Femme Magnifique: 50 Magnificent Women Who Changed The World

by Shelly Bond (Editor)

A comic book anthology salute to 50 magnificent women who take names, crack ceilings, and change the game in pop, politics, art, and science.

The Kickstarter sensation that united over 100 comic book writers and artists from around the globe is now available in paperback with new content, including a new cover by Tess Fowler (Kid Lobotomy, Rat Queens).

50 female trailblazers of yesterday and today each get a 4-color sequential tribute in Femme Magnifique. This collection features 3-page short stories about women from the arenas of pop music, politics, art, and science. From astronauts and archaeologists to muckrakers and mathematicians, Femme Magnifique will stimulate and educate. Part mini biopic, part personal inspiration, this collection also features new material including a foreword, behind-the-scenes process pages, and more!

Creators from South Africa, India, England, Denmark, the U.S. and other locales converge to share stories of personal heroines Kate Bush, Octavia Butler, Rumiko Takahashi, Ada Lovelace, Misty Copeland, Margaret Sanger, Michelle Obama, Sally Ride, Harriet Tubman and more!

Comic book luminairies Gail Simone, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kieron Gillen, Sanford Greene, Jill Thompson, Gilbert Hernandez, Gerard Way and Marguerite Bennett, to name a few, lend their talents to a celebration of kickass women who are truly magnifique.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Comics, Feminism, History, Biography, Anthologies

226 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2017

About the author

Shelly Bond is a UK-based American comic book editor, best known for her work with DC inprint Vertigo in the 90's.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty amazing anthology stuffed with 3-page bios of women both famous and obscure but all certainly quite magnificent. Best read in small increments as I think it would have worn me down to read it all at once.

My only reservation is that the creators were tasked to either write a straight-on biography (yay!) or write how the woman in question inspired them (hurm). The inspiration stories sometimes came off as self-indulgent and/or left me wishing I had learned more about the woman in question rather than the story's writer. Three pages is already a pretty short space to highlight a person's contribution to humanity.

If you liked this, I highly recommend you read the superb Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection features a wide variety of writers and artists. It was interesting to see how historical figures influenced and shaped the creators that participated in this project. There is a good mix of famous figures and more obscure ones, so everyone who reads this can learn about important contributions that women have made to society that they didn't know about before.

[Melania 🍒 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

[erigibbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Femmes magnifiques è una raccolta di 50 storie, 50 storie di donne che hanno cambiato la loro vita, e la nostra: 50 storie di donne che hanno cambiato il mondo.

Il fumetto è stato ideato da Shelly Bond, i testi e i disegni sono stati fatti da tanti altri professionisti che hanno collaborato alla creazione di questo progetto facendolo diventare reale.

La cosa che più mi è piaciuta di Femmes magnifiques è proprio questo miscuglio di stili che permette al lettore di vedere quanta diversità, anche a livello grafico e testuale, ci possa essere. Non tutti gli stili possono piacere, ma è comunque una goduria per gli occhi assaporare le pagine.

Ogni storia è composta da due pagine: nella prima facciata c’è un disegno in bianco e nero con una citazione della donna protagonista e nei fogli seguenti è riassunta la storia della donna di cui si parla o un pezzo della sua vita.

Non è il primo fumetto di questo tipo che leggo e devo dire che avrei preferito meno storie per avere un maggiore approfondimento. In due pagine non sono praticamente mai riuscita ad affezionarmi a nessuna donna ed è un peccato.

La storia che mi ha colpito maggiormente è stata quella di Margaret Sanger che col suo attivismo ha reso il controllo delle nascite sicuro e legale (un attivismo che, visto quella che sta accadendo in questi giorni in Italia, deve continuare ad esistere).

