10 Best Female Cartoonists Making an Impact on the Industry

10 Best Female Cartoonists: The world of cartooning has been enriched by many talented women who push boundaries across comics, webcomics, political cartoons, and animation. These female cartoonists – from trailblazing veterans to rising innovators – are leaving a remarkable mark on the industry. Below, we spotlight ten of the best, highlighting their notable works, achievements, and how they are influencing and reshaping the landscape of cartooning.

Alison Bechdel – Pioneering Graphic Memoirist and Cultural Icon

Alison Bechdel is renowned for blending personal narrative with literary depth, elevating comics to the realm of literature. She first gained a cult following with her long-running comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For,” which humorously chronicled lesbian life and politics for 25 years.¹ Bechdel truly broke into the mainstream with her groundbreaking graphic memoir “Fun Home” (2006), an introspective story of family and identity that earned widespread acclaim and was later adapted into a five-time Tony Award–winning Broadway musical.² In 2014, Bechdel received a prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Grant recognizing how her unique blend of humor and honesty has influenced a new generation of cartoonists.³ She even lent her name to the famous “Bechdel Test” for gender representation in fiction,⁴ underscoring her broader cultural impact beyond the page. By fearlessly using comics for memoir and social commentary, Bechdel has altered the fabric of both comics and pop culture,⁵ proving that personal stories told in graphic form can resonate on a universal level.

Roz Chast – Queen of Quirky New Yorker Cartoons

For over four decades, Roz Chast has been a cornerstone of magazine cartooning, celebrated for her wry wit and distinctive, neurotic art style. Since her debut in The New Yorker in 1978, Chast has published more than 1,000 cartoons in the iconic magazine⁶ – a testament to her prolific creativity and broad appeal. Her cartoons, often populated by anxious everyman characters in absurd situations, helped shift The New Yorker away from stiff, pre-written gags to more personal and idiosyncratic humor.⁷⁸ Chast’s knack for finding comedy in the mundane (whether it’s dysfunctional family dynamics or modern anxieties) has earned her numerous accolades, including the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award.⁹ In 2024, she was honored with the National Humanities Medal for “healing the country with humor and observation,” a rare achievement for a cartoonist.¹⁰ Chast also ventured into graphic memoir with Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? – a poignant, funny account of caring for her aging parents that became a New York Times bestseller.¹¹ Often called the “pre-eminent New Yorker cartoonist” of our time,¹² Roz Chast has influenced countless artists with her squiggly line work, gentle cynicism, and the permission she gives readers to laugh at life’s everyday insecurities.

Lynda Barry – Blurring the Line Between Comics and Art

Lynda Barry is an underground comics legend whose work defies categorization – she’s equal parts cartoonist, novelist, and educator. Emerging from the 1980s alt-comix scene, Barry created the weekly strip “Ernie Pook’s Comeek,” which ran in alternative newspapers and introduced readers to her raw, semi-autobiographical storytelling.¹⁵ Through graphic novels like One! Hundred! Demons! and her illustrated creative workbook What It Is, Barry broadened the psychological range of comics, delving into the intense emotions of adolescence and everyday life in a way few cartoonists had done before.¹⁶ Her pages often mix ink drawings with vibrant watercolor washes, collage, and handwritten captions, producing a chaotic yet emotionally resonant style that has earned critical acclaim for its narrative depth and originality.¹⁷ In 2019, Barry was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (the “Genius Grant”) for inspiring creative engagement through her work.¹⁸¹⁹ She has also become a passionate teacher, developing workshops like “Writing the Unthinkable” to help others tap into their creativity.²⁰ By treating comics as a tool for personal expression and even therapy, Lynda Barry has influenced countless artists and students – encouraging them to embrace the art of storytelling without fear and effectively ushering comics into classrooms and academia as a respected form of art.

Kate Beaton – From Webcomic Whimsy to Award-Winning Graphic Novelist

Kate Beaton shot to fame with her webcomic “Hark! A Vagrant,” a sharp-witted series of cartoons that lampoon historical figures and literary classics with irreverent humor. Starting as a humble blog, Hark! A Vagrant became an internet sensation, eventually landing on Time magazine’s Top 10 Fiction Books of 2011, which hailed it as “the wittiest book of the year”.²¹ Beaton’s cartoons – featuring everything from snarky founding fathers to a goofy Napoleon – delighted a new generation of readers and demonstrated the potential of webcomics to achieve mainstream success. She garnered multiple Harvey Awards for her online work,²² helping legitimize webcomics as an important part of the comics industry. In recent years, Beaton has continued to break new ground with her graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, a candid account of her time working in the Canadian oil fields. Ducks was met with widespread acclaim for its heartfelt exploration of labor and environmental issues, and at the 2023 Eisner Awards it won Best Writer/Artist and Best Graphic Memoir.²³²⁴ Beaton’s ability to transition from sketch comedy comics to a profound long-form memoir showcases her versatility. Beyond the accolades, she’s influencing the industry by proving that a webcomic creator can successfully cross over into print and that comics can tackle subjects as varied as goofy historical satire and serious social commentary – all with equal impact.

