Friends of Lulu
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, founded in 1994 to promote readership of comic books by women and the participation of women in the comic book industry. Co-founder Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins is an American comics artist and writer. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the few female artists in underground comix when she started. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for...
recalls that a Cherry Poptart lookalike contest sponsored by Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
was the "last straw" that inspired the creation of the organization.
History
A handful of professional comics artists and writers (Trina RobbinsTrina Robbins
Trina Robbins is an American comics artist and writer. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the few female artists in underground comix when she started. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for...
, Heidi MacDonald, Deni Loubert
Deni Loubert
Deni Loubert is a French Canadian comics publisher, co-founder of Aardvark-Vanaheim and founder of Renegade Press. She is the ex-wife of Dave Sim, with whom she founded Aardvark-Vanaheim and published Cerebus from issues #1 to #77 .Loubert and Sim met in 1976) and married in 1979...
, etc.) bonded/banded together in the early 1990s to share frustrations and information and, finally, dreams for women and girls in the teenage boy-dominated comics industry, holding the first "Friends of Lulu" meetings at comics conventions. In 1994 they started an amateur press association
Amateur press association
An amateur press association is a group of people who produce individual pages or magazines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group.-Organisation:...
to get the ball rolling.
In 1997 the first annual Lulu conference was held in California, and the first annual Lulu Awards were also held. Friends of Lulu has published a number of books including How to Get Girls (Into Your Store), a guide for comics shop owners on how to make their stores more female-friendly, and Broad Appeal, an anthology of comics by women artists. The Girls' Guide to Guys' Stuff, published in 2007, features over 50 female cartoonists presenting their takes on men and their interests. The anthology includes contributions from Roberta Gregory
Roberta Gregory
Roberta Gregory is an American comic book writer and artist best known for her character Bitchy Bitch from her Fantagraphics Books series Naughty Bits.Gregory's father was Disney comics artist Bob Gregory...
, Abby Denson
Abby Denson
-Personal life:Abby Denson was born in Illinois, and grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. She currently lives in New York, and runs City Sweet Tooth, an exploration of the city's best sweets and treats in unique comic book form.-Comics:...
, Debbie Huey and many others. In September 2007, Valerie D'Orazio
Valerie D'Orazio
Valerie D'Orazio is an American comic book writer and editor.She formerly worked as an assistant editor at Acclaim and DC Comics. At Acclaim Comics she helped edit Shadowman and Magnus Robot Fighter and at DC Comics she assisted on such titles as Justice League of America and Identity...
was named national president of the Friends of Lulu organization.
Membership was open to all persons. It additionally sponsors the Lulu Awards, administers the Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame. The organization takes its name from Little Lulu
Little Lulu
"Little Lulu" is the nickname for Lulu Moppett, a comic strip character created in the mid-1930s by Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character debuted in The Saturday Evening Post on February 23, 1935 in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding and strewing the aisle with banana peels...
, the comic strip character created by Marjorie Henderson Buell in 1935. In the comics, Lulu often tries to break into the boys' clubhouse, where girls aren't allowed. In 2000, Friends of Lulu was awarded a grant from the Xeric Foundation
Xeric Foundation
The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations...
to self-publish Friends of Lulu: Storytime.
In August of 2010, an interim Board Of Directors was reestablished and on August 8, the Friends Of Lulu 2010 Awards were launched. The award winners were named in October 2010.
In June 2011, the IRS revoked the organization's tax-exempt status as a non-profit. The group ceased operating shortly afterwards.
Lulu Awards
The Lulu Awards, presented annually at Comic-Con InternationalComic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, bestows the Lulu of the Year trophy for overall work; with additional awards, variously over the years, having included the Kimberly Yale
Kim Yale
Kim Yale was an American writer and editor of comic books for multiple comic book companies, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, First Comics and Warp Graphics....
Award for Best New Talent; the Volunteer of the Year Award; and both the Women of Distinction Award and induction into the Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame.