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Women in the World of Comics and Graphic Novels

A Look at Emet Comics

by Jillian Bergsma Manning / July 2015

“For a very long time we have seen the world through men’s eyes,” says Maytal Gilboa, Manager and Producer at Emet Comics. “History, literature, art have been dominated by men, written by men, financed by men, and validated by men,” she goes on to explain. “Have there been exceptions? Of course! But the numbers prove that women are largely underrepresented in every single area of the media—which means that young girls are growing up subconsciously believing that is it okay to be underrepresented.”

Her solution?

Emet Comics, a comic publisher of women about women. Its mission statement reads: “Emet Comics is a publishing company creating New Adult content about a new generation of female protagonists—intelligent, flawed, and not afraid to ruffle a few feathers. We recognized the lack of diversity still prevalent in media and joined the movement to change it; not just by telling stories about relatable women, but by giving female writers and artists a platform to express their unique perspectives on history, literature, and the world we live in.”

Maytal Gilboa comes from the field of entertainment, so she certainly knows her stuff. She spent eight years in Hollywood, including working for the animation studio ReelFX, and has always had a passion for storytelling.

“My first love was musical theater and independent plays, which then expanded to film (foreign films in particular), and finally fiction novels and comics,” she says. “I grew up in a household full of women and I understand the influence of media on our society, our culture, our self-perception—and this extends on a deeper level to our behaviors, our fears, how we relate to one another and to ourselves. Everyone wants to see themselves represented in stories and images, and the lack of gender equality in the media has serious adverse affects on everyone, but young girls and women especially.

“Emet Comics was born out of a desire to create more stories about fully-realized women,” she continues, “and to give female creatives the opportunity to tell the type of stories they want to tell in a supportive and uncensored environment.”

Gilboa is a pioneer in this space, as the comic and graphic novel industries are often noted as male-dominated fields. Critics argue this is because the readers are mostly male, but these types of stories do have a lot to offer a female audience, even if women don’t know it yet.

“Evaluating a comic book is no different from a television show, a fiction novel, or a movie,” Gilboa explains. “It’s a visual story, and the only way to develop a love for the medium is to start reading and see what resonates with you. Hopefully women of all ages will find a way to relate to the stories we are telling.”

And those stories sound incredible. Emet Comics is lining up a dozen projects from women that range from retellings of familiar historical and literary characters—think Wendy from Peter and Wendy, Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, and Joan of Arc—to futuristic sci-fi stories that Gilboa says “are allegories for the larger female experience.”

“It was important to me that the writers were not being censored or forced to conform to some ideal of what female writers should be creating,” Gilboa states. “The more diverse the slate, the more I think it will reflect the complex female point of view of the world.”

As Emet Comics gears up for its first release, Gilboa thinks about what women can do to tell their stories and carve a niche (or more!) in the marketplace—whether that is in comics, books, movies, or something else entirely.

“[The underrepresentation of women] is a truism of all media,” she tells me. “There are two ways to change this—women have to put their money where their mouth is and buy a lot of content (we saw this happen with the Hunger Games and Twilight and it has transformed our industry)—and female creators need to develop a direct relationship with their audience, because we are living in a world where having direct access to a unique fanbase is very valuable.”

The first batch of incredible Emet Comic projects will be available starting this September, and four original comic book issues will be available at Long Beach Comic Con in just a few weeks. In the meantime, be sure to check out Emet Comic’s website at www.emetcomics.com. 

 

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