Girl-Wonder.org is partnering with Cerise, an online feminist gaming magazine, for a special issue on the overlap of gaming and comics! Topics can cover any intersection of comics and gaming, from creatively to fannish. What can the industries learn from each other? What are the best game-based comics or best comic-inspired games? Keep and eye out for Cerise bloggers stopping by Girl-Wonder.org in October and a chance to win combined prize packs.

Submissions to the Comics in Gaming are now being accepted. The deadline is September 20th, 2008.

Girl-Wonder.org member Rachel Edidin has retired from her position on the Board of Directors. We thank Rachel for all her fantastic work with the Board, but don’t worry; we won’t lose her completely! She will continue to be one of our essential mod squad members, and blogs at the fantastic Inside, Out.

The idea has long been dormant, but Girl-Wonder.org has finally officially launched the Female-Friendly Comic Book Store Map. The map judges stores based on four different criteria: treatment of feminist/female customers by staff, title variety, openness of staff to suggestions from feminist/female customers, and material on display.

Interested in submitting a store to the map? Please fill out the form below the map. In the event that the form doesn’t work for you, please email Elena Kamenetzky at elena.kamenetzky@girl-wonder.org.

Following recent reports of physical and verbal harassment of convention attendees, Girl-Wonder.org has founded the Con Anti-Harassment Project.

The project is a grass-roots campaign designed to help make conventions safer for all attendees. Our aims are to encourage fandom, geek community and other non-business conventions to establish, articulate and act upon anti-harassment policies, especially sexual harassment policies, and to encourage mutual respect among convention attendees, guests and staff.

Aimed at both activism and support, the project offers a database of conventions, both national and global, harassment policy creation tips for convention organizers, and a moderated safe-space forum for people to talk about their experiences of or witnessing of harassment.

Template letters are also provided for those looking to find out more about a convention’s established harassment policies or request the convention include a clear anti-sexual harassment policy, or praise a con for including one.

All Girl-Wonder.org convention tables are designated as safe spaces. Staff will be happy to provide support and answer any questions a convention attendee may have.

Following the success of last year’s auction thanks to the amazing generosity of the comics community, Girl-Wonder.org is happy to announce the second Art Et Cetera auction. The web-based auction will be held from October 6-12 and donations are now being accepted.

Art Et Cetera accepts everything, from comics-inspired jewelry to one-of-a-kind dolls to artist commissions to original superhero artwork. Due to legal issues, submitting fanart of licensed characters or character emblems is strongly discouraged. However, all pieces submitted will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Art Et Cetera is the major fundraising event for Girl-Wonder.org. All proceeds will will be used to cover organizational costs like website fees and expenses for the ongoing incorporation process, as well as merchandise development and promotional giveaway items. Girl-Wonder.org is currently registering for non-profit status. All staffers and board members are unpaid volunteers.

For more information, please contact Hannah Dame at hannah.dame@girl-wonder.org or Karen Healey at karen.healey@girl-wonder.org.

- Nena Di, writer/artist of the webcomic Heard, and Andrea Bell of Girl-Wonder.org’s Mistress will be on hand at our Dragon*Con table off and on throughout the con, doing sketches, shaking hands, and generally being awesome, so set aside some time in your busy schedule to stop by our table!  And we’re still looking for volunteers to help man the G-W.org table. Contact Hannah Dame at hannahdame AT girl-wonder DOT org if you’ll be at the con and are interested in doing an hour to two.

- If you’re living in the Kent, Ohio area, be sure to check out Zombie Apparel’s Superpowered!
The Fashions of Comic Book’s Most Valiant & Villainous fashion show on Saturday, September 27th. Free and open to the public, a portion of all fashion sales for the evening will benefit Girl-Wonder.org. And if you live in the Ohio area, spread the news about the show with one of Zombie Apparel’s two fliers!

- Have a comics-related event coming up that you’d like more folks to know about, or wondering where you can find out more about G-W.org related events? Check out our new Upcoming Events page, and if you have an event you’d like added, e-mail Hannah Dame at hannahdame AT girl-wonder DOT org.

- And we now have a Fan page for Facebook, so use your social networking connections to add Girl-Wonder.org on Facebook or friend us on Myspace!

The final in our Meet the Board series of interviews introduces webmistress Betty Maxson.

What are your responsibilities?

The Holy Grail! Um. I mean, “I attend meetings, and carry out the duties assigned to me.” I also run the website.

What experience do you have?

I have been computer-wrangling for a while, and I have a BA in International Development. I also have volunteer experience, helping at a service organization that aids immigrants, and refugees, and doing tech-support and general gopher work for the Anishnawbe-Aski nation.

How did you become involved with Girl-Wonder.org?

I took over responsibility for the maintenance and operation of the site in 2007 when Mary Borsellino’s health began to prevent her from giving it the attention she wished to.

What do you most hope to achieve for Girl-Wonder.org?

That it become a vital, self-sustaining organization which fans, especially female fans, could rely on to meet their needs with regards to gender issues in comics.

How would you respond to falling into a pit of radioactive waste that gave you inexplicable powers instead of cancer?

Well, what sort of inexplicable powers are you talking about? The ability to grow a luxuriant mustache would probably not cause any particular change in my lifestyle.

Complete: If kidnapped by a cackling supervillain in the service of tormenting my heroic significant other(s), I would –

Kick him (because, you know, I find myself assuming he’s a him– somehow these sorts of villains seem to be) in the head and go looking for his swiss bank account number. I assume he just leaves it lying around, since he doesn’t seem very competent. I mean, he let me kick him in the head.

