In defending the absence of women shortlisted for the Grand Prix award, Angouleme Festival director Franck Bondoux offered this weak justification:
“When we go back and look at the places of men and women during that time, in the field of comics creation, it is clear that there are very few recognized authors… it is objectively faster to count the female creators (almost on the fingers of one hand) than the males.The Festival cannot rewrite the history of comics.”
There’s no need to re-write history to include women creators. You need only read them.
Coming this spring from Fantagraphics is The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, an anthology of some of the most ground-breaking work in comics history. Edited by Trina Robbins and featuring the work of Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Phoebe Glockener, Julie Doucet, Roberta Gregory and Carol Tyler (and at least 30 other names you should become familiar with.)
Available for pre-order now: http://fantagraphics.com/completewimmenscomix
