[Week 12] Women's Comics

For this week I ended up reading This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki.

The thing that I found interesting with this comic, which I guess relates to the whole women writing comics for other women thing, is the topic that's touched on-- two topics, really. The way the writers managed to handle sexism and self-hating, on top of issues like miscarriages and stuff was very real. The way they handled the friendship between Rose and Windy too was very realistic feeling. The art was really attractive to look at too, and I found the expressions and body language used to be very realistic, to go with the subject matter. It felt a bit like Blacksad but without the gore and animals. I can appreciate a good comic that displays younger kids in a way that doesn't make them completely stupid, babies, or completely unrealistic in their depictions or how they would act in situations.

[ In Class Stuff Below ]

(Movies)
Faith Hubley - Really unique looking animation style of the movie we watched at the start of class today! Has a very experimental quality that feels like a ceremony more than a typical movie. Loved it!
Watched a movie by her daughter next. The Grandmother's Gift feels very horror like while it's not supposed to be, at least I don't think it is. Just has kind of a creepy quality. Also very weird that it's just a lot of talking about periods for the first part. Once that happens the sort of horror-like quality goes away, but still feels very weird. Reminds me of some artful games that I've seen in the past. Sound design is actually kind of annoying with her daughter's film. The 'I remember' repeating is just annoying.

Cockaboody looks weird. Not sure which one made this one, has some of that less creepy quality, just looks like kids doing usual kid things. Very loud and it hurts my ears. Kids talking about having babies is also just kind of weird. Art style goes between being weird to being very cute and storybook-ish. Actually, having to listen to the sounds of children scream really just makes me hate this, a lot. I disregard everything I said before, listening to children screech like little hellions is not an enjoyable experience, no matter how cute the art is.
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(Artists)
Nell Brinkley is really interesting to see. Her art is very lovely to look at, and her comics are still pretty funny honestly. Her portraits of girls/women are just really fantastic, I love the line work and pen strokes. Her faces also have a lot of emotion.

Neysa McMein also has a very wonderful illustrative style, really nice pastels, maybe they're oils? Not sure. Odd woman but I really like how she paints.

Ethel Hays is probably one of my favorites; knew about her before this class, and I've always loved her flappy fanny comics. Her whole take on women of the time is really good, and she just sort of has a stark opinion of what's going on at the time, especially with her takes on things like fashion and stuff. Her pieces that are more illustrative are really nice too, but I'm still always a fan of her pen and line work.

Gladys Parker's work with Mopsy and advertisements are really good, but her comics are also genuinely funny too. Her work with fashion is also really awesome, and I love looking at all her designs of it.

Jackie Ormes is also fantastic, her art style is pleasing to look at, especially with the way she handles color with her prints in comics. Her line-weights and work are also really fantastic, and her being one of the first African American women for the African American print industry is really cool. The Patty Jo doll is also great.

Donna Barr is another interesting one. I like her stuff with Stinz.