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Hilarious, funny, sad, true....and NOT just for dykes!
Best DTWOF yet
Dykes grow up
More, more, more
Bechdel's out of the box!

Post-Dykes to Watch Out For
Alison Bechdel
Manufacturer: Firebrand Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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Unnatural Dykes to Watch Out for

ASIN: 1563411229

Amazon.com

The further adventures of Mo, her tenure-bound girlfriend, Sydney, and their much-loved friends unfold against a shifting gender landscape: lesbians sleeping with men, lesbians becoming men, Ginger sleeping with lesbians who've become men. As with her eight previous collections, Alison Bechdel covers a host of pressing issues, from the Monica Lewinsky scandal to the decline of the independent bookstore, and pauses to consider whether an online affair qualifies as cheating. "Of course it's cheating!" says Mo, "It would be a diversion of emotional energy." Sydney demurs: "It's more like remote, interactive masturbation." True love survives the gender wars, but monogamy may be on the wane. Don't miss the thrilling details, in the last volume of Bechdel's work to be published by the now-defunct Firebrand Press. --Regina Marler

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious, funny, sad, true....and NOT just for dykes!.......2003-12-08

As a straight person, I want to say how much I LOVE DTWOF. I work in academia, and ever since Mo started dating Sydney I have felt like the strip was uncannily about my life. Even before that, though, I read the books avidly for the engaging, ongoing, totally real story--better than 99% of new (non-graphic) novels I read--and the crisp, stylish art. The soap-opera thrills of the love stories aside, I love the fact that the enduring message is about the power, importance, endurance, resilience, and beauty of friendship.

Best DTWOF yet.......2003-10-30

This is without doubt the best yet of the series. I got hooked on the third book when I "came out" in college, and have kept up over the years. I re-read all of them regularly (the mental equivalent of comfort food-- definitely better than "Friends" re-runs) and enjoy seeing how Bechdel's artistic talent, human insight, and compassion grow over time. For those who are new to the series, it might be a good idea to start with this one (to get hooked on the artist's gifts at their current height), then go back and re-read them all in chronological order, so as to see the development both of characters and of creative talents. The whole series creates an immensely rich and beautiful portrait of human lives. Despite having one thing in common--a non-mainstream life--the characters are nonetheless extremely varied and individual, and their interactions are rich and real.

Like previous books, this one includes an "appendix" of sorts at the end, with extra material about the characters--deeper stories that wouldn't fit into the shorter two-page format. It is the appendix in this book that makes it "the best yet." Jezanna's story-- coming to terms with her mother's death and her Dad's dating--is incredibly moving and extremely true-to-life in so many subtle ways. In graphic art as in film acting, it takes skill to portray a character's emotions, but it takes even more skill to portray a character's emotions that they are hiding from themselves (such as when Jezanna's dad returns from the bathroom and, uncomfortable at catching a private moment of grief, pretends not to notice and tries to return everything to "normal" as fast as possible--don't we all have people in our lives who cope with difficult emotions this way?).

As always, the subtletly, humanity and overall compassion that infuse this strip make it a must-read for anyone of any political persuasion.

Dykes grow up.......2001-02-04

It would have been a major feat for Bechdel to keep the pace of her first books. The novelty bloom has faded some. Bechdel has courageously taken the route of allowing her characters to age. And the series has to pay the price for it. But this is for the best as we do age too and our affection toward Bechdel's cast grows since we can relate to them, no matter whether we are men or women. When Clarice and Toni try to raise their son in suburbia, their life has gotta become duller, even if it is still more exiting than their neighbour's life. Food for thought for us aging homos. It is a tribute to Bechdel talent that she weathers this transition and manages to bring more than the occasional flash of brilliance that she has shown on her previous work. It bodes well for the future as the excitement in the life of her heroines will come back when their progenies start dating, retirement planning becomes a priority, dates are not as easy too find, "remedial" surgery might be considered, etc... I, for one, will make sure that I do not miss a beat.

More, more, more.......2001-01-07

In the latest collection by Bechdel of her award-winning series"Dykes to Watch out for", she chronicles the lives of hercharacters with wit, intelligence, and charm. I am continually amazedat Bechdel's ability to educate readers through her characters,especially about grassroots politics and modern dyke life. My favoritepart of this particular book is about Lois and her attraction to afemale-to-male transsexual. Wait, it's really about how Mo and Sydneyhave... while each is at work. Umm, no, it's... Well, I just can'tpick one! I love it all.

Bechdel's out of the box!.......2000-07-28

Alison Bechdel's characters go beyond binary thinking in this latest DTWOF collection. Transgenderism, bisexuality, and polyamory are all explored...honestly, believably, and as thoroughly as possible in a slim volume like this one.

I've read all of Bechdel's collections (in order no less), and this one is far and away the most impressive. As Mo, Clarice, Lois, Sparrow, Toni, Ginger, Jezanna, and others grow in their relationships, they realize that life is not always as clear-cut as it seems, and they learn to look beyond the surface level to the meaning of words like "lesbian," "woman," "partner." It's delightful to see the explorations and reactions of characters to stimuli such as a male housemate in the Lois-Ginger-Sparrow household, or the struggling-to-understand conservative neighbors in Toni and Clarice's new suburban neighborhood.

As always, the artwork is fantastic, and the stories are compelling. These are simply some of the finest comics being drawn today.

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