Team Girl Comic #1
Whew! Full disclosure here: this comic came with a letter explaining the thinking behind the comic (to improve the presence of women and girls in small press comics, a worthy goal) and the people involved. The contributors included a couple of girls who are still in their early teen years, and I was afraid that I’d either be stuck criticizing children or making excuses for their stories being less than the other stories involved. I was completely wrong on that one, and if the letter didn’t tell me who was who I would have never guessed which of these women were just starting out and which ones were professional. I still may have a bone or two to pick here and there, but overall this was an excellent anthology that should, if there is any justice in the world, go a long way towards getting more women involved in the business. Well, women in Glasgow at least, as that’s where this is based and I have no idea how much of an effort they’re making to expand. Blah blah blah, how about the stories? Well, here’s one minor quibble right off the bat: no table of contents. There is an author page at the start, taking an image from one of their stories and putting the name of the author next to it, but most people in here have multiple pieces and things got a little tricky after a while. Stories in here include a brief and hilarious synopsis of Phantom of the Opera (by Katie Pope), an artist trying to work in solitude and being invaded by her past toys (Gillian Hatcher), women’s right to vote 100 years later and the ensuing voter apathy (Iona Mowat), daydreaming at school that descends into reliving one’s worst moments (Gillian Hatcher), some drama about Twilight (Jessica Hatcher), whether you should speak English or Punjabi to your cat (Heather Middleton), a thoroughly surreal piece about various animals, balloons and teapots that I can’t even begin to summarize without taking all the fun out of it (Emma McLuckie), the evolution of an indie boy (Katie Pope), reaching the end of her rope with the Twilight stuff (Jessica Hatcher), a cosmetic history (Gillian Hatcher), the scorn that comes from turning down sweets (Iona Mowat), bears trying to make a band (Gillian Hatcher), the truth about the “secret admirer” of a teacher (Katie Pope), and an introduction for Sausage Bear. There isn’t a really weak piece in here, which is always mildly shocking in any anthology. The piece on women getting the right to vote had an excellent quote explaining the apathy, Gillian reliving her worst moments suddenly while daydreaming is something everybody should be able to relate to, and the pieces by Jessica Hatcher really show the extent of which Twilight has taken over the schools. This is really a solid piece of work, and the great thing about it is that they’re all pretty much just getting started. I’m lousy at converting foreign currency, but I think this translates to something like $4, which is perfectly reasonable for this many stories.
