Annie Wu working on her character, Harley Quinn. Image credit: Steven Leung.
This is the first of a series of blogs on kick-ass female graphic artists who are taking the comic world by storm. These blogs offer a sneak peek into our upcoming exhibition, Warrior Princess, which will explore warrior girls from around the world and provide inspiration for future warrior princesses! To kick this all off, we want to introduce you to some amazing warrior women and their awesome creators.
Annie Wu is a comic book artist from the US. She has worked on some of the biggest names in the comic industry, from DC Comics, to Marvel and Vertigo, and she’s only 28! Inspired by the comic books that she read, Annie spent a lot of time at school drawing her own characters, but didn’t ever imagine that she would be able to make a career out of her passion. After going to art school and experimenting with different drawing forms, Annie was snapped up by several comic books. Annie sometimes adds her sketches and comic book characters to her Instagram account. Add her for some graphic artist inspiration!
One of Annie‚Äôs most recent creations, Dinah Lance, is a bona fide warrior woman, storming the pages of DC Comics’s¬†Black Canary. Not only does Dinah front a rock band, she is a martial arts expert, fighting off the bad guys before, during and after rocking out on stage. As an ex-soldier, Dinah Lance ticks the warrior woman box, but in her role as the protector of her band, she goes beyond the call of duty for any front (wo)man. In creating Dinah, Annie Wu used her own experience of the rock ‚Äòn‚Äô roll scene and brought her own style to the comic.
For an interview with Annie about Black Canary, click here.
Due to her art school background, Annie’s work has been viewed as different from other graphic art, but it is these differences that make her stand out. In creating her own warrior women, Annie focuses on the personality of her character first, and the outfits later, developing complex and realistic women for her readers. It’s no wonder that Annie’s work has caught the attention of comic book fans across the world!
You can see Annie Wu in action in the video below.
Warrior Princess is launching soon, so keep an eye on the Girl Museum website. In my next blog for ‘Creating Warrior Women’, I will look at the work of Fiona Staples, an award winning comic book artist from Calgary, Canada.
-Sarah Raine
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.