LDC Dundee 05/07/19: ‘Laydeez Do COMMANDO!’
Hello, Rachel Davis from LDC Dundee here! LDCD’s 5 July meeting, ‘Laydeez Do COMMANDO!’, was all about the women behind the comic series Commando: For Action and Adventure. This ongoing comic book series tells stories about and set against the World Wars. The comic has been in print since 1961 and in those 58 years, only six women are known to have published a Commando story. Three of those women published their stories just this year. Our LDCD meeting brought light to this history and discussed the past, present, and future roles of women working for Britain’s longest-running war comic!
We had the honour of having artists Holly Fishman Crook (@holfc) and Amy Galloway (@hesitantdoodle) ‘draw-cument’ (draw/document) the event. They did a wonderful job of capturing the energy of that night. Scroll down to see for yourself!
Welcome
The evening began with co-founders Grace Wright, Hailey Austin, and myself welcoming everyone in attendance!
The Question
For this meeting, the question was…
Answers included haggis, vlogging (video blogging), drawing, and comics!
The Speaker
Next, Calum Laird — former editor of Commando and Ph.D candidate in the Comics and Graphic Novels program at the University of Dundee — took the floor. He gave a history into the role gender played in making Commando.
The Panel
After Calum, Olivia Hicks — comic creator of Sarararara!, fellow Comics Ph.D candidate, and former intern at DC Thomson — moderated a panel discussion with the women whose work made history! Georgia S. Battle, Kate Dewar and Hailey Austin are the first women in over 30 years to have their work published in this comic. Their roles at Commando and the comics they published are:
Hailey, writer: Commando #5241 ‘Steel Inferno’ (25 June 2019)
Kate, writer and editor: Commando #5233 ‘Dead by Dawn’ (28 May 2019)
Georgia, writer and editor: Commando #5229 ‘Shadow in the Storm’ (14 May 2019)
The three women talked about their stories, what it was like working on this comic series, and what the future holds for this title!
Thank Yous + Stay Tuned!
As you can see, our meeting was informative, funny, and fun! Thank you to our guests Calum, Kate, Georgia, Hailey, and Olivia for commanding the LDCD stage. Grace, Hailey, and I would also like to thank everyone who attended for making the night as special as it was!
If you enjoyed the drawings by Amy and Holly (and really how could you not?), please check out their work on Instagram: @hesitantdoodle for Amy and @holfc for Holly! Their comics will be featured on the V&A Dundee website as part of their ‘Webcomics’ series. You can read the series for free here.
LDC Dundee’s next meeting will be in September: follow our Facebook page to learn more about our event as it approaches! Thank you for reading. Have a great rest of your summer!