Week Twelve: Comics by Women

This week we discussed any and all comics made by women, and the history behind women in comics. I read This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, one of the best comics released this year, in my opinion. Jillian and Mariko are kind of a cousin-team who have made a graphic novel in the past, Skim, and Jillian has experience keeping up her own comic strip, Super Mutant Magic Academy.

 This One Summer is a young girl's story about two tweens who spend their summers together near a lake in Canada, in vacation homes with their families. It's a story meant for young girls and for women who remember what it's like to be a young girl trying to figure things out (so, pretty much all of us). Comics made by women are very important, which goes without saying. The Tamaki's story is one that carries great cultural significance so far in the wake of its release.

The story is one that would probably have never been written or drawn by a man, either-- nor would many women be interested in reading such a story if written by a man, for what do they know about it? This is the basis of why comics by women are so important and can't be overlooked as unimportant compared to their male counterparts. Often, the subject matter written and drawn about (female-centered) can often not be compared to a male-centered story, they are two different things. The same goes for stories written by and for the LGBT community, by and for people of different races and nationalities, and so on. As widely acclaimed as a story can be, a comic is often never going to hit every mark as far as audience, so diversity continues to be very important.

On the other side of the coin, it's important to consider these stories as carrying the same amount of weight as stories written by white men, and not just 'niche' comics kept solely for the sake of diversity. Often it's a faux-pas to spend time in interviews with women creators, asking what it's 'like' to be a woman creator working in that field. Male counterparts never get asked this question, and instead get asked questions that delve deeper into the genius of their work. Spending time asking women what it's like to be a woman takes away from time that could be spent revealing the greatness of their work. Even in this day and age, women creators often get glossed over and many times have to work twice as hard to get recognized!

For this reason, I love This One Summer and the impact it's had on the literary community since its release. I always recommend it to my friends and anyone interested in graphic novels. I've even been in a panic a couple times over not remembering who I lent it to (my copy is signed by the Tamakis themselves)...