Three Words: An Anthology of Aotearoa/NZ Women's Comics

by Rae Joyce (Editor), Sarah Laing (Editor), Indira Neville (Editor)

Women in Aoteroa New Zealand make comics. They make slick professional comics and homemade crafty ones. some are conventionally attractive and some are beautifully ugly. Some have logical linear narratives and some are cerebral visual leaping swirls. There are big proud comics and small humble ones, widely distributed comics and one-offs, comics that are deep and meaningful and some that are light and silly. There are physical, emotional and intellectual comics, intentional and accidental comics, happy, sad, funny, angry, scary, confusing and wondrous comics.
For some it may be a surprise to find so many comics by women cartoonists, since conventional wisdom would have us believe that the comics scene is a boys’ club. But it’s not a surprise to us. Although women’s comics haven’t been represented much in New Zealand history books, they have been found in zines and magazines, tumblrs, twitter feeds, shoe boxes, art galleries, painted on old tea trays and brochures, magneted to fridges, tattooed on forearms. And now they’re also here. In this book. A whole bunch of them, up front, visible, available and MAKING HISTORY.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Anthologies

264 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eclectic mix of artists comics from women in New Zealand. Some of the art I absolutely loved, some I didn’t. Some I could read, some the writing once copied to the size of the pages in this book I couldn’t read the tiny script unfortunately and I have great eye sight.

Borrowed from Leo.

[Renee Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am somewhat biased as I have some pages in this book, but it is an oustanding and beautifully printed treasure trove of New Zealand women cartoonist's work. Each artist showcases a new piece, plus some highlights of their previous work.

[Joseph Ernest · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cool collection

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Karen had an infuriating air of confidence which her friends attributed to her three inch crotch gap.”

This is a really great idea, a book which gives a platform to a relatively niche subject. We certainly get a broad range of talent in here, from people who draw like they have never picked up a pencil before to highly accomplished artists who have conjured up some fresh and creative approaches to the form.

“Dear Lord, Why do you let stupid, evil people control EVERYTHING?!”

There appears to be an undeclared contest to see who can produce the most irritating and cringe worthy biography and in terms of contenders, we are spoiled for choice. Seemingly every permutation of quirky, alternative and cute is exhausted which soon gets old.

Some of my favourites from this were from Anna Crichton, Rosemary McLeod and Sharon Murdoch whose work teems with real quality. So it is encouraging to see that there are so many women working in the graphic genre within NZ and its many sub-genres, and it looks like there will be plenty of talent on the horizon for fans to enjoy for many years to come.

[Rida Rehman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I saw my friend Mengzhu's comic in there! The book was surprising for me because I didn't know there were that many NZ women cartoonists.

It's a good coffee table kind of a book.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection with lots of contributors and an interesting conceit. The quality of the contributions varies widely, with some odd inclusions. Useful front and back matter that provides good context.

[Emily W · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a wonderful premise - form a collection of New Zealand women's comics to promote and support women in a field where they are underrepresented. There was a good mix of comics and cartoons in here. Not all of them were my cup of tea, but that's to be expected.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of New Zealand comics

[Discoverylover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't admit to having read all the comics in this book, but I loved what I read! I'll definitely be buying several copies of this for people for gifts :D

[bookmaggot · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is so lovely <3