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Comix au féminin
Only three of the 18 participants are new to the medium, coming from backgrounds in photography and painting. The rest already have a substantial history of publication. Anyone familiar with Montreal's DIY comics scene will recognize Hélène Brosseau's bold, graphic woodcut style, or Leanne Franson's accessible portraits of the dyke lifestyle. "Men's comics tend to centre around sex," says Gamache, "with cocks all over the place. I find that women are more inclined to talk about their personal lives. Women's comics are more social, more about ordinary life." That said, it should be noted that women can play the gross-out game as well as the boys. Any stereotypes of squeamishness go out the window when it comes to exploration of the nastier sides of human biology and psychology. "I think it's the younger artists, those in their early 20s, who are likely to be more disgusting, more sexual." Nauseating or not, there are a number of younger women involved in Une affaire gigogne, such as Jacinthe Loranger and Caro Caron. This is good news, because it means that Quebec's next wave of alternative comic artists might just have an appropriate gender balance. This is something comics not only deserve, it's something the medium might not survive without. Gamache launches Une affaire gigogne at Cheval Blanc (809 Ontario E.) on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 7pm. An accompanying exposition continues there until Nov. 29
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"People say there aren't many women doing comics in Quebec," says local cartoonist and painter Line Gamache. "In fact, there are plenty and I'm going to prove it." Backing up her words, Gamache is publishing Une affaire gigogne, a 48-page collection of comics by Quebec women.