Week 12: Comics by Women

This week I read This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. I feel like I say this every week but this graphic novel has its own beautifully unique style as well. I was pleased with how the artist takes breaks from the busy comic pages to let the reader breathe with peaceful and beautifully drawn airy pages (such as below).

 

The author presents the story of two young teenage girls. The story presents the daily life of two girls and their antics. I'm convinced the authors pulled from their own childhoods, as a lot of the information and happenings in the story, I remember from my own childhood.

In doing so, the story feels that much more personal to the readers. Another aspect I found compelling about this story is its presentation of women in the story. In a field that somewhat has a record of objectifying women, this comic broke away from the norm. The story is composed mostly of women, presented in different ages and trope types. After calling one of the other older girls a slut–after she heard one of the men call her that–Rose's mom scolds her daughter. This is presented in a witty way that adds a moral to the tiny storyline. "Bit strange calling someone you don't even know a slut."