by rory midhani
Last year I read, greatly enjoyed and wrote about Team Girl Comic #10 here and so when I was emailed by TGC editor Gill Hatcher, I knew that I couldn’t resist the chance to do it again with this new issue. Team Girl Comic is great partially because it’s full of a lot of great comics and it lets you try out fifteen different comics for the price of one, but also because it’s a great way to find out about a bunch of terrific and talented women comic makers. This installment is no different, offering up over a dozen different and interesting comics, all by female comic creators.
“Non-fiction” by Clare Forrest.
This issue starts off with a tender, touching and somewhat depressing comic called “Non-fiction” about just trying to make it through each day. Clare Forrest uses sparse words and phrases that really remind me of the ways I think sometimes on days when I’m depressed or down. It can seem like you only have two thoughts in one day, and this comic sends that message beautifully. When she writes “i wish i’d been born as a plant.” over a beautiful black and white drawing of a window garden, you really, really feel it. This might sound sarcastic, but it really does set a great mood for the rest of the anthology. It really grounds you and puts you in a mindful attitude.
A lot of these comics are really fun reads. Hatcher’s own comic, about a fifteen year old girl going to a local socialist meeting, really tickled my funny bone. Amanda Hateball’s “Urban legend” was a wonderfully drawn comic about a different kind of hoarding. Another favorite of mine was “The Bandit Cafe” by Shona Heaney. It has really cute art that makes even a giant Orc patisserie chef look welcoming (but still terrifying). The story seems like the kind of thing that would happen during a D&D session played by the funniest and most fun group of role players ever.
“The Bandit Cafe” by Shona Heaney
Both Iona Mowat’s “Losing My Religion” and “Rolling with it” by MJ Wallace struck a different kind of chord with me. Both were about girls who grew up in the church and then drifted away when they got new interests that didn’t exactly line up with what they had been taught by their churches. Mowat’s story tells about how she learned that dinosaurs aren’t mentioned in the bible, and Wallace’s talks about being taken aside by religious leaders to hear that her new found interest in tabletop RPGs was in conflict with her religion. Everyone knows I love dinosaurs, and I also remember getting into RPGs and fantasy when I was a youth and hearing my youth group leader tell a friend that D&D was satanic, but neither of those things discouraged me from my faith. So it’s interesting for me to see others who have similar, and yet still very different experiences.
“Urban wildlife” by Letty Wilson
“Urban Wildlife” by Letty Wilson is definitely my favorite of the bunch; in fact, it’s one of my favorite comics I’ve read all year. It’s got just the perfect amount of creepiness, weirdness and folksiness to make it the perfect urban legend. This is the perfect kind of comic for an anthology like this. It works absolutely wonderfully in just four pages, creating and filling out an entire world and system of magic. I’m absolutely in love with the fox witch in this comic. Wilson’s art has just the perfect balance of smooth lines and dark black space with aggressive shapes and really great symbology. I’m really obsessed this comic, I would say that the book is worth the cost just for this comic alone.
The final comic is a very fitting one. A simple one page comic by Jef Sinclair, “On the move (again)” is similar in some of it’s tone to “Non-fiction.” It’s pretty melancholy, but also ends on a hopeful note, which is nice. Overall, Team Girl Comic #11 was a delight to read. I can’t wait to check out a bunch of these writers and artists over the next few weeks. If you’d like to get a copy or find out more, you can check out their website or buy the comic online.
New Releases (July 29)
Princeless: Be Yourself #2 (Action Lab)
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #4 (Archie Comics)
Help Us Great Warrior #6 (Boom!)
Tomb Raider #18 (Dark Horse)
Batgirl #42 (DC)
Batgirl Annual #3 (DC)
Catwoman Vol. 6: Keeper of the Castle TP (DC)
Red Sonja #17 (Dynamite)
Baby-Sitters Club Vol.2 The Truth About Stacey (Graphix)
Jem and the Holograms #5 (IDW)
X-Files Annual 2015 (IDW)
Sex Criminals #11 (Image)
1602 Witch Hunter Angela #2 (Marvel)
Black Widow #20 (Marvel)
Hawkeye Vol. 4: Rio Bravo (Marvel)
Star Wars #7 (Marvel)
X-Men ’92 #2 (Marvel)
Welcome to Drawn to Comics! From diary comics to superheroes, from webcomics to graphic novels – this is where we’ll be taking a look at comics by, featuring and for queer ladies. So whether you love to look at detailed personal accounts of other people’s lives, explore new and creative worlds, or you just love to see hot ladies in spandex, we’ve got something for you.
If you have a comic that you’d like to see me review, you can email me at mey [at] autostraddle [dot] com
Nothing about DC Comics: Bombshells? Batwoman in WW2 era, living with Maggie Sawyer! Chapter One came out digitally over the weekend and was FANTASTIC.
I believe the next one is Wonder Woman and the one after that is Supergirl, and then they’re all going to work together!
It was a pretty amazing comic that made up (somewhat) for the terrible treatment of Kate in the last arc of the Batwoman comic.
Oh and Batwoman is back in the main DC universe this issue in one of the stories in Batgirl Annual #3, which also features a Batgirl/Gotham Academy cross over story.
You had me at “fox witch”.
I just gotta say I am so happy this column exists
As someone who has never professed my love for this column, I would just like to second this statement. It’s probably one of my favorite things on the internet (which is saying something, because the internet is full of some really great cat videos).
AHHHHH!!!!! Thank you both so much! Comments like these really make my entire week!