I remember learning about the New Woman in a Nineteenth Century literature course, and about the importance of bicycling to these ladies. Kate Beaton does them proud, and probably offers one of the most authentic, as far as their attitude goes, portrayals of these very early Feminists.
That's not all she does in this book, of course, but the total badassery of the lady on the cover merits consideration. She reminds me of some amazing women that I know.
What more can I say about Kate Beaton's wonderful comic? One cool thing I didn't mention in my last review was the diversity of art style in the book. Or perhaps it's a diversity of finishedness. What I mean by this is that there are comics in both collections that really look like they've been painstakingly rendered, sweated over, perhaps, and there are those that look like they were jotted down on a bus. This is certainly not a criticism of any of the comics - the quicker-looking ones are still very funny, and the difference of art style gives a different reading experience. And an artist most definitely has to keep things different in order to stay interested.
So go have a look at her work. And then go read Wikipedia to find out who the people are you've just read about. Educate and delight. Sydney would be proud.
Onward!
