[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-comix-creatrix-100-women-making-comics":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"Last night was amazing. The \u003Ca href=\"http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/\">House of Illustration\u003C/a> in London launched the UK's largest-ever exhibition of the work of pioneering female comics artists, in \u003Ca href=\"http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/whats-on/current-future-events/comix-creatrix-100-women-making-comics/\">Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_group1_zpsrarcdfzg-29db7d2ef9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's the striking poster by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/lauramcallaghan\">Laura Callaghan\u003C/a>:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/posterimage_zpsqx9yyedc-97b9502c19.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nDo pop over to see the show, running \u003Cb>until 15 May\u003C/b>, just across from St Pancras stations (the one where you catch the Eurostar to France) and next to the glowing fountains of Central Saint Martins art college. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_fountains_zpsat5spyg8-c7fb489a76.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSpeaking of France, this show couldn't be more perfectly timed. Curators \u003Ca href=\"http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/about/staff\">Olivia Ahmad\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://paulgravett.com/\">Paul Gravett\u003C/a> had been working with the House of Illustration to prepare the show for a long time, but it came right on the heels of a shocking announcement by France's top comics prize committee of an all-male shortlist of 30 international comics creators. What made it even worse was the board's surprise at public indignation and their follow-up explanations that there wasn't any strong female talent in comics, and general lack of supportiveness for women in the field. (You can \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/731995.html\">read my article about that here\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/angouleme2_zpspzjc78fu-a1a118b174.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI only make comics occasionally and focus more on other kinds of children's book illustration, and go along to lots of social events dominated by women. But when I first started going along to comics events, very often I was the only woman in the room. Over the past ten years, this has changed so much, partly I think because of the coming-together of an arts & crafts movement with comics (look at comics by Philippa Rice and Isabel Greenberg to see what I mean), and comics moving away from being so entirely dominated by superheroes. \\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut!-->\\r\nBut there have always been women making comics, and the women who've made them have had to fight against all the odds that male comics makers struggle with (mostly do to with not getting paid enough), and also being marginalised by comics lovers who didn't care to look outside of their own very focused spheres of interest (Marvel, DC, 2000 AD, etc). But to pretend talented female comics creators don't exist makes some people VERY angry, such as comics expert \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/PageFortyFive\">Stephen Holland\u003C/a> at Nottingham's Page 45 bookshop, retweeted here by comics legend \u003Ca href=\"http://www.katecharlesworth.com/\">Kate Charlesworth\u003C/a> (who for a long time drew the comics for \u003Ci>New Scientist \u003C/i>magazine):\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/kate_retweets_zpsrimylesv-7dd4afa6d9.jpg\">\\r\n(Here's the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.comicsbeat.com/call-for-boycott-of-angoulemes-grand-prix-nominees-after-list-includes-only-men/\">Comics Beat article\u003C/a> Stephen's referring to.)\\r\n\\r\nSo the best way to counter the Angoulême assertions would have been to set up a comics exhibition, just on the other side of the channel tunnel, rebutting that notion entirely. I can't even say how thrilled I am that this was already in the works, and here it is! I hope lots of men and women will go along to it; anyone interested in comics, drawing, illustration, storytelling, graphic design, history, typography, etc will find it fascinating.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_showroom_zpsa6c35tbq-3b7c6ff61e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.patriceaggs.com/\">Patrice Aggs\u003C/a> was making comics long before I even moved to England, she makes comics with her son (John Aggs), and she's attended the Angoulême comics festival more times than I can keep track of. If they don't know who she is by now, they haven't been trying. It was great to meet her husband, Chris Aggs, who's a painter; I always see her zooming around on her own! She was always the last one to bed at Angoulême; the rest of us were dropping with tiredness and she'd still be up having intense conversations with comics people at 4am.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_patrice_zpsrcrsfo8k-bbb5659ec3.