The Sunday Spotlight: The Isn’t It About Time We Had Equality Edition

Welcome once more to the Sunday Spotlight, rounding up whatever was of interest, comics-wise, to me this week. And this week it was very nearly the Monday Spotlight as I’m just a tad late with this one. But hey, we made it! So, shall we?

 

 

 

 

 

International Women’s Day – March 8th… Celebrate The Women In Comics…

Women in comics – something too often overlooked for many years. Something that, even now, can be a bone of contention for hate groups and idiots around the world. Let’s just say that the comics industry is way, way, way better for the thousands of incredibly talented women in comics through the ages. They’ve brought joy and enjoyment of the medium to millions since the very start of comics and anyone ignoring the contribution of women in comics is, to put it mildly, a moron.

Mike Carroll has just a quick round-up of a list he put together of great women in comics:

To mark International Women’s Day I decided to create a list of *some* of the women who create comics. (It’s not a comprehensive list by any means: it only has about 1200 names.)

That list is here. Yep, 1,200 names and that’s just a few of the women we have to thank for making comics a better place. Here’s just the As…

Abby Denson, Abigail Bulmer, Adriana Cristina, Adriana Lobello, Adriana Melo, Adrienne Roy, Agnes Garbowska, Agnes van Belle, Ai Minase, Ai Yazawa, Aimée de Jongh, Aino Louhi, Aino Sutinen, Aisha Franz, Aitch, Akane Ogura, Akemi Matsunae, Akiko Higashimura, Akiko Morishima, Akimi Yoshida, Akira Amano, Akira Sugito, Akizuki Risu, Alanna D’Antiquis, Albertine Randall, Alex Hallatt, Alex de Campi, Algésiras, Ali Fitzgerald, Alice Kirkpatrick, Alice Kok, Alice Marble, Alina Urusov, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Alisa Kwitney, Alisande Morales, Alison Bechdel, Alison Kirkpatrick, Alkmini Grammatopoulou, Allison Garwood, Allyson Gronowitz, Amaal Khattab, Amanda Conner, Amanda Vähämäki, Amani Kabwe, Amara Leipzig, Amber Benson, Amy Kim Ganter, Amy Mebberson, Amy Reeder Hadley, Amy Reeder, Amy Wolfram, Amy Zimand, Ana Cortesão, Ana Miralles, Ana Oncina, Ana-Luiza Koehler, Andrea Kruis, Andrea Shea, Aneke, Angela Bocage, Angela Rufino, Angelica Inigo, Angie Kincaid, Anke Kuhl, Ann Brewster, Ann Busiek, Ann Meredith, Ann Nocenti, Ann Van de Velde, Anna Brandoli, Anna Fiske, Anna Hogson, Anna Maria Falcetti, Anna Merli, Anna Morozova, Anna Sailamaa, Anna Sommer, Anne Baltus, Anne Gibbons, Anne Guillard, Anne Mette Kærulf Lorenzen, Anne Simon, Anne and Eva Staal, Anne Stokes, Anne van Baarle, Anne van de Leur, Annegret Reimann, Anneli Furmark, Annette Tison, Anni Matsick, Annick Sadonnet, Annie Goetzinger, Annie Parkhouse, Annika Giannini, Anouk Ricard, Anthea West, Antoinette Collin, Antonella Platano, Antonella Vicari, Aoi Hiiragi, Arianna Turturro, Ariel Schrag, Arina Tanemura, Arja Kajermo, Arlene Lo, Åsa Ekström, Asa Higuchi, Asami Tojo, Atsuko Nanba, Audrey Loeb, Aurélia Aurita, Aurélie Neyret, Aurélien Morinière, Avy Jetter, Aya Kanno, Aya Nakahara, Aya Shouoto.

[Oh, and if you find yourself even thinking, ‘Oh, but when’s International Men’s Day?’ – well, it’s actually November 19, every year. Of course, the simpler answer is, it’s every day, jackass. And feel free to fuck off right now.]

