1978 Comic Shows Lesbian Trying to Get Pregnant

I’m always fond of showing just how far back the history of LGBT parents goes. Here’s a fun historical find, then: a comic from 1978 (that’s 36 years ago!) telling the story of a lesbian trying to get pregnant.

Dyke Shorts, by author and artist Mary Wings, is a semi-autobiographical look at lesbian life in the 1970s. There’s a sample page at Underground Comixjoint showing the protagonist experiencing post-insemination anxiety. (One panel also depicts what can only be described as an early, kids-of-lesbians version of Our Chart.)

Wings had previously written and illustrated Come Out Comix, the first comic in America about a lesbian. (Take that, Batwoman.) She is perhaps best known, however, for her mystery series starring lesbian investigator Emma Victor, and she won a Lambda Literary Award in 1994 for her mystery Divine Victim. Dyke Shorts is unfortunately out of print, so you’ll have to scrounge around vintage comic shops if you want to locate a copy.

Thanks to my day-job colleague at the Wellesley Centers for Women, Amy Hoffman, editor of the Women’s Review of Books, for alerting me to Dyke Shorts’ and its insemination theme.

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