by Rory Midhani

Molly Alice Hoy is a comic artist and writer who also scores an 82.6/100 on the Super Gay Scale. She also lives in LA with her fiancee, a cat and a dog. Her work has been featured everywhere from Buzzfeed to The Huffington Post. Her cute and simply drawn comics drew me in immediately, and every time I see another one by her, it brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. If you want to experience those same feelings, you can head on over to her Tumblr to read these fun little comics.

by Molly Alice Hoy

The very first time I saw one of her comics was when one of the blogs I follow on Tumblr reblogged a comic about the ways her cat seems to be revealing its own queerness to her. I immediately felt a kinship here, as Hoy deals with her cat reaching over her shoulder to touch her boob, peaking in while she’s bathing and getting up close and personal while in bed. This covers three things of my greatest passions all in one swift move: comics, cats and lesbians. Seriously, if I had a dime for every time my cat touched my boob I’d be able to retire later this year.

by Molly Alice Hoy

Hoy’s two most popular comics are also two of hers with the most important messages. The first is a comic about body image. I’m going to get real for a minute: Every time I see a fashion guide that starts with a question asking what kind of fruit shape I am, I immediately lose interest and move on. Hoy perfectly takes down that kind of thinking with this comic about what kind of shape she really is. Because the thing is, no matter which one of those shapes you are (or if, like so many of us, you don’t fit neatly into any one category), you likely don’t always feel very awesome about your body. We’re bombarded with so many negative body images, and this comic does an excellent job of flipping that around on it’s head.

by Molly Alice Hoy

The other is a comic about oppression. While this kind of discussion can get extremely tiresome extremely quickly, it’s also a timeless conversation. Although she made this comic more than a year ago, this is exactly the kind of thing many of us go through every time there’s a discussion about non-discrimination ordinances, bathroom laws or marriage equality. As someone who spent the first twenty-something years of her life being deeply involved in her church, I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had conversations that went exactly like this.

Some of my favorite comics by her are those in her “Closet Adventures” series. In these she details the various ways she has to navigate life as a queer woman who is simultaneously living with her domestic partner, making online comics where she openly discusses her sexuality, and being a person who isn’t out to everyone in her life. Although many of us will empathize with this scenario and feel the pain, awkwardness, fear and sadness that it can bring up, Hoy is able to bring a deftly skilled touch. Instead of being a total downer, these comics are more along the lines of the kind of jokes where you laugh a little out of familiarity and a little bit to prevent yourself from crying. In lesser hands, these could just be a total bummer, making both the artist and the reader even more depressed, but here she is able to do the exact opposite.

by Molly Alice Hoy

I really enjoy the simple approach she takes to her drawing her comics. We don’t see too many characters or a lot of action, and so we are instead able to focus on the subject of the comics, which usually have to do with very personal things in Hoy’s life. She uses muted colors and simple lines to tell simple stories, and by keeping the art grounded, she’s able to make the comics feel that much more relatable.

She recently started taking art commissions to make some money for her upcoming wedding, and although all commission slots are currently filled, she said that she will be opening up some more soon, so be on the lookout for that! She doesn’t update her Tumblr all that much, but when she does, it’s definitely worth checking out, as her comics are always top-notch and you can tell she really puts a lot of thought and love into each of them.

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.

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