Rude Girls and Dangerous Women

the long version

In her own dyke-centric flavor, Jennifer Camper has been a queer comic trailblazer since the early '80s, her self-syndicated bi-weekly comic, "Camper," ran comic strips in queer and feminist publications across the US and Canada, eventually culminating in the collection of these works in her first book, "Rude Girls and Dangerous Women" (Laugh Lines Press, 1994). From the interview “My Own Dyke-centric Flavor”: A Conversation with Jennifer Camper" with Robert Kirby, Camper shares: "I wasn’t seeing my own life and opinions portrayed in the arts and media, so I had to do it myself. I was tired of seeing dykes shown as sad, downtrodden victims, who only have ever-so-gentle, white bread "lesbian tickle sex." I wanted to celebrate queer women having adventures, being sexy, dangerous, and victorious. My characters are mostly smart-assed, multi-racial, street smart, wild women. They ridicule their oppressors. They are proud and fearless. In my comics, dykes always get the last laugh." "Jennifer Camper is a perverted, violent, juvenile anti-feminist who seems to have no boundaries whatsoever. I think I'm gonna come." -Diane DiMassa. "Sick of lesbian chic? Wistful for the days when queers were queer and not domestic partners? In Jen Camper's universe of sexy, sweaty, swaggering, switchblade-wielding women, the only law is: Dykes Rule." -Alison Bechdel