Wimmen's Comix
Encyclopedia
Wimmen's Comix, later titled Wimmin's Comix, was an influential all-female underground comics anthology
published from 1972
to 1992
. Though it covered a wide range of genre and subject matter, Wimmen's Comix focused more than other anthologies of the time on feminist
concerns, homosexuality
, sex
and politics
in general, and autobiographical comics
. Wimmen's Comix #1 featured the first-ever comic strip featuring an "out" lesbian, Trina Robbins
' "Sandy Comes Out." Wimmen's Comix was a launching pad for many cartoonists' careers, and inspired other small-press and self-published titles like Dyke Shorts and Dynamite Damsels.
, 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.) Many of the creators from the It Ain't Me Babe comic went on to contribute to Wimmen's Comix.
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. The first issue was edited by musician and artist Patricia Moodian. Later issues (17 total in 20 years) were edited by a different editor, or different editors who shared the job.
In 1975, regular contributors Aline Kominsky-Crumb
and Diane Noomin
had a falling out with Robbins and other members of the collective, leaving to start their own title, Twisted Sisters. (Kominsky-Crumb has later claimed that a large part of her break with the Wimmen's Comix group was over feminist issues, and specifically over her relationship with Robert Crumb
, whom Robbins particularly disliked.) Many Wimmen's Comix contributors, including Aline Kominsky-Crumb
, Penny Van Horn, Carol Tyler
, M.K. Brown, Diane Noomin
, Phoebe Gloeckner
, Carol Lay
, Caryn Leschen, Leslie Sternbergh, Dori Seda
, Mary Fleener
, and Krystine Kryttre, subsequently appeared in Twisted Sisters
: A Collection of Bad Girl Art (Viking Penguin) and Twisted Sisters: Drawing the Line (Kitchen Sink Press
), both edited by Noomin.
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
). This, and other political conflicts within the by then what might be termed as a collective, 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.
Comics anthology
Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...
published from 1972
1972 in comics
-Events:* Marvel Comics forms their British publishing arm, Marvel UK .* Phil Seuling founds East Coast Seagate Distribution, developing the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the established newspaper/magazine...
to 1992
1992 in comics
-Year overall:* Image Comics explodes onto the scene, releasing eight ongoing and limited series, starting with Youngblood in April; followed by Spawn in May; Savage Dragon in July; and Brigade, Shadowhawk, and WildC.A.T.S. in August....
. Though it covered a wide range of genre and subject matter, Wimmen's Comix focused more than other anthologies of the time on feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
concerns, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
in general, and autobiographical comics
Autobiographical comics
Autobiographical comics are autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comics movement and has since become more widespread...
. Wimmen's Comix #1 featured the first-ever comic strip featuring an "out" lesbian, 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...
' "Sandy Comes Out." Wimmen's Comix was a launching pad for many cartoonists' careers, and inspired other small-press and self-published titles like Dyke Shorts and Dynamite Damsels.
History
Wimmen's Comix debuted a few years after the publication of the 1970 one-shot (also published by Last Gasp) It Ain't Me Babe Comics, the first American comic book entirely produced by women, and put together by 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...
, 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.) Many of the creators from the It Ain't Me Babe comic went on to contribute to Wimmen's Comix.
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. The first issue was edited by musician and artist Patricia Moodian. Later issues (17 total in 20 years) were edited by a different editor, or different editors who shared the job.
In 1975, regular contributors Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Aline Kominsky-Crumb is an American underground comics artist best known as the wife of cartoonist R. Crumb....
and Diane Noomin
Diane Noomin
Diane Noomin is an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement, best known for her character Didi Glitz. She is the editor of the anthology series Twisted Sisters, and one of the original contributors to Wimmen's Comix. She has also done theatrical work, creating a stage...
had a falling out with Robbins and other members of the collective, leaving to start their own title, Twisted Sisters. (Kominsky-Crumb has later claimed that a large part of her break with the Wimmen's Comix group was over feminist issues, and specifically over her relationship with Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
, whom Robbins particularly disliked.) Many Wimmen's Comix contributors, including Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Aline Kominsky-Crumb
Aline Kominsky-Crumb is an American underground comics artist best known as the wife of cartoonist R. Crumb....
, Penny Van Horn, Carol Tyler
Carol Tyler
Carol Tyler aka C. Tyler is an award-winning American painter, educator, comedian, and Eisner nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical stories.-Background:...
