Heroic Indeed
I was not a contributor to this Kickstarter campaign, because I hadn't yet discovered Kickstarter back in August 2011, when this campaign ended successfully. I'm kinda sorry I wasn't able to.
This is a large, heavy hardcover book. (It's also white, which means that it's going to look dirty unless you're careful with it.) In it are many contributions from well-known women in the industry as well as people I'd never heard of before. The stories themselves are a diverse and varied group that runs the gamut of "typical" superhero style stories, to sweet stories like "Yuna's Day" where the heroism is a simple act of kindness.
Contributors have thumbnail profiles at the bottoms of the pages, along with a generous number of "Pro Tips" from people in the industry, like "Criticism, by Stacie Ponder 'Remember that criticism is about the work, not about you personally. There's always room for improvement.'" The last section of the book contains articles that are relevant to learning about making comic books. From writing to inking to coloring digitally, there's lots of good advice for the aspiring writer/artist. There are also interviews with women in the industry today, and profiles of women who broke ground in it.
On the down side, the stories can run into one another. There's no break between stories, and sometimes the title panels are not entirely obvious. Paging through, it can be hard to find a specific story; they are not indexed. The Kids/Teens section is also a bit light -- but that may be a telling statement about the state of females interested in this medium.
I highly recommend this book, even at the hefty price tag of $50, because it's interesting, it's informative, and it's entertaining. If you're interested in the state of women in comics, you should get it, period.