 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,
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,
Sharon Rudahl,
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 bec ...
, Shelby Sampson, and Janet Wolfe Stanley. Trina Robbins' story "Sandy Comes Out" was the first comic strip featuring an "out"
lesbian.
[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 and
Diane Noomin 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 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,
M. K. Brown,
Phoebe Gloeckner,
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 Pre ...
, Caryn Leschen, Leslie Sternbergh,
,
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 fi ...
, 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 ex ...
, were published in ''Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art''
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 publi ...
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 Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and '' Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from ...
, 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, ed.) — "Fun & Games Issue"
# (1974, Shelby Sampson, ed.)
# (June 1975, 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 bec ...
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 Com ...
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, ed.) — "International Politically Incorrect Fetish Issue"
# (Apr. 1987, 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 ex ...
and , eds.) — "Fashion Confidential"
# (Nov. 1987, Angela Bocage and Rebecka Wright, eds.) — "3-D"
# (1988, Lee Binswanger, ed.) — "Occult"
# (1989, 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 bec ...
, ed.) — "Disastrous Relationships"
# (1989, Phoebe Gloeckner and Angela Bocage, eds.) — "Little Girls"
# (1990, Rebecka Wright, ed.) — "Men"
# (1992, Caryn Leschen, ed.) — "Kvetch Issue"
Collections
* Robbins, Trina. ''The Best of Wimmen's Comix, and Other Comix by Women'' (London: Hassle Free Press, 1979).
*
The Complete Wimmen's Comix
' (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 fou ...
, Feb. 2016) — two-volume collection of every issue of ''Wimmen's Comix''.
Contributors
* Lee Binswanger
* Angela Bocage
* Barb Brown
* 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
* 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 Wimme ...
* Joyce Farmer
* 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 fi ...
* 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 Com ...
* Phoebe Gloeckner
* Roberta Gregory
* Joan Hilty
* Aline Kominsky
* 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 ex ...
* 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 Pre ...
* 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
* Diane Noomin
* 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 bec ...
* Kay Rudin
* Sharon Rudahl
* Nina Salina
* Shelby Sampson
*
*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 billion times that of Earth, and inhabited by cheela, intelligent creat ...
* Janet Wolfe Stanley
* Leslie Sternbergh
* Carol Tyler
* Jackie Urbanovic
* Suzy Varty
Suzy Varty is a noted British comics artist, writer, and editor. In the late 1970s, she compiled, contributed to and edited ''Heröine'', the first anthology of comics by women to be published in the U.K. Throughout the 70s, she was part of the ...
* Penny Van Horn
* Mary Wilshire
See also
* '' Tits & Clits Comix''
References
Notes
Sources
* Dueben, Alex
"An Oral History of Wimmen’s Comix Part 1"
''The Comics Journal'' (Mar. 31, 2016).
* Dueben, Alex
"An Oral History of Wimmen’s Comix Part 2"
''The Comics Journal'' (Apr. 6, 2016).
External links
at 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 ...
's Comiclopedia
* (Last Gasp)
* (Renegade Press)
* (Rip Off Press)
* (Rip Off Press)
*
Diane Noomin's Wimmen and Comix Presentation
at the 2003 UF Comics Conference
Wimmen's Comix @ Last Gasp
{{Portal bar, Comics, Feminism, United States
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