Nicole Hollander – Feminist Satire in the Funny Pages

Nicole Hollander made her mark with “Sylvia,” a sly, feminist comic strip that ran from 1980 to 2012 and became a mainstay of alt-weekly newspapers. In Sylvia, Hollander presented the musings of a middle-aged, wisecracking feminist (often seen with her ever-present cigarette and cat) who offered biting commentary on gender roles, politics, and daily absurdities. The strip was groundbreaking – one of the earliest ongoing comic strips centered on women’s perspectives – and at its height appeared in over 80 newspapers across the U.S. by the late 1990s.²⁵ Through Sylvia’s satirical wit, Hollander inspired readers (especially women) to laugh at societal double standards and embrace a questioning attitude toward the status quo.²⁶ She published 19 collections of the strip over the years, and her work’s influence reaches far beyond her own readership. Notably, Simpsons creator Matt Groening cited Hollander as an influence, even placing Sylvia on his list of personal favorites.²⁷ That endorsement hints at Hollander’s impact on the broader comic world – she helped pave the way for more female-centered and socially conscious humor in comics. By fearlessly injecting feminist satire into the funny pages, Nicole Hollander showed that comic strips could be not only entertaining but also subversive and empowering, inspiring generations of cartoonists to follow her trail.

Raina Telgemeier – Champion of Young Readers’ Comics

No conversation about modern comics influence is complete without Raina Telgemeier, who has revolutionized the industry by bringing young readers (especially girls) into the comics fold like never before. Telgemeier’s breakout graphic memoir “Smile” (2010) – a funny and heartfelt tale of her middle school dental misadventures – became a #1 New York Times bestseller and resonated so deeply with kids that it ushered in a new wave of comics for middle-grade readers.³⁰ “Smile” and Telgemeier’s follow-up books (Sisters, Drama, Guts, etc.) proved that stories about everyday adolescence could captivate millions, at a time when such voices were scarce in comics. In fact, industry observers note that Smile “galvanized kids to embrace comics in a way the industry had never seen before”³¹ – spawning an entire genre of graphic novels for young readers and influencing publishing giants like Scholastic to invest heavily in comics. Telgemeier has won five Eisner Awards³² for her work and was even named “Comics Industry Person of the Decade” for the 2010s³³, highlighting how her success drove comics’ growth. Her secret is treating young people’s experiences with respect and honesty – whether dealing with friendship drama, family, or anxiety – always delivered in an accessible visual style. By becoming, as one editor described, “the face of a nascent movement” in kids’ comics³⁴, Raina Telgemeier has influenced countless aspiring creators and shown the industry that comics for youth are not a niche but a cornerstone of the medium’s future.

Marjane Satrapi – Trailblazer of Graphic Memoir and Global Perspective

Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian-French cartoonist, brought an essential international voice to comics with her acclaimed autobiographical graphic novel “Persepolis.” Published in France in 2000 (and later worldwide), Persepolis recounts Satrapi’s youth in Iran during the Islamic Revolution – told in stark black-and-white illustrations with equal parts humor and heartbreak. The book was a revelation, offering Western readers an intimate look at life in Iran through a young girl’s eyes and proving that comics could tackle complex political and cultural themes. Persepolis won major accolades, including the Angoulême Coup de Coeur Award in 2001 for its first volume³⁵ (one of the highest honors in European comics), and its English editions quickly became classroom staples in the West. Satrapi followed up with works like Persepolis 2, Embroideries, and Chicken with Plums, further establishing herself as a literary cartoonist. In 2007, Satrapi co-directed the animated film adaptation of Persepolis, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.³⁶³⁷ By sharing her personal story, Satrapi humanized a region often misunderstood by Western audiences, inspiring other graphic memoirs and opening doors for Middle Eastern and women creators in the medium.³⁸ Today, Persepolis is celebrated as a pioneering work that expanded the scope of graphic novels, showing that a woman’s voice from Iran could resonate around the world and illustrating how the graphic memoir genre can illuminate history and foster cross-cultural understanding.