Una donna è libera solo se il suo corpo le appartiene. Nessuna donna può dirsi libera se non può scegliere liberamente se diventare madre o no. (Margaret Sanger)

Un’altra frase che mi ha colpito, perché tocca un argomento che sento mio, arriva invece da Beth Ditto:

Non posso controllare quello che la gente pensa di me, ma posso controllare al 100% quello che io penso di me. E non parlo solo del corpo, ma dell’autostima in generale. Essere sicuri di sé stessi è un lavoro che non si finisce mai di imparare.

Di sicuro Femmes magnifiques non è un brutto fumetto, anzi, avrei semplicemente preferito un approfondimento di queste storie per legarmi maggiormente a queste donne coraggiose, per sentirle più vicine e per saperne di più della loro storia; nonostante questo, resta una lettura consigliata!

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough review to write.

One approach would be to summarize the plot, not the whole thing, but enough to get across the book’s premise and, hopefully, leave you interested in reading the book to find out more. But this is an anthology, so there are fifty stories to summarize. Not happening, sorry.

Another approach would be to talk about what a fan I am of the writer and/or artist’s work, how this present book compares with their past efforts, and so on. But again: fifty stories, each with its own creative team. No one wants to read a review that's longer than the book being reviewed.

I will mention a bunch of them though, just to give you an idea of the scope of the project: Gail Simone, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Alisa Kwitney, Teddy Kristiansen, Lucy Knisley, Matt Wagner, Paige Braddock, Leah Moore, Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Sonny Liew, Mark Buckingham, Johnnie Christmas, Gilbert Hernandez, Gerard Way, Chynna Clugston-Flores …

This book was clearly a labor of love for everyone involved. All stories are three pages long, so even if it's one you aren't digging (unlikely; quality is high), there will be another one along soon. None of the stories are intended to be complete biographies, more introductions and spurs for further reading. The basic format is often not “Here's Who This Woman Was/Is” so much as “Here's What This Woman Means To Me.”

The book is every bit as celebratory and empowering as you’d imagine. I do wish that these stories were longer and more detailed, but that would have either made the book longer and more expensive, or else resulted in not having as many magnificent women represented. I suppose my wanting more is a testament to how much I enjoyed it. Recommended!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paragonabile a operazioni simili degli ultimi anni, si tratta di una raccolta a fumetti di storie di donne celebri. Non ho apprezzato tanto alcuni aspetti, in primo luogo ci ho trovato poca originalità, uno sguardo molto USA-centrico nelle donne scelte di cui narrare la vita, inoltre, i racconti, sono scritti dal punto di vista dell'autrice del fumetto, e spesso non dicono davvero nulla di interessante sull' ""eroina"" di cui si vorrebbe raccontare. Un altro punto è a sfavore dell'edizione italiana, in quanto penso che alcuni siano stati errori di traduzione, ed è la poca attenzione a un linguaggio femminista (es. mestieri in cui si sua il maschile anche parlando di donne).

[Ryan Fohl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost half are stories of an artist inspired by an artist. Some fail as short pieces. Lots
Of artistic variety. Some pieces are great.
The misty copeland story worked in the short space. The Rosalind Franklin and Judith story were funny. Above water was my favorite. Loved how the background worked with the frames.

What I learned: Margaret singer was force fed! Nellie Bly boxed. A daughter brought to work saved an Apollo mission. I should read a Carrie Fisher book. Marlo Thomas is a hero. Margret Atwood is cool and fun.

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carrie exposed it all: addictions, family tensions, old resentments, low self-esteem, and how it felt when strangers commented on how badly you were aging.
She knew she would never escape the iconic image of Pricess Leia, the eternal maiden.
Yet she embraced the roles of the nurturing mother and far-seeing crone, as well. The ancient Greeks had The Fates and The Furies; the Norse had The Norns.
We have Carrie Fisher. — Alicia Kwitney

Overall a fantastic idea for a book well executed. You can see the love the writers have for their heroines through the writing. Readers can see that the creatives were given some freedom. It doesn't end up feeling formulaic. Some focus on a very specific incident, some are career-long, some are personal interactions and some are love notes to the past. But they are all different. Where there is some cross over it isn't obvious because of the variations in art styles which also vary greatly but suit the subject. If this appeals to you by its feministic, graphical or vaguely historical reasons do read it. It is well worth it.

