Sequential Tart Explained

Editor:	Sheena McNeil
Editor Title:	Editrix-in-Chief
Previous Editor:	S. L. Osborne Marcia Allas Katherine Keller
Staff Writer:	Marcia Allas, Suzette Chan, Jennifer Contino, Kimberly DeVries, Leigh Dragoon,^[1] Lisa R. Jonté
Photographer:	Laura Martin, art director^[2]
Category:	Comics, Popular culture
Frequency:	Weekly (from 2 July 2007)
Founder:	S. L. Osborne
Firstdate:	Sep/Oct 1998
Country:	United States
Language:	English

Sequential Tart (ST) is an online magazine focused on comics and popular culture from a female perspective. It was created in the late 1990s to serve "as an advocacy group for female consumers frustrated by their historical neglect or patronizing treatment by the comics industry." The magazine's title is a play on the term "sequential art"; the webzine's writers are referred to as "Tarts."

Overview

Historically, the webzine's logo topped this self-description:

Sequential Tart "combines interviews with comics creators, retailers, and industry leaders, reviews of current publications, and critical essays about gender and comics. It showcases industry practices that attract or repel women, spotlights the work of smaller presses that often fell through the cracks, and promotes books that reflect their readers' tastes and interests."

ST contributor Kimberly DeVries "argues that the group self-consciously rejects the negative stereotypes about female comics readers constructed by men in and around the comics industry but also the well-meaning but equally constraining stereotypes constructed by the first generation of feminist critics of comics."

A regular feature of the webzine was Culture Vultures. Traditionally, each new issue featured an illustration by a comics professional.

Publication history

Sequential Tart started out as "mailing list of female comics pros and fans" run by S. L. Osborne.Osborne discussed the impetus for the creation of the webzine in its first official issue (Sept./Oct. 1998):

ST started out bimonthly, but with its third issue, released in January 1999, it moved to monthly publication.^[3] In July 2007, the webzine became a weekly publication.^[4]

For a number of years, cartoonist Pam Bliss wrote "a series of essays about making minicomics for Sequential Tart entitled Hopelessly Lost, But Making Good Time."^[5] She collected those essays into a publication of the same title in 2002.^[6]

In 2008, ST editor Katherine Keller served as a judge for the Glyph Comics Awards.^[7]

Sequential Tarts August 2010 issue focused on Wonder Woman, with a "Tart Symposium on Wonder Woman's costume, a look at all of Wonder Woman's toys, and ... Visions of Wonder Woman, where the women talk about how they view Wonder Woman as a comic character and in pop culture. She's not always as popular among women as you might think."^[8]

Columns

• 13 Questions — interviews with comics industry figures
• All Access – profiles and reviews of family-friendly comics
• Bizarre Breasts – highlighting the distortion of the female form in mainstream comics
• Dear Kady Mae — advice column
• Declaration of Independents – profiles of alternative comics and creators
• Going Postal — letters from readers
• Read This Or Die – "highlight ... comics that have impressed us and that we believe are deserving of a wider audience"
• Redirected Male – Profiles of male comics industry figures who meet the approval of Sequential Tart
• Retailer's Corner – focus on the distribution and retailing end of the industry
• Tart of the Month — profiles of an ST contributor
• Tart To Heart – "a question to the Tarts as a whole"

Impact and reception

Wired magazine writer Corrina Lawson called Sequential Tart "one the best websites I know for comics commentary."

In his book Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book (Temple University Press, 2009), author Paul Lopes called Sequential Tart "one of the more popular comics web fanzines," and credited it for promoting "greater awareness of women artists and readers in comic book culture" while "maintaining general coverage of comic book culture."^[9]

Media scholar Henry Jenkins, in his book Convergence Culture (New York University Press, 2008), wrote that:

Awards

• 1998 Crafty.com "Cool Site of the Week"^[10]
• 1998 Planet Amazon's Bouquet of Roses Award^[11]
• 2000 Eagle Award for "Favourite Fan-organized Comic Related Website"^[12]
• 2000 About.com's Comic Book subsection's "Best of the Net"^[13]
• 2002 Friends of Lulu "Lulu of the Year"^[14]
• 2003 (nomination) Eagle Award for "Favourite Comics E-Zine"
• 2003 (nomination) National Comics Award for "Best Specialist Magazine or Website"^[15]
• 2005 (nomination) Eagle Award for "Favourite Comics E-Zine"^[16]

