Some favorite female comic creators!

Joyce Brabner, Jill Thompson, Mirka Andolfo, and Amanda Conner!

Comic books are full of straight white males (myself included). There’s a wealth of diverse voices out there, and I want to use these posts to spotlight them. I’m going to start with four of my favorite female comic creators. I won’t have any honorable mentions because I will be doing more of these. I’ll just talk about creators in batches of four! I’ll talk about why I like them and suggest a few comics of theirs I’ve enjoyed!

Mirka Andolfo:

I would like to give myself credit for discovering her work early in her American comics career, but the discovery was accidental. A friend was writing some of her early work at Dynamite. I remember grabbing the book to support my friend and looking at the art. I knew it was something special. I am so happy she has gone on to find the success she has.

She has gone on to write and draw a lot of fantastic books. Sometimes they are localized by writer Steve Orlando (she is originally from Italy). Two standouts are Unnatural and Sweet Paprika.

Unnatural takes place in a world with anthropomorphic animals. In this world, they have population issues. It is against the law to date a different animal. If you are unmarried by a certain age, you will be matched with someone for “the greater good.” It’s a very interesting world, and this is a love story. Often, a theme in her work is love and romance. She has a very distinctive art style, and the storytelling in her relationships feels remarkably genuine. Not artificial or out of place. The relationships found in her crazy universes are always grounded.

Sweet Paprika is my favorite thing she’s done. It is again a love story (with a lot of sex). Following angels, demons, and dealing with feelings of inadequacy, it is a must-read. At its core, the narrative includes a "will-they-won’t-they" romance between an unconventional couple. I often found myself anxious at the end of some issues. If a comic can make you feel anything beyond entertained, you know you’ve found a great comic.

Joyce Brabner:

Besides being a fantastic comic creator and activist, you may know Joyce for a different reason. She was married to Harvey Pekar. She appeared in many issues of American Splendor as well as in the HBO film adaptation. She also co-wrote Our Cancer Year with Harvey, which many consider to be the best American Splendor.

She was the co-owner of a comic book store. After her store sold the last copy of American Splendor by mistake, she began corresponding with Harvey through the mail. Her story in comics is so unique. Her trajectory moved from fan to shop owner, to comic character, and finally to comic author. Who else had a career like that?

Our Cancer Year was such a brilliant idea. To document Harvey’s life as he was battling cancer. My father is a cancer survivor. He had stage four skin cancer and beat it. He was cancer-free by the time I was five, so I don’t really remember the bad times. However, after talking to family members, it was scary. Dad watched a lot of people come to treatment after him and pass away.

Everyone finds something different to get them through the hard times, and I think this was it for Harvey. He could have easily taken some time off to focus on his health, and no one would have blamed him. However, being able to pour himself into his work might have given him a purpose. The end result was a damn fine comic. All stories tend to resonate better with people if they are relatable, and I think this is a story many people will be able to relate to.

Second Avenue Caper was something my mom gifted. Now, as a rule of thumb, my family is not allowed to buy me comics without talking to me first. I happen to own a lot of comics, and we have had a few incidents of them buying me things I already had. So this makes it easier. My mom found this at Dollar Tree. They will randomly have graphic novels, and this was one of them. It was low risk if I already had it; she was only out a dollar. I hadn’t and was impressed with her. Even though it was by chance, she nailed it!

This comic is based on a true story. It follows Joyce and her friends in New York during the 1980s. They were all trying to make sense and help out their friends during the AIDS epidemic. It is a very powerful story. Never thought about how confusing things would’ve been during the beginning when no one knew what they were dealing with. It reminded me somewhat of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.. One thing is for sure. This shines through with everything I’ve read/learned about Joyce is that she was a great person.

Jill Thompson:

I just love Jill Thompson’s art. Though I have no idea how to describe it. While briefly reviewing her career, I realized that I have not read what many would consider her most definitive works. However, every time I see her art, I immediately know it’s by her, and I always enjoy it.

I would’ve first encountered her work at a time when I wasn’t paying attention to creators. The first work of hers I remember seeing was on Sandman. Though I didn’t remember her name, I did remember the work.

I recently read the Millar/Hester Swamp Thing Omnibus, which featured a fill-in story drawn by her. Her artwork matches the trippiness which is Swamp Thing, and I'm honestly surprised she didn’t draw a lot more of the character.

She has also done a lot of wrestling-related projects. She has designed gear for Bryan Danielson and CM Punk. She has also done some art for my friend Mike Kingston’s Headlocked comics. Though I have not had the pleasure of meeting her, I have heard nothing but good things from those who have.

Amanda Conner:

Amanda is the only creator on this list whom I have met, and she was fantastic. Like Joyce Brabner, she is also married to another cartoonist, Jimmy Palmiotti. She draws what I consider to be the perfect superhero style. The perfect example of this is her cover work on Second Coming from Ahoy! Besides superheroes, she draws the hell out of sexy ladies.

A few months ago, I attended Planet Comic Con in Kansas City, where Amanda was also present. She and Jimmy have a large booth for their company, Paperfilms. While they were gone to a panel, they had workers manning the table and a few different portfolios of original art. I figured it would all be out of my price range, but I had to at least look. I was amazed to find mixed in with the Harley Quinn pages and cover work were a lot of reasonably priced pages. As cheap as $150! I ended up buying one and was chatting with the worker. He said Amanda and Jimmy know not everyone can afford the high-end pieces, so they will always bring cheaper stuff. It just seems like she cares about the fans.

One of my favorite comics she has drawn is The Pro. The Pro is a disturbing superhero tale written by Garth Ennis. Two aliens place a bet. One says that if you gave any human supernatural abilities, they would do good with them. The second alien disagrees. They make a wager and give powers to a human. The human happens to be a trashy prostitute. Madness ensues, and it is hilarious! It’s a humor comic, and the action goes hard. Like I said, Amanda draws superheroes so great.

Amanda is also a graduate of the Kubert School, and it shows. Her storytelling and illustration skills are incredible.

At some point, I will definitely do four more female creators! Until next time, feel free to subscribe to this Substack to get Interviews and Articles about comics! You can also follow me on any of my many social media accounts here: https://linktr.ee/austinallenhamblin. Until next time, don’t be a dick!