Print Books
I Thought You Loved Me
Fieldmouse Press, May 2023
Graphic Memoir
Mature content
“Brilliant, heartbreaking, revealing as a dream.” Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
“This book is a tremendous achievement. I’ve never read anything else quite like this.” – Steph Cha, author of Your House Will Pay
“A visual feast…ideal for anyone who remembers the betrayal of losing your best friend but still knows that we all grow and change–so the future holds hope.” – Booklist
“(A) diligent, beautifully rendered inquiry unpacking traces of a largely forgotten personal story.” – Washington Post
“A defiantly odd graphic memoir” – Los Angeles Times
“Innovative…captivating…equal parts wistful and skeptical, wise and all too human.” Publisher’s Weekly, starred review
“Dazzling in theme, story, and visuals…a standout graphic memoir.” – Foreword, starred review
“I Thought You Loved Me is a fucking amazing book.” – Gina Murrell, Razorcake Magazine
This Gen X memoir, which is told in prose, collage, and sequential art, explores queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and the flawed nature of memory as Mari works to uncover a long-lost best friend that she can no longer remember but can’t let go of.
Dirty Produce
Workman Publishing, November 2021
Humor
Mature (immature) content
Read an excerpt on New Yorker’s Daily Shouts.
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Distant Stars (Life on Earth Book 3)
Graphic Universe, March 2020
Young adult graphic novel
Ages 14 to 100
In the final volume of the Life on Earth trilogy, celebrated cartoonist MariNaomi concludes her tale of growing up, falling in and out of love, and possible alien interventions. Shy, self-deprecating Paula Navarro is coming into her own—and it’s making her new girlfriend, Johanna, a little nervous. Paula’s former friend Emily Baker is learning to look inward. Brett Hathaway, Emily and Paula’s mutual ex-hook-up, is torn about reconnecting with his estranged dad. And Nigel Jones is smitten with his tutor, Claudia—whose disappearance and reappearance remains a mystery to everyone around her. As Claudia and her guardians put the final plan in motion, they’ll reveal the truth that links everyone’s fate.
Read more about this book series.
Buy from Lerner Books
Buy on Amazon
Buy from Skylight Books
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Gravity’s Pull (Life on Earth Book Two)
Graphic Universe, January/March 2019
Young adult graphic novel
Ages 14 to 100
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.
Losing the Girl (Life on Earth Book One)
Graphic Universe, January/May 2018
Young adult graphic novel
Ages 14 to 100
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.
I Thought YOU Hated ME
Retrofit Comics, September 2016
A graphic memoir about a decades-long female friendship.
Turning Japanese
2dcloud, May 2016
Expanded Edition: Oni Press, 2023
Critically acclaimed graphic memoir about working in illegal hostess bars in San Jose and Tokyo.
This is a story about growing up in a multi-racial family, being an outsider in your motherland, and trying to maintain a strong feminist identity while working demeaning customer service jobs.
Read more about this book.
Ordering info here.
This book was translated to French and released by Editions IMHO titled Devenir Japonaise February 2021.
Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories
2dcloud/Uncivilized Books, September 2014
Graphic memoir
Nominated for a 2015 Eisner Award
In this collection of thought-provoking, emotionally honest graphic vignettes, many of which first appeared on The Rumpus as the series “Smoke In Your Eyes,” MariNaomi explores a wide spectrum of topics including youthful rebellion, mortality, compassion, and partying with Duran Duran.
“Award-winning author MariNaomi returns with this charming and intimate collection of vignettes and meatier personal histories. … The book is utterly absorbing, funny, intimate, and even philosophical.”
~ Publisher’s Weekly
Buy it from 2dcloud
Buy it from Skylight Books
Buy it from The Booksmith
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Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22
Harper Perennial, 2011
In this fresh and offbeat graphic memoir, MariNaomi chronicles her time as a misfit teen and young woman looking for love in San Francisco, while bringing to light issues of identity and sexuality.
