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This is the discussion thread for Pretty In Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896-2013 by Trina Robbins.

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My copy finally arrived -- via InterLibrary Loan! -- at my local library, so I'll be able to get started on it this weekend.

I've only read the first 2 chapters so far. I'm not familiar with most of the women being discussed, though I sort-of recognize some of the creations, such as the Campbell's soup kids.

I recently read Over The Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown, and there was one section where it seemed to be imitating an old style. Now I think I can recognize that style as Mary A Hays (or perhaps her aunt Grace Drayton).

Ed wrote: "I've only read the first 2 chapters so far. I'm not familiar with most of the women being discussed, though I sort-of recognize some of the creations, such as the Campbell's soup kids."

I like when that happens! Sometimes I feel like I just keep coming across the same names over and over again and never finding anything new, so it's exciting when I read a book like this and all or most of the names are new to me. So many avenues to explore!

I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. I learned the most from the early chapters. Since there were so few women working in comics in the early days (and not a huge number of men, either) it was possible to give fairly deep treatment of each one.

By the time we get to the last chapter, most creators who are mentioned get only one sentence. So I'm unlikely to remember the names that were new to me, and have little incentive to seek any of them out.

After saying that, it is hard for me to complain about any people left out, but I was was surprised not to see a mention of Donna Barr. She was actively self-publishing in the period before the big opening-up.

I learned a few things about people I'd already heard of. Like, I was surprised to learn that Colleen Doran began work on A Distant Soil #1 when she was 12. (She is still finishing it now.)

The more interesting discussion dealt with the period where american comics was dominated by superhero comics. Women were not being hired to create those. Comics for women were not being made because companies thought women don't read comics (which created a self-reinforcing loop).

There were a women working in superhero comics. They are mentioned, but I would have liked some more discussion of how those few (such as Gail Simone) managed to make it, and what it was like for them.

I remember the days, discussed here, when comic book stores were uncomfortable places for women. And were often even uncomfortable for anyone who wasn't already a die-hard fan of superheroes. When I first started reading comics, the store in my neighborhood was not a nice place for a newbie. The owner was downright rude to any customer who wasn't already part of that specific nerd culture.

This book is only about the US, which is fine, but I'm curious about whether other countries went through a similar phase.

That has changed, at least in my area. In the 3 stores I frequent, the salespeople are usually women, and one is woman-owned. I also go to a monthly comic book group led by a woman. (I was on vacation in Mexico a few weeks ago. I went into a comics store there which was also staffed by a woman.)

According to this book, the change seems to have been helped by comics beginning to be sold in regular chain book stores and stocked in libraries. Those are less intimidating places to get books.

I suspect that Marvel and DC are still male-dominated. I'm not really sure because I'm more drawn to work from Image and Fantagraphics and smaller presses. The only mention of Image in this book says that it is dominated by ultra-violent and sexual work. Huh? That might have been true at the beginning, but now it is very diverse.

Ed wrote: "There were a women working in superhero comics. They are mentioned, but I would have liked some more discussion of how those few (such as Gail Simone) managed to make it, and what it was like for them."

I think Robbins avoided going more in-depth into those details because she was trying (as she stated in the intro in my edition) to give an overall history. Personally, I'd be interested in reading a bio/autobio of someone like Gail Simone to get more info on how she succeeded.

Ed wrote: "I remember the days, discussed here, when comic book stores were uncomfortable places for women. And were often even uncomfortable for anyone who wasn't already a die-hard fan of superheroes."

I've actually only been in comics shops maybe once or twice in my life. For one, I much prefer trade paperbacks to individual comic issues, but the whole atmosphere of the shops doesn't really appeal to me, either.

Ed wrote: "I suspect that Marvel and DC are still male-dominated. I'm not really sure because I'm more drawn to work from Image and Fantagraphics and smaller presses. The only mention of Image in this book says that it is dominated by ultra-violent and sexual work. Huh? That might have been true at the beginning, but now it is very diverse."

I don't know the numbers, but I think you're probably right re. Marvel & DC. I was disappointed recently when I went to a talk about the history of Wonder Woman and it was being given by a male writer and male artist.

I enjoyed this book, and actually found it more readable than I expected it to be. I basically read it in one sitting. I loved all the information about the women in the early days of comics, and the influences they had on the pop culture and society of their times. I was also surprised at how much has happened in the last four years, since the book only covered through 2013. There are even more women in comics now, and Raina Telgemeier has dominated the NY Times bestsellers list.

This one took me a while to get through as I had to keep stopping to look up names of creators to see if I wanted to add their work to my to-be-read list. I am glad I read this one though. Learning about the history of women in comics in American is not something I would have taken time to do for myself but I’m glad I did now! I did agree with the author when she made mention that the growth in popularity of graphic novels has opened up the genre to more women readers and creators. You can do almost anything within a graphic novel, and much of the time they are more satisfying than comics because there is more character development over a longer period. It is much easier to retain information about the characters when it’s not spread out over multiple issues such as in comics.

Russell wrote: "This one took me a while to get through as I had to keep stopping to look up names of creators to see if I wanted to add their work to my to-be-read list. I am glad I read this one though. Learning about the history of women in comics in American is not something I would have taken time to do for myself but I’m glad I did now!"

Completely agree, Russell.