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Ladies Night at The Daily Cartoonist

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D. D. Degg April 5, 2021 1 minute 1 comment

© Bianca Xunise

Xunise’s work is funny and thoughtful. Her linework has this playful energy, and she has a masterful talent for playing with tone in different ways, even as her work shifts from moving personal stories to deep political analysis to elegant and perfectly structured gag cartoons. She is part of the great tradition of cartoonists who are poets of the sad loneliness that for many of us is the essence of being human. For some of us who have admired her work, it’s been strange and honestly heartbreaking to see her work be so misunderstood and mischaracterized by some people. Xunise was kind enough to answer a few questions about her work, and set the story straight about a few things.

That is the introduction to The Comics Journal’s revealing interview with Bianca Xunise.

For some reason this weekend The Philadelphia Tribune ran a year old Michael Cavna article from The Washington Post. It is about Bianca Xunise and Christina Stewart (aka “Steenz”), women of color, taking on nationally syndicated comics.

    
© respective copyright owners

This autumn sees the 80th anniversary of Wonder Woman, who made her comics debut in October 1941. But before we start celebrating, we should raise a glass to another, even more groundbreaking superheroine who swung into action six months earlier, in April 1941. Her name was Miss Fury. Written and drawn by June Tarpé Mills, she was the first superheroine to be created by a woman, which is one of many reasons why she is still so inspirational, eight decades on.

Nicholas Barber, for the BBC, remembers Miss Fury and her creator Tarpé Mills.

TV’s Alice Mitchell – RIP

   
Dennis the Menace © King Features Syndicate

Gloria Henry (nee: Gloria Eileen McEniry)  April 2, 1923 – April 3, 2021

TMZ obituary. Entertainment Weekly obituary.

   
© Terri Libenson

Enter Goodreads contest to win a copy of Truly Tyler by Terri Libenson.

© Elaine Drew

Author and illustrator Elaine Drew explains that successful cartooning is not necessarily about the ability to draw.

“The reason for a cartoon to be successful is the idea behind it,” Drew said.

Cartooning depends on the idea more than on the drawing ability, she continued, saying, “There are few visual art forms that demand an idea. Others are interested in textures or the look of color on the page. But cartoonists have to have an idea.”

Pleasanton Weekly profiles Elaine Drew prior to her Comics and Storyboards Zoom show.

above image from Wednesdays Women

Born Zelda Mavin Jackson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 1, 1911, Ormes spent much of her time in school drawing and writing. Eventually, she went on to be a journalist and a cartoonist, becoming the first Black woman to have her own newspaper comic strip. And she didn’t stop at just one—throughout her career, she created comics like Torchy Brown in “Dixie to Harlem” (1937-1938), Patty-Jo ‘n’ Ginger (1945-1956), and Torchy in Heartbeats (1950-1954). Here are six interesting facts about her life and career that unveil the bigger picture of her legacy as a cartoonist.

Mental Floss presents Six Facts About Jackie Ormes, the First Black Woman Cartoonist.