Womanthology: Space
Written by Bonnie Burton, Sandy King Carpenter, Alison Ross and Stephanie Hans, Ming Doyle, Stacie Ponder, Blair Butler, Joelle Sellner, Ellise Heiskell, Robin Furth, Rachel Edidin, Jennifer de Guzman, Jody Houser, Devin Grayson, Christine Ellis, Barbara Randall Kesel, Allison Pang, Laura Morley, Cecil Castellucci, and Kiala Kazebee

Illustrated by Jessica Hickman, Tanja Wooten, Stephanie Hans, Jordie Bellaire, Stacie Ponder, Alicia Fernandez, Jean Kang, Maarta Laiho, Carli Idhe, Sophia Foster-Dimino, Leigh Dragoon, Sally Thompson and Kathryn Layno, Lindsay Walker, Elva Wang, Diana Nock, Chrissie Zullo, Sara Richard, Kel McDonald, and Isabelle Melancon

Colored by Jordie Bellaire and Ronda Pattison

Lettered by Rachel Deering, Robbie Robbins, Amauri Osorio, and Isabelle Melancon

Cover by Renae DeLiz
Series Edited by Mariah Huehner
Collection Edited by Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 5, 2013
Cover Price: $24.99

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that women receive enough of the limelight within the comic book industry; thankfully, artist Renae DeLiz (The Last Unicorn) came up with a fantastic way to showcase a variety of fantastic female talent and IDW jumped on board. Womanthology: Space is the collected addition of the first five issues of the monthly ongoing series of the same name. Building off of the success of DeLiz’s first venture with the graphic novel Womanthology: Heroic, Womanthology: Space is an amalgamation of short comics with the overarching theme of “space” created solely by established and up-and-coming female creators. Check out my impressions of some of the best and worst that this anthology has to offer!

“Dead Again,” by Sandy King Carpenter, is a thought-provoking look at the moral ambiguity of setting a spirit free. Tanja Wooten‘s illustrations in this comic are outstanding, revealing a true sadness through an almost entirely grim color scheme.

“˜The Agency,” by Joelle Sellner, is a horror story set in the midst of an ad agency where peculiar events are taking place. This story, with all of its wit and mystery, reminded me quite a bit of any given episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer “” which is a really good thing!

“The Countdown,” by Rachel Edidin, shines with childlike friendship and imagination as two young girls build their very own rocket ship in the backyard. With art similar in style to Georges Remi‘s Tintin, Sophia Foster-Dimino captured my attention from start to finish.

“Eccentric Orbit” is the very real tale of a young girl unhappy with her body. Written by Barbara Randall Kesel, we learn that no matter what the case may be, there is always beauty and pride to be found in oneself.

“The Wind In Her Hair,” by Allison Pang, offers a classic tale of star-crossed lovers with a lovely robotic twist. The gorgeous drawings by Chrissie Zullo feature sepia-toned colors with shades of brown and slight bursts of green. I’d place each panel up on my wall as an individual work of art if I could. This was easily my favorite story of the mix.

“Yanka,” by Blair Butler, is the story of the first female in space and her longing to return to great unknown. I began as an intrigued reader and explorer and ended depressed with the notion that dreams can easily be shattered. Suffice it to say, I was glad to move on.

“Drift,” by Christine Ellise, tells the tale of a star trying to die out and a crew aboard a vessel who come into contact with the star. A short comic strip can be really hard to pull off, especially when it needs to accomplish so much in such a short layout; with “Drift,” I was left with unresolved feelings and more questions than I had going into the story.

Womanthology: Space is a very impressive collection. While there are a few hiccups within the assortment, the anthology as a whole is excellent. I’m looking forward to backtracking now and picking up a copy of Womanthology: Heroic.