Ø.K._FØX

3 DAYS LEFT TO GET COMICS FOR CHOICE!

All proceeds go to the National Network of Abortion Funds, a charity that directly helps folks in need pay for their abortion procedures, and helps with the transportation costs of faraway clinics, because NO ONE should be denied a choice, no matter how little money they have. YOU can support this life-changing mission and get a great book at the same time!

Comics for Choice contributors: Rachel Wilson & Ally Shwed!

Read the whole comic on Fusion!

Rachel Wilson is a writer from the UK whose work has appeared online at i-D, The Guardian, Broadly, Noisey and more. She also works as a freelance editor and translator, as well as grappling with her hand-me-down film camera in her spare time.

Ally Shwed ( @allyisshort) is a cartoonist and writer, originally from New Jersey. She received her MFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art & Design and has worked with The Nib, BOOM! Studios, and IDW Publishing. Currently, Ally is a professor of sequential art, scriptwriting, & art direction at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Querétaro, México, and is co-founder of Little Red Bird, a visual arts studio specializing in alternative comics.

Three Genderqueer(ish) Manga I Would Like to Revisit:

Your and My Secret (Original title: Boku to Kanojo no Peke Mittsu or  My and Her Three X’s)

Hana-Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e or For You in Full Blossom)

Ouran High School Host Club

I was obsessed with all three of these series in middle/high-school (2004-2009). With Hana-Kimi and Ouran I would get every volume as they came out. I eventually had all 23 volumes of Hana-Kimi, but with Ouran the release schedule became too sporadic/I became too busy with college. Your and My Secret the first volume came out through ADV in 2004. I’ve attached pictures of my original copy so folks could see how bent up it is from constant re-readings. My copies of 2 and 3 are pristine by comparison because it took another 4 years for Tokyopop to pick it up and distribute the next couple of volumes. Tokyopop famously went under, and it took a third publisher, JManga to complete the English run. It’s so odd trying to parse series like these when you’re an adolescent. There is a part of you that is cheering for the narrative to end up as queer as possible, and another part of you trying to dissect the social norms as potential tools for your real life survival.

In Your and My Secret a schoolboy and schoolgirl switch bodies through the experiment of a mad scientist parent. They end up feeling more comfortable in their new bodies. The boy in the girl’s body has a harder time adjusting because he had a crush on the girl before they switch, the girl in the boy’s body loves it right away and does not want to switch back. This is the volume I read over and over, the concept that you could just instantly feel better in a different body was so fascinating to me as a 7th grade freakshow. I wish anyone in my life at the time could have realized how much I needed to be told that changing your body is possible in real life. Both of the main characters eventually end up falling in love with their best friends from before they switched. This is around when I ran out of volumes to read. I’ve since looked up the end and spoilers: the mad scientist accidentally switches them back to their original bodies after they had decided to stay the way they are. They do get to switch back, but it seems to be at the expense of some gay panic, as in the only way they can be with the people they love is if they stay het.

It’s disappointing these gender-bending manga tend to center heterosexual relationships. Though there are clear homosexual/bisexual characters in both Hana-Kimi and Ouran, they are ancillary at best. In Hana-Kimi one of the main characters’ best friends falls in love with her even though he thinks she’s a boy. The best friend ends up spending most of the manga trying to come to terms with his homosexuality, and I seem to remember him feeling relieved to be “not gay” when it’s finally revealed to him that his crush is a girl. In Ouran the main character is instantly shown to be gender-neutral/gender-blind, but they are constantly pressured into femininity/heterosexuality. It’s especially gross coming from the men who have financial control over them, as they are one of the only poor students in a rich academy. I encourage folks to read this excellent post about some of the disgusting ways gender conformity plays out in the Ouran anime. I know the anime ended before the manga did, and I would like to revisit this series and figure out how everything canonically plays out.

Ultimately the gender-bending genre of manga is really complicated (and when it gets into fetish territory it gets even more problematic). I appreciate having them as escapes during my teen years, but I’ve yet to find one I can truly celebrate for its unabashed queerness. Perhaps the closest is Utena, but that has its own issues of course (it also has four different versions, I’m interested in parsing that in different piece of writing sometime). More recently we’ve gotten Princess Jellyfish and Wandering Son. I’ve only seen the anime version of Princess Jellyfish, and I found it to be too trans-exclusionary/off-putting. Wandering Son I liked, but I found the portrayal of the adult trans woman character to be predatory. I was extra disappointed of the mishandling of that character given the otherwise decent ending. There’s also a recent manhwa called My Boyfriend is a Vampire that I read the entirety of last year, and was extremely annoyed by the whole time. I have not given up, the year 24 group generation had some really excellent series that explored gender non-conformity, so certainly we could get there again. I pray for a higher caliber of queer stories, and I hope it comes from queer creators as well.