Winner of the 2012 SPACE Prize
“The book’s charm lies in MariNaomi’s amused and loving perspective on her curious, tough, occasionally foolish younger self: she knows she may have misunderstood the dynamics of her relationships, but she can still evoke the intensity of her feelings.”
– Douglas Wolk, The New York Times
Asian Goth Punks Rule the World!
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.
GREAT HEIGHTS
2dcloud, 2014 – Handmade
A vignette about youthful daring and fear of heights.
Specs: 5” x 4” (hand trimmed)
6 pages
B&W, card-stock
Signed by MariNaomi
Said While Talking zine
Self published/handmade
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.
Specs: 8.5” x 5.5” / 84 pages
B&W interior, card-stock cover with hand-glitter detail (Note: card-stock cover is not necessarily the color depicted in this photo.)
Signed by MariNaomi
MariNaomi’s semi-illustrated interview with Alison Bechdel
Self published/handmade
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!
Read a review by The Comic Journal’s Rob Clough.
Specs: 8.5” x 5.5”
16 pages (6 illustrated, 10 text-only)
B&W interior, card-stock cover
Signed by MariNaomi
Sister Spit Tour 2011 Diary
Self published/handmade
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!
B&W interior, card-stock cover
Not-so-butch zine
Self published/handmade
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.
Specs: 4.25” x 5.5” / 22 pages
B&W copy paper
SAN FRANCISCO HEART
Autobiographical Reviews
of Sights, Food and Events
Self published/handmade
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.”
Specs: 8.5” x 5.5”
48 pages
B&W interior, color card-stock cover
Interior may have some hand-painted detail.
Out of print
DIRTY PRODUCE
A nasty little mini
Self published/handmade
Signed/numbered limited edition
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”
6 images, not including cover.
Full color, cover-stock throughout.
Each page has hand-painted details.
Signed and numbered.
Out of print
THE WOMANIFESTO FOR THE CATEGORICAL NEW FREEDOM LADY – An illustrated excerpt from Inga Muscio’s brilliant book Cunt: A Declaration of Independence
Self published/handmade
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.
Specs: 8.5” x 5.5”
24 pages
B&W interior, color card-stock cover
Available at select stores and events.
The Estrus bundle
Self published/handmade
To celebrate 18 years of making comics, I’ve remastered these out-of-print zines, dating from 1998 to 2009. Not sold separately!
Very limited edition–first come, first serve!
Not sold in stores!
The Estrus Collection Vol. 1
Specs: 5.5″ x 8.5″ / 48 pages
Color card stock cover
B&W interior
Estrus No. 3 Minicomic
Specs: 4.25” x 5.5” / 32 pages
B&W copy paper with red card-stock cover
B&W interior
The Estrus Colleciton Vol. 2
Specs: 5.5″ x 8.5″ / 41 pages
Hand-colored cover, each one unique!
B&W interior
Estrus Comics Issue 7
Specs: 5.5″ x 8.5″ / 28 pages
Beige card stock cover
B&W interior
Out of print
Print Bibliography
• 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)
• Critical Hits—November 2023 (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)
• Immigratitude—Anthology about Asian Immigration (2021) (foreword)
• 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)
• Kazoo Magazine Arts Issue—edited by Erin Bried (my Yayoi Kusama comic, Spirit of the Arts, was nominated for an ASME award for best Best Illustrated Story)
• 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)
• Threads that Connect Us—anthology (contributing writer/artist) (2020)
• 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)
Self-published
• Asian Goth Punks Rule the World—2020 minicomic
• Dirty Produce—2015 minicomic
• Estrus Comics, issues 1-7—1998-2009 single-person anthology
• The Evil—2013 minicomic
• I Hope I Don’t Regret This Later diary comics—2017 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
• Sister SPit Tour Diary 2018—2018 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
• A Writer’s Life—2020 minicomic