CBLDF to Publish ‘She Changed Comics’ on Women, Comics and Free Expression
In the fall of 2016, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Image Comics will publish, She Changed Comics, a full-color 160-page book that will profile more than 60 women who changed the state of free expression through their comics.
Funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $66,000 (the original goal was $10,000), She Changed Comics will cover female comics creators beginning at the turn of the 20th century up until today. The book will be published in partnership with Image Comics and will examine women who have been persecuted for the social or political content in their comics. She Changed Comics will feature interviews with many of the most influential and acclaimed women working in comics and include a professional index, links to resources, and a proliferation of illustrations throughout the book.
Betsy Gomez, CBLDF editorial director and editor of She Changed Comics, said, “More women are reading and making comics, and we want to explore the women who laid the groundwork for this transition in She Changed Comics.” said Betsy Gomez, CBLDF Editorial Director and editor of She Changed Comics.
She Changed Comics will profile early female cartoonists like Nell Brinkley and African American cartoonist Jackie Ormes; as well as underground cartoonists such as Trina Robbins and Dori Seda. Also included are such artists as Phoebe Gloeckner, Alison Bechdel, Jillian and Mariko Tamaki and publishers like Francoise Mouly and Jenette Kahn.
The book will also provide a critical educational resource. “I regard this book as essential,” Katherine Keller, Sequential Tart cofounder, CBLDF board member, and education professional, said. “She Changed Comics has an important place in classrooms and libraries, and belongs in the backpack of any young person discovering their place as a reader or creator in this incredible medium.”
“These are women who opened the door, ventured into new creative terrains, and radically changed the face of free expression in the process. She Changed Comics will be an invaluable tool in CBLDF’s ongoing mission to educate people about the value of comics as art and literature,” Gomez said.