See also

• Geek girl
• Friends of Lulu
• Black Girl Nerds
• GeekMom

Further reading

• Book: DeVries, Kimberly. Writing Wonder Woman: How Playful Resistance Leads to Sustained Authorial Participation at Sequential Tart. Writing and the Digital Generation. McFarland & Company. 2009. Heather. Urbanski.
• Web site: Kim. DeVries. A Tart Point of View: Building a Community of Resistance Online . Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jun 6, 2023.
• Web site: McNeil. Sheena Kathryn. Case Study - Sequential Tart: A Unique and Successful Web Zine. 2005. Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. TRACE (Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange), University of Tennessee.
• Book: Walsh, Karen M.. Geek Heroines: An Encyclopedia of Female Heroes in Popular Culture. XVI. ABC-Clio. October 11, 2019. 9781440866418.

Notes and References

1. News: 2008 Friend of Lulu board announced. Heidi. MacDonald. Nov 1, 2007. Leigh is also a Staff Writer for Sequential Tart.
2. Web site: An Astonishing Colorist . Jennifer M. . Contino . . March 1, 2006 . July 19, 2008 .
3. S. L. . Osborne. Tis the season to be jolly — and for our first Year's End Edition. SequentialTart.com. January 1999. 2. 1. The big news for 1999: Sequential Tart is going monthly..
4. Web site: July 2007 Editorial. Katherine. Keller. July 2, 2007 . The start of July (well, actually the second day in July) marks a shift in Sequential Tart's publication schedule. We're now a weekly publication. Sequential Tart.
5. Web site: Big Things: Pam Bliss. Ninth Art. 5 Dec 2003.
6. Book: Bliss, Pam. Hopelessly Lost, But Making Good Time: Essays on Making Your Own Comics. Valparaiso, IN. Pam Bliss. 2002.
7. Web site: Judges, Submission Process Announced for Glyph Awards » Comics Worth Reading . 2008-02-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080209183313/http://comicsworthreading.com/2007/11/05/judges-submission-process-announced-for-glyph-awards/ . 2008-02-09 . dead .
8. CORRINA. LAWSON. Aug 17, 2010. Wired. Sequential Tarts Take On Wonder Woman.
9. Book: Lopes, Paul. The Heroic Age III. 173. Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book. 9781592134441. April 7, 2009. Temple University Press.
10. Web site: Crafty's Cool Site of the Week - previous winners. https://web.archive.org/web/19981206153744/http://www.crafty.com/csotw.asp. December 9, 1998. December 6, 1998. Comics from a Grrl's perspective.
11. Web site: Amanda. Erickson. December 1998 ARCHIVES. Dec 9, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19990822231920/http://www.planetamazon.com/pageant/98dec.html. 22 August 1999. Planet Amazon. Sequential Tart is an industry zine for women and by women in the comics industry. Sound niche? Well, it shouldn't be. Sick of seeing all the male-centric comic books? Read about women who are working from the inside to create quality and equality in the biz. Read insightful reviews of new comics. Good writing on a number of subjects. There's lots to do and see here..
12. http://www.sequentialtart.com/award.php "Eagle Awards 2000: Sequential Tart Wins!"
13. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20000816021904/http://comicbooks.about.com/hobbies/comicbooks/msub12.htm. Fanzines. dead. About.com. June 2000. August 16, 2000. The best comic 'zine written entirely by women just happens to be one of the best comic 'zines, period..
14. Web site: Friends of Lulu nominations open. Heidi. MacDonald. Heidi MacDonald. Mar 27, 2007. The Beat.
15. Web site: National Comics Awards Results 2003 . Down The Tubes . April 15, 2003 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060615115645/http://www.downthetubes.net/news_archive/2003/awards2003.html . 2006-06-15 .
16. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070205020733if_/http://www.eagleawards.co.uk:80/results.asp. Eagle Awards Results 2005. Eagle Awards website. 5 February 2007.