November 13th to 19th is Trans Awareness Week, a week where organizations around the world participate to increase the understanding of issues faced by transgender and nonbinary people. We kind of do that every week what with being a trans-owned small business that stocks many comics and graphic novels by and about trans and nonbinary folks, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight some of the best comics in our collection.
So here are five of our favorite all-ages comics that both feature trans or nonbinary characters and made by trans or nonbinary creators, with a focus on intersectional stories by and featuring Indigenous, Black, and Latinx people. They’re full of heartfelt stories and lessons and lots of gender feelings, and you can support trans / nonbinary creators and also a trans-owned small business by purchasing them from Outsider Comics (or direct from the author)!
24/7 Magical Maiden Mimi
by Mira Ong Chua
When a boy is chosen to be a Magical Maiden, it turns out that “oh I can turn into a girl” is actually the least troubling part about his life. This book captures a ton of gender feelings in a small package, with the main conflict being Milo debating being Mimi 24/7—not because of gender, but because she’s magical and cool. Stopping the adorable space blobs that become kaiju when stressed out is a big part of the story, yes, but it’s Milo really figuring out who they are and what their best friend means to them that takes center stage in Mira Ong Chua’s latest gorgeous indie manga.
Brooms
by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall
Set in an alternate timeline where magic is alive, Brooms follows a team of Black, Native, and Asian witches in 1930s Mississippi trying to escape the Jim Crow south into a state where they can freely use their magical abilities by participating in illegal broom races. Brooms is a story of resistance, resilience, and survival; it’s about a group of friends trying their best to keep living and reach a place and time where they can finally bloom. (Fun Fact: I mixed up “broom” and “bloom” when writing so many times.)
Cheer Up! Love and Pom Poms
by Crystal Frasier and Val Wise
In Cheer Up!, the people around our protagonists are supportive and love them, and it’s a refreshing story where the queer / trans leads don’t need to fight for their right to exist or grapple with their identities—they already figured it out! But that doesn’t mean they’re free from Feelings and Teen Problems, and it’s refreshing to see trans characters deal with just people problems and not… trans problems.
Cheer Up! is created by an entirely trans team, including Crystal Frasier, local author and creator of the classic trans webcomic Venus Envy.
Lunar Boy
by Jes and Cin Wibowo
The first explicitly Indonesian graphic novel published traditionally in the US, Lunar Boy features a trans boy from the moon learning about community and love on Earth. It weaves together Indonesian culture and gender identities outsider the Western binary into a story that deals with cultural shock, colonialism, and what belonging really means. Come for the multiple trans characters and positive queer communities, and stay for the gorgeously hand-drawn food and batik.
Rabbit Chase
by Elizabeth LaPensée and KC Oster
Anishinaabemowin translation by Aarin Dokum
In this dreamlike retelling of Alice in Wonderland, nonbinary Anishinaabe teen Aimée (who is not a girl, or a boy, but a gamer) falls down the rabbit hole into a land where all stories are true. Aimée will need to work with the Trickster rabbit and other animal spirits in order to avoid getting her head chopped off by the government and find their way home. Anishinaabe stories blend with the symbols Carroll made famous into metaphors for colonialism, land rights, and finding belonging in a world full of bullies and Colombuses.
There are so many more awesome trans and nonbinary comics that we don’t have room for here, so check out our online collection of LGBTQIA+ comics for more, or if you’re in or near Seattle, come visit us and check out our entire collection and get some personalized recommendations.
Stay tuned for some of our favorite not recommended for kids adult trans comics later this Trans Awareness Week. In the meantime, what are your favorite all ages trans and nonbinary comics? Let us know!
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