Lesbian Superhero Gets Her Own Comic Book Series

DC Comics heroine Batwoman, who was originally introduced in 1954 and then reintroduced as a lesbian in 2006, is finally getting her own series later this year.

Batwoman, whose her alter ego is wealthy socialite Kate Kane, has recently been the lead feature in Detective Comics, while Batman (Bruce Wayne) has been lost in time. Her starring role in that series was all part of DC’s strategy.

"I'd like to think of it as not a big step, but really something that's well deserved," said Dan Didio, DC's executive editor.

"We had some negativity at the early stages when we first introduced her, but people have really embraced the character over the past three years."

“We wanted to make sure she was introduced properly and that people got to know the character,” said Dan DiDio, who is co-publisher of DC Comics with Jim Lee. “The response has been so strong that we decided to spin her out to her own series.”

The Detective stories, by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams, received a GLAAD Media Award last month for Outstanding Comic Book and included a look at Ms. Kane’s past service in the military and her discharge for being a lesbian.

The move by marks the first ongoing series by a major comic book publisher with a lesbian character in the title role.

Lesbian Super Hero Hit's the Comics, Again!

DC Comics’ highest profile lesbian character, Batwoman, will take over Detective Comics with issue #854 in a story line written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by J. H. Williams. The new story line will feature Batwoman, who was re-introduced in the eleventh issue of DC’s 52 and is timed to coincide with Batman’s “death-induced” absence from his Detective Comics series.

Batwoman first showed up in the comic world in 1956, but was later killed off in 1979. Originally named "Kathy" Kane, Batwoman was first introduced as a love interest for Batman to help dispell the rumors of his homosexuality, which came about after the book "Seduction of the Innocent" in 1954. (A bit ironic that Batwoman's incarnation is now a lesbian.)

When the character was first re-introduced in 2006 for DC's 52, Vice Pesident and Executive Editor Dan DiDio explained "This is not just about having a gay character." "We're trying for overall diversity in the DC universe. We have strong African-American, Hispanic and Asian characters. We're trying to get a better cross-section of our readership and the world."

Although DC Comics says they will proceed cautiously and gauge reaction to the character’s appearance, the series is set to run for 12 months.

Jane's World Volume 8 is now Available!!!

Cartoonist Paige Braddock has just released her highly-anticipated graphic novel, Jane's World Volume 8.

To give you a glimpse of her book, without giving too much away, here is the blurb from the back of Volume 8:

"Like accidentally stumbling into heavy metal karaoke night, Jane knew this vacation was a disaster before it even started. Her first clue could have been the plane crash, but the spiral actually began hours before that, when it was decided they'd all travel together in a very small plane that Jill would pilot. Jane was immediately demoted in this cast to the role of plucky, comic relief. So here we find our small group marooned in a tropical paradise, set upon by orange soda deprivation, amorous native girls and scheming alligators. Can these four castaways survive all the lesbian drama and actually make it to gay Key West? Pick up a copy of this newest installment of JW and find out!"

If your not familiar with Jane's world, here is an overview by Sean Carroll of TheDailyCrossHatch.com

"Jane's World stars the loveable misfit, Jane Wyatt. It's a comic full of "girl-on-girl action, chicks with guns, a vegan menace, vintage Winnebagos, drag queens and downward career spirals. You know, the usual-for stability-challenged Jane.

Whether it's friends who see her as one of the guys (her roommate Ethan), women who see her as a fixer-upper (vegan surfer Skye), or figures of mystery who find themselves attracted to her in spite of themselves (badass ex-cop Chelle), or just nice, normal women (Jane's on-again, off-again girlfriend Dorothy), everyone around her finds themselves being sucked into the maelstrom of drama, coincidences, and serious enmeshment issues that surround Jane. The results are funny, sexy, silly, and sometimes dramatic-the last thanks mostly to the flashbacks of Chelle and her current (romantic and otherwise) ex-partner Jill's days as cops and the resultant side plots that continue to unfold in the storyline's present day.

In short, Jane is a magnet for the kind of drama that makes for good comedy."