The rest of the review is just a dump of comments and annotated quotes for while I was reading the book.
• I really like Kelly Sue Deconnick and Elsa Charretier's comic for Hilary Clinton. It's wordless, focusing on the struggle, determination. The power of one generation breaking down walls for and aiding the next generation.
• I knew nothing about Peggy Guggenheim. It really makes me want to know more about her.
• Yes, Hatshepsut! Why do so few people, women know who she is? It's a travesty. But oh author Kirsty Miller brings Senenmut into this. Yes, thank you. If you like this comic may I recommend Patricia L. O'Neill's Her Majesty the King.
• No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother. — Margaret Sanger (1879 – 1966) Damn this is pure power. And this is still so, so relevant today. In so many places.
• Sally Ride's includes the first women in space on one very powerful list. We do love to see it. That was a fantastic inclusion choice by Cecil Castellucci.
• Agnes Underwood feels is interesting because she's different. Not just as a woman but as a comic style. I like how Jon Davis-Hunt chooses to do it.
• The comic on Dale Messick by Paige Braddock is so clever. Braddock has chosen to include Brenda Starr, Messick's greatest creation. It is a great comic, especially including the feminist detail attached to Starr herself.
• Lots of the comics have their colouring by Hi-Fi (Bian Miller and Kirsty Miller) who appears to have been a staff colourist if the writers didn't have their own.
• This drove me to look up Kat Blaq. And damn I'm glad I did.
• When I turned onto the sidewalk, I saw it: a huge billboard on the front of the Metropolitan Opera House with my picture on it. I was in profile, wearing a red leotard, with my chest and back arched so you could see my full feminine breasts and my rounded butt. It was everything that people don't expect in a ballerina. I stood completely for five minutes, just crying. It was beauty. It was power. It was a woman. It was me. — Misty Copeland (1982 – ) I really like this quote. This is so powerful.
The art Megan Hutchison chose to use for Ada Lovelace is very, very pretty. It feels like something put a Victorian novel, fitting.
• Judith is a biblical figure. Straight up badass. Kills a man by cutting off his head. And it's just so funny how it is told. Fantastic choices were made by both Mags Visaagio and Brett Parson.
The Elizabeth Choy section is interesting because it covers a few powerful women of that part of the world (Malaysia)
• What Shirley Chisolm wanted us to remember about her isn't the barriers she broke, it's the good she did in breaking them. —(Gibson Twist) I'm not sure how frequently this is used. But I can see this being true of so many women in history.
• I'm not going to start justifying my character. The way I am is the way I am, so take me as I am. If I want to do anything, anywhere with anybody, that's what I want to do and that's nobody's business. — Brenda Fassie (1964 – 2004) I adore this quote, it's all power. But I do have a bone to pick with author Lauren Beukes Brenda Fassie wasn't gay she was bi, so she's not a gay icon she's a queer icon.
• The Harriet the Spy and Louise Fitzhugh comic is told in a different way. Parallels between the now and the then. I quite like it.
• Maria Bonita's is smart. The layout chosen is genius. It allows for some slight angst to build through the comic.
• Margaret Atwood feels so personal for Hope Nicholson and I adore it
• The world isn't getting any easier. With all these new inventions I believe that people are hurried more and pushed more... The hurried way is not the right way; you need time for everything—time to work, time to rest and time to play. — Hedy Lamarr (1914 – 2000) Omg yes Hedy Lemarr my badass queen. The style of art used by Gilbert Hernandez suits. Largely b&w there is this perfect almost clash between the glamour of the art as in movie scenes and the talk of her tech, her intellect.
• Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won't have as much censorship because we won't have as much to fear. — Judy Blume (1938 – ) The comic focuses on empathy which feels like the right choice. Respect to anyone who pushes back hard against censorship
• I don't think I've heard of Ruth Klüger. Mossad agent. All-round badass during Nazi Germany. I need to find the Ruth Aliav-Klüger/Tiger Hill/ Carol II story. But it seems quite difficult.
• A good story is a good story. If what I'm writing reaches you, then it reaches you no matter what title is stuck to it. — Octavia Butler (1947 – 2006) This is an important principle of reading. There is no such thing as a bad book. Only a book that is not to your taste.
• I never knew which three saints Joan of Arc saw. Catherine. Michael. Margaret.
• A point that is within everything I do is that, in times of war - and it's always a time of war - women especially need to seek out more pleasure. Because it's the first thing they steal from us and it's exactly what their campaigns intend to steal from us - you never have a moment's peace or pleasure. — Lydia Lunch (1959 – ) sounds fascinating. The author of that article, Cathi Unsworth, has interviewed her more than once. I also recommend Lydia Lunch & Nick Cave - Done Dun it's perfectly 80s.