 

 

 

Marjane Satrapi elected to France’s Fine Arts Academy…

ActuaLitté reports that Marjane Satrapi, author of the Persepolis graphic novel and writer/director of its animated adaptation to the screen has been elected to France’s Academy of Fine Arts as the fifth chair of the cinema and audiovisual section. It’s illustrative of Satrapi’s distancing herself from comics, sadly, that she wasn’t (or perhaps did not want to be, although that’s pure speculation on my part) considered for the engraving and drawing section, which already has two sitting comics authors, Catherine Meurisse and Emmanuel Guibert.

Despite distancing herself from comics, she did return to edit the anthology Women, Life, Freedom, released by Penguin Random House on March 19 2024.

PRH describe that volume as:

“An urgent, groundbreaking and visually stunning new collection of graphic story-telling about the present Iranian revolution, using comics to show what would be censored in photos and film in Iran,’ and go on to say, ‘Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, returns to graphic art with this collaboration of over 20 activists, artists, journalists, and academics working together to depict the historic uprising, in solidarity with the Iranian people and in defense of feminism.”

There’s also news that Satrapi’s 9x3m tapestry designed for the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be unveiled – more on that at Mobilier Nationale.

 

 

L. Pidge’s Infinite Wheatpaste Volume 1 – Catalytic Conversions – coming to Kickstarter soon!…

Avery Hill Publishing have announced the upcoming Kickstarter for L. Pidge‘s Infinite Wheatpaste Volume 1 –

They describe it as:

“The home of a universe-spanning sci-fi adventure,’ and one containing ‘relationships, androids, car repair, time travel, gods,’ and ‘these inteconnected stories set on the edges of human experience share the moments of the little bits of life that feel less than real.”

L. Pidge is an Illinois comics maker who’s been creating Infinite Wheatpaste since 2017 as a webcomic, and it’s damn good to see it getting its print version from Avery Hill soon. Just be sure to back the Kickstarter!

Sign up for updates and launch notification here. L. Pidge on Instagram here.

 

 

Drawing (in) the Feminine: Bande Dessinee and Women – downloadable from OSUP…

Ohio State University Press has brought out a free to download new publication, Drawing (in) the Feminine: Bande Dessinée and Women, edited by Margaret C. Flinn.

Described as a work that ‘celebrates and examines the richness of contemporary women’s production in French and Francophone comics art and considers the history of representations made by both dominant and marginalized creators,’ the work is a collection of essays from both European and North American contributors. It’s aim is to ‘illuminate the interfaces among genre, gender, and cultural history,’ and to ‘challenge prevailing claims about the absence of women creators, characters, and readers in bande dessinée, arguing that women have always been part of its history.’

Download it here. More info here.

 

 

 

Sarah Glidden’s comic on Gaza…

Sarah Glidden, American comic maker specialising in reportage works and author of How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less and Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, posted her two-page comic on Gaza from her perspective as a diaspora Jew. It is, as you’d no doubt expect, incredibly powerful. Here’s what she had to say about it:

“Back in late October, Le Monde Diplomatique asked me to make a two page comic from the perspective of a diaspora Jew and I made this (the French version was published in January there). As of now, there have been almost 30,000 people killed by Israel in Gaza, about a third of those being children. Many of the hostages have been killed by the bombing or friendly fire as well, and a hostage swap/ceasefire still seems very far away, with Netanyahu refusing to negotiate despite increasing protests by his own citizens. Whether your first priority is the safe return of the hostages, or an end to the Israeli assault in Gaza, no one is being listened to. The wheels of war grind on and we are all left watching in horror.

‘Here in Brooklyn, I still see people tearing down or erasing anything that sympathizes with Palestinians. Ive heard people claim that calling for a ceasefire is a call for genocide and that “end the occupation” is hate speech. I wonder if these people have seen the same images that I have. Maybe they haven’t. I think we in the United States should all look at what our tax dollars are paying for.

Ceasefire now. Everyone for everyone. Rebuild Gaza. Equality for all between the river and the sea.”

Here’s my reformatted (badly) version of it – but best to head here to see it in the way Glidden intended.