First Look at Won’t Back Down, Graphic Novel Debut At Thought Bubble

Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: abortion, planned parenthood, thought bubble

Won’t Back Down is a graphic novel anthology in aid of Planned Parenthood, edited by Trina Robbins, debuting this weekend at Thought Bubble.

Won’t Back Down is a graphic novel anthology in aid of Planned Parenthood, edited by Trina Robbins, including a wide range of contributors, and debuting this weekend at Thought Bubble Comic Convention in Harrogate, England. There will be copies in the Redshirt Hall at three tables, Allison Sampson at A10, Sayra Begum at B12 and Sofie Dodgson at E8. However, because I am a card-carrying member of the white male patriarchy, I already have my copy. And naturally, I should be one of the first to read it.

I open the page to Sabrine Jones asking, “where are the great abortion paintings?” and… yeah. Whatever you think of abortion, you can think of paintings detailing all manner of human activity. But not that one.. though Sarah Jones already created one, and the details about its hanging and curation are a fascinating look at art and museum culture. I didn’t expect to begin here, and it smacked me upside of the face. Which is how it means to go on. Often, the stories are not about abortion per se, but how it shines a light on the rest of humanity’s actions, beliefs and attitudes. This is not some kind of one note book; it is a full orchestra, including some of the more obscure instruments.

That includes Jennifer Camper‘s look at the politics of abortion in rhyming couplets, in bold divided panels and characters, rhyming pandering with gerrymandering beautifully. But also highlighting the intersectionality of class issues when it comes to abortion and how morality gets pushed aside for the rich. While Grace Gordon and Joelle Barreto tell tales of secrets kept by families, never to be told, all told in contrasting shadows and bright lights. Summerly Street from Alison Sampson, Sayra Begum and Sofie Dodgson, the Thought Bubble gang, has a similar tale but one of a television period piece drama, across the decades and continents, sixties to eighties, Australia to England.

The book, naturally, is focused on the US. There are also tales from decades ago, from when abortion was illegal, from Lee Marrs, which are reflected in other tales ripped from today’s headlines. Trina Robbins and Marguerite Sauvage tell the story, My Second Abortion, set amongst the idealism of the twenty-something in New York in the sixties, hit with the impact of reality. and a time which has returned for many. But there are British tales too, Kate Charlesworth sees how the changes in the US are affecting the UK, with lessons refusing to be learnt – but hope placed in the hands of idealistic kids.

While this is a book filled with art that some people would see as “indie” and others as “real mainstream”, we also have the American superhero team of Barbara Kesel and Yanick Paquette creating a fantasy allegory called Infinite. Gene Ha works with Lisa Starkey to tell a story about the tortoise-like Mitch McConnell winning the abortion race by being “slow and steady” in the Aesop fashion and how the roots of the current Supreme Court are all down to actions taken in 1982. Everything is told in a Berke Breathed-like cartoon, with the politicians in full photorealism.

While Dani Colman and Rori tell a multiverse series about other realities where the narrator makes a different decision and keeps making them. You may be tired of multiverse stories by now, but not this one, which gives a novel take on the examined life.

Wanting by Chrissie Williams and Stephanie Hans asks the heartbreaking observation about how hard pregnancy is for people who want kids and what it would be like if that desire wasn’t there, unanswered the ink dripping down the page into nothingness. The book is full of the kind of conversations regarding abortion and planned parenthood that don’t make the national or even local media, can’t be found in those “special episodes” of your favourite sitcoms and definitely aren’t on the political hustings. One tale based on his grandmother’s life by Robert Tipton is horrific and charming simultaneously.

But hey, I’m a straight white man obsessed, so naturally, the story that hit home most was Seeds Of Life by Jennifer Camper, looking at a Handmaiden’s world made up of men in which masturbation is illegal, obsessed with its mundanity, and the restraints placed on every aspect of life. Directly followed by Forced Birth Nation from Eve Furchgott, deliberately to draw the parallel with a heavier political allegory for a future that is only fifteen minutes away, placing women in chains with bold unbreakable black lines, tinged with red. Brutalist and just as hard-hitting, heavy with statistics and history.

As you see, it’s a huge amount of history, experience, fears for the future but also plans to do something about it, from a collection of some of the best comic creators in the world, all manner of styles, all manner of concerns, all manner of approaches, but one very big point. Timeless, topical and out this weekend.

Creators include Lee Marrs, Alison Sampson, Steve Leialoha, Ken Steacy, Barbara Randall Kesel, Yanick Paquette, Signe Wilkinson, Christopher Golden, Marguerite Sauvage, Gene Ha, Carrie Tupper, Todd Klein, Twyla Dawn Weixl, Sabrina Jones, Stephanie Cooke, Leeann Hamilton, Jennifer Camper, Sydney Heifler, Kate Charlesworth, Dave McCaig, Deanna Soukiasian, Grace Gordon, Joelle Barreto, Isabelle Struble, Grace Desmarais, Tony Parker, Bridgit Connell, Michelle Madsen, Janice Chiang, Jessica Balboni, Perl Barry, Jennifer Camper, Eve Furchgott, Sharon Rudahl, Dee Cunniffe, Sayra Begum, Sofie Dodgson, Robert Triptow, Ryan Oakley, Jeremy Whitley, Lisa Sharkey, Wesley Wong, Dominike “Domo” Stanton, Tom Orzechowski, Emily Bowen Cohen, Amy Chase, Dani Coleman, and Rori. 

Won’t Back Down is being published by Last Gasp in January 2024, and was crowdfunded on Zoop. Here’s a preview of what’s coming.

In 1973, the Supreme Court gave women the right to make decisions over the care of their own bodies. A mere fifty years later, a rogue Supreme Court has taken that right away. Today, over 32 states have banned or severely restricted abortion. We’re fighting back as best we can, with pens and brushes, paper and ink, and have produced a pro-choice anthology: Won’t Back Down, featuring the work of over 30 artists, writers, inkers, and colorists, and we’re giving the profits to Planned Parenthood. With Won’t Back Down, Trina Robbins has created an important anthology that celebrates women who fight for justice – for anyone interested in women’s rights, free speech, or simply great comics.

Won’t Back Down
Edited by Trina Robbins
ISBN: 9780867199253
$25.00 | Paper 8 1/2 x 11 104 Pages
Publication Date: 2024-01-15 Published by Last Gasp of San Francisco

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