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barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
2.0
eh, all the comics were just a couple pages long, so none of them really had room to develop. some of them were good, others were bleh. i liked that they added profiles of females who helped build the comics industry, but as it's not personally a big interest of mine, it didn't add much to my experience. all and all, nice to have something that features female comic book authors, but otherwise not spectacular.
dave_ex_machina's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A spectacular anthology featuring some of the greatest creators in the comic industry
kjboldon's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this collection by and about women creators. The mini bios of women who worked for Marvel and Colleen Coover's illlustrations were my favorite part, but the stories themselves were too often focused on romance or were stories about male characters. Many of the stories didn't pass the Bechdel test, and that's pretty weird for a book that's supposed to celebrate the female characters of Marvel.
lberestecki's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was a really fun collection. It had a good mix of stories - some funny, some darker. A lot of the comics made me laugh out loud. There was also some really terrific art. It was neat that they included profiles of women who were important in the earlier years of marvel.
nnebeluk's review against another edition
2.0
A good book if you're interested in the history of Women workers at Marvel Comics, but not much else.
The stories are boring and sometimes barely make sense. Instead of a series of stories showcasing some of their best female heroines its just a collection of odd ball stories thrown together by writer/arists teams that happen to be female.
The stories are boring and sometimes barely make sense. Instead of a series of stories showcasing some of their best female heroines its just a collection of odd ball stories thrown together by writer/arists teams that happen to be female.
hydrangea's review against another edition
1.0
This comic led me to question why there aren't many women working in the comics industry. I used to believe it was due to sexism or cultural influences, but now, as terrible as it sounds, I'm starting to question whether women just tend to be shit at comics.
Because Girl Comics is a terrible collection of stories. I can think of only three out of all of them that were actually enjoyable to read. And sadly, they were some of the shortest stories as well.
If you want to see good comics done by women look elsewhere.
Because Girl Comics is a terrible collection of stories. I can think of only three out of all of them that were actually enjoyable to read. And sadly, they were some of the shortest stories as well.
If you want to see good comics done by women look elsewhere.
just_fighting_censorship's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted this to not be terrible but it kind of was.
First off, this collection is not based on female superheroes as the title led me to believe, it actually focuses on the fact that everyone in this collection who wrote/illustrated/edited/etc. was female. (This isn’t completely true but close enough)
These stories are very short and vary in art style and subject matter. Scattered throughout the book, between the stories are biographies of influential and successful female Marvel writers and illustrators.
Unfortunately, all of these stories really really suck. There is little to no action. Instead of seeing our favorite superheroes fight crime we see them getting their hair done, drinking at a bar, or shopping at the grocery store, gee how fun and exciting.
There are some really nice cover art pieces and one or two entertaining stories such as “A Brief Rendezvous” starring the Punisher, “Head Space” with Jean Grey, and my personal favorite “Doom love’s Sue” because the idea of Human Torch and the Thing prank calling Dr. Doom pretending to be Galactus is pretty funny.
The worst of the worst has to be the disastrous story about Venus trying to become the fashion editor of a beauty magazine, I kid you not.
Still, some of the stories had some really nice art and none of them were very long. It was also semi-interesting to read some of the biographies.
I love humor and camp but there has to be balance with action and an actual plot, this mostly just ended up being ridiculous.
First off, this collection is not based on female superheroes as the title led me to believe, it actually focuses on the fact that everyone in this collection who wrote/illustrated/edited/etc. was female. (This isn’t completely true but close enough)
These stories are very short and vary in art style and subject matter. Scattered throughout the book, between the stories are biographies of influential and successful female Marvel writers and illustrators.
Unfortunately, all of these stories really really suck. There is little to no action. Instead of seeing our favorite superheroes fight crime we see them getting their hair done, drinking at a bar, or shopping at the grocery store, gee how fun and exciting.
There are some really nice cover art pieces and one or two entertaining stories such as “A Brief Rendezvous” starring the Punisher, “Head Space” with Jean Grey, and my personal favorite “Doom love’s Sue” because the idea of Human Torch and the Thing prank calling Dr. Doom pretending to be Galactus is pretty funny.
The worst of the worst has to be the disastrous story about Venus trying to become the fashion editor of a beauty magazine, I kid you not.
Still, some of the stories had some really nice art and none of them were very long. It was also semi-interesting to read some of the biographies.
I love humor and camp but there has to be balance with action and an actual plot, this mostly just ended up being ridiculous.
jessidee's review
4.0
It's an anthology series, so the quality of the stories (or at least, my enjoyment of them) varies. I got a kick out of seeing the early work of some of my current favorite creators.
lanikei's review
3.0
I'm glad I got this for cheap, and for the $7 for a hardcover, I'll consider it a good deal. But I would have been pretty annoyed if I'd paid the usual $20 for a trade.
