The Talk - a blog by Northwestern Sex Week

Tuesday, 5:00, Harris L07

Nerdy confession time: I love comics.

I have a Japanese manga collection at my parents’ house in New York, and I dip into it every time I’m home. I get a rush of glee whenever I go to a resale store and get to hold a worn – but still engaging – vintage in my hands. I even dressed up as a character from my favorite webcomic when I went to a convention this summer. Some may think I should be committed, but one thing’s for sure: I’m committed to this art form.

But despite my ongoing relationship with comics of all styles and topics, this craft managed to surprise me recently: I had no idea a long history of feminist comics preceded my more modern understanding of this art form.

With second-wave feminism came comics made for women by women, and their themes ran the gamut from abortion to lesbianism to pornography. In the 1970s, artist Trina Robbins created the first all-women comic book, It Ain’t Me, Babe Comix, and helped create outlets where female artists could showcase their work.

I was initially floored by the presence of this niche in the comics world, but it shouldn’t have come as such a shock: archetypes such as the bubble-headed blonde and the Wonder Woman-esque heroine have existed for almost as long as comics themselves have, and how characters – male and female – relate to one another within the panels of a story have changed in parallel to real-life gender relations.

I’m pleased to announce that on Tuesday, April 10, Sex Week will host Professor Anne Elizabeth Moore from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and she’ll delve into issues like these, still relevant in a world of webcomics and memes. At Harris L07 at 5 p.m., she will draw from her experience as an artist and an academic, discussing the role of gender in comics in its contemporary form.

So whether you’re a geek like me or you’re just an occasional reader of the Sunday funnies… whether you’re an art buff or a feminist… please join us next Tuesday!