They Always Laughed Back: Feminist Comic Art

Join Verge for a talk by renowned comic artist Trina Robbins! This talk complements the exhibition She Laughs Back: Feminist Wit in 1970’s Bay Area Art presented by the University Galleries at Sac State. The exhibition will be on view February 6 – April 13, 2024.

About Trina Robbins: Trina Robbins is a multiple award-winning pioneer in the world of comic books. Feminist, artist, historian, author, co-author, and editor of many graphic novels, and books. In 1969, inspired by an issue of Zap Comix and the Bay Area’s underground comix scene, she moved to San Francisco from New York, finding work at the feminist underground newspaper It Ain’t Me, Babe. Trina has had a pathbreaking career. In 1970, she produced the first all-woman comics anthology, It Ain’t Me, Babe. She has promoted women comics artists in projects such as the anthology Wimmen’s Comix, the longest-running all-women comics anthology in history. Controversially, Wimmen’s Comix includes graphic erotic stories for women from different desire positions. Wimmen’s Comix #1 featured Robbins’ “Sandy Comes Out,” the first comic strip featuring an “out” lesbian. In 1986, Robbins was the first woman (after 40 years) to draw Wonder Woman for DC Comics. She calls herself a “herstorian” and has published more than ten books about great women comic artists ignored by historians, including artists of the Jazz Age. Trina never stops. In 2023, she produced the pro-choice anthology Won’t Back Down!, including artists of every sex and gender identity, with all the proceeds going to benefit Planned Parenthood. – Elaine O’Brien, Ph.D. January 12, 2024

Image: Trina Robbins, It Ain’t Me, Babe: Women’s Liberation, issue cover, 1970, courtesy of the artist.