Queer Girlhoods in Contemporary Comics

Disrupting Normative Notions

in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Mel Gibson Northumbria University mel.gibson@northumbria.ac.uk

Search for other papers by Mel Gibson in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8155-3560
Restricted access

Abstract

In this article, I look at how comics aimed at young readers can serve to disrupt normative notions, gendered binaries, and fixed designations through featuring, or focusing on, queer girlhoods. In doing so I consider two contemporary series, Ms. Marvel and Lumberjanes. I contextualize these titles against aspects of the publishing of comics, before analyzing some of the narratives and characters in the texts in relation to queer girlhoods. I conclude that the comics offer different approaches and, therefore, differentiated reading experiences for the young readers who engage with them, but that they also form part of a wider grouping of titles that offer diverse images of young people embracing affiliations going beyond family and nation.

Contributor Notes

Mel Gibson (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8155-3560) is an Associate Professor in Childhood Studies at Northumbria University, UK. She is interested in historical and contemporary comics for girls, as well as being engaged with the medium more widely. Her other interests include children's literature, picturebooks, and the use of object elicitation and memory in research. Email: mel.gibson@northumbria.ac.uk

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Girlhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

  • Ching, Albert. 2017. “The Secret of BOOM! Box's Success: Diverse, Hopeful Comics.CBR.com, 4 April. https://www.cbr.com/boom-box-interview-shannon-watters-dafna-pleban/ (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Chute, Hillary L. 2010. Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics. New York: Columbia University Press.

  • Diaz, Shelley. 2015. “Girl Power to the Max: SLJ Chats with the Creators of the ‘Lumberjanes’ ComicsSchool Library Journal, 3 March. https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=girl-power-to-the-max-slj-chats-with-the-creators-of-lumberjanes (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Elbein, Esher. 2018. “#Comicsgate: How an Anti-Diversity Harassment Campaign in Comics Got Ugly—and ProfitableDaily Beast, 2 April. https://www.thedailybeast.com/comicsgate-how-an-anti-diversity-harassment-campaign-in-comics-got-uglyand-profitable (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Fawaz, Ramzi. 2016. The New Mutants: Superheroes and the Radical Imagination of American Comics. New York: New York University Press.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gibson, Mel. 2015. Remembered Reading: Memory, Comics and Post-War Constructions of British Girlhood. Lueven, NL: Leuven University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Griepp, Milton. 2017. “Marvel's David Gabriel on the 2016 market shift.‘In October, Everything Changed.’Icv2, 30 March. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37152/marvels-david-gabriel-2016-market-shift (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kahn, Juliet. 2014. “‘Girl’ is not a personality type. An Interview with the Creators of ‘Lumberjanes.’Comics Alliance, 3 September. https://comicsalliance.com/lumberjanes-interview-noelle-stevenson-shannon-watters-grace-ellis-boom-studios/ (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kearney, Mary Celeste. 2011. “Girls’ Media Studies 2.0.” In Mediated Girlhoods: New Explorations of Girls’ Media Culture, ed. Mary Celeste Kearney, 114. New York: Peter Lang.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kent, Miriam. 2015. “Unveiling Marvels: Ms. Marvel and the Reception of the New Muslim Superheroine.Feminist Media Studies 15 (3): 522527. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2015.1031964 (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Lent, John A. 1999. Pulp Demons: International Dimensions of the Postwar Anti-Comics Campaign. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Projansky, Sarah. 2014. Spectacular Girls: Media Fascination and Celebrity Culture. New York: New York University Press.

  • Rivers, Nicola. 2017. Postfeminism(s) and the Arrival of the Fourth Wave. Cham, CH: Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Robbins, Trina. 1999. From Girls to Grrrlz. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

  • Stevenson, Noelle, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, and Brooke Allen. 2015. Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Stevenson, Noelle, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooke A. Allen, and Maarta Laiho. 2015. Lumberjanes Volume 2: Friendship to the Max. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Stevenson, Noelle, Shannon Watters, Carolyn Nowak, and Maarta Laiho. 2016. Lumberjanes Volume 4: A Terrible Plan. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Stevenson, Noelle, Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Maarta Laiho, Brooke A. Allen, and Carolyn Nowak. 2016. Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together. Los Angeles: BOOM! Box.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Tolentino, Jia. 2017. The Writer Behind a Muslim Marvel Superhero on Her Faith in Comics. The New Yorker, 29 April. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/g-willow-wilsons-american-heroes (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Wertham, Fredric. 1954. The Seduction of the Innocent. New York: Rinehart.

  • Wilson, G. Willow, Adrian Alphona. 2014. Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal. New York: Marvel Worldwide Inc.

  • Wilson, G. Willow, Adrian Alphona. 2015. Ms. Marvel Volume 4: Last Days. New York: Marvel Worldwide Inc.

  • Wilson, G. Willow, Mirka Andolpho, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Francesco Gaston. 2017. Ms. Marvel Volume 7: Damage Per Second. New York: Marvel Worldwide Inc.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Wilson, G. Willow, Nico Leon, Adrian Alphona, and Takeshi Miyazawa. 2016. Ms. Marvel Vol. 5: Super Famous. New York: Marvel Worldwide Inc.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Wilson, G. Willow. N.D. “So About That Whole Thing.http://gwillowwilson.com/post/159094504658/so-about-that-whole-thing (accessed 10 April 2019).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 2606 1477 112
Full Text Views 485 28 3
PDF Downloads 332 30 4