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All posts in Comics are for Everybody

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Queers Who Pray: An Elisha Lim endeavour

May 21, 2013 • Nish Israni

I have had the pleasure of many run-ins with Elisha Lim at various community events, and have been totally blown away by their work. Thus, I feel compelled to promote their recent endeavour, a film called Queers Who Pray.

Elisha is a brilliant and multi-talented artist who has illustrated comics, books and anthologies, as well as exhibited portraits in international galleries and screened short films all over the world. They have also self-published beautiful and endearing pin-up calendars that celebrate the queer and trans communities that they are a part of. These calendars have revolved around butches, sissies and femmes and have been a testament to the wisdom that queer and trans bodies hold inside them.

Elisha is also passionate about making art that features people of colour, which I think is important. I feel that the stories of queer and trans people of colour are so often under-represented or misunderstood, and it’s heart-warming to see Elisha pay homage to these lives and bring them to our attention.

Their most recent endeavour is to make a film about queer folks who pray. There was a time when the words queer and religious would have been an oxymoron, and even though there have been some faiths that have opened their doors to queer and trans folks, this is still a very touchy issue. Elisha enlightens us about this paradox as a queer who loves to praise God and wants to give us a glimpse into the lives of other queers who believe in God or are religious or spiritual believers.

I think this is quite an undertaking, and much-needed for community healing and awareness, as well as to shed light on this particular aspect of queer/trans identity — but Elisha needs our help. As someone who gives so much to their community, I hope that folks can also come together and help Elisha raise funds to get this film off the ground. Elisha has a campaign on indiegogo that explains this project and where all the money will go. Please consider donating or sharing the link!
The Comfort of Queer Family Wisdom

November 20, 2012 • Elisha Lim

I think that last year was one of my most humbling years. I’d become used to a certain level of respect and dignity, and when I lost it, I was kind of floored. I left my home of Toronto. Toronto - where I had been part of the majority. I was an immigrants’ kid, I was university educated, I knew lots of activist jargon and where to shop for shoes.

But last year I moved to Quebec. I also fell in with a clique of nationalist French Canadians. That complicated cultural puritanism deserves its own article. But what I experienced is a universal problem: being unwelcome. I didn’t speak enough of the language. My opinions were routinely undermined. I was told that I didn’t belong. I was ignored and overlooked. This would be stressful for anyone, and it felt even more stressful when I was usually the only person of colour in the room.

It’s a kind of isolation that lots of people face, because of racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, so many reasons. But it was new to me. I started to think - it must be true - I must be parasitic and unworthy. My self-esteem sank.

In the past I had wondered if my activism had been too cheesy. But once I moved to Montreal I realized that no activism is cheesy. If someone is really isolated, it means so much to have someone fight for you, and to document your experience.

That’s what these books, and these people, did for me: Barbara Cameron and Mitsuye Yamada talked about racism in the 1979 book This Bridge Called My Back. Richard Fung remembers challenging the white art establishment in “13 Conversations”. Punam Khosla fought for queer Asian visibility during Desh Pardesh. Rae Spoon made trans love songs on youtube.

(Elisha Lim)

I absorbed these precious books and moments like sunshine. They gave me back my strength and dignity.

Now I’ve illustrated these people and their quotes. I hope that they find their way across queer homes everywhere so that no matter where you are, you will find them, and know that you are not alone.

Buy it for yourself or for a friend from my etsy store. Spread the word. These are members of our queer family legacy, and a promise that you belong to something bigger.

(Elisha Lim)

WIth love, Elisha.
Misogyny in Geek Culture

October 15, 2012 • Guest Blogger

Seventh grade was the year I realized that I definitely Wasn’t Cool. Until that point, my relative coolness had been up for debate – sure, I was a brainiac know-it-all who spent most of her spare time with her nose stuck in a book, but I’d always done well socially and had a fairly sizeable group of friends.