Call for Submissions
Deadline for Submissions: Friday, July 15, 2008, midnight, UTC.

Who are you: A nitpicky comic book Braniac who rejoices over dissecting the latest continuity crises in maddening detail? Or a slam-bang Wonder Woman warrior who can’t wait for Wednesdays to catch up on the latest fantasy grudge match? Who says you can’t be both?

Girl-Wonder.org is calling for submissions to our brand-new online newsletter, which will mix focused discussions of feminism (and other forms of -isms) in the comics genre with a fun-loving celebration of comic geekdom. This newsletter will be our ongoing love letter to comics - sharing all the serious and not so serious aspects of comics that keep us coming back for more.

On the serious side: Submit your short letters and opinions, no more than 1500 words in length, focusing on current events or academic ideas related to identity politics and comic books. Topics can include, but are not limited to the intersections of race, gender, body image, sexuality, religion, ableism, and class with your favorite comic book characters and titles.

On the fun side: Submit comics-related fanart with a feminist twist or a short fanfiction (no more than 1500 words in length). Selected works will appear in the newsletter’s regular fan-inspired creations section.

Also, submit your entry for this issue’s caption contest. Write a unique, witty, and/or ridiculous caption for this panel.

Winner (as chosen on the Girl-Wonder.org forum boards) receives a fabulous gift basket full of hot-off-the-presses Girl-Wonder.org merchandise!

Submit all entries (including submissions for the caption contest) to jenn@reappropriate.com!

NAME THE NEWSLETTER CONTEST

In addition to our caption contest, to celebrate our first issue of the newsletter, we are running a contest to name the newsletter. Submit your entries to me at jenn@reappropriate.com — the top entries will be voted on in the forums and the winner will be unveiled with our first issues.

All submissions to the newsletter naming contest are due July 15th, midnight, UTC.

The person who submits the winning newsletter name will receive a fabulous gift basket of goodies!

The penultimate in our series of interviews with Girl-Wonder.org members features Rachel Edidin, who you will know from the blog Inside, Out.

What are your Board responsibilities?

I participate in board meetings and decision making; I also serve on the incorporation, publications, public relations, and scholarship committees and chair the product development / merchandising committee. I’m also one of Girl-Wonder’s media representatives and have coordinated our presence at several conventions. Because I work in the comics industry, I’ve ended up playing industry liaison a bit, as well.

What experience do you have?

I work in the comics industry and am also active as a freelance journalist and writer and an independent scholar. I’ve spent a good deal of my life involved in social and political activist work and underground and self-publishing. I’m also a co-founder and current president of Sequential Heart, a comics nonprofit that collects overstock and nick ‘n dent comics and donates them to programs and shelters for homeless youth.

How did you become involved with Girl-Wonder.org?

I stumbled across Girl-Wonder.org shortly after it was founded; I believe I was looking for fan responses to rape in comics.

What do you most hope to achieve for Girl-Wonder.org?

WORLD DOMINATION. Nah, seriously, I’d like to see us function dually, as a watchdog for misogyny and sexism in comics and in the comics industry; and as an advocate for positive and progressive portrayals of gender in comics, and for women and feminists in comics as industry professionals, fans, scholars, and characters. One of our greatest strengths is that we bring together people who are involved in comics from a wide range of radically different angles, and I think it’s vital that we keep that diversity as we develop.

How would you respond to falling into a pit of radioactive waste that gave you inexplicable powers instead of cancer?

Depends on the powers, I suppose. I’d probably still check in with a doctor, since I’m allergic to bloody near everything.

Complete: If kidnapped by a cackling supervillain in the service of tormenting my heroic significant other(s), I would -

Argue my kidnapper down with a stunning display of rhetorical acrobatics, then take my heroic significant other(s) out for ice cream and reassurance.

If you have more questions for Rachel, ask them here!

The next in our series of interviews introducing the Girl-Wonder.org Board of Directors reveals the secrets behind the genius of Hannah Dame. Hannah also has a guest column up at GRC this week!

What are your Board responsibilities?

I handle most media inquires, promotion of the organization, and various different public relations duties. I’m also a co-host and producer of our podcast, Four Color Heroines.

What experience do you have?

I’ve written for or produced content at several newspapers, including the Tuscaloosa News and soon the Anniston Star. As a journalist, I tend to specialize in new media or online work, especially video. I am also active in LGBT outreach and education, participating in and developing curricula for Safe Zone and diversity education programs/panels.

How did you become involved with Girl-Wonder.org?

I was introduced to it around August 2006 by a very good friend of mine, but did not start participating until around October of that year.

What do you most hope to achieve for Girl-Wonder.org?

Since my role is mostly promotion of the organization, I would love to see G-W.org develop a major, noticeable con presence (even if it’s only in flyering) through a network of dedicated individuals. I’d like to be able to go to a convention with my Girl-Wonder.org shirt and immediately have a broad range of people recognize the logo.

How would you respond to falling into a pit of radioactive waste that gave you inexplicable powers instead of cancer?

By practicing lots of self-important posing in front of my bathroom mirror. Having the right pose is important!

Complete: If kidnapped by a cackling supervillain in the service of tormenting my heroic significant other(s), I would –

Cleverly free my heroic significant others and defeat said supervillain through the power of moralizing on the necessity of teamwork. Preferably with large multi-colored explosions in the background.

If you have more questions for Hannah, ask them here!