Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival

by Diane Noomin (Editor), Roxane Gay (Introduction)

Overview

More than 60 female comics creators share their personal experiences with sexual violence and harassment through new and original comics

Inspired by the global #MeToo Movement, Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival is a collection of original, nonfiction comics drawn by more than 60 female cartoonists from around the world. Featuring such noted creators as Emil Ferris, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, MariNaomi, Liana Finck, and Ebony Flowers the anthology’s contributors comprise a diverse group of many ages, sexual orientations, and races—and their personal stories convey the wide spectrum of sexual harassment and abuse that is still all too commonplace. With a percentage of profits going to RAINN, Drawing Power is an anthology that stokes the fires of progressive social upheaval, in the fight for a better, safer world.

Full list of contributors:

Rachel Ang, Zoe Belsinger, Jennifer Camper, Caitlin Cass, Tyler Cohen, Marguerite Dabaie, Soumya Dhulekar, Wallis Eates, Trinidad Escobar, Kat Fajardo, Joyce Farmer, Emil Ferris, Liana Finck, Sarah Firth, Mary Fleener, Ebony Flowers, Claire Folkman, Noel Franklin
Katie Fricas, Siobhán Gallagher, Joamette Gil, J. Gonzalez-Blitz, Georgiana Goodwin, Roberta Gregory, Marian Henley, Soizick Jaffre
Avy Jetter, Sabba Khan, Kendra Josie Kirkpatrick, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Nina Laden, Miss Lasko-Gross, Carol Lay, Miriam Libicki
Sarah Lightman, LubaDalu, Ajuan Mance, MariNaomi, Lee Marrs, Liz Mayorga, Lena Merhej, Bridget Meyne, Carta Monir, Hila Noam
Diane Noomin, Breena Nuñez, Meg O’Shea, Corinne Pearlman, Cathrin Peterslund, Minnie Phan, Kelly Phillips, Powerpaola, Sarah Allen Reed, Kaylee Rowena, Ariel Schrag, M. Louise Stanley, Maria Stoian, Nicola Streeten, Marcela Trujillo, Carol Tyler, Una, Lenora Yerkes, Ilana Zeffren

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419736193
Publisher:	Abrams ComicArts
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.30(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Diane Noomin is the creator of the comics character DiDi Glitz, editor of the Twisted Sisters anthologies, and was one of the early contributors to Wimmen’s Comix. She has been nominated for Harvey and Eisner Awards and received an Inkpot Award. Glitz-2-Go, a collection of Noomin’s art throughout her career, was published in 2013. Her work is included in the Library of Congress Print & Photographs collection. She lives in Connecticut.


Roxane Gay is a professor, editor, and the New York Times–bestselling author of Bad Feminist, Hunger, and Difficult Women. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2019

#MeToo is elaborated as a movement, not just a moment, in this diverse, unblinkingly honest anthology of autobiographical comics. “There are no easy stories to be found here,” as Roxane Gay writes in the foreword. Each short piece, ranging from a few panels to a few pages, explores the specific cartoonist’s experiences of sexual harassment, abuse, and violence in varying art styles and approaches. Some, such as Sabba Khan, use deceptively soft colors and linework to portray the isolation and despair assault imposes upon women. Others, such as Carol Lay, contrast jaunty colors and caricature with the blunt horror of assault. Most don’t come to a clear resolution; the focus is on exposure rather than neatly sewing up a raw experience. Some, such as Roberta Gregory, serve up memories of being a young woman in the male-dominated world of underground comics, end in a place of gratitude for sisterhood and healing. Others simply lay rage, pain, and intractable frustration utterly bare, as Siobhán Gallagher does in her one-page account of realizing she isn’t “one of the boys” after all. But whether they are optimistic or nihilistic, abstract or exactingly inked, each entry presents its own startling truth. These creators don’t just draw power from the force of the community of fellow artists speaking out, together, in this excellent and powerful volume—they impart it to the reader, who may either be emboldened to tell their own stories or to listen to those who have too often been silenced. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

The comics collected in this volume are written by and show culturally, sexually, and gender-diverse women. Give this volume to patrons who want to be aware of the abuses that happen daily in our society, what constitutes as abuse, and that no one is exempt.

Booklist

This landmark collection, beautifully produced, shines a light on a relentless, unwelcome aspect of women’s lives.

The New York Times Book Review - Hillary Chute

"Here, [Diane Noomin] has managed to bring together her largest collection yet, a high-quality book that joins a growing, vital canon of comics on the topic of sexual violence and harassment…

Women's Review of Books

"...an anthology that stokes the fires of progressive social upheaval, in the fight for a better, safer world."

