Team Phantom Power will be attending WisCon 31: the world's leading feminist science fiction convention. The convention will take place May 25-28, 2007 in Madison, Wisconsin.

And I'm going to be on some panels!

Sarcasm and Superheroics: Feminism in the Mainstream Comics Industry.

Saturday, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

2006 was declared the year of Women in Comics. Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" was one of Time's 10 Best Books, best-selling authors Jodi Picoult and Tamora Pierce were signed up to write for DC and Marvel, and DC announced a new "Minx" line for girls. However, 2006 was also a year of increased feminist activism in mainstream comics. New websites "When Fangirls Attack" and "Girl-Wonder.org" collected and encouraged feminist debate on issues of diversity and sexism in comics, and there seemed to be plenty to talk about. Moreover, the Occasional Superheroine confessional memoir recounted a disturbing tale of abuse and misogyny within the superhero industry that was reflected on the pages of its comics. What has improved in the comics industry? What is yet to be done? What challenges are posed by the industry's peculiar institutional structure? How can women break into the comics mainstream? How can we critique it? And what comics can you buy for your kids?

M: Karen Elizabeth Healey, Charlie Anders, Rachel Sharon Edidin, Catherine Lundoff, Jenni Moody

The X-Women

Sunday, 1:00-2:15 p.m.

The X-Men comics are well-loved and have a disproportionately high number of female fans (and strong female characters). X-Men: The Final Stand was nonetheless widely interpreted as quite sexist (out of control sexual women must be destroyed for the good of the world, etc.). Did the problems originate in the adaptation to film, or the source material, i.e., the comics themselves? What attracts women to the X-Men story no matter what format it's told in?

M: Rachel Sharon Edidin, Charlie Anders, Jennifer Dunne, Karen Elizabeth Healey, Jenni Moody

Fun Home

Sunday, 4:00-5:15 p.m. 

Time magazine named Alison Bechdel's graphic novel "Fun Home" as its top book of the year, and it spent a good chunk of 2006 on the NYT best-seller list. Bechdel is an artist/writer best known for her syndicated comic strip "Dykes To Watch Out For". It's pretty rare for (a) autobiography, (b) lesbianism, or (c) a graphic novel to be at the top of ANY critical list of best books of the year; hitting the trifecta is unprecedented. Which of these 3 aspects is most surprising? Does this bode well for the future?

M: Rachel Sharon Edidin, Janet Lafler, Jenni Moody, JJ Pionke, Vicki Rosenzweig

If you're going to be at WisCon 31, please say hi!