As there is now Laura Howell doing Johnny Bean in the Beano. Was there not a female artist drawing Keyhole Kate in the Dandy a while back (late 90s)? I remember reading it on a newspaper at the time.
Were there any other female artists in any DC Thomson comic as I've mainly had the Beano and Dandy (and some Toppers and Beezers).
The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
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Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
Wasn't the original artist on 'Mr Bubbles' a woman? Pat someone-or-other? (sorry, DCT isn't my forté 
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Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
Cool! I never saw any of her Keyhole Kate work, does anyone have any scans? Wonder what she's working on now? Google's not helping...
I've been told by people at DCT who should know these things that I'm definitely the first regular female Beano artist, but as this thread shows, the Dandy got there nearly a decade ago, and I'd be surprised if there were no ladies working on any of the girls' titles of the past. (I was going to make a point in this post about why anyone should care what gender an artist is anyway, but then I realised it would actually have freaked me out a bit when I was a kid to know that most of the heartwarming tales of plucky young ballerinas and schoolgirls I was reading were written and drawn by middle-aged men
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I've been told by people at DCT who should know these things that I'm definitely the first regular female Beano artist, but as this thread shows, the Dandy got there nearly a decade ago, and I'd be surprised if there were no ladies working on any of the girls' titles of the past. (I was going to make a point in this post about why anyone should care what gender an artist is anyway, but then I realised it would actually have freaked me out a bit when I was a kid to know that most of the heartwarming tales of plucky young ballerinas and schoolgirls I was reading were written and drawn by middle-aged men
)My stuffs: http://www.laurahowell.co.uk
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felneymike
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Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
Hehe, i remember reading a story about the old DCT/IPC girl's comics of the 70's and how the writers had to make up horoscopes, and had contests as to who could come out with the most outlandish one
Going further back in time, i was searching for info on some (text!) pocket libraries published with the same name as one of the old girl's storypapers (Think it was the Schoolgirl's own), and came across an old website with an article (itself probably typed in from a magazine a good 20-30 years old) with the reminisces of an ex-pat Brit who would collect as many of them as she could get hold of in colonial lands, and always imagined them to be written by kindly old women, and not the male "hacks" who where probably also working on stories for Sexton Blake or Champion or something at the same time, who actually did write them.
Going further back in time, i was searching for info on some (text!) pocket libraries published with the same name as one of the old girl's storypapers (Think it was the Schoolgirl's own), and came across an old website with an article (itself probably typed in from a magazine a good 20-30 years old) with the reminisces of an ex-pat Brit who would collect as many of them as she could get hold of in colonial lands, and always imagined them to be written by kindly old women, and not the male "hacks" who where probably also working on stories for Sexton Blake or Champion or something at the same time, who actually did write them.
Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
I've been wracking my brain trying to remember her name as I did meet her once at the time, but there was a young female artist drawing Dinah Mo (was that the title?) in The Dandy in 1984. she must have been about 25 and lived in Widnes or Warrington or Wigan or St Helens (somewhere like that! I think it was Wigan) Sorry I don't remember more!
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stevezodiac
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Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
I do remember reading of a female artist a few years ago and I think she worked on the Dandy. I cut out the article which I think appeared in the Weekly News. Her name may have been Woodard, there is a cartoonist who signs herself Woody in those single panel cartoons in the Weekly News. Her cartoons are always based on a play on words and a bit samey.
Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
Pam Chapeau was the regular Mr Bubbles artist in Sparky.
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Steve Bright
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Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
It's a mystery to me why comic art in this country is such a male-dominated occupation, other than my theory that boys never really want to grow up fully, whereas girls have more important things to worry about as the years advance.
The only other female artist I can recall making very minor inroads into the humour market was back in the early 80's. She must have made quite an impression, because I can neither remember what she drew, nor for whom (I think it may have been The Beano or The Nutty, but it was a very short run, single figures - possible a single figure). All I recall was that her first name was Pamela (definitely not Ms Chapeau though) and I think she was a librarian. Sadly, I also recall that her work was about as lively as a library on a sunny day. Sorry if you're reading this, Pamela.
As always, hopefully someone at DCT can fill in the gaps here, but she did cause a minor stir at the time by virtue of her gender rather than her ability.
The only other female artist I can recall making very minor inroads into the humour market was back in the early 80's. She must have made quite an impression, because I can neither remember what she drew, nor for whom (I think it may have been The Beano or The Nutty, but it was a very short run, single figures - possible a single figure). All I recall was that her first name was Pamela (definitely not Ms Chapeau though) and I think she was a librarian. Sadly, I also recall that her work was about as lively as a library on a sunny day. Sorry if you're reading this, Pamela.
As always, hopefully someone at DCT can fill in the gaps here, but she did cause a minor stir at the time by virtue of her gender rather than her ability.
Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
Tell me about it, I worry constantly about not having enough to worry about 
Joking aside, I *do* worry about gender opening doors that might not otherwise be opened. No matter what advantages it offers, it does make it hard to have faith in your actual abilities. But, I like to keep in mind the thoughts of one of my heroes, the late great Linda Smith, on the matter. She was aware that as a female comedian in a male-dominated biz, she often got got noticed as a novelty first and foremost. But the important thing for her was not justifying how she got where she got in the first place, it was making bloody sure she worked hard enough to justify *staying* there...
Joking aside, I *do* worry about gender opening doors that might not otherwise be opened. No matter what advantages it offers, it does make it hard to have faith in your actual abilities. But, I like to keep in mind the thoughts of one of my heroes, the late great Linda Smith, on the matter. She was aware that as a female comedian in a male-dominated biz, she often got got noticed as a novelty first and foremost. But the important thing for her was not justifying how she got where she got in the first place, it was making bloody sure she worked hard enough to justify *staying* there...
My stuffs: http://www.laurahowell.co.uk
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Steve Bright
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Re: The first female artist in a DC Thomson comic.
LauraH wrote:Tell me about it, I worry constantly about not having enough to worry about
Joking aside, I *do* worry about gender opening doors that might not otherwise be opened. No matter what advantages it offers, it does make it hard to have faith in your actual abilities. But, I like to keep in mind the thoughts of one of my heroes, the late great Linda Smith, on the matter. She was aware that as a female comedian in a male-dominated biz, she often got got noticed as a novelty first and foremost. But the important thing for her was not justifying how she got where she got in the first place, it was making bloody sure she worked hard enough to justify *staying* there...
Which you're doing, Laura - no worries!