Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist

“The radical lesbians of the early 1970s who declared that ‘a lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion’ were speaking figuratively. But when Hothead Paisan hit the scene twenty years later, the blast was literal and resounding. Lobbing grenades, toting an assault rifle, and swinging her redemptive ax, this dyke was done with the patriarchy—whether it was organized religion or a random man-spreader on the bus. Diane DiMassa’s endearing Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist claimed space for herself and brought the rest of us along for the cathartic ride. Thank god these comics are back in print because we need Hothead now more than ever.” —Alison Bechdel, creator of Dykes to Watch Out For

“A zine staple of the early ‘90s Chicago, returns not having aged an inch: Here are the first 20 comics, made as ‘rage therapy,’ DiMassa says, addressing gender and mental health, yearning for community.” — Chicago Tribune

“As a brand-new baby trans woman in the early 1990s, I looked everywhere to find out how to be a proper lesbian. And I almost succeeded, when happily and just in time, Hothead Paisan helped me find my inner badass dyke. Chicken rules!” —Kate Bornstein

“Diane DiMassa can thrill the female soul … fulfilling an untold number of rush-hour fantasies.”
—The New York Times

“Hothead is a one-woman revolution … a far-out, hilarious reminder of how your own rage could drive you insane.” —Out Magazine

“The bible of man-hating ball busters driven over the edge of insanity.” —Sarah Schulman

“[DiMassa’s] cartooning style is electric.” —Howard Cruse

“I first met Hothead in the anthology No Straight Lines, a 40-year survey of queer comics. She stands out even among decades of cartoonists’ takes on the pressures of fitting in with heterosexual America…But DiMassa’s creation has been woefully hard to find in recent years. Thankfully, New York Review Books will publish a Hothead collection this August. The sweltering, lingering days of summer feel like the perfect time for the title character to burst back out onto the sidewalk, bat in tow.” —Emma Sarappo, The Atlantic

Diane DiMassa

Diane DiMassa is an American artist best known for her contributions to the alternative, feminist comic book sphere. Her illustrations have been featured in books such as Kathy Acker’s Pussycat Fever, Kate Bornstein’s My Gender Workbook, and Anne Fausto-Sterling’s Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. She lives between Bridgeport, Connecticut, and San Francisco, California.

Sarah Schulman

Sarah Schulman is a writer, an activist, and a historian. A recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement, she has published over twenty works of fiction and non-fiction, including, most recently, the oral history Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993, which won a Lambda Literary Award. She lives in New York City.

Jay Graham

Jay Graham is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Their work has appeared in The Paris Review Daily, Wonder Press, Angel Food Magazine, and The End Magazine.

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