Barbara Mendes
| Barbara Mendes | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 30, 1948 |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Painter, Cartoonist |
| Pseudonym(s) | Willy |
Notable works | It Ain't Me Babe Queen of Cosmos Comix |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (2022) |
| www | |
Barbara "Willy" Mendes (/ˈmɛndɛz/;[1] born January 30,[2] 1948)[3] is an American cartoonist, fine artist, and member of the underground comix movement. She is best known for her work alongside Trina Robbins on It Ain't Me Babe and All Girl Thrills.
Mendes worked in underground comix while also producing other work for exhibitions in art galleries around the United States. Her art is inspired by Judaism and feminist themes. Although Mendes first created art under the name "Willy" Mendes, she later reverted to her given name Barbara.[a]
Career
[edit]She attended New York City's High School of Music & Art, followed by further education at the University of California, Riverside.[2]
Mendes began her career in underground comix in the late 1960s. She collaborated with Trina Robbins and Nancy Kalish on Gothic Blimp Works, the comix supplement of the East Village Other, an underground newspaper.[6] Mendes and Robbins continued working together, publishing It Ain't Me Babe, the first comic book produced entirely by women, in 1970. In 1971, Mendes published Illuminations, which portrays more psychedelic work.
She then stepped away from the comix scene, moving into painting and fine art.
In 2017, after completing a mural in a Sephardic synagogue in Los Angeles, Mendes began to study Torah and actively practice Judaism.[3] Mendes later opened her own art gallery in downtown Los Angeles, where she paints brightly colored biblical narratives based on Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, the first three books of the Torah.[7]
Mendes returned to comix in 2020 with the release of Queen of Cosmos Comix from Red 5 Comics.[8] The comic integrates her spiritual and feminist vision, using traditional hand‑ink techniques, comic paneling, word balloons, and meticulous narratives steeped in religious and cosmic symbolism. Volume 2 of Queen of Cosmos Comix launched in full color at the 2023 Jewish Comics Experience convention, and a collected edition of Volumes 1–3 is forthcoming via Fantagraphics.[9]
In 2022, Mendes was a special guest at San Diego Comic-Con and received an Inkpot Award for her contributions to comics and art.[10]
Style and themes
[edit]Mendes' comics work is notable for its unique visual language: dense, intricately detailed panels, often framed by cosmic symbolism and word‑balloon narratives. Her early comix work foregrounded feminist concerns without resorting to raw sexuality; she claims that "it was about hippies saving the world through spirituality."[7]
Her later biblical "Epic Paintings" consist of brightly colored, narrative imagery displaying biblical stories and messages[11] — to Mendes, color is “the light of God,” merging image, mysticism, and memoir.[5]
In other media
[edit]A scene from Bruno Kohfield-Galeano's short film The Blinking Game (2017) was filmed in Mendes' studio and features many of her paintings.[12]
Bibliography
[edit]Comics
[edit]- "Make Money, Sell American Seeds," in Slow Death Funnies #1 (Last Gasp, April 1970)
- "Oma," in It Ain't Me, Babe (Last Gasp, July 1970)
- "Ada," in Insect Fear #2 (Print Mint, Mar. 1971)
- "Take This Woman Comix" in San Francisco Comic Book #3 (Print Mint, Aug. 1971)
- Multiple stories in All Girl Thrills #1 (Print Mint, 1971)
- "Easy Come Easy Go," in Yellow Dog #23 (Print Mint, Oct. 1972)
- "The Hippy Wedding," in The Someday Funnies (Abrams, 2011) — reprint of a story from the 1970s
- Queen of Cosmos Comix (Red 5 Comics, 2020)
Editor
[edit]- It Ain't Me, Babe (Last Gasp, July 1970)
- Illuminations (1971)
Notes
[edit]- ^ "Willy" was a nickname given to her by her first husband, rock and roll musician Rick "Rollings" Kunstler,[4] in honor of the Latin jazz percussionist Willie Bobo.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ American Artist BARBARA 'Willy' MENDES; UG Comix & Contemporary Art Interview, Part III. The ipi House. Jan 22, 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Willy Mendes - Comic Book DB". www.comicbookdb.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b "Fine Art by Barbara Mendes, Judaic art, Jewish art, Biography of Barbara Mendes". BarbaraMendes.org. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
- ^ Estren, Mark James (1974). A History of Underground Comics. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books. p. 99. ISBN 978-0879320751.
- ^ a b Doherty, Brian (July 4, 2022). "'IT'S LIKE A MIRACLE': AN INTERVIEW WITH THE UNDERGROUND CARTOONIST AND VISIONARY ARTIST BARBARA 'WILLY' MENDES". INTERVIEWS. The Comics Journal.
- ^ "Willy Mendes: Barbara Mendes (b. 30 January 1948, USA)". Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- ^ a b Cruz, Nicole Santa (2009-11-30). "Expressing Judaism with a paintbrush". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
- ^ "New IJOCA article on Barbara Mendes". Neurotic Raven. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "Barbara Willy Mendes". The Center for Jewish History. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- ^ "Inkpot Awards". San Diego Comix-Con International. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- ^ Richard Suertudo (2015-12-26), ipi American Artist BARBARA 'Willy' MENDES; UG Comix and Contemporary Art Interview, Part I., retrieved 2017-11-28 – via YouTube
- ^ "The Blinking Game (2017) - IMDb". IMDb.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- Living people
- 1948 births
- 20th-century American writers
- 20th-century American women artists
- 20th-century American illustrators
- 21st-century American women artists
- 21st-century American artists
- 21st-century American writers
- American women illustrators
- American female comics artists
- American feminist artists
- The High School of Music & Art alumni
- Jewish American comics writers
- Jewish American comics artists
- Jewish American feminists
- Jewish American painters
- Jewish American illustrators
- Jewish women painters
- Pseudonymous comics artists
- Underground cartoonists
- University of California, Riverside alumni