# chick 'toons **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141 "2001-05-02T22:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/1 "2001-05-02T22:44:41Z")
No, I don’t mean Jack Chick tracts, I mean comic strips with female main characters. It’s struck me as odd that a bunch are written by men; [Luann](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/luann/index.html), [9 Chickweed Lane](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/chickweed/index.html), [Betty](http://umweb2.unitedmedia.com/comics/betty/index.html), [Rose is Rose](http://www.dilbert.com/comics/roseisrose/index.html) and [Sally Forth](http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/sforth/about.htm) for example. Out of that bunch Betty is the only one I find interesting. One of the few exceptions to the male cartoonist rule is [Stone Soup](http://www.ucomics.com/stonesoup/) by Jan Elliot whiich is one of my favorites. so what’s the deal with that? Is there a glass ceiling in the cartoon biz? Is cartooning a no girls allowed club? Of course with “chick 'toons” like [Cathy](http://www.ucomics.com/cathy/viewca.htm)… confindetially I’m just padding my post count so I can have a big one for my _second_ 2,000th post. I was well above that number when part of the board was purged. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/2 "2001-05-02T22:48:57Z")
Happy 2000th, Padeye. I think it’s odd, too. Now that I think about it—I can’t think of any cartoons I’ve read before that were done by women. Maybe it’s because females have a more refined sense of humor. 😛 -Ashley ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/3 "2001-05-03T00:30:29Z")
The only other one I can think of is _For Better Or For Worse_, by Lynn Johnston, which has the mother as pretty much the central character. ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/4 "2001-05-03T14:03:36Z")
You can check out Nicole Hollander’s [Sylvia](http://www.nicolehollander.com/navigate.htm) at her website. **Sylvia** is such a chick strip that I, as a guy, sometimes have trouble comprehending it. You have destroyed my illusions; I thought Brooke and the **Rose is Rose** cartoonist were female. You mean a _guy_ writes Sally Forth? Whyyyyyy??? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/5 "2001-05-03T15:23:37Z")
I’m not surprised that Luann is written by a man. It’s so transparently an “Archie” comic with the sexes (for the most part) reversed. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/6 "2001-05-03T17:01:39Z")
Off the top of my head; Alison Bechtel, Dale Messick, and Lynda Barry are three more female cartoonists. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/7 "2001-05-03T17:31:47Z")
Rose O’Neill (1874-1944) is considered the first great woman cartoonist. In the 1890s she was a featured artist with LIFE and PUCK magazines, and in 1909 she created the immortal “Kewpies” for LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL. (Some call them a blatant ripoff of Palmer Cox’s “Brownies,” but the Kewpies certainly were groundbreaking in the realm of merchandising.) One of my personal faves was Zelda “Jackie” Ormes (1918-1985), an African-American cartoonist who created TORCHY BROWN – FROM DIXIE TO HARLEM in 1938. It ran in the _Pittsburgh Courier,_ a black-owned newspaper, until the mid-1940s, and then again in the 1950s. Torchy faced racial prejudice and rape attempts, and was involved in a variety of adventures, including battling environmental pollution. She even appeared onstage at Harlem’s Cotton Club. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/8 "2001-05-03T17:41:15Z")
I did leave out some good examples but haven’t seen a daily paper with _Sylvia_ or a weekly with Lynda Barry’s _Ernie Pook’s Comeek_ in quite a while. I did some online browsing and _9 Chickweed Lane_ is starting to grow on me. The characters are interesting and the drawings have a nice Al Hirschfeld quality. I can only speak from my neanderthal perspective but for a guy Brooke has a good feminnine sensibility. ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/9 "2001-05-04T11:29:12Z")
Our local muckraking/adzine, the _Houston Press_, dropped Ernie Pook’s Comeek 2 or 3 years ago, apparently because the readership had dumbed down to much to “get” the comic anymore. [Salon.com](http://Salon.com) has not only Lynda Barry but Carol Lay (who I knew from some work she did for SubGenius once), both of whom are sometimes too deep or female for my corrupt guy sensibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/10 "2001-05-04T11:40:32Z")
Preview is our friend, but can’t prevail against sloppy grammatical habits; that should be "whom I knew). Our paper never carried **Brenda Starr** , but that strip was created by (seen here)[Dale Messick](http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.19.98/comics-9807.html); the strip is now written by Mary Schmich. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/11 "2001-05-04T11:45:55Z")
A more recent strip I like is [Rhymes With Orange](http://rhymeswithorange.com/), by Hillary Price. ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/12 "2001-05-04T13:28:02Z")
How could I forget **Rhymes With Orange**? Hilary Price is a goddess! And **Julie Larson** (no relation to Gary, except she’s also wickedly funny) finally has a [Dinette Set](http://www.thedinetteset.com) site up! Rumors that I am the inspiration for Burl have yet to be officially denied. ---
**Author:** ![Simetra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Simetra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simetra)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/13 "2001-05-04T14:01:35Z")
Well, just to add a few online comics that I like. [Gamer Hotties](http://www.gamerhotties.com) and [Pffft](http://www.pffft.net) are definitely worth checking out if you’re a geek like me. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/14 "2001-05-04T14:45:22Z")
I just found another one at [http://www.theonion.com](http://www.theonion.com) … “Pathetic Geek Stories” by Maria Schneider. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/15 "2001-05-04T16:03:29Z")
I can’t believe no one here mentioned **Carol Lay**. Or maybe they didn’t menyion her because, like me, they don’t know where she’s regularly published these days. She used to be in the NYPress (the alternative weekly that also carries the Straight Dope), but hasn’t been for years. She’s sorely missed. Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/16 "2001-05-04T16:35:01Z")
Right on, **Chaim** …Carol Lay is GREAT! Years later I still remember some of her “Story Minutes”… …particularly the one about the mystery writer who comes up with a foolproof murder method…shares it with a colleague to get his opinion on whether or not she should publish it…he kills her, using HER METHOD, and publishes the book under his own name…and a rash of “perfect murders” ensues as the book hits the bestseller list. I’m not sure where to read Carol’s stuff in print these days (What the hell happened to the _NYPress_, anyway? They used to have lots of great comics, now they got SHIT), but her website is [http://www.waylay.com](http://www.waylay.com) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2001, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/17 "2001-05-04T20:48:53Z")
Carol Lay’s “Story Minutes” appear every Tuesday in [Salon.com](http://Salon.com). They also have an archive you can look up of her recent stuff. I looooved Brenda Starr as a child, she was one of my many unhealthy role models. I still like the fact that she lived in the Lovely Arms Apartments. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-toons/64141/18 "2001-05-05T04:20:36Z")
I had a slow afternoon at work and was able to view the entire archive of _Story Minute_, an excellent and bizarre strip. They had some interesting articles on Robert Crumb as well as Lynda Barry’s _100 Demons_ strip.