You know when you come across a super rad zine artist and you're really into their work, then you casually waltz into a comic shop, and you find one or two of their zines from years and years ago, but you get pretty bummed that the zine and comic shops in your area don't have a sufficient selection, so you scour the Internet but can only find so many other things, then you realize you've wasted hours looking for who has the lowest shipping costs? You then proceed to read every interview with them, you learn all you can about their life, then you step back for a minute, and it hits you—maybe you're a little obsessed with the artist and you feel weird about it, but you end up e-mailing them professing your undying love for them and their work anyway? Please tell me this isn't something only I go through.
Regardless, starting right here, right now, I will be taking you on a journey, showing you why I love three incredible queer zine artists, and why you should love them too.
This month, the Ladydrawers team, led by Anne Elizabeth Moore, is presenting some new data on who's getting published in the comics industry and who isn't. Even though, according to their recent research, the comics creator pool is just 54% male and the submission rates by male and female creators are roughly equal, publishers are more likely to accept work by men—and to commission work from male creators. And non-binary creators? Yeah, they're published even less often.
It makes sense that a centuries-old tradition would need an update. When Annie Murphy and her friends found that they couldn't identify traditional tarot decks, the five friends formed a collective to reimagine the deck while honoring the tradition of tarot. What came out was a more inclusive 78-card deck with illustrations from almost two dozen artists.
Bitch contributor and super-smart cartoonist Jen Sorensen has an "Open Letter to the Supreme Court About Health Insurance" up at Kaiser Health News that is totally worth a read/look. I know what you're thinking (that a mere conversation about insurance can be depressing, let alone an illustrated comic), but Jen's piece not only breaks down the Affordable Care Act in a way that's easy to understand, it's also really charming and funny! (And especially relevant for freelancers, whose health care costs are ridiculously high.)
At 25, Christi Furnas was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This queer-identified woman has used her disability as inspiration for making beautiful art and connecting with other mentally ill artists. Based in Minneapolis, MN, Furnas has been involved with Spectrum Artworks, an organization that serves as a community and studio space for artists with mental illness.
I emailed Christi recently to ask her about the truth behind the "madness = creativity" myth, her muse, and her views on being a mental illness/LGBTQ/feminist activist.
Last week, we lost one of North America's most estimable, if underrecognized creators—artist and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett. Catlett was alive for nearly all of the 20th century, witnessing America progress (and regress), her art reflecting history, legacy, and reality of her world, guided by principals of social justice and accessibility.
Tired of that worn-out trope that women are impossible to work with or aren't creative when they are "on the rag"? Well these five artists/projects are defying this belief, using menstruation as fuel for empowerment and art.
If you are looking for a new queer photo zine to brighten up your day, look no further than #1 Must Have. Just on its second issue, this new Seattle-based zine captures queer folks through "visibility, celebrating diverse queer people, and re-framing the queer experiences outside of the victim paradigm often seen in popular culture." While many aspects of mainstream queer culture focus on the vicitimization and oppression of queer folks, (don't get me wrong this is much needed!), this zine's aim is to depict queer life from a different perspective to show that, unlike what some heterosexist folks might believe, some people really enjoy their lives as queer! And, shockingly, are happy with their identities!
Translady Fanzine is a fine art photographic periodical, that in its first issue, features high-gloss portraits of video and performance artist Zackary Drucker. Amos Mac, editor and founder of the trans male quarterly Original Plumbing, is both photographer and publisher. Photographs are taken from the collaborative series "Distance is Where the Heart Is/Home is Where You Hang Your Heart" documenting a visual memoir of Drucker's early life in locations shot in and around her family's home in Upstate New York. Drucker writes in TF: "How can we have fans if we don't exist? How do we know we exist without visual affirmation?"
You know when you come across a super rad zine artist and you're really into their work, then you casually waltz into a comic shop, and you find one or two of their zines from years and years ago, but you get pretty bummed that the zine and comic shops in your area don't have a sufficient selection, so you scour the Internet but can only find so many other things, then you realize you've wasted hours looking for who has the lowest shipping costs? You then proceed to read every interview with them, you learn all you can about their life, then you step back for a minute, and it hits you—maybe you're a little obsessed with the artist and you feel weird about it, but you end up e-mailing them professing your undying love for them and their work anyway? Please tell me this isn't something only I go through.
This month, the Ladydrawers team, led by Anne Elizabeth Moore, is presenting some new data on who's getting published in the comics industry and who isn't. Even though, according to their recent research, the comics creator pool is just 54% male and the submission rates by male and female creators are roughly equal, publishers are more likely to accept work by men—and to commission work from male creators. And non-binary creators? Yeah, they're published even less often.
It makes sense that a centuries-old tradition would need an update. When Annie Murphy and her friends found that they couldn't identify traditional tarot decks, the five friends formed a collective to reimagine the deck while honoring the tradition of tarot. What came out was a more inclusive 78-card deck with illustrations from almost two dozen artists.
Last week, we lost one of North America's most estimable, if underrecognized creators—artist and sculptor 
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