Early Underground Feminist Comic Wimmen's Comix, Archive of Five Issues, 1974-87

Wimmen's Comix

Photograph

Wimmen’s Comix underground feminist comic archive spanning 1974-87. Wimmen's Comix was a platform for women cartoonists to create at the forefront of underground alternative comics rather than at the margins. The run includes issues edited by Sharon Rudahl, Shelby [Sampson], Trina Robbins, Terry Richards, Mel Gebbie, Dot Butcher, Kathryn LeMieux, Lee Binswanger, Caryn Leschen, Rosemary Dinegar, and Joyce Farmer, giving the archive a concrete record of feminist comics production across more than a decade. Wimmen's Comix was one of the few sustained titles in American comics where women could publish feminist art, autobiographical work, sexual politics, satire, and women-centered storylines under the title’s own imprint and editorial identity.

Archive of 5 issues, Wimmen's Comix, Rudahl, Sharon. Wimmen’s Comix. Berkeley, California: Last Gasp Eco Funnies / Last Gasp; Long Beach, California: Renegade Press, 1974-87. Illustrated staple-bound covers. Issues explore the socio-political landscape of gender norms, misogyny, and the daily struggles of womanhood through a satirical lens.

[1] Rudahl, Sharon, ed. Wimmen’s Comix. Issue no. 3. Berkeley: Last Gasp Eco Funnies, January 1974. Early Berkeley issue from the title’s formative Last Gasp phase, establishing the anthology as a recurring women-led comics publication within the underground press.
[2] Gebbie, Mel, and Dot Butcher, eds. Wimmen’s Comix. Issue no. 7. Berkeley: Last Gasp, 1976.
[3] LeMieux, Kathryn, and Lee Binswanger, eds. Wimmen’s Comix. Issue no. 8. Berkeley: Last Gasp, 1983. Return-era issue from the early 1980s, when the title resumed publication after the first wave of underground comix and remained available as a women-centered comics venue.
[4] Farmer, Joyce, ed. Wimmen’s Comix. Issue no. 10. Berkeley: Last Gasp, 1985. Issue edited by Joyce Farmer, another central cartoonist in feminist and alternative comics.

[5] Wimmen’s Comix. Issue no. 11. Long Beach: Renegade Press, 1987. Later issue published outside Berkeley by Renegade Press, showing the title’s survival beyond its original Last Gasp phase.

Wimmen’s Comix was a title under which feminist cartoonists were free to explore comedy and drama from a woman's perspective through independent publishers outside the mainstream comics industry. The presence of figures such as Trina Robbins and Joyce Farmer anchors the archive in the history of women’s graphic narrative, queer and feminist pop culture, and West Coast independent publishing. Light general handling wear; overall very good to near fine condition. A collection of women-led comics title that gave feminist art and storylines a durable place in underground and alternative publishing.

Item #23277

Price: $450.00