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Trina Robbins, the Eisner Hall of Fame comic book writer and artist who was one of the first creators in the underground comix movement in the United States before becoming an acclaimed comic book historian later in life, has passed away at the age of 85.
Robbins became a comic book fan as a young child, and she got involved in the science fiction fan community in the 1950s and 1960s. This led to her doing some drawings for the various fanzines in the community, and she had her first comics published in the underground newspaper, The East Village Other. In 1969, she also designed Vampirella’s costume for Warren Publishing. As she related the story years later:
I was sitting in Warren’s office, where he was talking to me about the fact that my artwork was nowhere good enough to appear in his magazines, which was very true. Frazetta called to discuss a sketch of Vampirella that he’d sent to Jim. Warren said it wasn’t right. Frank had drawn her wearing, more of less, a basic bikini, but Jim had something else in mind. It became clear that Frank wasn’t getting the idea as Jim tried to describe it, so Jim turned to me and described the costume, the way the top was open in front and attached to a collar, the boots and so on. I drew it as he was talking.‘That’s it!’ he said, pointing at my sketch. ‘Now describe it exactly to Frank,’ he said and handed me the phone. Frazetta’s original cover art of
Vampirella
looked a lot like my idea, but her costume shrunk. Over the years her costume has gotten skimpier and skimpier—now it doesn’t bear any resemblance to what I designed.
Robbins ran a clothing boutique in the East Village, and she made clothes for a number of prominent musicians of the era. When she moved to California in 1970, her friend, Joni Mitchell, even memorialized Robbins in the classic song, “Ladies of the Canyon”:
Trina wears her wampum beads
She fills her drawing book with line
Sewing lace on widows’ weeds
And filigree on leaf and vine
Vine and leaf are filigree
And her coat’s a secondhand one
Trimmed with antique luxury
She is a lady of the canyon
Robbins was at the forefront of the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and she helped bring more women into said movement. She famously created the one-shot It Ain’t Me, Babe Comix, which was the first underground comic completely written and drawn by female comic creators.
Throughout the 1970s, Robbins was not just a fixture of the indie scene, but she dedicated herself to opening up avenues for female cartoonists to have their own space, like in the classic anthology Wimmen’s Comix, the female-centric indie series that Robbins was a co-founder to, and major contributor of, in the 1970s.
Her early work had a striking balance between the off-kilter “standard’ comix style and a more traditional comic book style, like this classic tale from 1977…
As Robbins began doing more and more mainstream work, her unique sensibilities continued to permeate her work. She was an art history expert, and as such, she could adapt her style to evoke any sort of style, like her take on classic Chinese artwork in this Epic Illustrated tale…
Check out her chameleon-like ability to evoke the work of H.G. Peter in this Wonder Woman mini-series she did with Kurt Busiek right before the George Perez reboot (this made Robbins the first female artist to actually draw Wonder Woman in her own comic book. The late Trina Robbins was the first female artist to draw Wonder Woman in a DC comic book period)….
Or see her kids-oriented work on her mid-80s Marvel comic, Misty (which somehow manages to evoke the feel of Dan DeCarlo without simply riffing on his style)..
An excellent storyteller, Robbins’ art was also striking for how well-rounded and strong her female characters were. Sex was often present in Robbins’ work, particularly her 1970s work, but it was never just a crass titillation.
After an already stellar career as an artist, in 1985, Robbins began her career as an accomplished comic book historian, as well, releasing Women and the Comics along with co-writer, Catherine “Cat” Yronwode, one of the first serious looks at the history of women in the world of comics.
Robbins wrote a number of books about comic book history, including: A Century of Women Cartoonists (1993), The Great Women Superheroes (1997), From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of Women’s Comics from Teens to Zines (1999), The Great Women Cartoonists (2001), and Pretty In Ink (2013). Her most recent historical work was 2020’s Flapper Queens: Women Cartoonists of the Jazz Age.
In 1994, Robbins was one of the founders of Friends of Lulu, a non-profit group that helped to increase interest in comics by young female readers. It dissolved in 2011, having greatly influenced the comic book industry in its nearly two-decade existence.
Robbins was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2013.
Besides being a great comic book artist, and a wonderful historian, Robbins was renowned for her sheer LOVE of comics, and her willingness to be an ambassador for comic books, helping to bring in new readers (especially female readers) for nearly 80 years.
We offer our condolences to Robbins’ friends and family, including her longtime partner, the brilliant comic book artist, Steve Leialoha.
