Trina Robbins
Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first few female artists in that movement. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for and promoting female comics artists. In the 1980s, Robbins became the first woman to draw "Wonder Woman" comics. She is a member of the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. Career. Early work. Robbins was an active member of science fiction fandom in the 1950s  and 1960s. Her illustrations appeared in science fiction fanzines like the Hugo-nominated "Habakkuk". Comics. Robbins' first comics were printed in the "East Village Other"; she also contributed to the spin-off underground comic "Gothic Blimp Works". In 1969, Robbins designed the costume for the Warren Publishing character Vampirella for artist Frank Frazetta in "Vampirella" #1 (Sept. 1969). She left New York for San Francisco in 1970, where she worked at the feminist underground newspaper "It Ain't Me, Babe". That same year she and fellow female artist Barbara "Willy" Mendes, co-produced the first all-woman comic book, the  one-shot "It Ain't Me, Babe Comix". From this period on, Robbins became increasingly involved in creating outlets for and promoting female comics artists, through projects such as the comics anthology "Wimmen's Comix", with which she was involved for twenty years. "Wimmen's Comix" #1 featured Robbins' "Sandy Comes Out", the first-ever comic strip featuring an "out" lesbian. Robbins became increasingly outspoken in her beliefs, criticizing underground comix artist Robert Crumb for the perceived misogyny of many of his comics. She said, "It's weird to me how willing people are to overlook the hideous darkness in  Crumb's work ... What the hell is funny about rape and murder?" In the early 1980s Robbins created adaptations of Sax Rohmer's "Dope" and Tanith Lee's "The Silver Metal Lover". In the mid-1980s she wrote and drew "Misty" for the Marvel Comics children's imprint Star Comics. The short-lived series was a reinterpretation of the long-standing character Millie the Model, now an adult running her own modeling agency and minding her niece Misty. Robbins' official involvement with Wonder Woman, a character she had long admired, began in 1986. At the conclusion of the first volume of  the series (in conjunction with the series "Crisis on Infinite Earths"), DC Comics published a four-issue limited series titled "The Legend of Wonder Woman", written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Robbins. Robbins was the first woman to draw Wonder Woman comics. The series paid homage to the character's Golden Age roots. She also appeared as herself in "Wonder Woman Annual 2" (1989). In the mid-1990s, Robbins criticized artist Mike Deodato's "bad girl art" portrayal of Wonder Woman, calling Deodato's version of the character a "barely clothed hypersexual pinup." In the late 1990s, Robbins collaborated with  Colleen Doran on the DC Comics graphic novel "Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story", on the subject of spousal abuse. Robbins has been writing the comic book adventures of Honey West, notable as being one of popular fiction's first female private detectives. Writing and activism. In addition to her comics work, Robbins is an author of nonfiction books on the history of women in cartooning. Her first book, co-written with Catherine Yronwode, was "Women and the Comics," a history of female comic-strip and comic-book creators. As one of the first books ever published on this  subject, it was covered in the mainstream press, in addition to the fan press. Subsequent Robbins volumes on women in the comics industry include "A Century of Women Cartoonists" (Kitchen Sink, 1993), "The Great Women Superheroes" (Kitchen Sink, 1997), "From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of Women’s Comics from Teens to Zines" (Chronicle, 1999), and "The Great Women Cartoonists" (Watson-Guptill, 2001). More recent work includes "Pretty In Ink", published by Fantagraphics in 2013, which covers the history of North American women in comics from Rose O'Neill's 1896 strip "The Old Subscriber Calls" to present. Robbins was a  co-founder of Friends of Lulu, a nonprofit formed in 1994 to promote readership of comic books by women and the participation of women in the comic book industry. Robbins is featured in the feminist history film "She's Beautiful When She's Angry". Personal life. Robbins was intimately involved in the 1960s rock scene, where she was close friends with Jim Morrison and The Byrds. She is the first of the three "Ladies of the Canyon" in Joni Mitchell's classic song from the album of the same name. In the late 1960s she ran an East Village clothing  boutique called "Broccoli" and made clothes for Mama Cass, Donovan, David Crosby and others. She wrote a memoir entitled "Last Girl Standing", released in 2017 from Fantagraphics. Her partner is artist Steve Leialoha. Awards and recognition. Robbins was a Special Guest of the 1977 San Diego Comic-Con, when she was presented with an Inkpot Award. She won a Special Achievement Award from the San Diego Comic Con in 1989 for her work on "Strip AIDS U.S.A.", a benefit book that she co-edited with Bill Sienkiewicz and Robert Triptow. She was the 1992 Guest of Honor of WisCon, the  Wisconsin Science Fiction Convention. In 2002, Robbins was given the Special John Buscema Haxtur Award, a recognition for comics published in Spain. In 2011, Robbins' artwork was exhibited as part of the Koffler Gallery show "Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women". In July 2013, during the San Diego Comic-Con, Robbins was one of six inductees into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. The award was presented by "Mad" magazine cartoonist and "Groo the Wanderer" creator Sergio Aragonés. The other inductees were Lee Falk, Al Jaffee, Mort Meskin, Joe Sinnott, and Spain Rodriguez. In a 2015 poll, Robbins was  ranked #25 among the best female comics creators of all-time. In 2017, Robbins was chosen for the Wizard World Hall of Legends. In consideration of her contributions to the comic art form and her work as a historian, Comics Alliance listed Robbins as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition. Robbins' art and art from her extensive collection of the work of classic women cartoonists was featured in the 2020 Society of Illustrators exhibit Women in Comics: Looking Forward, Looking Back. It was later featured in the Women in Comics exhibit at the Palazzo Merulana in  Rome, Italy. Bibliography. Comics. [As writer/artist, unless otherwise noted]