by rory midhani
This week I thought I’d light a fire, pour out some drinks and get up close and personal. Every week I talk about some of the great comics I get to read, and many (maybe all?) of the webcomics that I talk about are ones that I read every week. But there’s another aspect to my comic fandom that I don’t talk about as much on here, and that’s my weekly pull list. For those of you who don’t know, a pull list is the list of comics you make at your local comic shop (mine is Captain Bengals’ Comic Cove at 348 N. 3rd st. in Pocatello, Idaho) that you’d like to buy on a regular, monthly basis. When they get the shipment of comics they’ve ordered each week, they’ll pull out whatever comics are on your list and hold them for you with the understanding that you’ll come in and buy it. That way you can make sure that you get to read all your favorite comics every week. Anyway, here’s my pull list.
Captain Marvel with her awesome space posse
Captain Marvel
I started reading Captain Marvel back in 2012 when Carol Danvers (the former Ms. Marvel) took the title Captain Marvel and was starring in her own monthly series written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. The series recently took a small break and then was relaunched (still with DeConnick and artist David Lopez), moving the Captain from her home base in New York City to the far reaches of Outer Space, where her talents as a pilot and her cosmic origins can be fully taken advantage of. She’s recently been hanging out with the Guardians of the Galaxy and trying to help the population of a dying planet. This book is funny, has a cat in it, is totally action packed and has one of the most powerful and kickass ladies in all of Marvel Comics.
Best. Comic. Ever.
Lumberjanes
This, as you probably know by now, is the series from Shannon Waters, Noelle Stevenson, Brooke Allen and of course, Intern Grace. This hilarious and heartwarming comic is about a group of girls at a summer camp who are not only getting into wacky friendship adventures, but also wacky supernatural ones. This book has great art, great characters, great jokes and great stories. It’s perfect for all ages, it has queer elements, it’s all about girls and friendship, and it has just enough spooky to make it good. It’s pretty much amazing.
Ain’t nobody fucking with my clique
Rat Queens
Rat Queens is the raunchy, violent, punk rock Dungeons and Dragons comic you never knew that you needed. Written by Kurtis Wiebe and drawn by Roc Upchurch, this is definitely the most fun you’ll have reading fantasy this year. It’s pretty much the fantasy comic book version of a Joan Jett song. Just look at this team. We’ve got Betty, the queer Smidgen thief; Violet, the dwarven fighter who started shaving her beard before it was cool; Dee, a human cleric who used to worship a squid god; and Hannah, an elven mage with a rockabilly haircut. The first storyline recently ended, so this is a good place to jump on.
Don’t you dare make fun of her clothes
Red Sonja
Back in 2012, Gail Simone relaunched this iconic title for Dynamite with art by Walter Geovani. You might be thinking, “wait, isn’t Red Sonja just a sex object who runs around wearing a metal bikini?” You’d be half right. She does often wear a scale mail bikini, but with Simone’s writing, she’s far from being just that. She’s a woman of contradictions. She slaughters her enemies mercilessly, but is willing to go to impossible lengths to save slaves she doesn’t even know. She’s simple in her desires — they’re normally just food, grog and sex — but she’s also clever strategist and knows how to think her way out of a tight spot. She’s known as the most deadly woman in the world, but she’s also a fiercely loyal friend. The current storyline has Sonja the She-Devil traveling far and wide to complete a series of tasks so that a dying warlord will free his slaves before he dies. This is an epic series that I’ve totally been loving.
Like a boss
She-Hulk
She-Hulk is an awesome character. She was one of the stars of one of my all-time favorite comics FF, but that series ended, so I was totally pumped when I heard that she would be getting her own title. Written by Charles Soule and with art by Javier Pulido, this book really stands out from most other Marvel titles. It has a look and sense of humor that really make it memorable. In it, Jennifer Walters (also known as the superstrong She-Hulk) has just started up her own law firm (because she’s also a lawyer), is hanging out with her friend Patsy Walker (the superhero Hellcat) and has deal with problems both in and out of the courthouse. If you like the Marvel universe, but you’re looking for something a little different, this is perfect for you.
