Outside the Panel
Women in comics isn’t a new concept. From Catwoman and Wonder Woman to the damsel in distress, some female characters are as timeless as the tomes themselves.
Women creating comics, however, isn’t quite so common. But in the more-so male-dominated industry, it seems that landscape is shifting – and there’s some local ladies to prove it.
Take TINI HOWARD (shown above), who works at downtown’s Nerdvana Comix. Shown on the opposite page armed with The Infinite Gauntlet glove, a nod to a Marvel Comics series from the 90s, Howard is a lifelong reader of comics, graphic novels, and the like. She recently added a published comic script to her writing credit.
“I got to open the box containing my comic, while my co-workers filmed and cheered me on,” Howard says. “It came out on the same day as two new series from two writers I intensely look up to, so I felt like I was in great company.”
The debut comic book that she’s referring to is “The Magdalena: Seventh Sacrament.” A key character for publisher Top Cow comics, the Magdalena has existed for a number of years, says Howard, adding, “It was amazing to be a part of that mythology.”
Howard, who’s working on some new projects since her first publication, got her shot after submitting to the publisher’s talent hunt. According to a Top Cow Productions (2013) Facebook post regarding its contest, the company reserved a winning slot for a female team in an effort to promote “gender diversity in comics.”
“(They) made the point that they wanted to bring on at least one new female writer and artist team when I was published,” Howard says, who was a chosen winner in 2014. “That’s amazing – women are finally starting to be recognized in the comic industry, and companies are starting to make an effort to give us a shot.”
While Howard and other talented, femme comic creators are making big strides, there’s still work to do.
For example, Howard would like to see women scripters granted the artistic freedom to write the storylines of the other gender, too.
“Plenty of men do a great job writing women, and I’d love to see women writing Batman and Captain America,” Howard says. “That isn’t quite happening yet, but it will.”
Another 
Wilmingtonian working towards cracking the mostly-men-in-the-industry nutshell is illustrator LIZ HARMAN (shown left). Where Howard crafts the plot, Harman, who is slated to attend SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) in the fall, brings a story to life.
“It is one of my goals to put together a comic … maybe even a short animated series,” says Harman, who recently completed her Associate in Fine Arts at Cape Fear Community College. “But that may have to wait until I’m done with my workload from art school.”
For now, Harman is involved in a variety of artistic projects, including commissioned watercolor illustrations of others’ characters. When she’s not bringing someone else’s character to life, she’s often developing her own.
“Their stories are in my head, and in the meantime before the comic actually happens I’m taking the time to get to know them,” she explains. “I draw them and learn about their personalities and discover the story that they have to tell, sometimes in the form of sketches, or single illustrations, and the occasional comic strip or short scenes.”
Like Harman, Howard is gearing up for her next inventive ventures. Her upcoming story, “Fear of My Identity” will be part of the Oath Anthology collection, which strives to increase diversity within the superhero genre.
What’s more, Howard is creating another story with Top Cow. While more details are still under wraps, Howard reveals that the release will happen in September.
“I'm doing another one-issue story with Top Cow, ‘Poseidon IX,’” explains Howard. “I’ve been seeing what Phillip Sevy, the artist, has been doing, and it’s blowing my mind.” Howard adds that for her, various related projects are constantly in the works. Some ideas flourish, while others are tabled – but it’s the act of generating them that’s key. “A big part of writing comics is pitching your ideas. You pour your heart and soul into making a baby, and then throw it out to sea,” she says. “If it’s meant to be, someone picks it up and swims it home. So I’m always working on ten projects, hoping one of them develops into something more.”
To view more of photographer Erik Maasch’s work, go to websta.me/n/emaasch
