Babs Tarr

I got the honour of talking to Babs at Thought Bubble and had the opportunity to ask her a few questions on the matter of women in comics. In interviews she has said that there need to be more women in comics just to make the content relatable, as women will have experiences that they can include that men would have absolutely no idea about (especially hair pins).


Babs' work includes a lot of sexy, "scantily clad" or nude women but unlike a lot of comic art they are not hypersexualised. It's as if she - as a woman- has an understanding of how women like to be portrayed. The women are not there purposely to be sexy, they are fully realised characters who just happen to be sexy - but it is not their defining feature. I would even say there is more character in one of Babs' drawings than what is given to a lot of female characters in mainstream comics.


I think a lot of the way women are portrayed comes down to the intent of the artist. Babs, being female herself, is unlikely to want to create something specifically for the male gaze. Whereas a lot of mainstream comics are targeted towards a male audience and thus the intent of the artists is to make the female characters appeal to them, I guess making them sexy is easier than making a complex character.