LBCC: Womanthology Panel

Womanthology-Cover-Big
The cover of the book from jesswogs' Flickr. I didn't think to take a picture of the Long Beach Comic Con panel.

One of the reasons why I decided to attend the Long Beach Comic Con was the Womanthology panel.

I backed the project (and am so excited for my copy to show up in the mail!), so participating in the event provided an interesting look at the project. (If you don’t know what Womanthology is, it’s a Kickstarter charity project that has heaps of women writers, artists, editors from the comic book industry paired together to showcase their talents in a 300+ page book. And if you’re reading this and didn’t back the project, you can order the book at your local comic book store! [which you absolutely should!])

They discussed the process of putting the book together and shared their excitement for the book. The question was asked about the extent of their intentional feminism, which led to an intriguing conversation that touched on what makes a text feminist. The creators on the panel all said they focused more on writing and drawing strong characters. Which I think is the best answer.

Because that’s what I think about feminism. I don’t think it has to be about proving women are better than men, but about creating, and fighting for if necessary, a space to use your voice. It’s what every group that’s been oppressed has ever done. And by each of us using our voice, we all see each other from a more accurate place. Which does not automatically mean the world is happier and fluffier, but it does mean that every person is recognized as such.

So it was great to hear all of the contributors speak and get to know a few of them. After the panel, I’ve decided that Barbara Kesel is one of my heroes, Cat Staggs is phenomenal, and I’d like to be friends with Jody Houser (we chatted for awhile when I wandered by the impromptu Womanthology booth that she hadn’t initially planned on being present for on Sun., and she was very nice. She even showed me one of the pages from her story[!], which has only made me wish printers had magic so they could create books faster).

Seriously, getting to participate in the panel made my first con and was worth the entire price of the ticket. I’m so glad I got to go.