When Angoulême, one of the world’s biggest comic-book festivals, failed to include a single woman on its 30-strong Grand Prix shortlist earlier this month, it prompted fury and threats of a boycott from several prominent artists and campaigners. Female artists have been present since the very inception of comic art, helping to shape and define an industry that has seen tremendous growth in recent years – so why is their contribution so often overlooked?

Many people simply choose to believe the persistent, but inaccurate, myth that there are very few female creators in the industry, says Olivia Ahmad, the co-curator of a new exhibition, Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics, which seeks to prove otherwise. Working with journalist and comics enthusiast Paul Gravett, Ahmad has selected a diverse array of work – spanning as far back as the 18th century – for the House of Illustration show in central London.Comix Creatrix is the UK’s biggest ever exhibition of comic artwork produced by women, much of it going on display for the first time. Although the show focuses on artists working today, it will also feature pioneers of the medium, including Mary Darly, who was among the first professional caricaturists in England. Darly’s 1775 portrait, Corporal Perpendicular, is the earliest work in the exhibition and will be exhibited alongside art by Audrey Niffenegger, Posy Simmonds, Sarah Lightman and Kate Brown.

If such an extensive, wide-ranging celebration of female creators doesn’t debunk outdated myths, it’s hard to fathom what will. At Angoulême, organisers eventually added some female nominees, but not before attempting to defend their snub by claiming there simply haven’t been enough women present throughout comic-book history to deserve the prize. The argument is given short shrift by Ahmad. “It shows an astounding lack of appreciation for the important and influential work of women creators, past and present, and also of the way history is constructed – often to the disadvantage of women,” she says. “It was inspiring to see a widespread and effective protest.”.

Comedy, fantasy and biography are all well represented at Comix Creatrix, but no subject is taboo. Art of protest or with hard hitting social themes will also feature prominently. A perfect example is the work of Una, whose personal account of gender violence is boldly depicted in her graphic novel Becoming/Unbecoming. Set against the backdrop of the 1970s Yorkshire ripper manhunt, the book deals with “the kind of experiences that millions of people, mainly women, are struggling with every day but keeping to themselves,” says Una. She says she wanted to transcend both the misery narrative and the therapy tale, placing “sexualised violence, slut shaming and misogyny” into a social and cultural context. “It’s extremely difficult to talk about them, so reading about them can be helpful.”

The comic form is used more and more to deal with such painful subject matter, says Nicola Streeten, a fellow Comix Creatrix exhibitor and the co-founder of Laydeez do Comics, a female-led forum that showcases comic artwork at monthly events in cities across the world. The work with the forum and her own exploration of bereavement, Billy, Me & You: A Memoir of Grief, persuaded Streeten graphic novels could be used to tell a different kind of story. Her book, which dealt with the aftermath of her two-year-old son’s death following heart surgery, “inspired a number of artists to start drawing their own personal and sometimes difficult stories,” she says, citing Graphic Medicine, which uses comics to tell the story of physical and mental illness, as a good example.

The showcasing of works by women in all their colour and diversity will send a bold message to the naysayers, Ahmad believes, citing pieces from the early alternative comics movement, such as Lynda Barry’s Girls and Boys comic strips from 1980, as well as British artist Nicola Lane, whose strip Beryl in Peril imagined the lives of the grown-up characters from the Beano.

Other highlights include Catherine Anyango’s artwork from Heart of Darkness, a graphic novel adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s book, as well as a selection of work from Miriam Katin’s We Are On Our Own, a moving account of her escape from the Nazi invasion of Budapest. “Women have been present throughout the evolution of the comics medium and have produced some of its most defining and provocative works in many genres,” says Ahmad.

The appetite for graphic novels and comics continues to grow, with worldwide sales increasing 4.39% in 2014 and US sales alone by 7.17% last year. The news that more women and girls are immersing themselves in the world of comics is encouraging, as is the increasing focus on well-written female superheroes – on television screens, as well as in bookshops. Jessica Jones has proved a huge hit for Netflix, while Supergirl occupies a primetime US slot and its lead character will soon be the subject of a new digital comic.

Ahmad expects the inevitable question: “Why we aren’t doing an event about 100 men?” But she says it fails to acknowledge “the way women comics artists have been obscured, intentionally or unintentionally, from the history of comics”. As events in Angoulême show, there is still much more work to be done to change attitudes. Can events like Comix Creatrix help the industry turn the page?

• Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics is at the House of Illustration, London, from 5 February to 15 May