One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way treat a man. — Marlo Thomas (1937 – )

A representative gif:

Read for Dymocks 2022 Reading Challenge. Filling the prompt: "Read Entirely Outside"
I could also have used this for read in a single day but since I read this in an afternoon on the swinging chair on my aunt's deck I chose to use it for read entirely outside. I don't have too many opportunities to read comfortably outside so this was perfect for that. Quite easy to read and able to be put down quickly as the dog needs me. (No I wasn't ignoring people I was on my own, housesitting).

[Adam Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm nervous every time I open an anthology that's either designed to be progressive, or is a fundraiser for a cause I believe in. I always want them to be five star books, and often, they aren't. It's really tough to put together an entire book of engaging narratives and art by a wide variety of creators. I much prefer more focused collections, like Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu. I imagined that I'd flip through this collection, find it somewhere between two and four stars, and recommend everyone pick up Brazen instead.

Please, pick up both.

It is entirely possible that this book may contain a "woman who changed the world" whom you don't like. It's entirely possible that there may be an art style or two that you don't enjoy, but it will be an issue of taste and not of competence. I think every author and every illustrator that worked on this really achieved the atmosphere they were trying to convey.

This reads better than most of the Best American Comics of the year anthologies. What each creative team achieves in just three pages apiece is truly inspiring.

I look forward to buying any future anthologies put out by Black Crown.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty triply collection of women, some well known to me, and some I have never heard of. Each story is three pages long, with an extra page that contains a quote from the story. From Harriant Tubman, and Margret Sanger, to women such as Cindy Whitehouse, a skateboarder, who is well known int he skateboarding world.

Sciencists, actors, writers, activists, whatever they are, there are 50 of them.

Some of knew the stories of. Otheres, I though I knew the stories, and was surprised to learn new facts.

Very enjoyable. A very accessible book to spark the interests of girls, to show what they can aspire to.

Recommended.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nearly every one of the 50 women celebrated here is an interesting choice, covering a wide range of fields and achievements, and their stories are illustrated by a ton of great artists. It was my first time hearing about some of these women, and even the more famous names often offered something new to me.

As an anthology, the writing can be hit or miss. Among the hits I loved the entries for musician Kate Bush, early 1800s fossil hunter Mary Anning of “she sells seashells” fame, deep sea scientist Sylvia Earle, lead Apollo software engineer Margaret Hamilton, birth control activist Margaret Sanger, writer Ursula K LeGuin, Disney artist and designer Mary Blair, chemist Rosalind Franklin who first imaged genetic pairs, musician and performance artist Laurie Anderson, actress and writer Carrie Fisher, Queen of African Pop Brenda Fassie, actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, and writer Octavia Butler.