Something happened, though, during that summer before seventh grade. Some kind of paradigm shift went down among the other girls in my class, and for whatever reason I totally didn’t get the memo. This memo outlined the fact that we would now wear tight jeans, listen to popular music, and, above all, we would Like Boys (because, hey, everyone is straight, right?). Meanwhile, I was still wearing pink sweatsuits printed with kittens, listening to my dad’s old alt-country LPs, and reading Babysitters Club books.

Oh, and I suddenly had bad skin. Like, really, really bad skin.

Seventh grade was like culture shock; more than anything, I felt as if I’d woken up in a new country, one where I didn’t understand the language or local customs, and had zero hope of ever leaving. I was stuck in teenager-land forever (or at least for the next eight years) and would just have to learn to adapt.
The skin problems I had no control over, a new wardrobe was out of the question, popular music I was working on, but liking boys – now that was something I could do. And how.

Boys in my class were out of the question, so it would have to be someone famous. I somehow knew that I wasn’t cool enough to like one of those Tiger Beat boys the rest of the girls in my class swooned over; it would have to be someone more nerdier, more obscure.

One weekend my friend and her dad introduced me to Star Trek. Here was a world I could get behind: acne was a thing of the past, no one seemed to have any racial or socio-economic factors affecting their relationships, and you could order whatever food you wanted from a magic box on the wall and then have it immediately appear right in front of you. Oh, and there was a cute teenage boy.

I was hooked.

That Monday I went to school and proudly wrote a note to another girl in my class.

I have a crush on someone, it said.

Her reply was quickly handed back to me: Who?

Wil Wheaton, I wrote, drawing little hearts around his name.

Total dreamboat.

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- Comics are for Everybody
E=MComics

May 11, 2009 • Tiina Johns

I love Science.

Well, I love the sort of pop culturey science that can be understood by someone who’s last experience in a laboratory was grade ten biology.

Lately I’ve been obsessively listening to every episode of Radio Lab, a science-oriented, This American Life-esque podcast that covers a topics like sleep, zoos, pop music and deception.

Lucky for me, there are also a bunch of great science comics. A writer named Jim Ottaviani has created a really cool niche for himself, and scripted several history of science comic books.

One of my favourites is Dignifying Science, a collection of stories about women scientists and their discoveries.

Ottaviani talks about science from a real social history angle, so we get a glimpse into the lives of these pioneering women, and see a bit of the circumstances that led to their phenomenal discoveries. The other cool thing about this book is that a different female cartoonist draws each story, so there’s a different artistic style to accompany the vastly different stories of these chemist, mathematicians, biologist, etc.
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Out of Birch Control

May 5, 2009 • Tiina Johns

An old lady with an invisible house. A crust punk who discovers a water nymph. A traveling musician who has to build a magical artifact before he can marry a woman he’s never met. These brilliantly strange and beautiful stories all appear in the new issue of Laura Kenins’s immensely engaging Birch Control #2.

Whether Kenins’s comics are based on a Finnish epic, or they involve teenagers walking around, being snotty, Ghost World-style, they all feel like folk tales. They slip in and out of unreality with ease, and even the most fantastic moments are familiar and honest.
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- Comics are for Everybody
Free Comic Book Day! May 2nd! Hooray!

April 28, 2009 • Tiina Johns

It’s here! The best holiday of the spring! Easter? Nah! Passover? Fuggedaboudit! It’s Free Comic Book Day! Okay, maybe it’s not an official holiday, but it should be!

Every year, on the first Saturday in May, retailers around the world give away free comic books.

Free Comic Book Day is a great way for new readers to gingerly step into the world of comics, or for comic fans to try something new, with no pressure.

In Halifax, it’s an awesome community event hosted by the shop I work at, Strange Adventures. We have artists doing sketches, Superheros hanging around signing autographs, magic shows and thousands of comics to give away. It’s all FREE FREE FREE.

I interviewed my boss, Calum Johnston, owner of Strange Adventures, about why he thinks Free Comic Book Day is important.

