Angela's thoughts on comics...

To me, comics are the most stimulating form of stories found on paper. The melding of pictures and text gives the reader a complete world of art and literature. It is always more exciting to experience something firsthand rather than being told about it later – and that is what comics do. Whereas literary novels tell us what happened, comics show us in creative ways how the story unfolded. As a female reader, comics give me characters I can identify with. If I want to feel strong, I read comics featuring Supergirl (my favorite!), Wonder Woman, Dazzler, Zatanna, Poison Ivy, or even Harley Quinn. In these stories, the women stand right up with the male heroes and kick just as much butt – which is something I can definitely appreciate. As a girl, I love stories about love. A huge fan of those stereotypical movies you would think that I, as a girl, would like (The Notebook), I enjoy when a comic can show me relationships as so many do superbly. Some of my favorites include the Scott Pilgrim series, Jamie Rich’s Love The Way You Love and 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, and Tom Beland’s True Story: Swear To God. Lastly, I love comic books that capture what it means to be a young woman today. From the fantastically awkward protagonist of Felicia Day’s The Guild series to any female character (or any character for that matter) in Adrian Tomine’s illustrated short stories, comics make me embrace the power of being female and revel in the true confusion of being young and female. To those who say comics are only for nerdy guys, you are so wrong. So so wrong. To any girl who is thinking about digging in, do it. There is something for you, promise.