Not Your Mom's Graphic Novels: A 10-year-old Article Still Worth the Read

Article: Jorgensen, A & Lechan, A. (2013). Not your mom’s graphic novels: Giving girls a choice beyond Wonder Woman. Technical Services Quarterly, 30 (3), 266-284. https://doi.org.10.1080/07317131.2013.785779

Summary: School librarians Arianna Lechan and Anna Jorgensen, take readers through the history of comic books and into the current day of graphic novel popularity, while looking through a feminist lens. They "provide criteria for vetting the new female protagonist...positive role models who appeal to all audiences" in order to assist librarians in evaluating and building relevant graphic novel collections (Jorgensen & Lechan, 2013). 

Evaluation: This well-written, peer-reviewed article begins with an evaluation and highlight of comics through the decades:

• 1930s: Tarzan, Dick Tracy and Superman; the portrayal of "the ace girl reporter,"
• 1940s: DCs Wonder Woman, Marvel's Black Cat are created
• popularity of "career girl" comics (Tessie the Typist, Nellie the Nurse, Millie the Model) mock women in the workplace.
• The Archie comics with Betty and Veronica lead to the rise of teen comics as a genre.
• 1950s: "Romantic comics" are created a popularized 
• The "Comics Magazine Association of America" is formed and establishes rules and standards for portrayals of violence, profanity, and nudity in comics. Most comics with "gripping action or horror" are 'gone' by the end of the decade.
• 1960s: Social change with sexual liberation and women's liberation, but comics feature women who have "little opportunity to be a hero."
• 1970s: First all-women's comic It Ain't Me Babe: Women's Liberation depicting real-life issues of women (such as depression and single parenthood); first autobiographical (and lesbian) comic published by Alice Kominsky.
• 1980s: Messaging that women can have both careers and families; Comic book creators seem out of touch with readers, creating romance comics that ultimately fail.
• 1990s: Majority of comics created with an emphasis on the sexual characteristics of women, with "balloon-sized breasts and thighs wider than their waists, posed in anatomically impossible positions" (2013). Female characters are often used as plot devices involving rape, violence, or the murder of a loved one.
• 2000s: The last decade studied in this paper, seen as a "hopeful time" for female authors and illustrators in the comic book industry, although comics are still produced portraying women as sexual prizes. Female writers, such as Kelly Sue DeConnick (Captain Marvel) and Fiona Staples (Saga) are among several women successful in the industry.

    Collection Management: Jorgensen and Lechan believe that historical analysis of female representation in comics is important in building a strong, equitable, diverse graphic novel collection in the library. The last half of the article discusses guidelines for choosing graphic novel titles with consideration to the characteristics of a strong female character, character portrayal, storylines and artwork, with several examples and sources given for each point. Although the article was written in 2013, the suggestions given are relevant and helpful today.