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's Patrice's comics on display:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_patrice2_zpsrdreetks-c21f568ab8.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nA lot of people know more about women in comics through \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NicolaStreeten\">Nicola Streeten\u003C/a>, co-founded with \u003Ca href=\"http://www.sarahlightman.com/\">Sarah Lightman\u003C/a> of \u003Ca href=\"https://laydeezdocomics.wordpress.com/\">Laydeez Do Comics\u003C/a>, an excellent series of talks (by anyone creative, not just women, but with a focus on women). Here's Nicola looking very fine with legend \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_Varty\">Suzy Varty\u003C/a> in their matching lime greens.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_nicola_suzy_zpsymg9lsd6-882029001a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://kripakreations.com/Home.html\">Kripa Joshi\u003C/a> goes back and forth between England and Nepal, and was in Nepal during the earthquake. The evening was great to get the chance to have a look at the anthology she and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.elenavitagliano.com/\">Elena Vitagliano\u003C/a> have compiled to raise money for the earthquake victims. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_kripa2l_zpsrrgkhm9w-da9304be92.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n(You can \u003Ca href=\"http://mikemedaglia.com/2015/10/art-aid-nepal-anthology/\">find out more about their anthology project together here.\u003C/a>)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_kripa_nepal_zps75ctxfuy-943183492f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne of the cool things about the launch party was seeing people who'd been lauded in their field for ages, but never actually been featured in an establishment exhibition. There was some big-time excitement. I'm not even sure who this creator is (Claudia Davila, perhaps?), but she was totally lit up, I got all giggly seeing how excited she was.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_claudia2_zpsdevv9sam-55d46e6d4f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_claudia_zpsvvozcfwg-672c887177.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/cartoonkate\">Kate Evans\u003C/a> was pretty excited, too, and I got a copy of her new book, \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://www.cartoonkate.co.uk/rosa/\">Red Rosa\u003C/a>\u003C/i>, about Rosa Luxemburg.  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_kate_zpsoaejkjub-f5d3aff6c7.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/kate_tweet_zpsmjla1fnl-00583278e1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSomehow I was so busy looking around in the exhibition space that I missed the speeches. (Oops!) So I never got to meet co-curator \u003Ca href=\"http://www.houseofillustration.org.uk/about/staff\">Olivia Ahmad\u003C/a>. But here I am with \u003Ca href=\"http://paulgravett.com/\">Paul Gravett\u003C/a>, who is one of the top people I can credit with jump-starting my career. He found me, probably at the first comics event I ever went to (a Yahoo group pub meet-up), and pointed me in the direction of David Fickling, who published me both in his DFC comic (now \u003Ca href=\"http://phoenixcomic.co.uk/\">The Phoenix Comic\u003C/a>) and with my first UK picture book. There's this notion that women in comics is a Women's Issue that only women will be interested in, but it's not at all; it's just as much about the thoughtful and clued-in men (Paul, Stephen Holland, David Fickling, etc) who encourage women and help us get pointed in the right direction so we can make comics that everyone might enjoy. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comic_creatrix_paulgravett_sarah_zpsbfe6d77m-2b41cbb1fb.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd talking about clued-in people, here's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.audreyniffenegger.com/\">Audrey Niffenegger\u003C/a>, who doesn't let the confines of medium or genre limit what she does; she's succeeded in everything from comics to bestselling novels to printmaking to her work being staged as a ballet in the Royal Opera House. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_audrey_zpstrvvuu5d-ae86e87b8c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nDespite being fairly young, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.isabelnecessary.com/\">Isabel Greenberg\u003C/a> has already created an impresssive collection of work and I'm a HUGE fan. She has this amazing way of bringing together a craft element with modern storytelling twists on old legends that's spectacular. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_isabel_zpswchvbrf4-da87e228e7.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI loved being able to see old favourites at the exhibition, such as these Moomin pencil roughs by Tove Jansson:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_janson_zpsx0q4fku6-0c611a7ff9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posy_Simmonds\">Posy Simmonds\u003C/a>, who first inspired me to make comics with her \u003Ci>Gemma Bovery\u003C/i> book:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_posy_zpsmsonkrzq-729c8dc615.