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Comics and Essays by MariNaomi
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Distant Stars Young adult graphic novel |
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Gravity's Pull Young adult graphic novel When Claudia Jones returns to her high school after a mysterious disappearance, she exerts a strange effect on the classmates around her. Meanwhile, her fellow students also struggle with the challenges of regular young-adult life. How should they navigate problems with identity, illness, and consent? Bringing the full possibilities of the graphic novel medium to the page, the author-artist writes and draws every chapter from a different character's point of view in a unique art style. Read more about this book series. Read Mari's introduction on the Lerner blog.Buy it from Skylight Books Buy it from Bookshop |
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Losing the Girl Young adult graphic novel Claudia Jones is missing. Her classmates are thinking the worst...at at least the wierdest. It couldn't be an alien abduction, right? None of Claudia's classmates at Blithedale High know why she vanished--and they're dealing with their own issues. Emily's trying to handle a life-changing surprise. Nigel just wants to meet a girl who will laugh at his jokes. And Brett hardly lets himself get close to anybody. In Losing the Girl, the first book in the Life on Earth trilogy, Eisner-nominated cartoonist MariNaomi looks at life through the eyes of four suburban teenagers: early romance, fraying friendships, and the traces of a mysterious--maybe otherworldly--disappearance. Different chapters focus on different characters, each with a unique visual approach. Read more about this book series.
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I Thought YOU Hated ME Retrofit Comics, September 2016 A graphic memoir about a decades-long female friendship. Read more about this book. Buy it from Retrofit Comics. Buy it from Bookshop |
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Turning Japanese |
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Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories Graphic memoir Nominated for a 2015 Eisner Award
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Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 Winner of the 2012 SPACE Prize
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MariNaomi in Print
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Asian Goth Punks Rule the World! is a serialized comic strip about a best-friend duo getting into trouble in the eighties. AGPRTW! can be found in issues of Razorcake Magazine (starting at issue 98), or for comics-tier subscribers of Mari's Patreon. |
MariNaomi on the Web
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LE MENU: Family Neurosis Chronicled Through Dinnerware Spiralbound on Medium, November 2017 2-minute read A short comic about passing down the immigrant experience. |
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A Matter of Time Resist!, December 2016 This is how I've been feeling after the election, as a queer, non-white, liberal artist woman in a scary, hate-crime filled Trumpocalyptic nightmare. |
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Back in the Olden Days Bitch Media, September 2016 A futuristic look at gender. |
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Things That Go Bump in the Night PEN America, September 2016 Trigger warning: sexual assault |
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Chicken BuzzFeed Reader, July 2016 |
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Cheerleader BuzzFeed Reader, April 2016 |
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Speak Up!: A Graphic Account of Roxane Gay and Erica Jong's Uncomfortable Conversation An illustrated personal essay that takes place at the keynote of the Decatur Book Festival. It's sort of about the conversation between two prominent feminists, but more so about being a bad-ass and stepping out of your comfort zone. September 2015 |
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Carnivore Virginia Quarterly Review's Summer 2015 issue |
Kissing Club |
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Writing People of Color Midnight Breakfast, September 30, 2014 |
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2dcloud, January 29, 2014 |
