"Women in comics" isn't really a very useful term, especially in relation to the Direct Market mainstream — because, of course, it can be taken to mean female creators, editors, etc., or it could refer to female characters. Both subjects are of interest, and it seems like common sense that female creators would have an impact on female characters and vice versa, but usually neither topic is served particularly well when you conflate the two.
Case in point is the booklet for the 1978 Women in Comics convention, held by the Delaware Valley Comicart Consortium Nov. 17, 18, & 19 in Philadelphia, Pa. I was very excited to find it: the Marie Severin cover featured the likes of Blondie, Wonder Woman, and Ignatz the Mouse (?), and it was a good sign. I slogged through the intro by con organizers Fred Marcus and Rich Greene, which basically recapped all of their previous events (although in all fairness they took the opportunity to individually thank those who helped out).[1]
A slightly-better-than-average example of fan writing of the period, an essay on "The Heroines of Chris Claremont" by Peter Sanderson (who's responsible for many of those DK "Ultimate Guide to (insert Superhero) books) came next, managing to raise the occasional still-relevant point (it opens, "Sometimes it seems nearly impossible to find a really well-written female character in comics."),[2] although Sanderson often gets bogged down having to support his claims with then-contemporary examples (apparently, "Ship" and the Star-Lord's relationship is one of the greatest tragic comic-book loves).[3]
Given Jenette Kahn's career at DC and how many female comics creators and editors I associate with it compared to Marvel, I was surprised to see that two of the three female special guests worked for Marvel — Marie Severin and Mary Joe Duffy. (The third was Wendy Pini, who published and collaborated on
Elfquest with her husband.)
Each woman was given a one-page biography — Severin's and Duffy's are written in a somewhat "gee whiz, ain't she great?" tone,[4] while Pini wisely wrote her own — and then the rest of the one-page bios that follow are devoted to the male guests (some of whom are rather uncomfortably forced to comment on the women-in-comics theme), interspersed by pin-ups. The 1978 Women in Comics convention program concludes with "The Role of Women in Comics," an essay by Marilyn Bethke (full disclosure: Bethke was a columnist and a writer
The Comics Journal, though long before my tenure) that depressed the holy hell out of me. It contains this passage:
This dependence on male fantasies is also self-perpetuating. Since most comics are based on male fantasies, few women read them; since few women read them few women are interested in entering the comic book industry; since there are few women in the comic book industry, comics are based on male fantasies. This doesn' [sic] mean that a good female character must be written by a woman, but by a good writer, and the comic book industry, as note [sic] earlier, does not foster creativity of [sic] either gender. More women active in the industry would at least give more feedback to the companies, and more women readers could exert more pressure for legitimate female characters.
My reaction to Bethke's essay depressed me not only because it was more along the lines of what I had hoped to find, rather than the simple footnote in the history of comics fandom that the program turned out to be, but also because it reminded me that for female readers, mainstream comics haven't changed much. Many still take the Marcus-and-Greene approach — women mainstream comics creators! We'll give you five minutes then back to men talking about babes in bikinis, m'kay? — 30 years on.
At least I believe that Marcus and Greene were well intentioned and did their best to tip their collective hat to women such as Paty Cockrum and Martha Conway. Sometimes I want to think things are getting better, but Bethke's words are still true, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the "Women Who Kick Ass" panel at 2008 New York Comic Con which was,
according to Steve Bunche's report at The Beat, inadvertently or not hijacked by porn star Jenna Jameson (who had recently licensed her name and image to a comic) promoting
Zombie Strippers.
Notes:
[1] One sentence — "Then, in the May of this year, both Winkie Almasy and Biff Crossley decided to retire from the DVCC for personal reasons." — made me imagine the two as fictional characters who decided that they were made for bigger and better things and instead went off to star in a boy's action serial, The Adventures of Biff and Winkie. "Crossley and Almasy were in dutch with the King because of their recent exploits in the COMIC-SHOP CAPER. Using only their wits — plus their transportation, negotiation and administrative skills — the two decided to find THE LOST TREASURE OF CHESLER and donate it to FOOG (Friends of Old Gerber) to set things right."
[2] He's referring to mainstream comics here, since this was a period in which the undergrounds were waning and alt-comics hadn't yet emerged.
[3] For those unfamiliar (like me, I had to look this up), "Ship" is a consciousness that often assumes the form of a ship; although she can take also take on other forms, including that of a human female. She loves Peter Quill, the Star-Lord, who won't admit he loves her back. (In modern-day parlance, Sanderson comes across a bit like a Quill and Ship 'shipper.)
[4] With just a hint of Lee-ishness.
Image credits:
Severin cover ©1978 Marie Severin and the copyright holders.
Wonder Woman #196 October 1971 cover drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano ©1971 DC Comics
Greetings©1978. Marvel Comics Group
Kristy Valenti currently works for The Comics Journal and Fantagraphics Books, Inc.
Uncharted Territory is © Kristy Valenti, 2008