That’s how you activate your superpowers, right?
Ms. Marvel
I’ve covered this comic here before. And that’s because it’s beyond great. This is a comic about a Pakistani-American, Muslim teenage girl named Kamala Khan who gets superpowers and uses them to help out her friends and take up the former mantle of the previously mentioned Carol Danvers, who as I said, is now going by the name Captain Marvel. Plus, it’s written by G. Willow Wilson, a Muslim woman, and drawn by POC artist and Runaways co-creator Adrian Alphona. It’s just starting to really heat up right now, with one of Kamala’s friends being kidnapped and her going in for the rescue. For the first time she’s going in as a real superhero, doing her own thing. This is definitely my favorite mainstream superhero comic.
Awkward.
Sex Criminals
Written by Matt Fraction (who was writing FF and is married to Kelly Sue DeConnick) and drawn by Chip Zdarsky, this is a hilariously dirty comic. On it’s surface it’s about a young woman who, whenever she has an orgasm, enters a place she calls “The Quiet,” where everything else in the world freezes and she sees all sorts of lights floating around and can move around as much as she wants. After years of thinking she’s the only one like this, she has sex with a new guy and when she enters “The Quiet,” she realizes that he’s there too. Together, they try out all sorts of new things (both sexually and criminally). It’s also about sexual mores and shame, trying new things and being yourself. This comic is bizarre, riotously hilarious, great to look at and completely unlike anything else you’ll read.
There are some other comics I’m reading, but I prefer to read them in the trade paperback format. Those are Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples, Hawkeye by Fraction and David Aja and Pretty Deadly by DeConnick and Emma Rios. As you can see, I’m a pretty big fan of the Fraction-DeConnick family and I tend to read a lot of their stuff. You can probably also see that I’m a big fan of comics about the women. So, how about y’all? Do you have pull lists? What’s on them? Do you know of any great titles I should add to mine?
Comic Releases (July 7)
Betty and Veronica Comics Annual #224 (Archie Comics)
Adventure Time Banana Guard Academy #1 (Boom!)
Lumberjanes #4 (Boom!)
Batgirl #33 (DC)
Birds of Prey #33 (DC)
New Suicide Squad #1 (DC)
Captain Marvel #5 (Marvel)
Legend of Bold Riley #2 (Northwest)
Welcome to Drawn to Comics! From diary comics to superheroes, from webcomics to graphic novels – this is where we’ll be taking a look at comics by, featuring and for queer ladies. So whether you love to look at detailed personal accounts of other people’s lives, explore new and creative worlds, or you just love to see hot ladies in spandex, we’ve got something for you.
If you have a comic that you’d like to see me review, you can email me at mey [at] autostraddle [dot] com.
Great list! I read a lot of these and couldn’t be happier. I’m also having a deep love affair with Rachel Rising.
Excellent suggestions for comics to put on my list. I would particularly like to try Captain Marvel or Ms Marvel. I also recently discovered Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye and really enjoyed it, so perhaps I should give Sex Criminals a try too…
I just finished the Sex Criminals trade, and it was fantastic. It’s definitely worth reading.
I really like this list, but I’m kind of shocked that there is no mention of Batwoman, or even Wonder Woman. That said, I will totally be referring to this list so I can get away from all DC!
I used to read both of those, but quit both. I quit reading Batwoman when J.H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman left because DC wouldn’t let them write Batwoman getting married to her longtime girlfriend. I quit Wonder Woman because I don’t like the way Wonder Woman was changed to be the daughter of Zeus and the Amazon’s origin has been changed so that they “force” sailors to have sex with them, kill the sailors and then sell their male babies into slavery.
I’m a big fan of graphic novels but have never actually read a weekly… thanks for the inspiration!