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd another person who got me making comics was \u003Ca href=\"http://www.simonelia.com/\">Simone Lia\u003C/a>, with her \u003Ci>Fluffy\u003C/i> books about a rabbit that I found in a clothing shop in Brighton, when Simone was still self-publishing them through Cabanon Press. (The \u003Ci>Fluffy\u003C/i> books were later taken up by Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_simonepic_zpsnnshkubt-4713553a09.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://mycardboardlife.bigcartel.com/\">Philippa Rice\u003C/a> continues to inspire me with her innovative approaches to making comics, using non-traditional formats and materials and lovely storytelling (I think I've bought at least ten copies of my favourite of her books, \u003Ci>We're Out\u003C/i>, as gifts for friends.) \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/610561.html\">Here's an interview I did with her about the book.\u003C/a> And here's \u003Ca href=\"http://karenrubins.com/\">Karen Rubins\u003C/a> having a look:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_philippa_karen_zpsd45ffyna-d6eacdd771.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBut it wasn't all familiar faces and work at the show. One of the great thing about the Angoulême debacle was the hashtag \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23womendobd&src=typd\">#WomenDoBD\u003C/a>, which highlighted LOADS of female creators I'd never heard of. And this exhibition was like that. \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Lizzlizz\">Lizz Lunney\u003C/a> felt the same:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/lizz_tweet_zpsiktb4jjs-52e46fcaed.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_lizzpic_zpsfgq5nge8-b4f9b1205c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nCheck out this lovely piece by \u003Ca href=\"http://www.art-liege.be/artistes.php?duid=&uid=197&pcase=gallery\">Aurelié William Levaux\u003C/a>: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_levaux_zps0gt2dhbj-75552e9148.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd I definitely want to get a copy of \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://ayamorton.com/His-Dream-of-the-Skyland\">His Dream of the Skyland\u003C/a>\u003C/i> by \u003Ca href=\"http://ayamorton.com/\">Aya Morton\u003C/a>. My top new find, I think.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_y_zps2kswqr6w-0a9512163c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nA case of work by female comics creators from back as far as 200 years:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_showcase2_zpslpexidgb-a27a8e1da4.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHey, it's work by my former studio mate \u003Ca href=\"http://www.littlewhitebird.com/\">Ellen Lindner\u003C/a>! Ellen was the one who introduced me to LiveJournal and its comics community, which shaped so much of what I know now. She edits a magazine of comics by women called \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://strumpetcomic.com/\">The Strumpet\u003C/a>\u003C/i>, and lots of us at the show have had work featured in that.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_ellenpic_zpsbjjv1nxq-004e49b423.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIt's one of my buddies from back in DFC comic days! \u003Ca href=\"http://www.emmavieceli.com/\">Emma Vieceli\u003C/a> and I have had lots of adventures, including a\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/458548.html\"> trip to Paris to exhibit with her French publishers\u003C/a>. Emma used to organise the Cartoon Village at MCM Expo and she's one of the people everyone goes to when they want to know something about comics. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_emma_zpsartvgjl8-079ba211d9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI really must go back to the exhibition for a longer, quieter browse. Besides all the displays, they have loads of interesting-looking books in the reading room.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_books_zpsbtj5tfil-cd98e1b87d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe exhibition is aimed at adults, so while I think parents could bring older children, they should be aware that some of the content is graphic (but not horrific, I'd say) and that the frames might be hung a bit high for short people to read closely without assistance.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_showcase_zpsikupnzxq-09fb9a6a05.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThree cheers for the House of Illustration and everyone who worked hard to make this show happen! You can follow the House of Illustration on Twitter: \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/illustrationHQ\">@illustrationHQ\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/comixcreatrix_group2_zpsvdeln3ni-b7df8b3497.jpg\">","2016-02-05T14:58:00.000Z","comix-creatrix-100-women-making-comics",[],"comix creatrix: 100 women making comics",1776628728190]