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The Weeklings, February 8, 2014 |
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It Happened to Me: I Was Sexually Harassed Onstage at a Comic Convention Panel XOJane, December 18, 2013 |
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WordPress blog, December 5, 2013 |
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Exposed: Portrait of the Artist as a Seven-Minute Reality TV Segment The Weeklings, November 26, 2013 |
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Mango A short comic about the artist discovering an attraction to the same sex. |
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Smoke In Your Eyes on TheRumpus.net Personal stories about life, death and compassion. Many of these stories were collected in the book, Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories (2dcloud, 2014). |
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Galapagos Travel Diary on The Comics Journal An illustrated journal of five days on a cruise ship in the Galapagos. |
Handmade Books and Zines by MariNaomi
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GREAT HEIGHTS A vignette about youthful daring and fear of heights. |
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Said While Talking zine Listen in on Mari's private conversations with friends, lovers, and a celebrity or two in this collection of slice-of-life autobiographical vignette comics, many of which were originally published on Tapastic. For this printing, we've included a never-before-seen bonus two-page comic starring fellow cartoonist Carrie McNinch. Read a review by The Comics Journal's Rob Clough. Peek inside. |
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MariNaomi's semi-illustrated interview with Alison Bechdel In
May, 2012, MariNaomi interviewed fellow graphic memoirist Alison
Bechdel for the Rumpus, delving into subjects such as narcisissm,
family reactions to memoir and reading one's reviews. Now in printed
form, perfect for classrooms! Peek inside the zine 1. Specs: 8.5'' x 5.5'' |
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Sister Spit Tour 2011 Diary Ever wondered what it's like to go on an international literary tour with a handful of strangers? Then this is the book for you! This is my illustrated journal of my month traveling with the queer/feminist literary road show, Sister Spit, including geniuses Michelle Tea, Blake Nelson, Kirk Read, Amos Mac, Myriam Gurba, Ali Liebegott, Yony Leyser and Beth Pickens. Read a review by The Comics Journal's Rob Clough. Specs: 8.5'' x 5.5'' /
130 freaking pages! |
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Not-so-butch zine An illustrated true tale of a queer femme looking for love in all the wrong places. Read a review by The Comics Journal's Rob Clough. Peek inside. |
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SAN FRANCISCO HEART Part
reviews of MariNaomi's favorite haunts, part autobiographical
vignettes, this zine is a love letter to the city of San Francisco.
Many of these comics first appeared in SFBay.CA as the monthly column
"Frisco al Fresco."
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DIRTY PRODUCE Featuring
six color prints/images of dirty produce, not including the front/back
images. Images are suggestive but not X-rated, and entirely
gender-neutral. Each image (including front/back) is hand-accented
using gel pens and sparkly and/or scented inks. Each copy has
approximately 50 hand-painted accents, some of which are very subtle
(ex: a sweat droplet is accented with a clear gel pen, simulating
wetness). No two copies are identical. Specs: 3'' x 3'' Available at select stores and events. |
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THE WOMANIFESTO FOR THE CATEGORICAL NEW FREEDOM LADY In 2001, I read Inga Muscio's ultra-feminist masterpiece (see title above) and was utterly blown away. I worked up the nerve and contacted the author, asking permission to make this excerpt into zine. She said yes, and fourteen years later, I still send Inga copies each time I do a reprint. It's a great ode to loving one's womanly self in a harsh world. Peek inside. Available at select stores and events.
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The Estrus bundle To celebrate 18 years of making comics, I've remastered these out-of-print zines, dating from 1998 to 2009.