Pénélope Bagieu – Celebrating Rebel Women with Vibrant Comics

French cartoonist Pénélope Bagieu has emerged as a powerful voice in comics by championing women’s stories with wit and style. After building a following with charming webcomics and graphic novels in France, Bagieu achieved international acclaim with “Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World” (French title: Culottées). Published in 2018, Brazen is a collection of 30 short biographical comics about extraordinary women from history – scientists, activists, artists, and adventurers from around the globe. Through lively illustrations and sharp narration, Bagieu spotlights unsung heroines and trailblazers, reminding readers (especially girls and young women) that they don’t have to fit society’s mold to achieve great things.³⁹ The book was a commercial and critical hit, selling over 350,000 copies and being translated into 17 languages.⁴⁰ It also earned Bagieu a prestigious Eisner Award in 2019 for Best U.S. Edition of International Material,⁴¹ signaling her impact beyond France. Critics praised her dynamic cartooning and humor, which make the histories accessible and inspiring.⁴² Before Brazen, Bagieu was already a household name in French comics for her earlier works (like the slice-of-life Joséphine series and the graphic novel Exquisite Corpse), but Brazen propelled her to a new level as a feminist storyteller on the world stage. By combining activism with art, Pénélope Bagieu is influencing the industry to embrace more diverse biographies and proving that comic readers are hungry for stories about bold women who changed the world – told by a bold woman who is changing comics.

Ann Telnaes – Leading Voice in Political Cartooning

Ann Telnaes has carved out a distinctive place in the traditionally male-dominated field of political cartoons, using her pen (and animation) to hold the powerful accountable with satire and style. In 2001, Telnaes became only the second woman ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning,⁴³ a landmark achievement that highlighted her exceptional talent in a field where fewer than 5% of practitioners were women.⁴⁴ Her editorial cartoons – which appear in The Washington Post and syndication – are known for their bold lines and clear message, often tackling issues of government, civil rights, and women’s equality with cutting wit. Telnaes’s work is “doubly unusual” among Pulitzer winners because she wasn’t tied to a single newspaper staff at the time,⁴⁵ underscoring her independent voice. Beyond print, she has been a pioneer of animated editorial cartoons, bringing motion and timing into political satire online. For example, her animated cartoons for The Washington Post offer searing commentary on current events in a format that engages today’s digital audiences. Telnaes served as president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists in 2016–2017,⁴⁶ using her platform to advocate for freedom of expression and to mentor younger cartoonists. Fearless and uncompromising, she frequently addresses gender issues – from reproductive rights to the portrayal of women politicians – making sure a feminist perspective cuts through the political noise. Ann Telnaes’s influence can be seen in the growing number of women entering editorial cartooning and in the evolution of the medium itself, as she pushes political cartoons beyond the static panel into new, multimedia forms. She stands as a trailblazer who proved that women’s voices belong on the opinion page, and that sharp political insight delivered with artistry can truly impact public discourse.⁴⁷

Rebecca Sugar – Shattering Barriers in Animation and LGBTQ+ Representation

Rebecca Sugar has made history in the world of animation, becoming a transformative figure for what is possible in children’s cartoons. Originally a cartoonist and storyboard artist, Sugar rose to prominence working on the hit series Adventure Time, but her biggest leap came when she created “Steven Universe” – making her the first woman to independently create a series for Cartoon Network.⁴⁸ Steven Universe (2013–2019), an animated show about a boy and his family of magical genderless gems, broke new ground with its rich storytelling and unabashed inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes. Under Sugar’s guidance, the series introduced young audiences to diverse characters and relationships never before seen in kids’ programming – such as non-binary heroes, same-sex love (the show’s pivotal wedding episode between two female-presenting gems), and honest discussions of identity and empathy. This bold creativity earned Steven Universe critical accolades including a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding LGBTQ representation and a Peabody Award recognizing its complex, heartfelt storytelling.⁴⁹⁵⁰ Sugar, who identifies as nonbinary and bisexual, infused the show with a deeply personal understanding of inclusion, stating that she wanted to “tell LGBT kids that they belong in this world.” The impact on the industry has been profound: after Steven Universe, other animated series began embracing more diverse characters and creators. By proving that audiences young and old are ready for progressive content, Sugar has influenced animation executives to take more risks on underrepresented voices. She also demonstrated the power of multi-talented creators – Sugar not only wrote and drew for the show but also wrote music for its many songs, showcasing a holistic approach to cartoon creation. Rebecca Sugar’s success has inspired a new generation of animators (especially young women and LGBTQ+ artists) to pursue their visions, knowing that authenticity and inclusivity can lead to beloved, groundbreaking work. In short, she is reshaping the animation landscape – making it more creative, more accepting, and more reflective of the diverse audience it serves.⁵¹⁵²

10 Best Female Cartoonists

These ten women, each with their own style and medium, are collectively redefining what it means to be a cartoonist in the 21st century. Through their creativity and courage, they’ve expanded the subjects comics can tackle – from intimate memoir and feminist satire to historical biography and beyond. Just as importantly, they’ve opened doors for more women to enter and thrive in the industry. Whether it’s on the pages of a graphic novel, the panels of a newspaper, or the frames of an animated series, the work of these female cartoonists is entertaining and enlightening audiences worldwide. In doing so, they are not only making a significant impact on the cartooning industry today, but also inspiring the next generation of artists to push the medium even further tomorrow.

