In the mid-1980s lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel began to create the family of lesbians who comprise her popular comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For. By the mid-1990s, the strip—the first continuing lesbian cartoon—had been syndicated in over 50 lesbian, gay, and alternative periodicals and had been published in more than seven collections. Dykes to Watch Out For had become an institution.

The strip is a little like a soap opera, with a developing storyline, and a lot like a peek behind the scenes of any lesbian community. The cast of characters is a group of lesbian friends in a nameless mid-size city in the United States. Just as in any real group of friends, pairings change and priorities evolve, influenced by events both internal and external. Much of the action takes place at Madwimmin Books, a...