Most frequenters to this space are familiar with Alison Bechdel's epic, Dykes To Watch Out For, but there may be some who are unfamiliar with its less patient contemporary, Hothead Paisan, Diane DiMassa's cartoon channeling of lesbian anger into "homicidally terroristic" fantasies of revenge that manage the hat trick of venting that anger by transmuting it into laughter, with a dark sense of humor that happens to also be very, very funny.  Running through the 1990s, Hothead Paisan originally appeared in the form of a comics zine (from Giant Ass Publishing, a [very] small [friend-of-the-creator] press) of the type that would be familiar to anyone who shopped at Copacetic, but a bit ahead of the curve.  These comics were then collected, also during the 1990s, in two trade collections by Cleis Press (who had a PO Box in Wilkinsburg at the same time as BEM; wonder if we ever crossed paths...?), both of which have been out of print for, what, twenty years?

But now, she's back! – arriving like the cavalry, right when she's needed most – in this very nicely put together, sure-to-be-definitive edition fron NYRC, which includes an introduction by Sarah Schulman and an interview with DiMassa by Jay Graham, along with wonderful-to-see scans of the original Giant Ass comicszine covers and other rarities; 456 pages! 

Here's a brief Hype Up from NYRC:

Hothead Paisan is an icon of the ’90s lesbian DIY scene, a patron saint of those who wonder if going off the deep end is the only sane response to life in modern America.

Diane DiMassa’s Hothead starts out in a murderous frenzy—taking out a variety of chauvinists and creeps—but soon deepens into a reflection on oppression, self-destruction, and living it up outside the conservative norms of the ’90s. Hothead’s rage is stoked by her inner demon, Personality #2, but sometimes tempered with the help of Roz, her friend who offers Zen wisdom and tough love, and Chicken, her cat and constant companion.