Paige Braddock created Jane's World so that women, particularly lesbians, would have a comic strip character that they could relate to.
As Paige says, "In case you don't know, it's hard to be a female cartoon character. If you're a female cartoon character, you are expected to make jokes about dating, raising children, dieting and anything else that relates to poor body image. But what if you are a female cartoon character who feels that life is too short for caloric concerns? What if you are a cartoon character who chases vampires, needs sensitivity training, requires career counseling and basically needs to get a life? Well, then you'd be Jane.

Welcome to Jane's World. Where female cartoon characters are free to be goofy, flat-chested and self-absorbed.

Jane's World, a strip for all those gals out there who are just trying to figure life out."

You can find Jane's World Volume 1-8 online at Jane's Mart.

Queer Comics Reading & Signing: Local Cartoonists Celebrate the Diversity of LGBT Comic Books

For those of you out there who enjoy reading comics or are into supporting local Gay/Lesbian Artists, check out this great upcoming event in San Francisco.


Six stellar, local cartoonists join forces on Saturday, February 23rd for a reading and signing at the LGBT Center's 3 Dollar Bill Café. Queer comics have never been richer and more vibrant, and the Bay Area creators especially typify this new diversity of themes and styles.



Featuring:
Brian Andersen So Super Duper
Paige Braddock Jane's World
Justin Hall True Travel Tales, Hard To Swallow
Andy Hartzell Fox Bunny Funny, Monday
MariNaomi Estrus Comics
Tommy Roddy Pride High


When: Saturday, February 23rd, 7-10pm, with readings beginning at 8pm
Where: 3 Dollar Bill Café, at the LGBT Center, 1800 Market St.

Sponsored by Prism Comics and Whatever Comics

The Queer Cartoonists Reading takes place on the evening of the first day of Wonder Con, northern California's largest comic book convention.

WonderCon celebrates its 22nd year as Northern California's most popular comics and pop culture event with a return to Moscone Center South on February 22-24, 2008. The February date solidifies WonderCon's status as the first major convention of the year in the United States. To find out more about the Con, please visit http://www.comic-con.org/wc

I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space

Lesbian Comic Strip By Megan Rose Gedris

Review by Paige Braddock, author of Jane's World.

Susan Bell was a normal girl, just out of college with a great job as a secretary but everything changed when Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space kidnapped her.

Despite the antennas sprouting from their bouffant hair it takes Susan a while to figure out she’s on a space ship and not a “ship” ship. Until friendly alien pirate, Alice, explains the whole mess, while seated on the stairs of the engine room.

“Never see Earth again?! But Earth is where all my shoes are!!!” exclaims Susan.

Megan Rose Gedris writes and illustrates this comic romp through outer space, which is published online by Drunk Duck. Five full-color comic books worth of material are currently up on the website and can be viewed for free. Although, I personally would really like to see these books in print as soon as possible.

Gedris’s drawing style is bold, with primary colors and dynamic panel design. She uses the course, color dot screens mimicking the old school Ben Day dot color of golden age comics to punch up the campy 1960’s styling of this very modern online comic. Images are magnified and sometimes simplified but she never cuts corners on the hair styling of this crew of sassy lesbonauts.

These extraterrestrial pirates picked up Susan Bell because she set off their “gaydar” unit while they were cruising through Earth’s atmosphere. However, Susan is not convinced that she’s a lesbian and despite conveniently contrived psychic moments designed to get her out of her clothes, the pirate crew has yet to win her over to the Sapphic side of the fence.

There are some laugh-out-loud moments in each book. Like when the pirate gals set off to rob a bank and Susan decides to go with them, only she hasn’t had her weapons training yet and manages to shoot holes in the captain’s bouffant hair do.

There’s another funny (yet slightly gruesome) scene where a doctor is talking some not-so-bright operating room techs through a surgical procedure from a phone booth, only to be yanked out of the booth by Male Man at a very critical moment, because he needs to change into his super hero costume. Unfortunately for the patient, they proceed with the surgery using an ice cream scoop.

And when Sally Speed shows up to enter a race wager with the sexy, red-headed pirate captain, I had to keep reading to find out who would have to do whose bidding for a day.

Hot female space pirates sporting futuristic pointy bustier, skull tattoos, bouffant hair and eye patches, all packaged comically into a sci-fi lesbian comic book. What more could you ask for?!