Thank you Thursday: Graphic Novelists

Since Courtney is on vacation, I’m stepping in this week to do my first Thank You Thursday post!
This week I want to dedicate to graphic novels, and particularly the bad-ass women who write them. In the pretty male dominated world of comics and graphic novels, these women rock their content. I love the way reading a graphic novel makes my brain work differently, giving visual context for the words and characters on the page. Two women in particular stand out for me: Alison Bechdel and Ariel Schrag.
I’ve written about Alison Bechdel’s stellar book, Fun Home, before. It’s gotten TONS of well deserved attention, and I’ve read it at least five times. She has such a witty and thoughtful style and tells the story of her own coming of age and coming out, as well as her dad’s own struggle with his sexuality. She’s also the author of the favorite comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, which is coming out in a collected edition this fall.
Ariel Schrag is a newer find of mine, but she’s also a fantastic contributor to the lesbian graphic novel world. She wrote a series of graphic novels while in high school in Berkeley, one about each year. It’s really cool to watch her skill and style develop and really fun to delve back into the world of high school through Schrag’s eyes.
Both these women write with such honesty and humor it makes my life feel just a little less foreign.
Who are your favorite female graphic novelists?