By Jae Lin
We are always on the hunt for QPOC media at allgo. It’s important to us to find and revel in media that not only features queer people of color but are also created by queer people of color. This week, let’s look at some awesome QPOC webcomics!
Webcomics are comics or illustrated stories that are published on the internet. Some are meant to only ever be read online (or through an app), and some later get printed on paper in book form. Webcomics are unique in that they significantly lower the barrier to entry for artists who want to publish their own comics online, compared to traditional avenues of getting comics published and printed. They are also unique in that they are relatively easy to access and read by any audience member who has an internet connection.
As a result, webcomics have become a lively space for trans and queer artists of color to tell their stories and share their talents. So without any further ado, here are just seven webomics by/for/about queer people of color!
Stupidly Beautiful
By Mariel Elizabeth Abella
Read at https://tapas.io/series/Stupidly-Beautiful
Experimental comics on a polyamorous relationship
No love triangles required
Mariel Elizabeth Abella is an animation student at Capilano University and is self-described as “aggressively pansexual.”
Tinder
By Rhael McGregor
Read at https://tapas.io/episode/1079389
Tinder is an LGBTQ+ comic about a witch who falls for another witch in her program. There’s a catch though, our main character finds that she’s having trouble not exposing her crush because every time she sees her crush, her hair sets on fire and it only seems to be getting worse. What will she do?
Rhael is an artist and animation student who loves telling stories and drawing comics! He is Métis and identify as Two Spirit/Queer, using She/He/They pronouns!
Never Heroes
Written by Keezy Young
Read at: https://sparklermonthly.com/nh/never-heroes-prologue-page-001/
Three kids make an ill-advised (but well-intentioned) deal with a demon in the woods one day. Twenty years later, Levi, Rowan, and Alder meet again to find out their past has caught up to them. But a lot changes in twenty years, and they aren’t as innocent as they used to be.
Keezy Young is a queer, nonbinary comic artist and illustrator based out of Seattle.
Today, Keezy writes, draws, and designs her own young adult comics. Her stories are cute, eerie, and sometimes dark, but always hopeful at their core. Her work is character-focused, and she uses action, romance, and mystery to explore LGBTQIA characters and themes, since those are the stories she always looked for growing up, but could rarely find.
Goodnight
By Blythe Harper
Read it at: http://goodnight.nocturnenebula.com/comic/1
Goodnight is a fantasy webcomic about a little girl who’s afraid of monsters but her mom is one (literally)! But that’s not the real danger lurking around the corner…
It’s an all-ages comic, though it does contain some weird and scary elements.
Blythe is a Non-Binary (they/them) Filipino-American artist who likes to tell stories through comics. After graduating from The Evergreen State College in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts, they have been living and working in Washington as a full-time freelance artist and designer.
The Substitutes
By Myisha Haynes
Read on http://www.thesubstitutescomic.com/
What happens when three roommates accidentally acquire powerful magic weapons destined for someone else? What happens when the aforementioned “someone else’s” fall from grace and public favor in the aftermath? What happens when you’ve suddenly found yourself as the hero to someone else’s story…?
The Substitutes is Myisha Haynes’ first webcomic. She spends the rest of her time as a working games artist, obsessively surfing Pinterest, and decorating her house with superheroes. Her work also includes the short comic “Firelily” in Eisner and Ignatz winning Elements Anthology: Fire, along with Marvel’s Gwenpool.
Countdown to Countdown
By Xiao Kong
Read at https://ctccomic.com/comic/1/
Iris Black is a young man with the gift to bring pieces of artwork to life. 5 years into an apocalyptic outbreak, he’s holed up in a lab that shelters “problem” children. Between his failed experiments, deteriorating mental stability, and being ridiculed by other members of the lab, he doesn’t think life could get any worse. Life agrees to disagree.
Xiao Tong “Vel” Kong is an aspiring freelance illustrator and comic artist based in New York City. She graduated from Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and performing arts in 2018 and is currently attending the School of Visual Arts in the class of 2022. Her artistic strong suits are vibrant colors, smooth brushstrokes, and eye for strong compositions. She also excels in character design, background paintings, and comic making.
Star Trip
By Gisele Jobateh
Read on http://www.startripcomic.com/
Jas is fed up with living on Earth and makes a deal with a stranded shapeshifting alien to get off the planet and into the galaxy on an adventure. But she learns that space travel and adventuring is not like what’s in her favourite sci-fi stories.
Gisele is a Canadian cartoonist who loves sci-fi, the sun, and drawing. Star Trip is their first long form comic project.
What are your favorite QPOC webcomics or webcomic artists? Have reading any of these comics impacted you or stayed with you? Let us know on social media: Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
