Making space: Jennifer Camper, LGBTQ anthologies, and queer comics communities

J Lesbian Stud. 2018;22(4):373-389. doi: 10.1080/10894160.2018.1449499. Epub 2018 May 4.

Abstract

This article examines the career of lesbian cartoonist Jennifer Camper and how she has fostered queer community both in her comics and in real life. Archival research in LGBTQ archives and in Camper's own personal papers evidences how Camper begins developing her comics in the 1980s by participating in various grassroots LGBTQ publication spaces. From this foundation of support, she engages in comics activism with her representations of these communities during the midst of the AIDS crisis. Through these analyses, this article theorizes how Camper foregrounds intersectionality and counterpublics in her work on and off the page.

Keywords: AIDS activism; Howard Cruse; Jennifer Camper; counterpublics; intersectionality.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Graphic Novels as Topic* / history
  • History, 20th Century
  • Homosexuality, Female / history
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Residence Characteristics
  • Sexual and Gender Minorities* / history
  • Social Environment

Personal name as subject

  • Jennifer Camper