Witness to the changes in society, comics are increasingly interested in topics linked to transidentity. This awakening is marked by the progressive arrival of trans heroes in the news of the major Franco-Belgian publishers. But also due to the appearance of trans artists who want to be able to tell their own experience through drawing.
Several recent releases testify to this growth: The only place by Séverine Vidal and Marion Cluzel, a love story between a young non-binary trans man and his neighbor, and on the tips of the fingers, autofiction by Colin Atthar (already released). But also hack skin by Jul Maroh and Sabrina Calvo, a polyamorous trio’s search for freedom during a far-right coup d’état (October 6) and strange resistance, a history of LGBTQI+ cultures by Pochep and Antoine Idier (October 18).
“What’s happening is very nice,” says Sabrina Calvo, who abandoned comics and recently returned to dedicate herself to it. “It’s reminiscent of what happened in the 2000s and 2010s with gay comics,” adds Colin Atthar. “It has gone beyond the realm of fanzines. A taboo has been removed.” “It is a reflection of what has been happening on the Internet for a long time,” analyzes Aloïs, who will publish a fantasy comic in 2025 with Dargaud. Eclepsis. “Publishers are trying to hang the wagons a little bit.”
“It is completely normal to address these very current issues,” explains Mathias Vincent, editor of hack skin. “As long as we talk about it every day, there’s absolutely no reason not to talk about it in a book.” “Trans authors have been around for a long time, but we mainly evolved in self-publishing,” recalls Helsenn, who will join Dargaud in 2024 with the webtoon Queen Cinderella. “A door is opening, we will open it wider, we will enter by force if necessary, but we will be there!”
Strategy change
These artists also benefit from a change in strategy among historical publishers, who are looking for new authors capable of capturing the young audience that has abandoned Franco-Belgian comics for manga. “People too often forget that trans people are, above all, creative people,” says designer Joanna Folivéli. “I have the impression that editors are more open to new stories and new styles,” Aloïs rejoices.
Thus were born the venerable editions of Lombard, the flagship of traditional Franco-Belgian comics with leonardo, Ducobu AND Thorgalthey found themselves publishing hack skin. “Le Lombard has changed its editorial policy a lot in recent years,” confirms Mathias Vincent.
“The idea is to be able to reconstruct a modern and ambitious catalogue. We want to talk about today’s world. Jul and Sabrina’s project fits perfectly with our new editorial line.”
Her arrival in Lombard is a victory, although Sabrina Calvo refuses to interpret it that way: “It is rather an opportunity to show people who have patience and curiosity that there are many ways to tell stories and tell our intimacy.” hack skin It has a circulation of 20,000 copies, a significant figure for an album for which there is no known license.
Caught up in the news
This enthusiasm comes as environmental discourse around transidentity is radicalizing in France under the impetus of American fundamentalist movements. “We are also caught in the grip of what is happening in Eastern Europe: Hungary, Chechnya, Russia,” explains Jul Maroh. “The Manif pour tous, which lost the fight against gay marriage, is still in good shape. They have found another fight and it is this one, against us.”
Imagined as a story of anticipation, hack skin was overtaken by reality: “At the time of the last presidential election, Sabrina and I were very, very afraid that the far right would win. We revised the scenario in the book at the time to pretend that the ‘far right had won.’ elections there. When we read history, we don’t know if it is in 2022 or 2027. The idea is that people realize that we are already surrounded by far-right governments in Europe and that we are also at risk of this happening in France. “
Currently, a large part of the comics about transidentity are testimonial stories, such as Call me Nathan (2018) by Catherine Castro and Quentin Zuttion. “These stories may be linked to a phenomenon of normalization,” analyzes Aloïs. “When there really is no representation, we tell ourselves that we must first talk about the issue [de manière documentaire, en s’inspirant du réel] – before telling more diverse stories once it becomes more apparent.”
“The testimonies are not necessarily directed at trans people,” considers Colin Atthar. “It’s more about making certain concepts understood. It affects me less. But I understand why this need exists.”
Théodore Pralinus, author of the webtoon Boys will be boys, also sees “a very reductionist vision of things”: “It is not because you are trans that everything you are going to experience is a transition story.” These albums, except for RecognizeTrans (2021) by Laurier The Fox, trans artists are rarely thought of. “Very few trans people make comics about transidentity and talk about their own experiences,” laments Joanna Folivéli, who addresses this topic in her dream comic. Become.
