The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For

Not comprehensive, but still a good collection of strips from the sadly defunct comic strip. I probably should've read this in smaller doses (especially since Mo is often whiny and her friends have their own issues), but the lesbian drama-rama of DTWOF is so addictive I just couldn't help myself once I started.

As a side note, Bechdel just did a strip in response to the recent election: http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/same-as-it-ever-was-only-much-worse

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am not a dyke. In fact, I'm male and straight (despite fairly often getting "bent out of shape," especially in the current political environment.) Nor have I, or do I feel a need to, "watch out for" any dykes. In my mind, they are free to roam the countryside as they please, without any interference or objection from me -- not that I would have any right to do so if I felt otherwise. So, here we are with a book that is a reassembly of the author's past work into a nearly seamless collective works volume, and, frankly, the 18-page introduction by the author is worth the price of admission all on its own, in my most humble opinion. But, "Wait there's more!" There are 390 daily graphic panels covering show more from 1987 through the election of 2008 in which a community of very distinct characters entertain and enlighten the reader. Yes, the book is nominally about lesbians and their nuclear families, but it is very much -- and arguably more -- about American liberals/progressives/leftists or whatever term suits your fancy lately. I'm not one for believing in reincarnation, but, in reading this book, I got the distinct feeling I might have been a late 20th century/early 21st century lesbian in a past life. Assuming any of the characters gave me even the time of day -- and they all seem extraordinarily free with forgiveness for past sins -- I think I would have fit in quite well. But that's just me giving myself the benefit of the doubt, I guess. So, if you happen to lean to your left when you feel the winds blowing, pick up the book and enjoy yourself. If you lean to the right, then, well, you wouldn't even be reading this review, would you? show less

I just finished The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For and feel rather bereft that I won't be spending any more time with Mo and her extended family of friends. Alison Bechdel condensed 21 years of her comic strips into one big book that follows the batch of friends through celibacy, sex, polyamory, striped shirts, antidepressants, genderbending in all forms, loving and losing pets, loving and losing spouses, having or not having children (and watching those children grow), vegetarianism, slacking, working, becoming educated and educating, breast cancer, alzheimer's and over all a never ending stream of progressive politics. On the next to the last page Mo is having a Pap smear and discusses Hillary vs Obama with her gynecologist. Now show more what other comic strip would have that? Maybe I'll have to sleep with the book under my pillow for a while until I can force myself to give it up. show less

I really enjoyed this. It was incredible to read a slice-of-life type comic that ran for over 20 years and to feel like I grew along with it. In many ways, it was because of how much the news of the day factored into much of the strip. I was but a grade-schooler when this debuted, which means I have a vague memory of the earliest stuff, but it was also refreshing to see people--even if they're fictional--critical in ways I never experienced as an 80s child/90s young adult. In that regard, too, it was also comforting/disheartening to be reminded of "the more things change, the more they stay the same" reading this collection while living in this era. But politics aside, Bechdel does a great job at keeping up the humor and whimsy even show more when the characters faced dark times. I came to love them all and wish the series continued to this day. show less

"Have I churned out episodes of this comic strip every two weeks for decades merely to prove that we're the same as everyone else?" , the cartoonist's alter ego asks in the introduction to this volume. Well, I'm neither lesbian nor even American, and yet I can perfectly relate to Bechdel's characters -- their hopes and aspirations, the temptations and minor catastrophes they encounter, the compromises they make and those they don't. I'm a lot of Mo and Clarice and Toni, a bit of Stuart and Harriet (not so much Sydney, I should hope). For better or worse, I think the question has to be answered in the affirmative.

between 3.5 and 4 stars. this is part soap opera and part educating the masses. there is so much going on here. relationships, friendships, living situations, family expansions, demonstrations for all kinds of liberal causes. it covers such a lot of time that we see them go from the iran contra affair and aids to obama vs hillary in 2008 and everything in between. what hasn't changed is that in 1987 they were talking about the environment and climate change, about republicans screwing over america in a million ways, about bush going to war. it was actually kind of an incredible reminder of all the terrible things that happened under both bushes (and under clinton, too). as bad as trump was, we can forget about how bad they also were. so show more much of the stuff we worry about now, they were worrying about then. which i guess is both good and bad. this was eye-opening in that way. the amount of politics discussed in these pages is actually quite impressive. i love how she sneaks commentary in in the background - on the newspapers headlines, the book spines, the t shirt slogans. it's in way more than just the speech and thought bubbles.

it was fun to see some alternative living arrangements, that are less typical in the regular world, but maybe that have been more common in outsider communities. it was nice to see issues be addressed (even if not in depth) as they became part of the conversation in the real world - like republican queers, transgender people and youth in particular, etc. the cast of characters was mostly thin but otherwise very diverse. except in sexuality. almost everyone in this book is queer. like they go to queer mechanics, lawyers, therapists, coffee bars, everything.

and a queer bookshop. until it was forced out by amazon and borders. i liked that she focused a little bit of time on that. feminist bookstores used to be an amazing thing, and they're mostly gone now. i'm glad she didn't ignore that. i do wish that jez didn't totally go away once the store closed, though.

as to the soap opera, it was fun to be with these people for a while. a few days for me, decades for them. i was surprised that mo ended up with sydney, and disappointed that in the end clarice and toni split. i think of all the characters i liked lois' arc the best, and found stuart the most surprising. i wish we'd seen more of jasmine and samia and jerry.

i didn't read these when they came out. this was my first time with them. but i'm assuming that what she's choosing to write about - 1 page every 2 weeks - reflects what the queer community was doing and talking about at that time. it's quite a piece of history for that alone. a real snapshot of what was important or on people's minds. and it really is something to see how little has changed from what was keeping politically engaged people awake at night in 1990 to now.

i'm glad to have this in a collection. it must have been a ride to read these in real time, waiting for each installment. show less

For the first 50 pages I felt like, though I was enjoying it, it was never going to end (it's one of those books that's longer than it looks, so you feel like you're not making any progress); for the last 100 pages I was hoping it never would. It's funny, really, because several of the characters were infinitely annoying to me—but I just didn't want to leave that world. I'm going to have to find and read the whole strip sometime, all twenty years of it. The politics in the earlier years were a little overwhelming to me, because I wasn't conscious of them when they actually happened, so I was trying to follow very detailed conversations and learn what they were talking about at the same time. It was completely fascinating. And even show more though half the time I wanted to slap Mo and tell her to snap out of it, in truth, she's basically me—which is kind of humbling, frustrating, and comforting all at once. show less