I remember reading a couple editions of The Best American Comics, issues 2011 and 2012, where guest editors Alison Bechdel and Françoise Mouly respectively commented over the need of including more women creators. Those series take “America” as the portion of the continent above Mexico; but nevertheless, here in the rest of America (you know, that what’s called Latin America) such need remains. I’m Venezuelan and now I’m curious.
A quick internet search shows that, yeah, women make comics too. But where are they? What’s their work about? I might be a bit over-sensitive on the topic of comics lately (maybe because I’m preparing my first own comic) so this goes without any pretension of novelty, just some superficial notes on which I may return later.
It all started when I watched Diary of a teenage girl. I didn’t even know about Aline’s work, I just happen to be a movie consumer and this one seemed interesting. I loved how it reinforced the idea that art can help us save ourselves from our inner demons, or at least eventually celebrating an armistice agreement with them. A teenager girl channeling her problems through her art. That was beautiful, and, as I develop a lot of art projects myself (and although I’m not a teenager anymore), this movie was a sort of positive reinforcement and a great reminder of the huge impact that creating things can introduce to your life.
In an almost unrelated note, a few months later I submitted an essay for an online magazine about the act of drawing and its potential as health catalyst for emotional processes. That essay is yet to be published, and for some strange reason right after I submitted it I was introduced to an insane amount of references about graphic novels; which makes me laugh nervously in expectation of that publication: I’m anticipating how outdated, clumsy and absurd that article is going to look. But it still has some useful references anyway. In the article, I wrote about the work of a fave cartoonist: Argentinian Liniers and his graphic novel compiling some of his travels: “Conejo de viaje por Liniers”, noting how he would analyze upon his experiences through an alter ego in the form of a rabbit. I also quoted the words of an Art Restorer and researcher, Kathleen Gilje, about the work of 17th century painter Artemisia Gentilesci, in particular her interpretation of “Susana and the Elders”. Again, I liked the notion of expressing your own concerns, views and experiences through art. Gilje says:
Both the biblical character and the artist were subjected to unwanted attention from older men.
Susanna and The Elders was painted near the time that a charge of rape was brought to court by Gentileschi’s father, also a painter, on her behalf. The seven-month trial produced evidence of sexual harassment and rape of the 19-year-old artist by her teacher, Agostino Tassi, a member of her father’s artistic circle. Similarly, in the bible story, Susanna declines the sexual advances of two elder men in her community. Shamed by her refusal, they determine to ruin her reputation rather than their own. In the end, conflicting court testimony by the men proves her innocence.
Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders is an unusually sympathetic portrayal of a young woman defensive before her aggressors. It contrasts with treatments of the subject by male artists of the time, who most often portrayed Susanna as voluptuous and participating in the elders’ desire. What the x-ray reveals in Gilje’s Susanna and The Elders, Restored is an anguished but defiant Susanna, wielding a knife against her assailants. The knife, Gentileschi’s court-reported weapon of self-defense, transforms Susanna from victim to avenger.
Little did I know that soon I’d receive what would become one of the greatest gifts of my life. I’ve received some great gifts but this is in the top 5: an issue of Breakdowns by Art Spiegelman, followed by 2011 and 2012 issues of The Best American Comics (as if these weren’t enough, I was also given a copy of Stitches by David Small).
I was already familiar with Bechdel’s work, the guest editor of TBAC 2011 issue. In her introduction, she asks: “Why, thirty years after the first issue of Wimmen’s Comix appeared, is there still such a marked gender disparity in this field?”
After learning about the work of Gabrielle Bell, Julia Gfrörer, Sabrina Jones, Jillian Tamaki and also being introduced to collaborative works such as Soixante neuf, written by Mairead Case and illustrated by David Lasky, or Refresh Refresh, written by Benjamin Percy and illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff(she does a great work intercalating illustration with loose watercolors!), I wondered about the work of Latin-American comic makers.
I found the Wimmen’s Comix, as well as recent works featuring all-female cartoonists, such as Dirty Diamonds edited by Kelly Phillips and Fight zine periodical calling curated by Jenn Woodall. There are probably submissions by Latin-American cartoonists, but I couldn’t find any proper entry about comics made by Latin-American females. When I asked google (I typed “Latin-American female comics”), the first result for my search was entitled “Funny Latino Comedians, Stand Up Comics with Latin Roots”, the second “13 Female Comedians to Watch in 2014”. Great to see that they are doing good in stand comedy, but so, what about comics? As for the images search, I found this “Top 15 Iconic Latino Comic Book Characters From Marvel, DC And More” list, a good finding for another post, maybe.
Maybe the Internet has helped spread female contributions to Comics? Or has at least contributed to put their work on closer reach? I asked my Facebook friends about female comic makers (I asked specifically for Latin-American ones actually) and they reminded me of a couple great works. Three, to be precise: Argentinians Alejandra Lunik and Agustina Guerrero and Mexican Tania Camacho, half of Jours de Papier.
I like their work, Agustina’s and Tania’s works go about self-representation, Alejandra’s more about social commentary -and, in my opinion, women’s modern life-; the three of them have that bit of dark humor… but I’m sure there must be more female creators, right?
So I asked again, this time to Wikipedia. It showed me this list of Female comics creators, all categorized by geographical areas, bulleted and sourced. I was surprised to note that there are over 80 female creators in Japan. An even bigger list for US creators, a few for Canada and France, and from there on, the list shrinks.
It’s almost 2am and I’ve come to a dead end street, so I’m requesting a bit of help, from you, to broaden my search. Do you know of any Latin-American comics made by female creators? If so, please share along.
This was the original post, that I published two days ago on tumblr. But now I’m updating this article thanks to the great suggestions I’ve received so far. I’m guessing the following artists were born from the internet, I think that’s great but also hope to find some artists whose work dates from the zines era. As a spanish speaker, I can’t help but feel that the very existence of these artists, that are drawing and writing in our language, in some ways, sometimes, a closer representation of what we ourselves are experiencing. Please pay these a visit and keep the suggestions coming :)
Azúcar y Sal (Venezuela)
@diariodeunsolo by Catalina Bu (Chile)
Inés Estrada (México)
Maliki (Chile)
PowerPaola (Colombia)
Sara Fratini (Venezuela)
Sol Díaz (Chile)
-> I don’t know where Kat Fajardo is from but I noticed she focuses on “Latinx culture” and through her page I landed on this page called @larazaanthology that happens to be a celebratory compilation on Latinx cultures.
Also thanks to my friend Lucía Borjas (Venezuela) who does this magnificent zine called Mi cuca es de oro, I learned about this magazine/project called Revista Clítoris (Argentina), that features diverse narratives and representations from (and about) women, beyond the topics of depilation, wrinkles and cellulite.
Do you have a favorite? Or some underground Latin-american artist to be added here? If so, please let me know!
