Lesbian cartoonist and the creator of
Hothead Paisan. Born in
New Haven, she originally began drawing the famous
homicidal lesbian terrorist to "blow off steam" and was quite surprised at the character's success. DiMassa actually attributes that success to Hothead's
crossover appeal - the view is "definitely through a pair of
lezzie glasses, but that's not the central point." Through her
comics, DiMassa has tackled issues including
racism,
abortion, the
media, and many types of
discrimination. She lists
MAD Magazine,
R. Crumb, and
Salvador Dali as her influences and admits to being a fan of
Annie Leibovitz, painter
Alice Neel,
Janis Joplin, and
Patti Smith. DiMassa also notes that she has never been to the
Michigan Womyn's Festival.
Sources
http://www.technodyke.com/features/dimassa.asp
Dyke Strippers: Lesbian Cartoonists A to Z, edited by Roz Warren