Not sold separately! The Estrus Collection Vol. 1 The Estrus Colleciton Vol. 2 Estrus Comics Issue 7 Out of print |
Bibliography (In Print)
• Action Girl Comics, issues 15-17—edited by Sarah Dyer (SLG, 1997-98) (contributing writer/artist)
• Anything That Loves—edited by Zan Christensen (Northwest Press, 2013) (contributing writer/artist)
• The Big Feminist BUT—edited by Shannon O'Leary and Joan Reilley (2013) (contributing writer/artist)
• Bitch Magazine—Summer 2015 and Spring 2016 (contributing writer/artist)
• The Bridge Project—edited by Matt Leunig (Scraped Knee, 2009) (contributing writer/artist)
• Bright Lite—issues 7 and 10 (2018, 2020) (contributing writer/artist)
• Broken Pencil Magazine (contributing writer/artist)
• Buddha Rose—1988 (contributing poet)
• Cheers to Muses: Contemporary Works by Asian American Women—Asian American Women Artists Association (2007) (contributing writer/artist)
• The Comics Journal—Women in Comics issue (cover art)
• Corona Zine—April 2020 (German zine) (contributing writer/artist)
• Crossing Universes—edited by Keith Chow (APA Smithsonian/SIUniverse, 2017) (contributing writer/arist)
• Drawing Power—edited by Diane Noomin (Abrams Books, 2019) (contributing writer/artist)
• Electric Ant, Issue 1: Your First Kiss—edited by Ryan Sands (2010) (contributing writer/artist)
• Every/Body Zine—(2dcloud) (contributing writer/artist)
• FOLIO A Literary Journal—Volume 30, issue 1, Spring 2015 (contributing writer/artist)
• Glamazonia—written and edited by Justin Hall (Northwest Press, 2010) (contributing artist)
• Great Heights—2014 minicomic (Published by 2dcloud) (writer/artist)
• The Harvard Advocate: The Women's Issue—Turning Japanese excerpt (2019)
• Henry & Glenn Forever 3—edited by Tom Neely (Microcosm Press, 2013) (contributing writer/artist) (reprinted in Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever)
• Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever—edited by Tom Neely (Microcosm Press, 2015) (contributing writer/artist)
• How Much Queer Work!—Russian queer comics anthology (2015) (contributing writer/artist)
• Indie Ladies Comic Anthology, Vol. 1—edited by Crystal Ash and Molly Durst (Spectare Creative, 2012) (contributing writer/artist)
• IndieFLY, issues 1, 2 (contributing writer/artist)
• iSpy, issue 2—edited by Christina Loff (2002) (contributing writer/artist)
• I Saw You... A Missed Connections Anthology—edited by Julia Wertz (Three Rivers Press, 2009) (contributing writer/artist)
• It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere, Best Of—edited by Julia Ingalls (2019) (contributing writer/artist)
• Little Heart: A Comics Anthology for Marriage Equality (2dcloud, 2012) (contributing writer/artist)
• Make Magazine (contributing writer/artist)
• Mission at Tenth, volume 4—edited by Randall Babtkis (California Institute of Integral Studies, 2013) (contributing writer/artist)
• Mission at Tenth, Best Of—edited by Julie Levak-Madding (California Institute of Integral Studies, 2019) (contributing writer/artist) • A Multitude of Voices, vol. 15—edited by Matt Holdaway (contributing writer/artist)
• New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei—edited by Keith Chow and Jeff Yang (Secret Universe, 2017) (contributing writer/artist)
• New Girl Law: Drafting a Future for Cambodia—by Anne Elizabeth Moore (Microcosm Press, 2012) (cover artist)
• No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics—edited by Justin Hall (Fantagraphics Books, 2012) (contributing writer/artist)
• Noisemakers: 25 Women who Raised their Voices and Changed the World, a Kazoo anthology—edited by Erin Bried (Knopf, 2020) (contributing writer/artist) • Not My Small Diary, issues 11-19—edited by Delaine Derry Green (Small Diary World, 2004-2017) (contributing writer/artist) (reprinted in Best of NMSD anthology)
• Oafanthology 2—edited by Ed Luce, 2015 (contributing writer/artist)
• On the Other Hand—edited by Peter Conrad (2004) (contributing writer/artist)
• Out of Our, issue 12—edited by Sarah Page and Steven Gray (2012) (contributing writer/artist)
• Pazzione, issue 1 (Turcano Press, 2001) (contributing writer/artist)
• Pet Noir: An Anthology of Strange but True Pet Crimes—edited by Shannon O'Leary (Manic D Press, 2006) (contributing writer/artist, co-editor, fundraiser)
• Pet Project—edited by Rina Ayuyang (2008) (contributing writer/artist)
• Pratfall Anthology—edited by Rob Kirby (2014) (contributing writer/artist)