(I only read this weird Korean vampire comic ‘cause I thought the main character looked exactly like me lol)

HERE IS A WILD FANTASY 

I strive to use the internet in the opposite way web 2.0 encourages people to, I hate the dang endless scrolls, I miss seeing real dates on posts, I need PAGE NAVIGATION. So i often look through blogs’ archives (put /archive after your favorite tumblrs, it’s great!) I love wikipedia hoping and deep dives into tags. Web 2.0 eats new content, all the time, constantly. 

I mentioned @samehat in an earlier post, the tumblr has tons of incredible artists in its archive. Samehat was originally a blogspot that would post translations of old and weird manga, but also their current zine-making friends like Hellen Jo and Michael Deforge. Because of them I went to my first non-anime comics fest, MoCCA in NYC. Changed my life forever.

Also go through the amazing stuff on @de-maupin & @fehyesvintagemanga!!

ANYWAY BACK TO MY WILD FANTASY:

WHAT IF THERE WAS A YEAR 24 GROUP IMPRINT?

(read this great posts about this group of artists here)

What if Viz, and Vertical, and Fantagraphics, and everyone publishing old manga came together for whimsical new imprint?!!

Anyway, the stuff posted above includes some year 24 group stuff that got published in english, but maybe weren’t given a proper shot. I would love to see everything in as great an edition as the Moto Hagio Fantagraphics runs, that’s my dream. Keiko Takemiya, Riyoko Ikeda, and Yasuko Aoike all deserve big nice books too! I would also love to see stories from all the lesser known year 24 group folks as well. I’m including Shotaro Ishinomori in this group because I think there’s a lack of his titles in English as well (I used to feel similar about Leiji Matsumoto, but Kodansha America just did a great Queen Emeraldas run). 

IT IS CRIMINAL THAT THERE HASN’T BEEN A PROPER ENGLISH RELEASE OF THE FOLLOWING TITLES:

-Oniisama E

-The Rose of Versailles

-Kaze to Ki no Uta 

-Fantasy World Jun (seen below paired with Tezuka’s magnum opus, Phoenix) 

-PROBS LOTS MORE I HAVEN’T GOTTEN TO RESEARCH YET

(and the special horror manga, outta-place-in-this-post, final thought, My Name is Shingo by Kazuo Umezu please please someone publish that too)

PLEASE PUBLISH THESE!

Spoilers for One Piece, but it’s very specific parts. One Piece is huge and I don’t think reading this will effect your potential enjoyment of it.

Disclaimer: this is under-edited and I’m not getting paid for this, so I haven’t gone out of my way to make this the best piece of writing it could be. It’s mostly stream of consciousness.  

“You can stray from the path of a man, you can stray from the path of a woman, but you can never stray from the path of a human!” - Bon Clay in One Piece Chapter 129

So looking at when the English Viz editions came out, I’ve determined I started reading One Piece in 2004, at age 13, and Bon Clay probably wasn’t introduced until I was 15. I remember putting the Bon Clay quote above in my Myspace profile. I even had Bon-chan’s character song on my ipod. There was something that seriously resonated with me like Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” or The Kink’s “Lola” or Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U”—all that same sentiment “I’m not a woman, I’m not a man, I am something that you’ll never understand.” But Bon Clay wasn’t coming from decades-old culture, manga was a booming phenomena when I was teen. With it I felt part of a thriving community complete with new books every month, cosplay, conventions. I loved learning about Okama, a slang term for Japanese drag queens. At the same time I was learning about American drag culture as well. Around this time I watched Rocky Horror, which led me to Hedwig, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and To Wong Foo. None of this media led me to any proper medical or academic thoughts about gender, but dang I loved spending time finding Ru Paul and Tom Rubnitz clips on Youtube. To me anime started to blend with other queer media, one of the first things I used Youtube for was to find Psycho Le Cemu music videos, a costume J-rock band with GNC members. 