, M.K. Brown, Diane Noomin
Diane Noomin
Diane Noomin is an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement, best known for her character Didi Glitz. She is the editor of the anthology series Twisted Sisters, and one of the original contributors to Wimmen's Comix. She has also done theatrical work, creating a stage...
, Phoebe Gloeckner
Phoebe Gloeckner
Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.-Background:Gloeckner was born in 1960 in Philadelphia, and spent most of her later childhood and young adult life in San Francisco, where her family moved in the early 1970s...
, Carol Lay
Carol Lay
Carol Lay is the author of a weekly comic strip, Way Lay, which first appeared in 1992 and which runs in the LA Weekly and Salon. It is also printed in daily and weekly newspapers as far afield as Hong Kong and Norway. Lay has been drawing professionally for over 25 years.-Biography:Lay was born...
, Caryn Leschen, Leslie Sternbergh, Dori Seda
Dori Seda
Dorthea Antonette "Dori" Seda was an artist best known for her underground comix work of the 1980s. Her comics combined exaggerated fantasy and ribald humor with documentation of her life in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.- Biography :Seda was originally a painter and ceramics...
, Mary Fleener
Mary Fleener
Mary Fleener 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...
, and Krystine Kryttre, subsequently appeared in Twisted Sisters
Twisted Sisters
Twisted Sisters may refer to:* Unnamed Hariri Pontarini Architects project in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada* An underground comic series by Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Diane Noomin...
: A Collection of Bad Girl Art (Viking Penguin) and Twisted Sisters: Drawing the Line (Kitchen Sink Press
Kitchen Sink Press
Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen owned and operated Kitchen Sink Press until 1999. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in...
), both edited by Noomin.
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
"Womyn" is one of a number of alternative spellings of the word "women" used by some feminist writers. There are many alternative spellings, including "wimmin", "womban", "wom!n"...
). This, and other political conflicts within the by then what might be termed as a collective, 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.
List of cartoonists in the first issue:
- Michelle Brand
- Lora Fountain
- Aline KominskyAline Kominsky-CrumbAline Kominsky-Crumb is an American underground comics artist best known as the wife of cartoonist R. Crumb....
- Lee MarrsLee MarrsLee Marrs is an American comic book writer, animator, and one of the first women underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series, The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, which lasted from 1973 to 1978.-Underground comics:Marrs was a frequent contributor to...
- Patricia Moodian, Editor
- Diane NoominDiane NoominDiane Noomin is an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement, best known for her character Didi Glitz. She is the editor of the anthology series Twisted Sisters, and one of the original contributors to Wimmen's Comix. She has also done theatrical work, creating a stage...
- Sharon Rudahl
- Trina RobbinsTrina RobbinsTrina 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...
- Shelby Sampson
- Janet Wolfe Stanley
Cartoonists in later issues:
- Lee Binswanger
- Barb Brown
- M.K. Brown
- Dot Bucher
- Joyce FarmerJoyce FarmerJoyce Farmer is an American cartoonist. She was a participant in the underground comix movement. With Lyn Chevely, she created the feminist anthology comic book series Tits & Clits Comix in 1972....
- Mary FleenerMary FleenerMary Fleener 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...
- Melinda GebbieMelinda GebbieMelinda Gebbie is an American comics artist and writer, probably best known for Lost Girls, the three-volume graphic novel she produced in collaboration with writer Alan Moore, published by Top Shelf.-Biography:...
- Phoebe GloecknerPhoebe GloecknerPhoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist.-Background:Gloeckner was born in 1960 in Philadelphia, and spent most of her later childhood and young adult life in San Francisco, where her family moved in the early 1970s...
- Roberta GregoryRoberta GregoryRoberta 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...
- Krystine Kryttre
- Caryn Leschen
- Carol LayCarol LayCarol Lay is the author of a weekly comic strip, Way Lay, which first appeared in 1992 and which runs in the LA Weekly and Salon. It is also printed in daily and weekly newspapers as far afield as Hong Kong and Norway. Lay has been drawing professionally for over 25 years.-Biography:Lay was born...
- Chris Powers
- Terry Richards
- Leslie Sternbergh
- Carol TylerCarol TylerCarol Tyler aka C. Tyler is an award-winning American painter, educator, comedian, and Eisner nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical stories.-Background:...
- Dori SedaDori SedaDorthea Antonette "Dori" Seda was an artist best known for her underground comix work of the 1980s. Her comics combined exaggerated fantasy and ribald humor with documentation of her life in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.- Biography :Seda was originally a painter and ceramics...
- Penny Van Horn