• QU33R—edited by Rob Kirby (Northwest Press 2013) (contributing writer/artist)
• Razorcake Magazine—Asian Goth Punks Rule the World! column, issues 98-109 (2017-2019)
• Resist!—edited by Francoise Mouly (Desert Island, 2017) (contributing writer/artist)
• The Secret Loves of Geeks—edited by Hope Nicholson (2018)
• Sister Spit: Writing, Rants and Reminiscence from the Road—(City Lights, 2012) (contributing writer/artist)
• Story Magazine, issue 1A—(Winter 2014) (contributing writer/artist)
• Storytime—edited by Anne-Chang-Blaeske and Phil Yeh (Friends of Lulu, 2000) (contributing writer/artist)
• Stray, issues 1 and 2—edited by Robert Kranzke (Strayways Press, 2002) (contributing writer/artist)
• Subcultures Anthology—edited by Whit Taylor (Ninth Art Press, Fall 2014) (contributing writer/artist)
• Them's the Breaks, Kid anthology (Five True Fans, 2012) (contributing writer/artist, graphic layout, production)
• This Isn't Working: Comics About Ex-Boyfriends—edited by Robyn Chapman (Paper Rocket Press, 2011) (contributing writer/artist)
• Transit Comics—edited by John Isaacson (contributing writer/artist)
• True Porn, an anthology—edited by Kelli Nelson and Robyn Chapman (2001) (contributing writer/artist)
• Versus Comics, issues 1 and 3—edited by Kiyoshi Nakazawa (Lost Dog Press, 2003, 2004) (contributing writer/artist)
• Virginia Quarterly Review—Summer, 2015 (contributing writer/artist)
• Women's Review of Books—March/April 2011 (Volume 28, Issue 2) (contributing writer/artist)
Bibliography (Online)
• 2dcloud—Apology Not Acceptable (2014) (contributing writer/artist)
• The Bay Citizen—Drawing Crowds NYE 2012 (2012) (writer/artist)
• The Bay Citizen—Review of You're Going to Die reading (2012) (writer/artist)
• BuzzFeed—An Illustrated Guide to Writing People of Color (2014) (writer/artist) (reprint from Midnight Breakfast: see link below)
• BuzzFeed Reader—Cheerleader (2016) (writer/artist)
• BuzzFeed Reader—Chicken (2016) (writer/artist)
• The Comics Journal—Galapagos Travel Diary (2012) (writer/artist)
• Angels Flight—Dear Sugar, Resistance Edition by Cheryl Strayed (2017) (illustrations)
• Electric Literature—Speak Up!: A Graphic Account of Roxane Gay and Erica Jong's Uncomfortable Conversation (2015) (writer/artist)
• The Harvard Advocate—Turning Japanese excerpt (2019)
• Hulu—My Handmaid's Tale (2017) (writer/artist commission)
• Los Angeles Review of Books—What Kind of Animal Am I? an illustrated review of Diane Obomsawin's On Loving Women (2014) (writer/artist)
• Los Angeles Review of Books—Mimi Pond, Cartoonist Royalty an illustrated review of Mimi Pond's Over Easy (2014) (writer/artist)
• Midnight Breakfast—Writing People of Color if You Happen to be a Person of Another Color (2014) (writer/artist) (reprinted on Buzzfeed)
• Okey-Panky—Excerpt of Turning Japanese (2015) (writer/artist)
• PEN America—Excerpt of Turning Japanese (2015) (writer/artist)
• TheRumpus.net—Smoke In Your Eyes—monthly/biweekly comic (2011-2013) (writer/artist)
• SFBay.CA—Frisco al Fresco—biweekly comic (2011-2013) (writer/artist)
• Spiralbound on Medium—LE MENU: Family Neurosis Chronicled Through Dinnerware (2017) writer/artist
• Study Group—Excerpt of Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories (2014) (writer/artist)
• Tapastic.com—Said While Talking weekly comic (2012) (writer/artist)
• Truth-out.org—Ladydrawers—by Anne Elizabeth Moore: Intro Ladydrawers (2011) (artist)
• Truth-out.org—Ladydrawers—by Anne Elizabeth Moore: Graphic Evidence of Inequality Part 1 (2011) (artist)
• Truth-out.org—Ladydrawers—by Anne Elizabeth Moore: Graphic Evidence of Inequality Part 2 (2011) (artist)
• Virginia Quarterly Review—Carnivore (Summer 2015 issue) (writer/artist)
• The Weeklings—Exposed: Portrait of the Artist as a 7-Minute Reality TV Segment (2013) (writer)
• The Weeklings—Sex Toys-R-Me: My Dream Job (2014) (writer)
• XOJane—It Happened To Me (2013) (writer/artist)
Self-published (In Print)
• Dirty Produce—2015 minicomic
• Estrus Comics, issues 1-7—1998-2009 single-person anthology
• The Evil—2013 minicomic
• Not-so-butch—2011 minicomic
• Said While Talking—2014 zine
• Semi-Illustrated Interview with Alison Bechdel—2014 zine
• SF Heart—2015 zine
• Sister Spit Tour 2011 Diary, An Illustrated Travel Journal—2011 zine
• Sleep Deprived—2011 zine
• What's New, Pussycat?—2014 hand-bound book
• Womanifesto for the Categorical New Freedom Lady zine (excerpt from a book by Inga Muscio)—1999 zine