Autostraddle

"Drawing Power is as stunning as it is enraging."

The Beat

Many books have been born from the #MeToo movement, but perhaps none so comprehensively resonant as Drawing Power.”

BookPage

"Reading these stories together is like hearing a thousand feet stomping in unison or looking at the sea or the earth from far enough away to see its curve. This is a human problem that can neither be denied nor represented through a single story. I feel horrified, sad, tender, and proud, and most of all I want us to do better."

author of The Best We Could Do and illustrator of Thi Bui

The comics in Drawing Power add a striking visual dimension to the #MeToo movement. Something about the very visibility of the perpetrators in these stories—all very different, yet all somehow the same— brings home in a new way the extreme pervasiveness of sexual violence. By bearing witness quite literally to a wide range of traumatic incidents, the cartoonists in this book are changing not just the way we understand sexual assault, but the way we see it.

author of Fun Home and Are You My Mother Alison Bechdel

Comics are a uniquely visceral method means of administering truth, and this big, wide-ranging collection delivers it in spades. Painful subject matter aside, this is a strong, varied anthology, smartly curated, and boasting a truly impressive talent roster…

The Comics Journal

The comics in Drawing Power add a striking visual dimension to the #MeToo movement. Something about the very visibility of the perpetrators in these stories—all very different, yet all somehow the same— brings home in a new way the extreme pervasiveness of sexual violence. By bearing witness quite literally to a wide range of traumatic incidents, the cartoonists in this book are changing not just the way we understand sexual assault, but the way we see it.” —Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home and Are You My Mother

"Reading these stories together is like hearing a thousand feet stomping in unison or looking at the sea or the earth from far enough away to see its curve. This is a human problem that can neither be denied nor represented through a single story. I feel horrified, sad, tender, and proud, and most of all I want us to do better."
—Thi Bui, author of The Best We Could Do and illustrator of A Different Pond

"These creators don’t just draw power from the force of the community of fellow artists speaking out, together, in this excellent and powerful volume—they impart it to the reader, who may either be emboldened to tell their own stories or to listen to those who have too often been silenced."—Publishers Weekly

“This landmark collection, beautifully produced, shines a light on a relentless, unwelcome aspect of women’s lives.”—Hillary Chute, The New York Times Book Review

“Comics are a uniquely visceral method means of administering truth, and this big, wide-ranging collection delivers it in spades. Painful subject matter aside, this is a strong, varied anthology, smartly curated, and boasting a truly impressive talent roster…”—The Comics Journal

"Drawing Power is as stunning as it is enraging."—The Beat

"...an anthology that stokes the fires of progressive social upheaval, in the fight for a better, safer world."—Autostraddle

"Here, [Diane Noomin] has managed to bring together her largest collection yet, a high-quality book that joins a growing, vital canon of comics on the topic of sexual violence and harassment…”—Women's Review of Books

“The comics collected in this volume are written by and show culturally, sexually, and gender-diverse women. Give this volume to patrons who want to be aware of the abuses that happen daily in our society, what constitutes as abuse, and that no one is exempt.”—Booklist

“Many books have been born from the #MeToo movement, but perhaps none so comprehensively resonant as Drawing Power.”—BookPage

"A stunning collection that viscerally highlights the pervasiveness of sexual violence and the multitude of ways survivors process trauma."—Library Journal

From the Publisher

The comics collected in this volume are written by and show culturally, sexually, and gender-diverse women. Give this volume to patrons who want to be aware of the abuses that happen daily in our society, what constitutes as abuse, and that no one is exempt.

Booklist

12/13/2019

More than 60 female cartoonists, representing a range of ages, races, and sexual orientations, reveal their experiences with sexual violence and harassment in this powerful anthology curated and edited by underground comix stalwart Noomin (Glitz-2-Go). In "Mr. Stevenson," Ebony Flowers (Hot Comb) is shocked when a coworker attempts to force herself upon her. Mary Fleener's (Life of the Party) unique blend of underground cartooning and cubism brings jittery energy to her story, "Consensual Rape," in which a bandmate she'd previously slept with blithely admits to raping her while she was passed out. Sarah Allen Reed (Monolith: The Collected Literary Works of Sarah Allen Reed. Vol. 1) evokes an anguished immediacy with her use of thick black lines and black panels that overflow with white text in "Blame," which reveals how having been raped, treated harshly as a member of the transgender community, and repeatedly harassed by men and women in the comic book industry have resulted in anxiety that her audience might find her culpable for the abuse she's survived. VERDICT A stunning collection that viscerally highlights the pervasiveness of sexual violence and the multitude of ways survivors process trauma.—Tom Batten, Grafton, VA

Library Journal