Before her comics were serialized in the New York Times Sunday Magazine (“Watergate Sue,” 2007) or released by Fantagraphics Books (Artichoke Tales, 2010), Megan Kelso was a classic DIY cartoonist/publisher, who crafted and self-published her popular minicomic Girlhero from 1991 to 1996. Queen of the Black Black, which collects these early Girlhero strips (as well as a few from other sources) and was originally published in a limited edition 12 years ago (now long out of print), provides an engrossing chronicle of an ambitious young cartoonist carefully developing her own unique style and approach. In this volume, Kelso scrutinizes bicycle messengers, venereal diseases, infidelity, unwanted pregnancies, temporary work assignments, family reunions, and classroom daydreams in subtle and unexpected manners, setting herself technical challenges such as depicting music in comics (the virtuoso “The Daddy Mask,” with its sensuous gray swirls of sound on the page), integrating lettering into artwork in creative ways, and generally working her way toward what would become her mature style. The title story, “Queen of the Black Black,” rendered in lush gray tones, explores the fraught relationship between the ageing, demanding queen of a fairy-tale realm and a hornblower whom she takes under her wing. There is even a vintage “Artichoke Tale,” predating Kelso recently released graphic novel by a decade and a half. (“I am planning to do a whole book of artichoke tales in the future,” she wrote presciently in her original story notes.) Queen of the Black Black shows the first flowering (or sprouting) of a major cartooning talent, and its return to print (fully redesigned) is welcome news for the many readers delighted by Kelso’s subsequent graphic novels. ContentsForward by Myla GoldbergIntroduction by Megan KelsoThe Daddy Mask (1998)In Zanana (Girlhero #5)GlamourHer Peas and Queues (Girlhero #2, February 1992)Composition (Action Girl #3, 1995)Queen of the Black Black (1997)The Married Man (Girlhero #4, April 1995)The Art of Being a Successful Business Girl (Girlhero #3)Pennyroyal Tea (Girlhero #5, May 1996)Reservoir (Girlhero #3, July 1994, Action Girl, 1994)Frozen Angel (Girlhero #1, July 1993)Whistle and Queenie (Dark Horse Presents #100, 1995)The Reunion (Girlhero #6, November 1997)IndiciaFantagraphics Books, 7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, Washington 98115 | Editor: Gary Groth; Designer: Alexa Koenings; Publishers: Gary Groth and Kim Thompson; Associate Publisher: Eric Reynolds | Queen of the Black Black is copyright © 2011 Megan Kelso. All rights reserved. No part of this book (except small portions for review purposes) may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic mechanical means without the written permission of the author or the publisher. Distributed in the U.S. by W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. (800-233-4830); Distributed in Canada by Canadian Manda Group (888-452-6642 x862); Distributed in the U.K. by Turnaround Distribution (44 020 8829-3002); Distributed to comic stores by Diamond Comics Distributors (800-452-6642 x215) ISBN: 978-1-60699-497-7 | First Fantagraphics printing: July 2011 | Printed in China
