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A cartoonist is documenting his transition with original comicshttps://www.businessinsider.in/a-cartoonist-is-documenting-his-transition-with-original-comics/nations-interest-in-comics-was-piqued-by-the-movie-ghost-world-which-is-based-on-the-graphic-novel-turned-comic-book-series-by-daniel-clowes-about-two-cynical-high-school-graduates-set-in-the-early-1990s-/slidelist/53727145.cms2021-07-26T12:46:55+05:30

A cartoonist is documenting his transition with original comics

Jul 26, 2021, 12:46 IST

Nations’ interest in comics was piqued by the movie "Ghost World," which is based on the graphic novel turned comic book series by Daniel Clowes about two cynical high school graduates set in the early 1990s.

“I never knew that comics could be like that because I was under the impression that it was pretty much all superheroes,” he told INSIDER. “I got really into Daniel Clowes, and a lot of more alternative comic book artists, and that's what got me into wanting to create comics myself.”

Nations took a class about comics in college, but got into creating them through a continuing education class at Pacific Northwest College of Art.

He started a comic about growing up as a triplet, but revisiting his childhood brought long-held questions of gender to the forefront.

“It took me back to this place where I was repressing so much and coming to terms with my gender, and that's when I started to make the comics about it,” he said.

He began focusing on comics about being trans.

“It was nice because I would put it onto Tumblr, so I felt like I wasn't keeping it to myself... but it wasn't people I knew, because I didn't feel ready to come out and tell friends and family,” he said. “Getting the reaction on Tumblr from people who could relate just felt good.”

A year and a half ago, he started taking testosterone, using comics the way some might use a journal to document his transition.

He recently posted an animated compilation of self-portraits at different stages of the process.

“Other people share their videos online of transition, like a time lapse, and I wanted to do that, and since I draw and make comics it felt natural to draw that,” he said.

He’s also designed a "Transgender Trailblazers” t-shirt featuring trans activists and advocates like Kate Bornstein, Sylvia Rivera, Reed Erickson, and Alexander John Goodrum, among others. Half of each sale is donated to the TransWomen of Color Collective.

“I wanted to pay homage to the historical figures in the trans community who have made a dent in history.”

Nations hopes that his work will help educate those who are not trans and support those who are.

“For people who aren't trans, or it's a world they're not familiar with, I'm hoping that they can maybe gain better understanding,” he said.

“However, I think most of the people who are reading these and connecting to them are other trans people, and I think for them it's more that they're happy to see a positive representation of something. One that's not fake — something that they can actually relate to, that they're able to see themselves inside the work.”

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