Angela Jem & the Holograms and 5 More Comics to Celebrate Trans Day of Visibility
Angela, Jem & the Holograms and 5 More Comics to Celebrate Trans Day of Visibility
Contents
Transgender characters and creators are enriching the pages of comic books like never before, giving readers many more stories to enjoy.
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The world of comics has always been a place for people to come together and bond through a shared love of the medium. In what was once considered an almost-exclusively male field, the world of comic books has blossomed to feature stories from an increasingly wide field of creators about a diverse array of characters, including stories by trans creators or about trans characters.
To celebrate the International Transgender Day of Visibility, we’re taking a look at seven comics that feature trans stories or characters or are the work of trans creators. From major superhero comics like DC’s Batgirl or Marvel’s Angela to indie comics fan-favorites like Lumberjanes, these comics offer a glimpse of the kinds of trans stories that are already in comics, and the many more that have yet to be told.
Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship
The Lumberjanes comic book series is filled with whimsical fun for all ages and the graphic novel side story, Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship, is no different. Published in 2019, the story followed the group of friends on an adventure into the woods near their summer camp, Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types.
The Lumberjanes are a diverse group of characters, featuring Jo, a transgender girl, and Barney who is non-binary. In Lilah Sturges and Polterink’s graphic novel, the group encounters a group of shape-shifting creatures called Pookas. The little Pookas shift to look like the Lumberjanes and leave the friends locked in a cave. They must figure out a way to free themselves and tackle shifting friendship dynamics. In the end, they all discover that it is better to live your truth and be who you are — no matter what form it takes.
Help Us! Great Warrior
Written and illustrated by Madeleine Flores. Help Us! Great Warrior began life as a webcomic before getting picked up and published by BOOM! Studios in 2015. The fast-paced writing keeps the current story going while filling in the fantastical world background seamlessly. Great Warrior, the name of the main character, is a fearsome fighter with a lot of power and a great sense of humor. One of her closest friends and allies is Leo, another great warrior who happens to be trans. Together, Great Warrior and Leo work together to slay demons and keep the villages safe for the helpless creatures who cannot save themselves.
Jem and the Holograms
Jem and The Holograms was originally a cartoon show in the 1980s. but it found a new audience as a comic book series published in 2015 by IDW. The creative team of Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell redesigned the characters and added new ones to make the comic book more inclusive than the show ever was. One of the new characters was a transgender girl names Blaze.
In Jem #12, Blaze got the gig of her dreams, singing lead for the all-girl group The Misfits. Blaze decided to tell her new bandmates that she is transgender, thinking that if they found out later she could be kicked out of the group. The band was unfazed, they were much more concerned with her punctuality than anything else. The girls were able to move on to more pressing things, like practicing together.
Batgirl
In 2011, DC relaunched the Batgirl series as part of the New 52 relaunch, and one of the first few story arcs had Barbara Gordon looking for a new place to live. After answering an ad on “Greg’s List,” she found a home with Alysia Yeoh, a bisexual woman of Singaporean descent. Alysia is fun and sweet, giving Barbara not only a new roommate but a new friend. After Alysia found Barbara standing over unconscious intruders sent by the Joker, Alysia was scared of Barbara and kicked her out.
In 2013’s Batgirl #19, by Gail Simone and Daniel Sampere, the two have a long talk where Barbara confessed her secret identity to Alysia. During the conversation, Alysia revealed that she was transgender. making her the first trans character in a mainstream superhero title. Although she has had her ups and downs in the series, she ultimately reached a happy ending when she was able to marry her true love.
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin tells the story of Angela, the Spawn character turned Thor’s long-lost half-sister. Angela was kidnapped by angels as a baby and raised to be an ultimate warrior and hate all things Asgardian. Though she soon realized that both Heaven and Asgard were rampant with imperfections and hypocrisy, Angela had no issue with taking on Thor and his friends head to head.
In 2015’s Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #3, by Kieron Gillen, Marguerite Bennett, Phil Jiminez and Stephanie Hans, revealed that Angela’s partner Sera was transgender, making her the first trans character in the Marvel Universe. Sera was born to a small group of male angels but never felt right. She was a skillful practitioner of magic, something the males were not able to do. After seeing Angela fighting off a monster, Sera couldn’t hold in her mystical powers any longer and helped Angela defeat it. Together, Angela and Sera found a way to help Sera become her true self. The two fell in love and married as they kicked butt across the Nine Realms.
Quarter Killer
Jamie Jones, Vita Ayala and Danny Lore’s Quarter Killer debuted in 2019 on Comixology. With experiences on fan-favorite books like Xena: Warrior Princess and The Wilds, the creative team delivers another interesting, well-written story with Quarter Killer. The illustrations are a mix of comic style and graffiti art, giving the book a unique feel.
The story opens with a little girl named Aya seeking out Quarter Killer to help find her father who has been kidnapped. In a futuristic world, metallic money is no longer used and coins are hard to come by. Quarter Killer, a non-binary person of color, is a fighter for hire who only gets paid in quarters so they can “play video games and call my mama.”
Gender Queer: A Memoir
Unlike the other books on this list, Gender Queer: A Memoir is a work of unflinching autobiographical non-fiction., written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe. Maia, who is non-binary and uses e/em/eir pronouns, goes from childhood to adulthood through the graphic novel’s pages. Maia is a Lord of the Rings geek, active gay fanfiction shipper and completely confused about eir’s place on the gender spectrum.
Readers are enveloped into Maia’s world and the feelings e has navigated through eir’s life. Things that seem simple for much of society, such as clothing choices or haircuts, present bigger issues for Maia as e tried to find eir’s true self, right up to the completion of the graphic novel. Through the support of family and friends, Maia admitted to being a work in progress but is much happier than e has ever been before and ready to share eir’s experience to help others on their journeys.
Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/angela-jem-holograms-comics-trans-day-of-visibility/
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