With the help of an art team, senior Melissa Seymour wrote two comic books about Gloria Steinem and Melinda Gates for “Female Force,” a series published by BlueWater Productions in Washington.

Steinem is a leader in the women’s liberation movement, and Melinda Gates is passionate about providing contraceptives to women in poor countries.

Seymour heard about the company while interviewing for a research paper.

“(The editor) was like, ‘We have a job opening-are you interested?’ He asked for a writing sample … and then he loved that, so he was like, ‘Let’s publish it! Do you want to join the team?’” Seymour said.

Young-Ok An, Luann Dummer Center for Women director and English professor, said that comics are one of the hardest genres to write.

“A cartoonist requires the most intellects and smarts … of all genres because one has to distill huge knowledge into just several lines,” An said.

Senior Bailey Fischer thinks Seymour’s comics will be well-received.

“Sometimes feminism can be viewed as too in your face, but I think these are just really inspiring and informational,” Fischer said.

Seymour hopes her comic books will inspire young girls to look up to influential women.

“When girls aren’t seeing women in the media or in literature, they don’t have anyone to look up to. When they see women that remind them of themselves they’re like, ‘Hey, I can be just like her when I’m older,’” Seymour said.

Alison Bengtson can be reached at beng4632@stthomas.edu.