I just started reading Saga (finally) and I really want to start reading a bunch of these, but I am too broke right now to be buying lots of comics. I’m super late to the game, but I’ve been reading Jeff Smith’s Bone and it also has some really awesome lady characters. I love love all the Adventure Time/Cartoon Hangover stuff too, and I’m really excited that Kate Leth is writing Bravest Warriors!
A side note, I don’t know if you’ve ever used comixology but it’s pretty awesome: https://www.comixology.com/ The have a bunch of 1st issues of series for free so you can check stuff out, and they have cool indie stuff too (I discovered this when I bought Jess Fink’s We Can Fix It.)
Try getting the trades of the comics you want from the library. My local library has a pretty big collection, and they can always get stuff they don’t have through interlibrary loan!
For early in the month releases I read Lumberjanes, Rat Queens, She-Hulk and Princess Ugg. I recommend Princess Ugh a lot! Its second issue is just coming out. Its about a barbarian princess who comes to civilization to get schooling and meets the classic femme princess in the process. They’re roommates at school actually. LOL Something I find really impressive about it is how the artist isn’t afraid to make the lead a really muscled warrior woman. Its so rare to see women in comics who don’t fit into a narrow body type. Even Red Sonja who Ugh owes a ton to in terms of inspiration is usually drawn like a swimsuit model. Apparently swinging a sword all day doesn’t build muscle in her universe (unless you’re a cis man).
And then my later in the month book is Batwoman! Who else? LOL Weird stuff with vampires is going down lately in that. Some people think DC is going to make Kate a full on vampire herself. I’m conflicted.
I’ve read (and mostly loved) the first few volumes of Batwoman but haven’t picked up any new books since I heard Williams and Blackman were leaving the project – I’d be interested to know whether you would recommend the more recent stuff?
I was extremely upset when that all went down and I seriously considered dropping the book. I couldn’t do it though because number one, Kate is my comic idol and means so damn much to me and two, I think it’s just extremely important that we have a monthly comic with a lesbian lead character! Who’s written by people who have respect for her and feel a responsibility to handle her well! That’s just amazing and rare. Batwoman is still the only book like that from the big publishers and having this was unthinkable even a decade ago.
Anyway, to your main question yes I would recommend you check it out. Andreyko was a little rough at first but he’s gotten better every issue. He still respects her and has brought something different to the book. And I do think the fact that he is gay adds something to the book that JHW never quite captured. An authenticity (although I still prefer JHW writing overall). I don’t like Haun’s art much at all. He draws Kate as far too skinny and he doesn’t seem to understand her fashion at all. But he too has gotten a bit better.
Then there’s the vampire stuff which we’ll see where the heck that’s going but it’s certainly got my interest.
I just bought Lumberjanes 2 and 3, and set up a pull list for the rest! I’d like to start reading more comics, but I hate jumping into a story after it’s already begun.
Hey, your pull list looks like mine! Except for Rat Queens. I want to read that one, but really cannot justify adding more titles to my list.
I also read the Black Widow solo title by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto. Phil Noto drawing Natasha? YAS!
The recent Young Avengers run was magical, and I think a lot of Autostraddlers would love it. And that same creative team, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, are doing a new book called The Wicked and The Divine that’s only had one issue out, but is pretty interesting so far. I’m excited about where it can go.
America Chavez is my new huge crush! (♥_♥)
I was thinking about adding Black Widow to my list!
And I agree, Young Avengers was one of my all-time favorite series. It was so, so, so great! I’m planning on checking out The Wicked and The Divine as well.
When I went to pick up Lumberjanes, currently the only title on my pull list due to my sadness over the Batwoman sitch (although I picked up the Variant recently because I loved the art), I suggested sex criminals to my browsing gf (following the DeConnick/Fraction fam on twitter guides the eye) but she wasn’t that into it. The hack’n’slashy characters of Rat Queens look more up her street, plus she’s a huge Joan Jett fan, so I’ll be passing that on :)