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Kapow! – with added women
The Kapow! Comic Book convention is going on this weekend, and it’s good to see that in the face of criticism over its initial all-male line-up the event has adjusted its guest list. I was not the only one who pointed out the lack of women, and I’m not claiming this result is due to my input alone. Honestly, this is a positive response, and I hope it means more women featured at the event (if they hold it again) when they have time to include women in the planning from the very beginning. Millar is even talking up the female angle now, mentioned a 30% female readership in this…
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women in comics in UK/Ireland – overview
There are occasions when perhaps it’s best not to promise a blog post on a subject. Regular readers might remember that in January I commented upon the utter lack of women comic book guests at the forthcoming Kapow! comic book convention in London. This was followed by an entry in which I posted a number of women artists/writers working in the field in the UK (and Ireland), with a promise to put together a much more detailed listing of women working in the field. The follow-up post has been a long time coming because: There are loads of women working in comics in the UK and Ireland People might remember…
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women in comics in UK/Ireland – redux
The promised follow-up to the British women in comics blog post in January. I’ve written an overview of this entry also. A list of female writers and artists (colourists, inkers, pencilers, etc.) who work in sequential storytelling in the UK and Ireland. I’ve created a permanent page for this list on my web site – it’s linked on the sidebar. This post will no longer be updated. All further updates will be on the page. Update: for a comprehensive overview of the history of women who have worked in the comic book industry in the UK read The Inking Woman, edited by Nicola Streeten and Cath Tate, published by Myriad.…
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British women in comics
After blogging about the absence of women in the line-up of the Kapow! comic book convention I had a number of lively discussions about it. I also discovered that Mark Millar twittered about this issue back on the 7th of December 2010, when someone else pointed out there were no female guests. His response, over two tweets: You realise this is being put together by 5 women, don’t you? The reason the comic guests are mostly male is because the biggest names in UK comics are male. Who is the big british female pro they’re missing here? I’m amused by ‘the comic guests are mostly male’ bit, when the guests…
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smile, get girls reading comics
Over the past year I’ve increased the amount of comic books/graphic novels I’m reading. Partly because I’m writing coming books now, and also because it’s such a fun, diverse medium. There are so many great titles being published to suit all tastes. When I was a girl I was not encouraged to read comics – I wasn’t discouraged either, but I didn’t know another girl my age who loved them the way I did. I’ve no idea where I got the notion that ‘comic books were for boys’, but it was something I understood. I didn’t agree, but I knew that my liking comic books was not the norm. It…
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Kapow!, no women
I got an email from a regular commentator on my blog pointing me to the new comic book convention that Mark Millar is organising this coming April in the UK called Kapow! ComicCon. He hinted that I might discover something missing from the event. Well, yes the omission is pretty glaring to me: not one woman among the forty guests. This is strange. It’s not like there are no top-class women working in comics. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not paying attention. For instance, I’d recommend reading the excellent ‘She Has No Head‘ column by Kelly Thompson on Comic Book Resources for plenty of examples of the fine work women…
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marvellous mirren
Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren has just been given the Sherry Lansing leadership award at a breakfast ceremony, organised by The Hollywood Reporter magazine, to honour the Women in Entertainment Power 100. I’d highly recommend you watch the video of her acceptance speech, which is just marvellous. Not only does she recognise how much women have achieved in recent years, she also points out the continuing disparities in the industry and takes particular issue that Hollywood “continues to worship at the altar of the 18 to 25-year-old male and his penis.” She stresses how affirming it was to her ambitions that her parents believed a woman could do anything, notes the…
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An old ploy from a new trick
Last week a new film development process called Amazon Studios was announced, which Amazon is touting as the cool, modern way to make movies: Movies have been developed pretty much the same way since talkies were considered cutting-edge. But here at Amazon Studios, we believe 21st-century technology creates opportunities to make and share movies and scripts more easily than ever. We invite you to: Win money. Amazon Studios will award a combined $2.7 million in our first year’s worth of monthly and annual contests for the best scripts and movies. There is no charge to participate. Learn more. Get noticed. Your work will be shared with a global community of…
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Autumn
I spotted this fine fellow on my way into the woods to walk my dog this morning. It’s a good example of Coprinus comatus, also known as the shaggy ink cap or the lawyer’s wig, among others. I usually refer to it as the shaggy ink cap (or, as I misspoke this morning upon my return – the shaggy inkwell). This mushroom erupted and flourished in the mere 48 hours since my last visit to this location, or else I was singularly unobservant during my previous trip. Change can occur in a day or two, if you notice. It was the first thing I spotted on this occasion, and I…
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cresting the big wave
I’ve been working on the web site redevelopment of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild for a long time. I do a lot of web-related work for the Guild, including managing all of its social media outlets, which every organisation needs to maintain these days. A big job like a web site overhaul requires large periods of allocated concentration, and that’s been problematic in regards to divvying up my few resources. Working with advocacy organisations means you’re always scraping the pan for those last scraps of funding, and this year the Guild absorbed several funding cuts: there is nothing lurking at the bottom of that pot now. Still, I’m glad…
