Friends of Lulu

Not to be confused with Lulu (company).
Friends of Lulu
Founded1994; 30 years ago (1994)
FoundersHeidi MacDonald, Trina Robbins, Deni Loubert, Anina Bennett, Liz Schiller, Jackie Estrada
Dissolved2011; 13 years ago (2011)
TypeNonprofit
PurposeTo promote readership of comic books by women and the participation of women in the comic book industry.
Area served
United States
ProductPublications, Lulu Awards
President
Valerie D'Orazio (2007–2010)
Key people
Lee Marrs, Kim Yale[1] Mary Wilshire
Revenue
Membership dues; sales of publications
Websitefriendsoflulu.wordpress.com
Friends of Lulu President Valerie D'Orazio at the Friends of Lulu table at the Big Apple Con, November 15, 2008

Friends of Lulu (FoL) was a non-profit,[2] national charitable organization located in the United States, designed to promote readership of comic books by women and the participation of women in the comic book industry. FoL operated from 1994[3][4] to 2011.

Membership was open to all persons.[5][6] Friends of Lulu additionally sponsored the Lulu Awards and administered the Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame.[2][7][8]

The organization took its name from Little Lulu, the comic strip character created by Marjorie Henderson Buell in 1935. In the comics, Lulu often tries to break into the boys' clubhouse, where girls aren't allowed.[9]

  1. ^ Bails, Jerry (n.d.). "Yale, Kim". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on May 11, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Crabtree, S. (July 27, 2007). "Comic-Con Watch: Meet the Brain Janes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 9 Feb 2008.
  3. ^ Leibrock, Rachel (March 14, 2003). "Drawing Power S.F. exhibit celebrates pioneering women cartoonists". Sacramento Bee: E1.
  4. ^ Szadkowski, Joseph (January 14, 2005). "Comics for girls may save biz". The Washington Times: D8.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beat-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Houle, Zachary (October 16, 2000). "And Lulu is their guru: There's a move to promote comic books produced by and for women". The Gazette (Montreal): E5.
  7. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (Mar 27, 2007). "Friends of Lulu nominations open". The Beat. Nominations for the Awards are made by and voted on by current members of Friends of Lulu.
  8. ^ "Lulu Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved Nov 8, 2023.
  9. ^ Cuda, Amanda (August 5, 2003). "Women's Wit: Holy comics, Batman, it's women cartoonists!". Connecticut Post.