Alison Bechdel’s comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (DTWOF) is a staple of lesbian history and culture. Now it’s adapting to 2023 audiences, with an Audible audio series that will be voiced by some of the most iconic sapphics of our time.
DTWOF began as a weekly comic strip, running from 1983 to 2008. It chronicled the lives of a diverse group of friends, mostly lesbians, and included poignant political commentary along with the expected lesbian drama.
It was syndicated to gay and lesbian newspapers, was carried in Funny Times and Woman News, and eventually was posted on the internet. Essential Dykes to Watch Out For is the most recent, of eleven comic strip collections, to be published. “Almost all the episodes of Dykes to Watch Out For trapped between two covers!” the website reads.
Podcasts and audio books are all the rage in 2023, meaning the Dykes to Watch Out For audio series, adapted by playwright Madeleine George, will attract a whole new audience of lesbians more interested in listening to stories than reading them.
Flocks of sapphics will be tuning into the voices of some iconic women, too. “Carrie Brownstein plays the verbose polemicist Mo, and Roberta Colindrez voices Lois, a full-time flirt,” according to the NY Times. “They’re joined by others, including Roxane Gay, as Jezanna, and Jane Lynch, who narrates the series.”
At first, Bechdel was skeptical about the audio translation. But once the actors began recording, she was ecstatic. “To hear Carrie Brownstein really nail the most lengthy, polysyllabic rants was very satisfying,” Bechdel says. “And Roberta Colindrez as Lois is just a dream. I feel almost like I was channelling her from the future, when I wrote that character 40 years ago.”
Bechdel is really grateful DTWOF appeals to young lesbians, but it’s bittersweet that they relate to lesbian issues of the ‘80s. “In some ways,” she says, “it’s sort of sad that with all the progress we’ve had, some things are still the same.”