Footnotes

1. Alison Bechdel’s influence on comics & pop culture, explained | Popverse) ↩︎
2. Alison Bechdel’s influence on comics & pop culture, explained | Popverse ↩︎
3. Alison Bechdel’s influence on comics & pop culture, explained | Popverse ↩︎
4. Alison Bechdel’s influence on comics & pop culture, explained | Popverse ↩︎
5. Alison Bechdel’s influence on comics & pop culture, explained | Popverse ↩︎
6. Roz Chast – Wikipedia ↩︎
7. Roz Chast | National Endowment for the Humanities ↩︎
8. Roz Chast | National Endowment for the Humanities ↩︎
9. Roz Chast | National Endowment for the Humanities ↩︎
10. Roz Chast – Wikipedia ↩︎
11. Roz Chast | National Endowment for the Humanities ↩︎
12. Roz Chast | National Endowment for the Humanities ↩︎
13. Cover of “What It Is” by Lynda Barry | Arts | The Harvard Crimson ↩︎
14. Lynda Barry – MacArthur Foundation ↩︎
15. Lynda Barry – MacArthur Foundation ↩︎
16. Lynda Barry – MacArthur Foundation ↩︎
17. Lynda Barry – MacArthur Foundation ↩︎
18. Madison cartoonist Lynda Barry wins MacArthur Foundation ‘genius … ↩︎
19. Lynda Barry – MacArthur Foundation ↩︎
20. Lynda Barry – MacArthur Foundation ↩︎
21. December | 2012 | The Webcomic Overlook ↩︎
22. December | 2012 | The Webcomic Overlook ↩︎
23. SDCC 2023: Kate Beaton asks for “more diverse perspectives” from working class and industrial voices in comics | Popverse ↩︎
24. SDCC 2023: Kate Beaton asks for “more diverse perspectives” from working class and industrial voices in comics | Popverse ↩︎
25. Nicole Hollander – Lambiek Comiclopedia ↩︎
26. 10 Female Cartoonists Who Changed The Game – Toons Mag ↩︎
27. Nicole Hollander – Lambiek Comiclopedia ↩︎
28. Smile — GoRaina! ↩︎
29. Raina Telgemeier: The Comics Industry Person of the Decade ↩︎
30. Raina Telgemeier: The Comics Industry Person of the Decade ↩︎
31. Scholastic Graphix Announces New Publishing From Internationally Bestselling Author Raina Telgemeier ↩︎
32. Raina Telgemeier – Wikipedia ↩︎
33. Raina Telgemeier: The Comics Industry Person of the Decade ↩︎
34. Scholastic Graphix Announces New Publishing From Internationally Bestselling Author Raina Telgemeier ↩︎
35. Marjane Satrapi’s work and awards – Persepolis ↩︎
36. Marjane Satrapi’s work and awards – Persepolis ↩︎
37. Marjane Satrapi’s work and awards – Persepolis ↩︎
38. The New Global Literature? Marjane Satrapi and the Depiction of … ↩︎
39. Alumnus Pénélope Bagieu receives the Eisner Award for comic books | Atelier de sèvres ↩︎
40. Alumnus Pénélope Bagieu receives the Eisner Award for comic books | Atelier de sèvres ↩︎
41. Alumnus Pénélope Bagieu receives the Eisner Award for comic books | Atelier de sèvres ↩︎
42. Alumnus Pénélope Bagieu receives the Eisner Award for comic books | Atelier de sèvres ↩︎
43. Pulitzer Prize-winning Cartoons – Humor’s Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes | Exhibitions – Library of Congress ↩︎
44. Pulitzer Prize-winning Cartoons – Humor’s Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes | Exhibitions – Library of Congress ↩︎
45. Pulitzer Prize-winning Cartoons – Humor’s Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes | Exhibitions – Library of Congress ↩︎
46. Ann Telnaes – Wikipedia ↩︎
47. Pulitzer Prize-winning Cartoons – Humor’s Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes | Exhibitions – Library of Congress ↩︎
48. Rebecca Sugar | Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Authors | WWEnd ↩︎
49. STEVEN UNIVERSE Among 2019 Peabody Awards Winners ↩︎
50. STEVEN UNIVERSE Among 2019 Peabody Awards Winners ↩︎
51. Rebecca Sugar | Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Authors | WWEnd ↩︎
52. STEVEN UNIVERSE Among 2019 Peabody Awards Winners ↩︎