Given the price, this was an impulse buy, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm trying to find super hero comics that I can get into, and the cover of this one made me smile. It turns out this isn't exactly what I expected - I had thought it was something of an ensemble super hero comic not a group of short stories created by women.
I do like the variety provided in the book. There are super hero action comics, a few more indie style comics, some particularly... kiddy comics I guess?, some cheesecake pictures of supers, and a few little biographical sketches of women involved with Marvel over the years. It's quite an anthology.
Unfortunately a lot of the works just seem REALLY girly and token-y. It's awesome to learn about 'the only woman inker' and 'the only woman writer' and 'the particularly accomplished secretary'. But that's also frustrating after each successively more recent creator is still 'the only woman doing X'. I do still appreciate the nods to history though and I think it IS important to acknowledge the creations of women in the field that have probably gone un-noticed.
The stories are often very short and some rely on you knowing the characters and their backstories better than I did. I felt like there were inside jokes that I just didn't catch. That's fine, but I also think that this is an anthology trying to reach out to women who may not get it. I'm not saying that all women need a Marvel Comics 101, but I think I do.
Mostly I was annoyed by how... non-comicky a lot of the stories felt. Much of the art was much brighter and cartoony than I associate with super hero comics, and some of the stories were just embarrassingly 'this is what girls do'. Where was the action and heroics? I think that women do like a little more 'day to day life' in their stories, but I felt like this was a little heavy on the hairdressers, grocery shopping stuff.
There were a few stories that I particularly liked. Jubilee and Wolverine had a cute father/daughter talk, and the Power Pack story was fun - I'd never heard of them but it was light-hearted kid stuff that I enjoyed as sort of super-hero-Bobbsey-Twins. The last story with Kitty Pryde turning 21 was more of what I had expected from the book - a huge ensemble cast of Marvel characters, but with a focus on the women instead of the headlining males. Except the girl ends up puking her guts out and hanging in the Ladies with all the girls putting on makeup while the guys have an epic drinking contest. >_<
I'm glad to see female artists highlighted, it's important. And I want to see more women interested in comics, working in comics, and creating superhero comics so that I will want to read them. And I appreciate that Marvel is acknowledging that need and giving these artists an opportunity to showcase their work. But I felt like there was some overkill and too much of a focus on 'stuff we think girls would like'.
Given the price, this was an impulse buy, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm trying to find super hero comics that I can get into, and the cover of this one made me smile. It turns out this isn't exactly what I expected - I had thought it was something of an ensemble super hero comic not a group of short stories created by women.
I do like the variety provided in the book. There are super hero action comics, a few more indie style comics, some particularly... kiddy comics I guess?, some cheesecake pictures of supers, and a few little biographical sketches of women involved with Marvel over the years. It's quite an anthology.
Unfortunately a lot of the works just seem REALLY girly and token-y. It's awesome to learn about 'the only woman inker' and 'the only woman writer' and 'the particularly accomplished secretary'. But that's also frustrating after each successively more recent creator is still 'the only woman doing X'. I do still appreciate the nods to history though and I think it IS important to acknowledge the creations of women in the field that have probably gone un-noticed.
The stories are often very short and some rely on you knowing the characters and their backstories better than I did. I felt like there were inside jokes that I just didn't catch. That's fine, but I also think that this is an anthology trying to reach out to women who may not get it. I'm not saying that all women need a Marvel Comics 101, but I think I do.
Mostly I was annoyed by how... non-comicky a lot of the stories felt. Much of the art was much brighter and cartoony than I associate with super hero comics, and some of the stories were just embarrassingly 'this is what girls do'. Where was the action and heroics? I think that women do like a little more 'day to day life' in their stories, but I felt like this was a little heavy on the hairdressers, grocery shopping stuff.
There were a few stories that I particularly liked. Jubilee and Wolverine had a cute father/daughter talk, and the Power Pack story was fun - I'd never heard of them but it was light-hearted kid stuff that I enjoyed as sort of super-hero-Bobbsey-Twins. The last story with Kitty Pryde turning 21 was more of what I had expected from the book - a huge ensemble cast of Marvel characters, but with a focus on the women instead of the headlining males. Except the girl ends up puking her guts out and hanging in the Ladies with all the girls putting on makeup while the guys have an epic drinking contest. >_<
I'm glad to see female artists highlighted, it's important. And I want to see more women interested in comics, working in comics, and creating superhero comics so that I will want to read them. And I appreciate that Marvel is acknowledging that need and giving these artists an opportunity to showcase their work. But I felt like there was some overkill and too much of a focus on 'stuff we think girls would like'.