“Want to be one of my new breed? Come on, transcend the boundaries of gender!” -Ivankov

As I was graduating High School, One Piece was on the Impel Down Arc, chapter 525. By now Bon Clay hasn’t appeared that much, but is at least an established BFF to the main character, Luffy. Back in chapter 129 Bon Clay starts off as a villain, the 2nd strongest in a criminal organization. Luffy immediately loves Bon-chan’s fun and free-spirited attitude, and eventually Bon Clay turns on the organization and makes a meaningful sacrifice to help Luffy’s crew escape. 300 chapters later, Bon Clay is alive and ready to help Luffy escape again. This time from the World Government’s most awful torturous prison. It is in this arc where an entire clan of Okama are introduced. Including Ivankov, whose fingers can transform into needles that induces instant Hormone Replacement Therapy. There’s some sort of beautiful metaphor here, in this horrendous deathprison a bunch of gender varying Queens have carved out a sanctuary to be themselves. The Okama clan eventually escapes with Luffy, but Bon-chan once again sacrifices himself so they can escape. 

“A true Okama never dies” 

I feel like at this point of Tumblr in 2017 it goes without saying that all this media is hecka problematic. I started unraveling the implications of this type of media in college where I was finally in an environment that could teach me the different types of transgender identities, and how media effects them. I became aware of how dangerous tropes about gender non-conforming people permits a culture of violence toward folks living their real lives as trans folks. I wonder what effect One Piece, as the most popular manga in the world, has on trans and GNC individuals. “Okama” seems to somewhat be used as a slur in Japanese Culture, but I wonder if it could be subject to as much debate as the T-slur was in the states. I remember taking a break from Ru Paul’s Drag Race (something I had loved since it’s premiere) in college when the discourse has hit peak. It annoyed me that this increasingly mainstream drag show couldn’t understand its effect on how the world sees transgender people. I’ve since gotten back into Drag Race, because it seems they’ve sorta listened and have adjusted the program, but also I think the lines are so dang blurry. There’s no line in sand where gender non-conformity ends and being transgender begins. Cultural differences aside, the are definitely instances where One Piece participates in violent tropes of gay panic and trans trickery. It’s amazing that the Okama have their own island, but it’a disappointing all we get to see of it is lady-obcessive Sanji’s constant fear of getting queer cooties. We can’t expect much from a manga geared to boys, and drawn by a man who draws all his women characters with the exact same skinny figure eight proportions. One Piece remains one of my favorite comics, but it’s important to criticize its regular missteps. 

At the same time, I love Bon Clay. I love the unabashed flamboyant dancing mixed with fearsome strength. I love that he lives, both times! Most of the American queer media I’d experienced at the time were tragic, or at least showed the characters getting fucked with because of the way they presented themselves. Bon Clay is instantly beloved by the crew even though he’s threatening them. Ivankov is revealed to be a higher up in the Revolutionary Army, along with their partner Inazuma, both are sure to be major players in the One Piece world. Okama are a big enough part of One Piece to warrant their own wiki page, I like that they are an important part of this popular story. Though I do wonder how a queer person from Japan would parse this, maybe the representation is more hurtful than helpful. I don’t want to impose western interpretations on manga, though I do plan on visiting the Japan Society’s current show “A Third Gender” to try to expand my own historical context. I recently read My Brother’s Husband by the iconic Gengoroh Tagame. This page keeps coming to mind:

I feel like the logic goes like this: If the larger population only sees queer people as stereotypical flamboyant trickers, than that isn’t going to create a culture where every type of personality feels safe to come out. At the same time, these vibrant cultures originally developed under the cover of nightlife and have since been co-opted into media at large, which is perhaps more accessible, where kids get to see glances possibilities. Dissecting media is a lot, I don’t think I’ve read enough Adorno or whatever to truly develop any of this as thesis. All I know is my personal experience, the empowering feeling I get when I revisit the queer characters of One Piece.

Ø.K. Fox is a digital printmaker and little weirdo in Queens. They are currently co-editing @comics-for-choice, an anthology dedicated to abortion rights, raising money for the National Network of Abortion Funds. Support the project here.

@thesilentbarn is big ol’ organism run by a collective of over 100 people! On Saturday during the @paperjazz Small Press Fest a number of those spaces will be open & activated. 📰🎷💕

✿ @mellowpageslibrary is a great reading zone to check out in the courtyard

✿ Unicorn Loft is one of Silent Barn’s art studios. The Paper Jazz Gif Showcase curated by @akrokus & @k-downs will be on view all day there.

✿ Detective Squad is in the back of the Barn’s art studios, it’s an analog synth shop and it’s also holding a live tape mixing event. 

