Jessica Abel
by Alisa Bischoff
Fall 2004

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Jessica Abel’s interest in comics began in childhood, when she would read Richie Rich, Casper, and Wonderwoman during long car trips. When she went to college in 1987, her interest in comics was renewed by Love and Rockets #21, which she describes as “a new beginning.” Her first sequential comic art was an outer space version of Medea, which she did as a way to cop out on writing a paper for her Classics 101 class. She got an A. During her sophomore year, she became involved in a student comics group at the University of Chicago, and started Junkie.

She considers herself a feminist, and as a result, her comics are feminist, even though promoting feminism isn’t her main agenda. She describes it as her view of the world informs her writing, but doesn’t dictate it. Her influences are Deadline (a British Anthology), Philip Bond, Jaime “Tank Girl” Hewlett (the art style, not the story telling), and Jimbo, the Pantheon printing of Gary Panter’s work.

Originally from Chicago, Jessica moved to Mexico in 1988, and as a result of the low cost of living, was able to become a full-time artist. She now lives in Brooklyn and has produced a slew of full length comics, mini-comics, acquired several grants and participated in numerous exhibitions (all of which are listed on given website). Her most prominent works include Artbabe, a two volume series now also collected in two books, and La Perdida, a 5-issue series, now in its fourth volume.

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