Rebel Muse Comics

Natasha: I’m not mad. I just wanna know.

Kate: I did. I broke them—

Natasha: No. No you didn’t, Yelena?

Yelena: Don’t look at me! Look at Wanda!

Wanda: What? I didn’t break them?

Yelena: Huh. That’s weird. How did you even know they were broken?

Wanda: Because they are sitting right in front of us and they’re broken.

Steve: If it matters — probably not — but Clint was the last one to use them.

Clint: Liar! I don’t even know how use them!

Steve: Oh really? Then what were you doing staring at them earlier?

Clint: I stare off into space all the time; everyone knows that Steve!

Kate: Ok, ok! Let’s not fight! I broke them, let me pay for them.

Natasha: No! Who broke them?

Wanda: … Detka… Peter’s been awfully quiet.

Peter: REALLY??

*everyone starts fighting and talking over each other*

Oh my.

They match each other’s freak, your honor.

Urge to design an articulated paper snake lantern intensifies

…and you are feeling nervous, inadequate, worried, and like it’s all insurmountable…

I want you to stop for a moment and really listen to this.

I don’t know a single comics creator worth a damn who never felt those things. Almost all of us STILL feel those things, either a little or a lot.

Those things can only stop you if you let them. They do not mean you aren’t a ‘real’ creator, because most ‘real’ creators have those feelings ALL THE TIME.

Take them as what they are, a perfectly understandable reaction to the daunting task of trying to put your art, heart and soul  into a very public space, in a much-scrutinized media, where criticism comes from many angles.

It’s all right to be scared, it’s all right to be worried. It’s understandable to get down, or feel like it’s not possible.

Those feelings are part of it. They don’t have to be your roadblocks. You can make them your houseguests, because the odds are you will see them again once in a while, no matter how many  awards you win or how many books you sell.

They are part of being an artist. 

You are not alone. You are not unqualified just because you have doubts and worries. 

Making art is a wonderful, rewarding thing. Part of why it’s so rewarding is because there are so many people and factors in the way of making art in the first place.

Don’t let the biggest roadblock be yourself. Your inner critic is often a liar and a jerk. But you can have the last laugh by doing what you love anyway.

“I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created.”

Check out this paper doll art inspired by our coven! 

🎨: Conor Merriman

Marvel’s Avengers (2022) & Winter Soldier #7 (2012)

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