Each entry is limited to just three pages, surely a tough constraint, and some writers use their pages much better than others. I tended to enjoy the writers that focused almost exclusively on their subject’s bio. Those that focused on their subject through how they affected their own life tended to feel more self-involved and uninteresting, though there’s still a few of those that worked too. I also preferred the more timeless choices from at least 10-15 years ago; a handful of selections are 20-something entertainers from the 2010s who only just made their name a few years before this book was published, and their inclusion felt pretty insubstantial or curious compared to the rest.

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really fun! 50 profiles of women who made history in the world. Each 2-3 page vignette is done by a different set of artists so you get to see lots of different art styles and there's an artist's bio section at the end so you can look up everyone and see their other work. This collection introduced me to a few women I hadn't heard of, which is always cool. I would say it's worth picking up, easily.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these are great and some suck really hard. The piece on Peggy Guggenheim is literally all about the men she came into contact with. Many are about the famous femme's influence on the writer which I found tiresome; the one on Misty Cohen is the most egregious example with a blonde ballerina inserting herself into the story. Overall, more misses than hits.

[Lisa Macklem · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of inspiring stories in this anthology and some really beautiful art. I found almost all of the entries unsatisfying, however, because they are all so short. Clearly, the artists/writers were given pretty free rein to approach their entry as they liked. Some focus on the subject of the entry, but many focus on the impact the subject has had on the artist/writer. This is a great place to start looking for inspiring stories but may not be an end in and of itself.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this thinking I’d be reading more biographical stories of these women and not personal stories about what these women mean to others... I don’t know, it was good, but not what I was expecting or wanting out of this.

[Carlina Scalf]

Loved the variety of stories in this collection - it was neat to see many different women, many different story styles, and many different art styles in the same place. Glad to have it on my shelf!

[Isabella Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️
Ha l’unica pecca di essere troppo breve

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that a few of the women profiled have been profiled infinite numbers of times in the last 1.5 years. Otherwise it was quite good!

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. More of stories of how I like this person or the impact they had on me than about the women themselves

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because I recently found out that Gerard Way contributed to it and I’m so glad I did!
I love these types of compilations of feminist stories and this is a great one.
So many strong women in here, including many of my own heroines but also some that I’d never heard of.

[Il Salotto Irriverente - G. Biondi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il progresso non si ottiene stando nascosti a piagnucolare e lamentarsi. Il progresso si ottiene mettendo in pratica le idee.
– Shirley Chisholm

Femmes Magnifiques è un’antologia a fumetti che celebra cinquanta donne che sono state in grado di infrangere una barriera in diversi ambiti: nell’arte, nella scienza, nella politica, ma anche nella vita di tutti i giorni.

Cosa hanno in comune tutte queste donne? Hanno cercato (spesso riuscendoci) e cercano di creare un futuro migliore nei contesti in cui si muovono: c’è chi lavora per i diritti civili, chi per liberare altre donne e chi sul progresso tecnologico. Chi vuole affermarsi nel mondo dell’arte, della musica, della scienza, della politica, della letteratura. Chi insegue il proprio sogno, e combatte per costruire il mondo in cui crede.

L’antologia non fa distinzioni di etnia, genere, epoca, ecc… Il suo obiettivo è quello di raccontare e celebrare le donne. Alcune vengono dal passato, come Artemisa, altre sono nostre contemporanea, come Rumiko Takahashi. Vengono recuperati interi pezzi del movimento delle donne, anche quelli più nascosti, come a voler mettere in evidenza che “c’è tanto da fare, ma tanto è stato fatto, per quanto in silenzio“.

Il fumetto è stato ideato da Shelly Bond, i testi e i disegni sono stati creati da diversi professionisti. Infatti si nota il mix di stili, sia da un punto di vista grafico che testuale.

Le storie sono introdotte da una citazione della donna di cui si sta per raccontare la vita, e sono molto brevi. L’antologia si apre con Kate Bush, una donna che canta di mestruazioni, suicidio e incesto, coperta solo da un body mentre fa danza moderna.

