Thank God for Power Up

Continuing my #BuyComicsByWomen experiment, where I only buy comics that have a female writer or artist working on them.

Yep Pile

• Power Up #1 (Writer: Kate Leth   Art: Matt Cummings   Cover: Lucy Knisley)  Been looking forward to this one for a while now. Lucy Knisley alt cover is just a bonus. 
• Sensation Comics Ft. Wonder Woman #12 (Writer: Derek Fridolfs   Art: Tom Fowler   Cover: Emanuela Lupacchino) I'm definitely late to the game on this one--may have to pick up some back issues!
• Swords Of Sorrow Sonja Jungle #1 (Writer: Marguerite Bennett   Art: Mirka Andolfo   Cover: Jay Anacleto ) This crossover is the first time I've bought comics regularly from Dynamite. Well done, all y'all!
• VERTIGO QUARTERLY: CMYK Sure. I'll keep picking this up. Always something worth the cover price.
• Star Trek Ongoing #47 (Writer: Mike Johnson   Art: Rachael Stott   Cover: Joe Corroney ) I continue to enjoy this comic--not sure why it doesn't get more press, as it's consistently better than the nu-Trek movies were anyway...
• Star-lord And Kitty Pryde #1(Writer: Sam Humphries   Art: Alti Firmansyah   Cover: Yasmine Putri ) I'm a fan of Humphries ever since Avengers A.I., and I suspect this won't suck. New to Firmansyah and Putri, but the previews look fantastic!

Nope Pile

• God Is Dead #39(Writer: Mike Costa   Art: Nahuel Lopez   Cover: Jose Luis)  What can I say, I like watching gods beat the crap out of each other. I'll have to wait until this year is up though...because it looks like there will never be women working on this.
• Disciples #2 (Writer: Steve Niles   Art: Christopher Mitten   Cover: Christopher Mitten) I dug Niles' Criminal Macabre a lot, and Mitten's art is gorgeous; definitely missing out here.
• Fight Club 2 #3 (Writer: Chuck Palahniuk   Art: Cameron Stewart   Cover: David Mack) I'm not the hugest Palahniuk fan, but everybody involved in this is top shelf talent, and stories about masculinity and identity are a favorite of mine, so I'm bummed about this one for sure.
• Mind Mgmt #35(Writer: Matt Kindt   Art: Matt Kindt   Cover: Matt Kindt) Who am I kidding? I'll be buying the TPB when my year-long experiment is over, but FOMO is in full force here.  
• Wolf #1(Writer: Ales Kot   Art: Matt Taylor   Cover: Matt Taylor) This is the book I'm feeling the most heartache about. It sounds like it's right up my alley. 

Missing Out, but Lots of Good Stuff to Read

#BuyComcsByWomen experiment continues. For a year I'm only buying comics with at least one female writer or artist. 

Yep:

• Princeless Raven Pirate Princess #1 Writer: Jeremy Whitley   Art: Rosy Higgins   Cover: Rosy Higgins  -- I'm jumping on the Princeless bandwagon late, I know, but I'm excited to check this out.
• Archie #1 Writer: Mark Waid   Art: Fiona Staples   Cover: Fiona Staples  -- Mostly picking this one up for the cognitive dissonance of looking at Staples' Saga art and her Archie art.
• Constantine The Hellblazer #2 Writer: Ming Doyle   Art: Riley Rossmo   Cover: Riley Rossmo  -- I don't think I'll ever be a fan of non-Vertigo John Constantine, but I'll probably always be a fan of Ming Doyle, so I'm going to keep reading this for a bit. 
• Section 8 #2 Writer: Garth Ennis   Art: John McCrea   Cover: Amanda Conner  -- I haven't read an Ennis book that I liked in ages (ok, Caliban was pretty great), but this is a pure nostalgia buy for me, I'll cop to that. Hitman was just really fun for a time in my life, and I like seeing Ennis fuck around in the DC playground, and I'm digging Conner's covers.
• Swords Of Sorrow #3 Writer: Gail Simone   Art: Sergio Fernandez Davila   Cover: Tula Lotay  -- This stuff is just plain fun, and who resists Tula Lotay covers?
• Injection #3 Writer: Warren Ellis   Art: Declan Shalvey   Cover: Declan Shalvey  Colorist: Jordie Bellaire -- I'm liking this more than any Ellis stuff in a while, and I'm grateful for Bellaire, who seems to be coloring every other comic I'm buying these days.
• Saga #30 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan   Art: Fiona Staples   Cover: Fiona Staples  -- I have a secret: I'm not reading this book. I'm getting them and saving them for a time when I am not finding any comics I'm liking, because I know I'll love these.
• Shutter #13 Writer: Joe Keatinge   Art: Leila Del Duca   Cover: Leila Del Duca -- Del Duca has become a must-buy artist for me, and this story is a really nice mix of real-world feelings in a crazy world. 

