New, Improved! Dykes to Watch Out for: Cartoons

by Alison Bechdel

Book Overview

Gay Studies, Cartoons, Comics, Homosexuality This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0932379796
• ISBN13: 9780932379795
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Firebrand Books
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Lois falls for a femme fatale, Mo wants to watch MTV, and Clarice walks on the wild side

This early collection of DTWOF, which I came to after reading some of Bechdel's later ones, is like looking at old photographs of people I've come to know and like a lot. They look a bit different in the photos (Bechdel's line drawings here are less firm than in her later work), although I have no difficulty in recognizing them. In the storylines that make up New, Improved DTWOF, the personalities of the various characters aren't incompatible with the sorts of persons they now are. But there's a clear development of personality from then to now, too--which is one of the reasons why Bechdel's on-going DTWOF series is so much fun to read. Individual storylines include a disturbing one night stand between Clarice and Ginger (with poor Toni being the odd girl out); Mo's love affair with Harriet, and Mo's coming out to her parents; Mo's burn-out and first steps in therapy; and Sparrow's realization that loving-kindness doesn't always work (especially with an old acquaintance named Milkweed). The most poignant storyline is Lois' falling for an older woman, Emma. The tables are reversed when Emma gives Lois a taste of her own medicine--although doing it in a much colder way than Lois was ever capable of. The quality of the storylines is a bit uneven in this early collection. Bechdel doesn't seem to have quite grown into the razor wit that shines through in subsequent work, and some of the humor falls flat. But still, it's a thoughtful and entertaining piece of work. And by the way: the photo of a young Bechdel on the back cover is fantastic.

talented cartoonist, brilliant strip

Appropriately enough, the cover of this installment of America's favorite Lesbian cartoon "soap-opera" depicts our heroines at... the Laundermat! Alison Bechtel's "Dykes To Watch Out For" comic strip is a long-enduring feature of Gay weekly newspapers, but it is best to read it in paperback collections. The series has been compiled into nine separate books. I recommend reading them in chronological order! The art is fantastic, but the creator pays particular attention to story continuity. Mo and her cronies grow and develop throughout the series. The characters are so real and appealing, we come to regard them as old friends whose lives we've shared. Watch out for these dykes as they get involved with community, careers, family, friends, feminism, political activism, recreation, romance, and relationships. The comedy is often laugh-out-loud hilarious, but serious subjects are treated with sensitivity. Heterosexual readers, even male readers, can identify with Bechtel's Lesbian characters and their very normal life situations.

An earlier work, combines classic humor and great art

Mo episodes 24-77, this book contains Bechdel's characteristic humor and well-rendered characters. I loved it, and as always found many of my friend's adventures worth grins and chuckles. It lacks the smooth quality of her later works, and you search in vain for the easily missed background humor which make multiple reads of her books so much fun. Still, it contains some great lines, as when Miko opines "Anchovies on your fiurst date? Kinky!" A must for a dedicated reader, this book is probably not the best choice for someone approaching the series for the first time.