Di alcune donne trattate, essendo famose, conoscevo già la storia, ed è stato un piacere ritrovarle; altre sono invece state una gradevole scoperta, come per esempio: Margaret Sanger, infermiera ed educatrice sessuale, con il suo motto “una donna è libera solo se il suo corpo le appartiene”; o Kristy Miller, archeologa, e Maria Bonita, la prima femminista brasiliana.

L’unico difetto che si può riscontrare è la mancanza di approfondimenti: le storie sono troppo brevi e vengono date delle pillole riguardanti i fatti salienti. Conoscere più nel dettaglio le vite di queste donne meravigliose, avrebbe fatto diventare l’antologia perfetta.

Ho comunque apprezzato molto il libro, soprattutto da un punto di vista grafico: fenomenale!

Siccome le storie e gli autori sono tanti, ho deciso di assegnare dei premi:

Premio miglior storia va a Idioty City, che ha come protagonista Giuditta, un personaggio della Bibbia. Ho apprezzato molto lo stile, ironico e divertente.

Premio miglior citazione va a Beth Ditto:

“Non posso controllare quello che la gente pensa di me, ma posso controllare al 100% quello che io penso di me. E non parlo solo del corpo, ma dell’autostima in generale. Essere sicuri di se stessi è un lavoro che non si finisce mai di imparare.

E, infine, il premio miglior grafica va alla storia Incantatrice di Numeri, che racconta la storia di Ada Lovelace. (Testi e disegni di Megan Hutchison, colori Hi-Fi)

Consiglio l’antologia?
Ovviamente, che domande! 🙂

[Cale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many books can plant seeds to grow in your life. This book plants forests.

There are the trees, which are the 50 subjects of the stories, ranging from Joan of Arc to Kate Bush to Michelle Obama - I was familiar with a few, and some were completely new to me. A surprising number detail heroines of World War II I had never heard of. Politicans, writers, comic artists, musicians, and scientists are all well represented here. I was a little surprised by the absence of athletes (aside from skateboarder Cindy Whitehead, who is a subject and writes the foreword). These are not deep biographies - these are sketches designed to color in the women just enough to intrigue the reader, and inspire them to seek out more information about them.

Then there are the leaves - those are the creations of the artists and musicians detailed, many of whom have whole ecosystems of art, books, and albums that I was intrigued by and will need to look into.

There there is the grass and brush - that's the artists and writers who tell the stories. They are predominantly female, but not exclusively (as Kristy Miller's essay espouses - Feminism is not limited to women), and there is some amazing talent here - writers like Gail Simone and Robin Furth and Lauren Beukes, and artists like Jen Bartel and Marguerite Savage. Seeing their work on display here is inspiring, and a list of Twitter handles provides easy access for readers to learn more about any that interest them.

There are even songbirds, from the work of the profiled musicians to a playlist created by the contributors.

The book is a forest floor - a place that collects and encourages growth. While there may be some dying vines and rotted trees (a couple of the biographies may not be enough to inspire readers), the overall ecosystem provides enough hardy growths to guide a reader to a whole world of new and inspiring content. That rich harvest is more than enough reason to recommend this book to anyone.

[Guylou (Two Dogs and a Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 Hello Book Friends! I just finished FEMME MAGNIFIQUE by Shelly Bond. What an inspiring graphic novel about women who were not afraid to take the lead and make a difference. Each story is beautifully illustrated and offers a glimpse of the life and accomplishments of a woman. From biblical characters to skateboarders to artists, these 50 women’s influences and accomplishments are impressive and inspirational. Two women stood out while I read this book, scientist Rosalind Franklin and actress Carrie Fisher. Some of those women I had never heard of and I spent some time researching them on Google to get to know them better. Overall, this book is a gem and I recommend it.

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[LeeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, and I did find quite a lot to enjoy in the book. I really enjoyed Elizabeth Choy's story. I felt the deep impact of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and enjoyed reading the chapter on her life and the recognition of her excellence. The chapter on Judy Blume was also very satisfying, as it is difficult not to love Judy Blume.

