“Women in comic strips are usually portrayed either as shrews or movie stars. But in real life, women, like men, are neither of these extremes, so I portray women and men alike, except that the women have two little round things on their chest”       Claire Bretecher

It’s hard to find her stuff in English, but in France Bretecher is viewed as a female Woody Allen. In 70s she drew witty, perceptive strip cartoons about women and men. Then she moved to drawing witty, perceptive cartoons about couples and children. Now she draws witty, perceptive cartoons about an adolescent called Agrippina (you can buy this one as a poster via her site)

Bretecher conveys subtle nuances of emotion through a slight pressure of her pen over the eyebrow, or a well-observed hand movement… great skill.

I recommend Where’s My Baby Now?, her 1987 graphic novel about cloning and cattle and ticking biological clocks. Humane and hilarious. Cover and title page shown here.

Note the handscrawled speech balloons too, a nice touch