'Dykes To Watch Out For'.
Alison Bechdel is a U.S. alternative comic artist. Among her graphic influences are Charles Addams, Edward Gorey and Hergé. She has drawn 'Dykes To Watch Out For' since 1983. Since then, her award-winning bi-weekly comic strip has become a cultural institution for lesbians and discerning non-lesbians all over the world. Part soap opera and part documentary, the strip lovingly chronicles the intimate affairs and global concerns of its characters with unerring authenticity and wit.
Bechdel grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and after graduating from Oberlin College in 1981, moved to New York City. It was there that 'Dykes To Watch Out For' began as a regular feature in the feminist monthly Womanews. Bechdel started self-syndicating her comic strip in 1985, and it ran in over 65 gay/lesbian, feminist, and alternative publications in North America until 2008. A compilation book, 'The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For' (2008) is available, with a cover that parodies Norman Rockwell's painting 'The Gossips'.
'Fun Home'.
Several collections of Bechdel's cartoons and a regular annual calendar have been published by Firebrand Books. Bechdel's work has also appeared in Ms., The Village Voice, Gay Comics, American Splendor, and many other comic books, zines, and anthologies. Her autobiographical comics journal, 'Fun Home', was published by First Mariner Books in 2007, and became Time Magazine's #1 Book of the Year. It was followed in 2012 by her second graphic memoir in 2012, 'Are You My Mother?', that deals with Bechdel's relationship with her mother.
On 16 June 2012, when Matt Groening's 'Life in Hell' printed its final episode, Bechdel was one of several cartoonists to draw a special tribute comic. In 2016 Bechdel made a contribution to the newspaper Resist! by Françoise Mouly and her daughter Nadja, to protest against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Alison Bechdel was an influence on Barbara Dale and Ulli Lust. Veteran cartoonist Jules Feiffer also expressed admiration for her work.
'Are You My Mother?'