by rory midhani
It’s Halloween! Or, I guess, yesterday was? Still, I’m gonna count it. Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday, and I hope it’s your’s too. But maybe you really want to love Halloween but you also get scared really easily? If that’s the case, I’ve got just the perfect thing for you. Halloween is a great time for queer people. We get to explore weird stuff, we get to dress however we want, we get to try new things. We also get to tell stories. We get to tell stories that show just how weird and different and, yes, sometimes creepy, our worlds and our lives and our selves are. So here are six of my favorite not-too-spooky comics by or about queer women that are perfect for Halloween. I hope you enjoy them.
1. Goblin Witch and Blood Ghost by Aliza Layne
Honestly, this is probably my all-time favorite short comic. I want this to be a full book or series or whatever so freaking bad. I love these two ridiculous hooligan teenagers. There’s a short story, called “Goblin Witch and Blood Ghost Hang at the Mall” where these two misfit teenagers and best friends do just that. Blood Ghost is a ghost made of blood who’s haunting a mall, and Goblin Witch is a witch who’s a goblin who’s trying to get a job at the mall so she can always be hanging out with her bff. These two (but mainly Goblin Witch) are just such lovable dirtbags and I can’t get enough of them. To learn more about these two, check out Layne’s project pitch for the characters.
From Baba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll.
2. Baba Yaga’s Assistant by Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll
When this book came out last year, it was nominated for a Favorite Graphic Novel or Book Autostraddle Comic and Sequential Art Award. Baba Yaga is an iconic witch all around the world, and she has tons of classic stories. This book brings her into the modern day where a young angsty girl meets the legend in the forest and tries to become her assistant all while dealing with her younger sibling. It’s a delightful book that never gets too scary, but also doesn’t water down anything to do with Baba Yaga and presents a story that readers of all ages should love. Plus, it’s got art by Emily Carroll, the queen of terrifying comics, so this is a perfect book for Halloween.
3. “The Auntie” by Alyssa Wong and Wendy Xu
This comic is actually brand new, debuting yesterday on Halloween! I wrote about this team just a little bit ago when they had their super creepy comic, My Neighbor Jiaojian. This comic is also about a ghost, but it’s a lot more funny than that one, I promise. The ghost in this story is an elderly Chinese woman who lives in our protagonist’s house and if you’re a poc, then you will probably recognize a bunch of the ghastly situations she puts our poor hero through. She judges her clothes, the people she dates, is always nagging her, that kind of thing. But my absolute favorite part of this comic is the very end. It’s so sweet and tender and real and it’s perfect.
4. Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy
I mean, come on, you love Lumberjanes, you probably love Gotham Academy, both are about really awesome and diverse teens (mostly girls) who investigate stuff of varying levels of spookiness and fun adventure. This is a match made in comic book heaven. If you’re looking for a comic that’s like Scooby Doo but with more poc and queer characters, this is it.
5. Vampire Beach by Madeline McGrane
This is by the same person who did the awesome western vampire comic Dirt Creek Runs With Blood that I wrote about recently, but this one is a little more fun and weird than that one. Before I described this comic as having art that makes “you feel like the world is drowning [the characters], the air feels thick and heavy, and these characters are moving through it as best they can.” Now imagine that, but with vampires and gay werewolves and volleyball and breaking into swimming pools at night. That sounds so freaking amazing to me, and I’ve already read this comic!
6. Ghost Comics by Leigh Luna
Leigh Luna is a super talented cartoonist who I’ve recently started loving. She did these wonderfully funny, cute and delightful short comics for the AV Club that all center around the theme of ghosts. Whether you’re a pokemon fan who likes crying, a Harry Potter fan who likes shipping, a Ghost Adventure fan who likes whatever those guys do or a Holtzman fan who loves watching Holtzman Holtzman it up, Luna has got a perfect ghosty comic for you.
New Releases (November 2)
DC Super Hero Girls Vol 2 Hits and Myths TP
Gotham Academy Vol 3 Yearbook TP
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1 HC
Welcome to Drawn to Comics! From diary comics to superheroes, from webcomics to graphic novels – this is where we’ll be taking a look at comics by, featuring and for queer ladies. So whether you love to look at detailed personal accounts of other people’s lives, explore new and creative worlds, or you just love to see hot ladies in spandex, we’ve got something for you.
If you have a comic that you’d like to see me review, you can email me at mey [at] autostraddle [dot] com.
The aunties playing slayed me.
Most of Emily Carroll’s work are on my dream list, but I think Baba Yaga is in the top 10.
Because Baba Yaga and “Me First” is still one of my favourite illustrated kids’short stories.
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(Spoilers for “Me First”, a selfish kid thinks they’re getting a sandwich, but are getting servitude with a Sand Witch)