Dykes to Watch Out For: Difference between revisions

This long-running [[Slice of Life]] series by Alison Bechdel about the lives, loves, and politics of a group of lesbians in an [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?|unspecified midwestern town]] is one of the most popular of all LGBT comic strips. Originally introduced as a series of one-shot vignettes in 1983, the strip shortly moved to its serialized format with recurring characters. After writing the strip for more than 25 years, Bechdel put it on hiatus in 2008 to concentrate on her graphic memoir ''Fun Home''. She later continued the series of memoirs with ''Are You My Mother'' in 2012. She revived the strip on November 23, 2016.

 

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* [[The Bechdel Test]]

* [[Artifact Title]]: The seed of the strip was a drawing titled "Marianne, dissatisfied with her morning brew: Dykes to Watch Out For, plate no. 27", "as if it were just one in a series of illustrations of mildly demonic lesbians." She drew more and more "plates", and kept the title when it shifted to a strip format about various aspects of lesbian culture, and also when it shifted to the serialized format with recurring characters. As the cast grew to include people of other genders and sexual identities, she lampshaded the title by titling a recent collection of her strips ''Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-based Life-forms to Watch Out For''.

* [[Author Tract]]: Bechdel describes the strip as "half op-ed column and half endless serialized Victorian novel," and true to form nearly every strip has some political ranting done by the characters. The angriest sentiments are given a lot of [[Self-Deprecation]] - Mo and Clarice always have someone nearby to point out that their excessive anger is not helping anything.

* [[Bi the Way]]: A minor early character (Naomi) is bisexual; after she fades from the strip, Sparrow, one of the main characters, begins to identify as a bi-dyke, starts a relationship with Stuart, and eventually has a child with him.

* [[Bland-Name Product]]: Does this constantly to [[Parody Names|parodic effect]]: "medusa.com," "Bounders Books & Muzak," "Bunns & Noodle," "Bed Bath & Bite Me," "Papaya Republic," etc. When Lois, Ginger and Sparrow have a potluck, Sydney brings a bucket of Florida Fried Fowl. This troper's personal favourite was a publishing house, "Furrier Sprout & Genoux."

[[Category:Queer Media]]

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