Queer and Trans Comics by Dylan Edwards
And now we meet New Character #2: folks, please welcome Ujo to the comic. Observe xer debut here:
“Ujo” means “bashful,” which can either mean “shy” or “handy with a sledgehammer,” depending on the circumstances.
Were these two to have fursonas, Ujo would be a capybara, while Tyv would be an entire bag of raccoons.
What wacky adventures shall ensue? Check back next week as Chapter 12 continues!
Cheers,
Dylan
See if you can find it at one of these locations:
If you desire a refresher re: what the heck is going on here, please turn your attention to Chapter 7.
Something Tyv knows that perhaps you the reader might not (because it’s not SUPER important to the narrative, just a bit of background detail) is that Bantri’s big skill is disguise. Within Cobb’s crew, that largely amounted to pretending to be a traveling merchant (or, rather, several different traveling merchants, busting out a new costume as circumstances warranted).
Anyhow, the saga continues next week!
Cheers,
Dylan
Check out the loot:
This chapter introduces some new characters, of whomst you shall glimpse one here. Tyv is something of a famous burglar, well-known across the Valley for deploying a dramatic flair when xe steals stuff. Hence the fan club of Bad Kids intent on making off with xer wanted poster as a souvenir.
Regarding one of the other posters in the background, imploring people to halt the spread of sweetberry bush, I just wanna say this was written pre-pandemic and is mere thematic coincidence. I’d already figured the Valley would have issues with people complying (sweetberry bush spreads because the berries are tasty, and if you’re hungry, what are you gonna do), but actually stropping the spread for real would require coordinated governmental action and can’t be left to individuals to stop. Didn’t expect that to be quite so on the nose, but here we are.
ANYWAY. The chapter continues next week!
Cheers,
Dylan
Yes indeed, it is time for the newest installment of my queer YA sci-fi/fantasy webcomic, Valley of the Silk Sky. You can now read page 106 at any one of these fine locations:
“But Dylan, that’s so many options. How do I know which one to choose?”
Well, I’ll tell you. Read it here if that’s what you’re used to and it works for you.
Read it on the VotSS website if you like additional material like appendices, character pages, concept art, and all that jazz.
Read it on Tumblr if you are still on Tumblr and want it to show up in your dash without you having to remember to do anything.
Read it on Patreon if you would like early access to pages by becoming my Patron for a mere one dollar a month; or you can choose to follow my Patreon for free and get notifications of when new pages get posted to the general public. Early access subscribers get pages on Mondays, then they go public on Thursdays.
“But Dylan, you’ve been working on this comic for years now and I forgot what happened three chapters ago. How can I get caught up?”
Simple! You can:
1. Read the story so far online
2. Read offline via print volumes or digital collections
Right? Right. See you next week for the continuation of Chapter 12!
Cheers,
Dylan
The final installment of my Japanese metal show diary comic is here:
That Patreon post includes a discussion of souvenir towels, so hit that link if you yearn to know more.
If you yearn to read the whole comic in one fell swoop, this is the link for you.
Also, don’t forget to check out my soundtrack playlist for this comic, which is on the YouTubes here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYvv_X5qp4EyrOtVkosEwxlxh1e4cVnhZ
Now that this comic has wrapped, perhaps you’re wondering what comes next. Well, I’ll tell you.
I’m about halfway through coloring the next chapter of Valley of the Silk Sky, so that’s getting extremely close to done. I’ve been avoiding setting a specific date for when I’ll start running the chapter as my workflow has been painfully slow (sometimes due to literal pain, mostly due to Anxiety About the World We Live In).
BUT. Know that progress is happening, and new pages shall emerge very soon.
Cheers,
Dylan
The latest installment of my Japanese metal show diary comic is here:
Like a lot of gothic metal bands, Mejibray’s style leans heavily on BDSM themes, so it’s not too surprising the crowd would be exuberant about being spat upon.
Also, I would have expected a mosh pit if it had been an American show, and would have avoided front and center accordingly. But no such scrum developed here. I don’t know if moshing just isn’t a thing in Japan, or if it does happen but sticks to other genres. Clearly one of these days I will need to do further research on the matter.
Cheers,
Dylan
The show goes on! Read page 3 here:
If you check out the Patreon post, you can read some of my musings about concerts past and present, should such a thing be of interest to you.
I will add this one translation note here, though:
The actual rendering of “encore” in Japanese is アンコール (ankouru), where the final “ru” would only be partially voiced. But the crowd was definitely saying a fully-voiced “re” at the end of the word, giving each syllable equal weight as basically a three-beat chant. JUST in case you were wondering.
Tune in next week for page 4 excitement!
Cheers,
Dylan
The second installment of my diary comic about going to see a metal show in Japan is here! Specifically, it is here:
Since this is a short comic, I’ll wait until all the pages are up to post it over on Tumblr (for the five of you who still use Tumblr).
To answer my own question from the first panel, this is not a thing specific to Mejibray shows. I’ve since gone back and watched music videos by other Japanese rock bands, and have noticed the crowds acting in unison there as well. I suppose to the extent I noticed it before I’d just assumed it was a staged coordination for the sake of the video. And, well, it IS a staged coordination, but being filmed has little to do with it.
Tune in next week for more lessons in Japanese rock show etiquette!
Cheers,
Dylan
Perhaps you read this comic when it ran on The Comics Journal last fall, but in the event you missed it, I’m gonna run it here now that the rights have reverted back to me!
You can now read page 1 here. A new page will go up each week!
To refresh your memory, this is my diary comic about going to see a visual kei heavy metal show in Japan a few years ago. Because I’m a nerd for making playlists, I put together a soundtrack for this comic. It’s on YouTube because a lot of the featured bands never had their music licensed for U.S. release, so many of them (Mejibray included) are not to be found on Spotify or iTunes here. (Several of the bands on my playlist make cameos in this comic as t-shirts – this page features Dog in the PWO, a.k.a. Dog in the Parallel World Orchestra.)
True fact: in order to buy Mejibray’s albums, I had to purchase them on CD (!!) which I was only able to find at a Tower Records (!!!) in Shibuya. It was like traveling backwards in time.
Cheers,
Dylan
Parsley Sage Rosemary & Quarantine is a digital zine of recipe comics, all designed to help you use up the ingredients in your pantry and cook easy, delicious meals while social distancing! 21 different cartoonists drew their favorite recipes, complete with full-color illustrations and simple step-by-step instructions.
My recipe in this collection is low-FODMAP, gluten-free, and vegetarian/vegan (but also highly adaptable, so you can add FODMAPs, glutens, and meats if you desire).
In addition, from now through October 2020, all sales of this recipe zine are being split evenly among all 21 contributors — so your purchase will help directly support every artist in the zine during this quarantine! Here’s that fancy contrib list:
Contributors: Cibby Acosta, Jey Barnes, Kou Chen, Dylan Edwards, Julie Fiveash, Megan Rose Gedris, Melanie Gillman, Hayden Harwood, Beniam Hollman, G.C. Houle, Priya Huq, Dakota Jones, Shing Yin Khor, Shan Murphy, Mathew New, Hien Pham, Genué Revuelta, Sarah W. Searle, Steenz, Kendra Wells, Bianca Xunise
Editor: Melanie Gillman
So! Go snag a zine and get cookin’.