Hazel Newlevant

Comics by women about their love of gaming, from video games to tabletop role-playing to collectible card games.

The Anthology of Women Gamers

Chainmail Bikini

"Like a well-designed game, Chainmail Bikini sets forth a straightforward premise and then challenges as it delights, capturing your imagination and before you know it, you’ll find yourself invested in it."—My Entertainment World "Whether you’re a hardcore gamer who wants to see stories by others who share your passion [or] a comics lover who wants to see a wide variety of excellent comics from a wide variety of talented creators . . . this is a book that you’ll enjoy, treasure and be able to return to over and over again."—Autostraddle Chainmail Bikini is an anthology of comics by and about female gamers! Forty cartoonists have contributed comics about the games they’re passionate about—from video games to tabletop role-playing to collectible card games. The comics in Chainmail Bikini explore the real-life impact of entering a fantasy world, and how games can connect us with each other and teach us about ourselves. Alliances are forged, dice get rolled, and dragons get slain! Chainmail Bikini shows that while women are not always the target market for gaming, they are a vital and thoroughly engaged part of it, and are eager to express their personal take as players, makers, and critics of games. Chainmail Bikini is edited by Hazel Newlevant (If This Be Sin), and features a cover illustration by Hellen Jo and comics by established talents and rising stars including Annie Mok, Jane Mai, Molly Ostertag, MK Reed, and Sophie Yanow.

Moth

-- AN ARC REVIEW --

I am and have been a girl gamer at heart. It's not something I talk about too much, but a big part of who I am is gaming and the fact that those games made me fall in love with stories. Having a chance to read this collection of comics meant a lot. I got to relive a lot of my own experiences and the friends I made in the process. Each comic had it's own unique style and story from other female gamers that warmed the heart or left you sad. No one was left out, this collection even including transwomen, that aren't always included in female stories (like they should be). I really enjoyed the stories, though the formatting didn't always fit kindle and other comics slowed my computer down so much that my adobe reader crashed twice. Hopefully they'll fix it for digital readers because it is worth a read for any female gamer who had faced the whole 'fake gamer girls' who were left out or called names by men, those who wished they fit the games that they loved, those who despite it all loved and thrived with games, those who relied on these games as an escape from the world, these are our stories and their told for the most part really well (there a few stories that didn't always make sense, but not all the writers are native english speakers, so mistakes happen. But their stories deserve to be heard too).

Melanie Richards

Anthologies are kinda tough. It’s tricky to not end up with something repetitive when everyone’s drawing from the same theme. I enjoyed several of these and wrote down some creators I’d like to see more from, but I didn’t connect to all the LARPing and a lot of the art styles.

Chainmail Bikini The Anthology of Women Gamers

Reviews