✿ @disclaimergallery will be hosting a closing event for Three Weeks’ Internet Hiatus

✿ We are also hosting a panel upstairs in living room where The Silent Barn Zine Library lives!

@2PM Expanding Comics’ Conversations

“Like any art medium, comics has both a history of traditions as well as a vibrant and changing present. The small press & DIY pockets of comics, in particular, can create a unique space for innovation by cross-pollinating with other art forms and conversations. @haejinduck (BOX), @katfajardoart (Gringa!, La Raza), @pablogotobed (Sugar Rush, La Raza), @sarahlammer, and Matthew James-Wilson (@forgeartmag ) join Kevin Czap (@czapbooks) to talk about how they each contribute to the ongoing conversation between comics and the world around them.”

SEE ALSO:

✿ The Paper Jazz Poster Showcase on view at @clocktowernyc in Red Hook ‘til March 11th

This is a scary time for reproductive freedom in America. Already, people face far too many obstacles to access the abortions they need, with bans on insurance coverage, far-away clinics and mandatory waiting periods. Fueled by misogyny and misinformation, the Trump administration wants to restrict access even more. Now is the time for us to use our art to raise both awareness and money to protect this crucial right.

Comics for Choice will be an anthology of comics to educate and affect people on the topic of abortion, with all proceeds going to the National Network of Abortion Funds, a charity that helps to remove financial and logistical barriers to abortion access, so that everyone can have full reproductive choice.

We’re looking for comics that cover all angles of abortion rights, including:

Diverse personal stories about abortion

The history of abortion

The medical science of abortion

What it’s like to work in a clinic

The current legal state of abortion

Advice from activists

Something else we haven’t thought of yet?

If you have a story to tell but aren’t an artist, or if you’re an artist who wants to contribute but doesn’t know what to draw, we want you to team up! Use the hashtag #ComicsForChoice on Twitter to find each other, or if you’d prefer to remain anonymous, email us at [email protected] before December 23rd, and we will do our best to pair you with someone. All genders are welcome!

Send your proposals to [email protected] by December 30th, with the word SUBMISSION in the subject line. Please include as detailed a synopsis as you can muster, a proposed page count (up to sixteen pages), and links to samples of previous comics and/or writing. We favor submissions with both a visual and a written component, but are open to just words or just images if the concept is strong.

Comics for Choice will be published through an IndieGoGo campaign, and all money beyond the cost of printing, shipping rewards, and a few other essential costs, will be donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds. Your labor as an artist is valuable, and we’re asking you to donate that value to a cause you care about—each artist’s piece will be potentially contributing thousands of dollars. The editors will be donating their time as well.

If we decide to print copies of Comics for Choice beyond the minimum necessary to fulfil the IndieGoGo, that printing will not come out of the NNAF donation, and each contributor will receive comp copies or an honorarium per 1,000 copies printed, the exact amount of which is TBD depending on the number of contributors.

Since I have been asked about this enough times, I feel I have to say something publicly.

Paper Jam as it has existed is no more.

I no longer work with the Silent Barn in any capacity. Having reached an ideological impasse with the collective, I cannot in good conscience participate in that project any longer.

Without the free usage of that space, Paper Jam would have to become a very different festival than it has been. This would most likely involve charging exhibitors for table space. As having free tables for exhibitors was one of the founding tenants of Paper Jam, I am not interested in pursuing any new version of the festival that involves a tabling fee.

While I would like to continue Paper Jam in a new space, there are none that I currently am tied into in a capacity that I feel I could request the same level of access and accommodation that I had with the Silent Barn. And with my current reality of teaching full-time and having a very meager personal support structure, I am not even sure I have it within me to start again from scratch again on this venture. Still, If you have ties to a venue that you feel would be a good host for Paper Jam, please reach out to me at [email protected]. I still believe Paper Jam can be an important and vital small press festival and an asset to any venue that would like to host it.

That said. If there is never another Paper Jam, I am proud of what my co-curators and I have accomplished. In many ways there might not need to be another edition of Paper Jam. In the three years since I put on the first the festival, there has been an explosion in the number of micro conventions happening in New York City. I see small press events happening almost every week now. Three years ago this was far from the norm. I could not ask for a better outcome. I would happily hand this torch to someone else to carry forward.

Thank you to all of the people who helped make Paper Jam the success it has been. There are very few things in my life that I am prouder of having made happen.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2K16