There is still an underwhelming
representation of women in comics. While I feel that the comics industry has
less of a disparity than the film industry does today, the gap is still very
visible, especially in major comic publishers like DC and Marvel. For this
reason, I think that it’s especially important to acknowledge the achievements
made by women in Western comics… an interesting side note; Japan and Korea have
a significantly large percentage of woman comic creators. An argument I often
hear being made is that lack of female representation comes from the lack of a
female readership. Based on the readership of Asian countries alone, I can
confidently say that claim is false. I’ve read many comics by women that have
gained critical acclaim; unfortunately, critical acclaim does not necessarily
gain financial or mainstream success.
For this week, I read This One Summer by the Tamaki cousins, and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. While I’d read This One Summer before, I don’t think I appreciated how exceptionally bittersweet the comic’s tone was. It was a dark exploration of a girl’s growth from adolescence to adulthood. When I first had read it, I kept expecting an over-the-top action climax that ultimately didn’t’ happen. I was waiting for a clinch that never happened, but I think that’s why the ending was so effectively somber. Fun Home on the other hand was a revealing autobiography of the author, so revealing in fact that it had a voyeuristic quality to it. Bechdel didn’t seem like she held anything back when it came to revealing extremely personal and intimate details of her life, and for that I enjoyed, but I also felt a little uncomfortable at times. I would say that This One Summer is more relatable, strangely because it felt less personal? Not just relatable to me or to women, but to any reader who’s faced the inevitable shift into adulthood. Hopefully with more female recognition people will come to realize that women are just as capable of creating comics as men are, especially people in the industry.
For this week, I read This One Summer by the Tamaki cousins, and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. While I’d read This One Summer before, I don’t think I appreciated how exceptionally bittersweet the comic’s tone was. It was a dark exploration of a girl’s growth from adolescence to adulthood. When I first had read it, I kept expecting an over-the-top action climax that ultimately didn’t’ happen. I was waiting for a clinch that never happened, but I think that’s why the ending was so effectively somber. Fun Home on the other hand was a revealing autobiography of the author, so revealing in fact that it had a voyeuristic quality to it. Bechdel didn’t seem like she held anything back when it came to revealing extremely personal and intimate details of her life, and for that I enjoyed, but I also felt a little uncomfortable at times. I would say that This One Summer is more relatable, strangely because it felt less personal? Not just relatable to me or to women, but to any reader who’s faced the inevitable shift into adulthood. Hopefully with more female recognition people will come to realize that women are just as capable of creating comics as men are, especially people in the industry.
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