Ladies Making Comics

Graphic Classics has announced Native American Classics, adaptations of public domain literary works by Native Americans. As with their fantastic African-American Classics, they have sought out as many Native creators as possible to adapt these works.

Among the women contributing are:

• Andrea Grant (Coast Salish), writer of Minx: Dream War
• Tara Audibert (Maliseet), a former animator and creator of children’s book Matthew Loses His Laugh
• Afua Richardson (Cherokee), artist of Genius
• Arigon Starr (Kickapoo), the webcartoonist behind Super Indian
• Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva), artist on Tenth Muse and Archaic.

Native women whose work is being adapted includes short story writer and memoirist Zitkala-Sa (Sioux), oral traditionist Buffalo Bird Woman (Hidatsa), and poet Emily Pauline Johnson (Mohawk).

The Graphic Classics line has been doing a wonderful job drawing attention to lesser known literary works and minority voices in both literature and comics, and I hope they continue to do so. I can think of a number of Asian-American and Latin@ works and creators I’d like to see given the Graphic Classics treatment. And who knows, maybe a “Women’s Classics” or even “LGBT Classics”?.

Native American Classics will be released in March, and is available for pre-order. I can’t wait to get my copy!