Editing Dykes to Watch Out For (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Alison Bechdel at Politics and Prose.jpg|thumb|Alison Bechdel, author of ''Dykes to Watch Out For'']]
''DTWOF'' chronicled the lives, loves, and politics of a fairly diverse group of characters (most of them [[lesbian]]s) living in a medium-sized city in the United States, featuring both humorous [[soap opera]] storylines and biting topical commentary.  The strip was carried in ''[[Funny Times (newspaper)|Funny Times]]'' and [[Comic strip syndication|syndicated to]] a number of [[List of LGBT periodicals|gay and lesbian newspapers]], and also posted on the web.<ref>Bechdel discusses the changeover from self-syndication to the web [http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/support-this-site/ on the official site.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621043350/http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/support-this-site/ |date=2007-06-21 }}</ref> The first illustrated book edition was published by Firebrand Books in 1986.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dykestowatchoutf00bech|title=Dykes to Watch Out for|date=1986-10-01|publisher=Firebrand Books|isbn=9780932379177|edition=Illustrated|location=Ithaca, N.Y|language=en|url-access=registration}}</ref>

According to Bechdel, her strip was "half [[op-ed]] column and half endless, [[Serial_(literature)|serialized]] [[Victorian novel]]". Characters reacted to contemporary events, including going to the [[Michigan Womyn's Festival]], [[Gay Pride]] parades and [[protest march]]es, and having heated discussions about day-to-day events, political issues and the way [[LGBT_culture#Lesbian_culture|lesbian culture]] was changing. The strip was one of the most successful and longest-running [[queer]] comic strips.

On May 10, 2008, Bechdel announced that she was putting the strip on indefinite hiatus in order to complete her [[graphic novel]] memoir ''Love Life'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/winds-of-change |title=Blog Archive » winds of change |publisher=dykestowatchoutfor.com |date=2008-05-10 |access-date=2010-06-14}}</ref> which was eventually published in 2012 as ''[[Are You My Mother? (memoir)|Are You My Mother?]]''.

On November 23, 2016, Bechdel broke the strip's hiatus with an episode called “Pièce de Résistance”.<ref name="Polston">{{cite web|last1=Polston|first1=Pamela|title=Dykes to Watch Out For: Pièce de Résistance|url=http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/dykes-to-watch-out-for-piece-de-resistance/Content?oid=3841356|website=Seven Days|access-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> The same characters are shown addressing the eight-year gap and responding to the [[2016 United States presidential election|election of Donald Trump]]. “Pièce de Résistance” was published in ''[[Seven Days (newspaper)|Seven Days]]'' and on Bechdel's website.<ref name="Bechdel">{{cite web|last1=Bechdel|first1=Alison|title=Same as it ever was, only much worse|url=http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/same-as-it-ever-was-only-much-worse|website=Dykes to Watch Out For|access-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> The amount of traffic caused the website to crash.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bechdel|first1=Alison|title=Pièce de Résistance|url=https://www.facebook.com/alison.bechdel/posts/1152093518206545 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/368829293199642/1152093518206545 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|website=Facebook}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Bechdel also drew the cover for the November 23–30, 2016 issue of ''Seven Days'', featuring the ''Dykes to Watch Out For'' characters having Thanksgiving dinner.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bechdel|first1=Alison|title=Happy Thanksgiving|url=http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/happy-thanksgiving|website=Dykes to Watch Out For|access-date=14 April 2017}}</ref> In the strip, the characters reflect on [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump’s presidency]] and write postcards to the White House for the Ides of the Trump campaign.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Ides of Trump|url=https://www.theidesoftrump.com/|website=The Ides of Trump}}</ref> The ''Seven Days'' post states that Bechdel “now draws single strips when inspiration strikes.”.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bechdel|first1=Alison|title=New 'Dykes to Watch Out For' Tackles the Ides of Trump|url=http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/new-dykes-to-watch-out-for-tackles-the-ides-of-trump/Content?oid=4598939|website=Seven Days|access-date=15 April 2017}}</ref> In 2023, forty years after the strip's debut, ''DTWOF'' was adapted as a streaming podcast series on [[Audible_(service)|Audible]] by playwright [[Madeleine George]] and featured the voices of [[Carrie Brownstein]], [[Roberta Colindrez]], [[Roxane Gay]], [[Jenn Colella]] and [[Jane Lynch]], with Bechdel's approval.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lange|first1=Maggie|title='Dykes to Watch Out For,' Now Holding Forth in Your Headphones|work=The New York Times |date=June 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/style/dykes-to-watch-out-for-audible.html|access-date=June 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Cooper|first1=Alex|title=Alison Bechdel's Legendary Comic Dykes to Watch Out For Comes to Audible With All-Star Cast|url=https://www.advocate.com/books/dykes-to-watch-out-for|website= The Advocate|access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>