This book took a risk. They had the story of these amazing, accomplished women told through the eyes and experience of the women who wrote each piece. So instead of a chapter all about the amazingness of Judy Blume, the chapter is about a time the writer met Judy Blume at a book signing. And there is a realness to that, and, in this way, they share a lived experience and a shared admiration for each subject, but I found myself wanting to know more about the actual subject of each chapter rather than about what the writer of each section felt/thought about her.

However, if I can set my expectations aside and enjoy what is, this is an amazing collection with brilliant graphics, well chosen subjects, and absolutely unique, fresh takes on each woman.

[Saleena Longmuir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle for this book is "50 Magnificent Women Who Changed the World"; so I was intrigued. Obviously, who the author chooses is subjective, so I may not agree with all the choices, but they certainly were interesting. The one thing that is both interesting and annoying about this book is that it truly is the book equivalent of a tasting menu. Each person gets a page or two, and some people are mentioned solely based on how the author felt or interacted with them (so not even basic bio info, just a mention of the name). That being said though, it allows for a quick view of a lot of people and perhaps will encourage someone to go look up a full biography of anyone that peaks their interest. There is a variety of artists and writers in on this project so it is quick to read, offers a wide array of art styles and an different list of people than most "best of the best" biography books. There is more inclusion here, purposefully making sure to include lots of women of color, as well as those on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. All in all; happy to have read it

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably one of the most important graphic novels, of this year or any other year. It's 50 stories of women who changed the world: from artists like Kate Bush and Beth Ditto, to pioneers like Brenda Fassie and Kat Blaque. The writers and artists are a STACKED list of the coolest women in comics, along with some pretty stellar guys too. This is more than a book to be read and set aside, it's a book to pore over, take breaks and let the history sink in. Buy this for everyone you know, share with the tweens and teens in your life. This isn't just a graphic memoir, this is a launchpad into a world of powerful women and the beautiful ways they have shaped and contributed to our world.

[Kole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this better. Mixed quality in presentation as it really hurts a lot of the stories when they are only 3 pages. It's understably hard to depict what a person did and what they mean to you in that small space. I was left confused by some of the stories because of this and I wondered what the person represented even did. However, there were some really strong stories that were very personal to the authors which included people I otherwise might not have heard of. I still think this is entirely worth a read of it sounds interesting to you but the flaws are a bit too major for me personally. 3/5

[Bridget]

This is a lot of fun, with beautiful illustrations. The thing that made it stand out to me in comparison to other anthologies like this is the sheer diversity of voices. It's not just "the usual suspects." I browsed the Table of Contents and thought: "Wait! Kate Bush? Laurie Anderson? Louise Fitzhugh? Judy Blume? I've GOT to read this!" Plus, I learned about a few women I didn't know, and now I want to find out more about, women like: Ellen Stewart, Mary Blair, Ruth Kluger and Rumiko Takahshi. I was also delighted by bonus material, which showed the process of how this comic came to be.

[Jerry Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely graphic novel of 50 magnificent women. I listened to new artists while reading the stories. I love the diversity of storytelling as much as the diversity of selected women.

Things I learned:

There is a real “She” that sold seashells

Read Sylvia Earle to learn more about the ocean and its importance to our home.

Nellie Bly circumnavigated the globe faster than Phileas Fogg in 1884

Have you been to the Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice? It is a modern art destination.

Hope to see the Temple of Hatshepsut when I visit Egypt (Deir Al Bahari)

Sally STEM Ride encouraged Tracy into engineering.

Read Brenda Starr graphic novels by Dale Messick

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of 50 short (4 page) comics about women in pop culture, politics, art, and science that's uplifting and educational. The women I recognised I was delighted to see and those I didn't I now want to learn more about. The stories are a mixture of life stories, moments in time, and what those women meant to the comic creators, there's a diverse range of writers and artists that gives you a taster of lots of different styles, and the whole thing is bound together with matching chapter breaks and some nice extra features.