Fighting Prejudice on the Page: Women in Comics

A recent exhibition at London’s House of Illustration celebrated and showcased Comix Creatrix, with art from around the world showing women’s involvement in graphic art since the 1800s. Newspaper comic strips, politically-charged graphic novels and even the UK’s first regular superhero have been imagined, penned and inked by women for over 150 years, yet the image that comes to mind with the phrase ‘women in comics’ is usually one of someone in a tight suit falling over.

The misconception is a popular one, and stretches out past the people on the page: women working in comic book shops have often found themselves feeling isolated in a world full of chiselled jaws and misogyny. It's something writer and illustrator Kate Leth – appearing this year at Glasgow Comic Con – was determined to stop. Leth has written, drawn and consumed comics for years: starting out with her own weekly online comic KateOrDie, she has since gone on to write the full-length Adventure Time graphic novel Seeing Red, and is now the lead writer on Marvel’s Hellcat.

As with any long-running series, the likes of Adventure Time and Marvel’s comic universe present a stock of characters, places and backstories that writers and artists get to manipulate. This means that, while a character may play on the sidelines of one story by one writer, they can be thrust into the limelight by another. Marceline of the land of Ooo was one such character, and in her contributions to the Adventure Time universe, Leth brought characters like Marceline increasingly into the foreground.

Comics, superheroes and movie adaptations

“I actually had a surprising amount of freedom on all of the Adventure Time books,” Canadian-born Leth informs us from her base in California. “I did whatever I wanted! I’m done working on Adventure Time projects, but there will always be other projects I want to do and stories I want to tell!”

“As for Hellcat, our editor Wil Moss and I talk a lot and he’s very involved with the book, but all for the best. I think great editors make a huge difference.” Another incarnation of Hellcat appeared as Trish Walker in recent Netflix series Jessica Jones, and we can’t talk comics without talking about those huge Hollywood adaptations, reboots and re-castings that have filled box offices and emptied pockets over the last few years. Of course, most of those reboots have been focusing on male, and increasingly obscure, comic book characters – we simply couldn’t delay giving Antman, Green Lantern or Deadpool their own films, but we’re still waiting on a Wonder Woman feature, and Marvel recently forced writers to change the villain in Iron Man 3 from female to male for no reason other than merchandise sales. Is there a chance that these blockbusters have just been bringing in cash for the same old franchises, and fans for the same old characters?

Leth is largely optimistic. “It’s brought a lot of people into comics who might not have tried them before,” she says, “although single issues and pull lists are still not as prevalent as, say, graphic novels and collections. I think comic publishers could benefit tremendously from really embracing the book market, especially in YA [Young Adult].”

More and more young people are certainly becoming interested in comics, as Sha Nazir, Festival Director for Glasgow’s Comic Con, has noted. “We’ve seen a shift from the early years to a progressively younger female audience,” he explains, and as comics in general experience a revival, both new and older audiences alike are being offered different kinds of stories. That shift towards female audiences is striking in terms of stats: last year, over half of Glasgow Comic Con’s attendees were female; in attendees under 30, only a quarter were male. Various factors, from social media to increased representation in other forms of media, have brought women out of their Batcaves and into conventions.

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A couple of years ago Leth founded the Valkyries, a ‘girl gang’ for women working in comic book stores. Starting out life as a Facebook group that grew exponentially, it now has the strength of 700 women across the world. The group encourages discussion between members for a number of purposes, from socialising and networking, to sharing ideas for how to welcome more and more people into their stores – and, when necessary, to act as a support network for people in a similar position, privy to the same prejudices.

High up on the agenda is making women feel comfortable coming to comic book shops, with meet-ups and ladies’ nights set to show individuals that they are not alone in their love of caped crusaders and Amazonian goddesses. “It’s not as hard as people think to make a space feel safe and welcoming,” Leth explains. “If it’s bright, clean, well-stocked and comfortable to be in, that helps. If you make sure all of the staff are open and kind rather than aloof or condescending, even better. Listen to customers, engage them, ask what they want. Work with libraries and local events, make it known that you’re a friendly spot.”

Working with libraries is precisely what the organisers at Glasgow Comic Con have done to bring in a centrepiece exhibition of women in comics. “Glasgow Women’s Library have brilliant archives showcasing zines and comics,” Nazir tells us. “The comics collection is growing bigger every day and the zine collection has just recently been catalogued. The archive features works from the early 1990s to the present day, and there will be an event on 14 July at the library to celebrate.”

Just as convention attendees have gotten younger and more female, so too has the convention line-up arrived very nearly at a 50-50 gender split. The exhibition at its heart is a celebration of talent which often gets sidelined. “We’ve focused on female creators because it’s the honest thing to do,” Nazir says. “It is simply a true reflection of the immense talent found in the comics industry.”

Sexism in the comic industry

As well as Leth, this year’s Glasgow Comic Con welcomes international headliners Marguerite Bennett and David Aja alongside home-grown heroes like Tom Foster and Clare Forrest. The programme is a blend of panels and workshops, looking at breaking into the industry and networking, right down to the nitty-gritty of drawing or plotting out a story, and even discussions of our good old friend feminism and its place in the comic book world. This conversation is always going to be an interesting one: even the listing for this event in Glasgow Comic Con’s guide is placed opposite a picture of a scantily-clad damsel in the arms of Swamp Thing.

“We chose to do a panel focusing on feminism in a feminist space," says Nazir, "to make clear that the first half of the panel won’t be a debate over whether sexism exists, but rather how feminists in the industry handle the problems it raises.” Not just creators, then, but publishers, editors and managers in the world of comics have a chance to openly discuss the hurdles that still exist in the industry, and how to overcome them.

Women have been in the world of comics for years, but by actively encouraging us to take part, the Valkyries and the wider world of comic book art can draw out more and more talent and stories. The more people are involved, the more diverse, representative, and more generally interesting any artform can be; from the kinds of bodies we see on the page to the kinds of protagonists we follow and the types of stories we tell.

As a hundreds-strong group of industry employees, with a knock-on reach of thousands when their customers are considered, it is no surprise that the Valkyries receive preview copies of comics from all the biggest names in the industry. With a unified and measurable group to cater to, publishers and creators can be more aware of their readership, and often receive direct feedback from the Valkyries and other similar groups. A group for enthusiastic amateurs, Valhalla, has also started to bring together female comic fans in a similar way.

It seems like the battle to bring in more readers, young and old, male and female, is being won. Does it feel that way in stores and conventions? “We still get asked this question,” Leth laughs, “so there’s a long way to go.”