Nope:

• God Is Dead #38 Writer: Mike Costa   Art: Emiliano Urdinola   Cover: Jacen Burrows  -- Still bummed that one of my favorite nutso comics is off the buy pile for lack of women creators. 
• Providence #2 Writer: Alan Moore   Art: Jacen Burrows   Cover: Jacen Burrows  -- I suspect I'll cheat and pick this up as a trade next year. I have a hard time resisting Lovecraftian storytelling.  
• Abe Sapien #24 Writer: Mike Mignola   Art: Sebastian Fiumara   Cover: Max Fiumara  -- There has never been a female creator in any of the Mignolaverse. Ever. Still. 
• Harrow County #3 Writer: Cullen Bunn   Art: Tyler Crook   Cover: Tyler Crook -- I dig all the folks working on this book, and the reviews are solid. Missing out for sure. 
• Negative Space #1 Writer: Ryan Lindsay   Art: Owen Gieni   Cover: Owen  Gieni -- The writeup for this seem really interesting. Maybe there will be some women working on it later...
• Black Science #16 -- Definitely missing out on this crazy sci-fi. Writer: Rick Remender   Art: Matteo Scalera   Cover: Matteo Scalera  
• Descender #5 -- I'm sure Lemire and Nguyen are crafting some great work here--I know I'm missing out. Writer: Jeff Lemire   Art: Dustin Nguyen   Cover: Dustin Nguyen 
• Star Wars Lando #1 -- There are 11 creators listed on this book, with all the variant covers. Not one is a woman. Writer: Charles Soule   Art: Alex Maleev 

Another week of the #BuyComicsByWomen experiment yields some interesting results for me; I'm definitely seeking out and finding some comics that may not have been on my radar if not for the experiment--with so many comics in the nope pile because no women writers or artists are working on them, I look around a bit more, and that has made for some more interesting reads, for sure. 

Yep Pile:

• Help Us Great Warrior #5 Writer: Maddleine Flores   Art: Maddleine Flores   Cover: Becca Tobin -- I discovered Flores' webcomic just before she started publishing this comic, and it's been so fun to read.
• 8house Arclight #1 Writer: Brandon Graham   Art: Marian Churchland   Cover: Marian Churchland  -- Definitely on my radar (mostly because of twitter!) and one of the series I'm most excited about.
• No Mercy #4  Writer: Alex De Campi   Art: Carla Speed McNeil   Cover: Carla Speed McNeil Jenn Manley Lee -- De Campi's foray into real-world fiction is really well done. This is a series I might not have discovered if not for this experiment.
• Zero #18 Writer: Ales Kot   Art: Tula Lotay   Cover: Tula Lotay  SERIES CONCLUSION -- Will we ever get a series with these two again? Hopefully. Sad it's ending, but it's been fantastic, and one of the most underrated comics of the past few years.
• A-force #2 Writer: C. Willow Wilson   Art: Jorge Molina   Cover: Jorge Molina  -- Wilson is one of the few writers that make a book a must-have for me these days, and I don't love the Battleworld concept, but she makes it work in amazing ways. 
• Princess Leia #5  Jordie Bellaire, colorist  Rachel Dodson cover, inker -- I'm not a big Star Wars fan, but digging this book, so I'm glad Bellaire and Dodson worked on it, though, c'mon, Marvel, give us a Leia book written by a woman!

Nope Pile:

• God is Dead #27 -- This is/was one of my favorite guilty pleasures, but there hasn't been a female writer or artist on it since I started my experiment.
• The Spire #1 4 covers, none by women. I love Si Spurrier, and this looks like a fantastic story with an interesting female protagonist, so this one hurts. So many dudes working on this book. If you have four covers, at least get one by a woman. I know I'm missing out on this one.
• Arcadia #3 -- This one has a fantastically interesting conceit, exploring class issues through the sci-fi trope of virtual reality living. I'd love to check it out.
• Baltimore Cult Of The Red King #3 -- Dark Horse continues it's astounding run of the ENTIRE Mignolaverse having no women writers or artists. I'm missing this one: I read the novel of Baltimore years back, and I'll be these are fun stories.  
• American Vampire Second Cycle #8 -- Snyder has knocked this one so far out of the park that nobody even remembers Stephen King helped write the first five. But nary a woman artist in sight. 
• Midnighter #2 -- I'll admit I cheated when I bought Midnighter #1 even though there are no women writers or artists working on it. It was the day that gay marriage won at the Supreme Court, I was at a special event at my LCS, and I overdid it a bit. It was a well-written book, and I would love to continue with this series, but alas...
• 18 Days #1 -- I like checking out new (to me) Morrison books, but no women working on this one.
• Nailbiter #14 -- I cheat with this one, because my partner buys it, so I get to read it anyway. Still--we're waiting for some promised guest covers by women!  
• Satellite Sam #15 -- It's tough to resist the Fraction/Chaykin combination. I'll probably end up getting this as a trade, but I wish we could get some women working on the book. 
• Darth Vader #7 -- Again, not a big Star Wars fan, but a big Gillen fan, so this is one I miss. 
• We Stand On Guard #1 -- A comic by Brian K. Vaughan, Matt Hollingsworth, and Steve Skroce about future Canadians defending their country from an invasion of giant robots from the US? Normally this one would be a no-brainer.