All Show & No Go

Sexy Chix: Anthology of Women Cartoonists (Dark Horse): I know that I'll risk offending the fairer half of comic book literati out there, but hey, read the below post on critical worth. It's my opinion, not an indictment on the creators or their gender. I like the idea. Female creators are about as under-represented as female readers so this was a much needed spotlight. I also think Diana Schutz deserves praise for bringing this project to fruition. Only her, with her background, and position with Dark Horse could have made this possible. You're waiting for the "but" aren't you?

Well, for the all the controversy this created, it falls extremely flat for me. There just isn't anything I connected with here at all. I think there is much better work by female creators out there, even from some of the writers and artists contained here. And I'm sorry, but pet peeve alert... When a comic book anthology contains a prose short story, well, it just doesn't belong here. No matter how strong it may be, this is a comic book anthology, not a short story collection. This piece should have been submitted to The Best American Non-Required Reading Series edited by Dave Eggers, plug, plug, plug! Anyway, it just really feels like a haphazard collection of pieces. Two notable exceptions being the insightful The Art of Letting Go by Sarah Grace McCandless, Joelle Jones, and Lois Buhalis and the powerful An Admission by Meghan Kinder. These were quite impressive and I'd grade them both at A+. Unfortunately, the rest of the pieces are in C- or D+ territory which puts the whole package, well, mama said never to kiss and tell...