The Girly Comic Book 1, ed. Selina Lock

This collects issues one to nine of The Girly Comic, an indie anthology title of strips with female protagonists. Part of the appeal here is the wide range of styles included, from Flaming Carrot-esque superhero adventure to autobiography.

There are so many stories that I can’t go through all of them, but Lee Kennedy’s (apparently) autobiographical strips are a particular highlight. It’s strange and admirable that stories of abusive parents and wicked nuns can feel so positive. Caroline Parkinson’s “Do Not Feed the Bear” was another favourite, an eight-page story of a little girl’s encounter with a bear outside the city walls. I also enjoyed “Star-Crossed Bother”, in which Horsewoman (bitten by a radioactive horse, with the chomp-mark in her shoulder to prove it) teams up with Puma and Glamowoman to battle the villains of the Zodiac.

On the rare occasions something doesn’t click (I’m having trouble thinking of an example), there’s always something new around the corner. The quality level is very high, and despite being produced on a shoestring the book as a whole bears comparison with other excellent anthologies of comics such as Popgun and McSweeney’s 13.

The Girly Comic Book 1, ed. Selina Lock, Factor Fiction, hb, 278pp.