Journal of Lesbian Studies

Special Issue on Lesbians and Comics Edited by Michelle Ann Abate, Karly Marie Grice, and Christine N. Stamper

In examples ranging from Trina Robbins’s “Sandy Comes Out” in the first issue of Wimmen’s Comix (1972) and Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For series (1986 – 2005) to Diane DiMassa's Hothead Paisan (1991 – 1996) and the recent reboot of DC’s Batwoman (2006 - present), comics have been an important locus of lesbian identity, community, and politics for generations.

Accordingly, this special issue will explore the intersection of lesbians and comics. What role have comics played in the cultural construction, social visibility, and political advocacy of same-sex female attraction and identity? Likewise, how have these features changed over time? What is the relationship between lesbian comics and queer comics? In what ways does lesbian identity differ from queer female identity in comics, and what role has the medium played in establishing this distinction as well as blurring, reinforcing, or policing it?

Discussions of comics from all eras, countries, and styles are welcome. Likewise, we encourage examinations of comics from not simply literary, artistic, and visual perspectives, but from social, economic, educational, and political angles as well. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:  Comics as a locus of representation for lesbian identity, community, and sexuality  Analysis of titles featuring lesbian plots, characters, and themes, such as Ariel Schrag’s The High School Chronicles strips, the Hernandez Brothers’s Love and Rockets, and Jennifer Camper’s Rude Girls and Dangerous Women volume, or Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise series  The role that lesbian comics, characters, and cartoonists have played in the origins, history, and evolution of sequential art as a genre  Representations of lesbians of color, trans lesbians, and other intersectional marginalized identities  Cartoonist Trina Robbins, newspaper Wimmen’s Comix, and other trailblazing people and publications of lesbian comics in the United States  Historical and/or contemporary representations of lesbians, as well as visions for/of the future.  Female comics characters who have been coded as lesbian--and/or have served as important icons in the queer female community--over the years, such as Wonder Woman or Peppermint Patty and Marcie  How representations of lesbians in comics work to reinforce and/or challenge stereotypes about female same-sex eroticism and identity  Lesbian comics written and released outside of the United States, such as Julie Maroh’s graphic novel Le Bleu est une Couleur Chaude, Kiriko Nananan’s Blue, or Diane Obomsawin’s On Loving Women  The portrayal of same-sex female relationships by male cartoonists  The role of lesbian cartoonists and lesbian comics in the alternative or underground comix movement of the 1970s and 1980s, such as the work of Lee Marrs or Trina Robbins  The growing genre of graphic memoir that documents queer female lives and experiences, such as Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, A. K. Summers’s Pregnant Butch: Nine Long Months Spent in Drag, Nicole J. Georges’s Calling Dr. Laura, Liz Prince’s Tomboy, and Ellen Forney’s Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michaelangelo, and Me  Questions of canonicity in the realm of lesbians and comics: does a canon of lesbian-themed comics already exist? If so, what works does it include as well as exclude? If the canon is still taking shape, what titles, characters, and creators might it encompass?  Lesbians as portrayed as secondary characters, such as Lola and Rafferty in Marvel’s Silk  The representation of lesbianism in digital comics, such as the Before You Go series by Denise Schroeder on comiXology or webcomics such as Girly or Go Get a Roomie  The portrayal of female same-sex attraction and relationships in graphic novels for younger readers, such as Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki’s Skim or the Lumberjanes series  Lesbian cartoonists, such as Alison Bechdel, Jennifer Camper, and Ariel Shrag  The creation of comics as cathartic or liberating outlets for their lesbian creators  The current state of lesbian comics and/or lesbian cartoonists  Medium specific qualities of comics that speak to/address themes and narratives in lesbian comics

Please send 2-page proposals, formatting using MLA style, to [email protected] by December 1st, 2016. Full-length versions of essays (ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 words) chosen for inclusion in the special issue will be due April 1st, 2017.