To find a participating retailer in your area, check out the Free Comic Book Day store locater.

So bring along everyone your know, and get yourself something for free, because that ain’t happening anywhere else in THIS ECONOMY. Wackity smackity dooo.
- Comics are for Everybody
Cooked to Perfection

April 20, 2009 • Tiina Johns

When I opened the new issue of DMZ this week, I was floored by the amazing art by fill-in creator, Nikki Cook.

DMZ is a series set in the near future where a brutal civil war is being waged in the United States. The comic is a critical and complex read, made irresistible by great characters. This issue focuses on Zee, a radical-medic, who is committed and unflappable in an absolutely chaotic environment.
(Nikki Cook)

Cook does an amazing job portraying these characters, and giving us insight into their thoughts and feelings through their expressive faces. This issue is rad, thanks in large part to Cook.
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- Comics are for Everybody
Growing Pains

April 13, 2009 • Tiina Johns

The Color of Earth is the first in a trilogy of manhwa (Korean comics), by renowned creator, Kim Dong Hwa. The books are well known in Korea, but just being released in North America.

It’s a coming of age story that follows Ehwa, a cool little girl who lives with her mom in quiet, pastoral Korea. We watch Ewha from the ages of 5 to 15, as she matures physically and emotionally. She develops crushes on two boys—a young monk and wealthy student—and she gets particularly emo about the monk.

Ehwa’s mom, a widow who runs the town tavern, has a parallel storyline. She is constantly irritated by sexually inappropriate comments from her male patrons and she suffers through the rumours circulated by the townspeople about her single lady lifestyle. She does meet a hot travelling salesman who fulfills her needs, but he doesn’t want to put a ring on it.

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- Comics are for Everybody
(Some) Comic Shops Are For Everybody

April 5, 2009 • Tiina Johns

Hooray, I’m finally home after a long tour! One of my favourite things about traveling to lots of different cities is checking out their comic shops, and getting a brief glimpse into another comics community.

As a comic shop employee, seeing the way other shops do it makes me think about what separates welcoming, lady-friendly shops from the creepy, alienating ones. In my experience, it’s mostly the staff. A diverse crew of friendly-as-heck and knowledgeable-but-not-pretentious folks really set the tone for a cool comic shop.

Wired recently posted an article called Secret Lives of Comic Store Employees, showing the folks who sling funny books at their works and in their usually comics-laden homes. I was happy to read that most of them take the stance that I do: comics are for everybody.

When asked about the biggest misconception about comics and their fans, they said things like:

“There are people who say they don’t like comics, and they’re wrong. This is more like saying “I don’t like music” than “I don’t like rock music.” Sequential art is infinitely diverse, and this goes for the fans, too, because for every different type of person there is some form of sequential art that will appeal to them, whether they’ve been exposed to it or not. You can call it the funnies or you can call it a graphic novel, but you like comics. You do.”

You can really get a feel for the kinds of shops these people work in from their answers. The photos are great too. Check it!
- Comics are for Everybody
Good-bye, Comic Foundry! Sniff! Sniff!

February 24, 2009 • Tiina Johns

Like most Shamelesss readers, I get really excited about a quality magazine. I have been devouring every issue of the stellar comics culture magazine, Comic Foundry. My heart broke when I saw that newest issue is the second-to-last issue.

Comic Foundry is all about balance—it does a great job of covering indie comics, mainstream stuff and web comics. A diverse range of creators are featured, from Marvel and DC heavy hitters, to hot new indie kids. It’s funny, it’s informative, and they clearly know a lot about comics. Mostly importantly, Comic Foundry recognises that—GASP—girls like comics too!

To fully understand why Comic Foundry is such an breath of fresh air in comics culture, you have to be familiar with Wizard Magazine. Yup, the same Wizard that’s being told to “suck it” on that cover. Wizard is THE comics magazine. It’s been around for 18 years, has a huge readership, and is available in most magazine shops, not just comics stores. It’s also really, really awful.
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