From Li’l to Big

The Epilogue makes a case that the tradition of Funny Girls calls for a reconsideration of the history of American comics both during the mid-twentieth century and during the opening decades of the new millennium.Remembering and recouping characters like Little Lulu, Nancy, Li'l Tomboy, Little Orphan Annie, and Little Audrey restores the important place and powerful status that young female protagonists had in early American comics.At the same time, an awareness of this cadre of female characters changes our perspective on the growing presence of girls in comics in the present day.Events taking place in American comics from the early twenty-first century can be connected to those from the early twentieth century.Far from embodying a radical shift in US comics, the rise of fun, feisty, and formidable female protagonists represent the continuation of a tradition.Accordingly, the Epilogue reveals that while the names of many of the characters profiled in these chapters include the diminutive "li'l" or "little," their cultural legacy has been big.