Beyond the testimony
Before addressing the only place, designer Marion Cluzel questioned its legitimacy: “The topic concerns me and interests me personally. Drawing allows us to talk about certain personal topics without necessarily going through the first person or autobiography.” Imagined in 2017, “when the pronoun ‘iel’ had not yet entered the dictionary,” The only place is inspired by the life of a trans man, Adhe, known to screenwriter Séverine Vidal.
The album, which goes beyond the story of testimony, follows the story of a non-binary trans person, Léold. A student in Bordeaux, he falls in love with his neighbor, in a relationship and victim of an abusive relationship. To “avoid the cliché of the cis young man who ‘saves’ the trans person, I added an ex character so they can save each other,” explains the screenwriter. “Adhe corrected the writing and worked on the drawing, like a technical advisor. I made sure I didn’t make any mistakes.”
The popularity of “Young Adult” comics in the United States and webtoons in France has also allowed a new generation of trans artists to offer new stories beyond testimony: “I didn’t want to do a biographical story that talked about the transition, but a fantastic comic with characters that look like me,” explains Aloïs whose comic Eclepsis is very inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle. “I try to make it normal in all my stories, not to be a problem.”
Helsenn thus believes that having “fictional trans characters allows you to identify yourself when you are younger”: “By addressing as many people as possible we will make it less taboo and overcome preconceived ideas about transidentity.” . To show that it’s normal, that it doesn’t make people weird, that there’s nothing problematic about being trans.”
“Afraid to monitor my work”
Not all trans cartoonists share this opinion. Staying on the sidelines is essential for Joanna Foliveli, currently immersed in writing her second album: “We are forced to create our own houses, because what we do is too unusual. I want to tell stories in a different way than what we do traditionally” . in comics.” An ambition shared by all these artists, whose works always offer completely new stories in their structure.
As soon as an artist makes visible “non-normed bodies, types of non-normed relationships, he de facto provides a way of telling different things,” confirms Sabrina Calvo, who also cites the influence of contemporary video games and science fiction literature in hack skin. “Our artistic construction depends on our personal experience,” adds Jul Maroh. “If we had to deconstruct everything on a daily basis, it will be reflected in our way of understanding our fiction.”
“Narrative, as lived in fiction, serves the powers of oppression,” continues Sabrina Calvo. “We create stories with structures inherited from a fixed way of seeing the world. Isn’t the way we tell stories responsible for the embeddedness in our principles?” “It’s reappropriating your story through storytelling and subverting comics codes like [la maison d’édition] the Association in the 1990s,” adds Colin Atthar.
A singularity that remains difficult to cultivate in the traditional publishing environment, indicates Joanna Folivéli, author with 30,000 subscribers on Instagram: “There are so many ways to innovate and decompartmentalize what a comic is, but I am very afraid that [les grands acteurs de l’édition] Ask me to rewrite everything, tell me to watch my comments in relation to cis people, tell me to modify my work so that it’s not too disruptive.”
“Leave the way”
However, there are reasons to be optimistic. If Théodore Pralinus remembers meeting editors who were “disturbed” by the use of “certain strange words that they did not know”, Jul Maroh and Sabrina Calvo refused to add a lexicon of these terms in hack skin. “We refer to sites that explain it better than we do,” the duo specifies. “It allowed us to share the impact this album could potentially have with the partnerships that move things forward.”
It is also a way of encouraging uninitiated readers to let themselves go, as happens with certain science fiction classics. “I wanted to take the reality of our terms and our existence as the great neurolinguistic structures of a science fiction reality,” rejoices Sabrina Calvo. “It’s unprecedented and I hope it paves the way,” adds Jul Maroh.
Existing and being recognized, on the other hand, is a constant struggle. Jul Maroh fights to prevent his “dead name”On Wikipedia it appears, the first name assigned to him at birth, which he abandoned during his transition. “The demands were attended to by Trust and Safety, an organization within Wikimedia that ensures respect for human rights, but there has been no improvement in a year,” he laments. As he prepares to return to signing sessions in France and Belgium for the first time since 2017, he confesses how “scared” he is:
“I must confront the lack of empathy and plausible education. I must anticipate what will be on the order of microviolence, such as inappropriate questions or lack of gender, or discrimination, if booksellers decide not to invite me to a book signing because I have (either out of personal conviction on their part or out of fear of their clients’ reaction).
“Although it may turn out well, it is difficult to assume that it will, due to the attacks I have already suffered.”
Being outside the system also exposes you to a certain loneliness. Especially among trans authors. “We can be counted on the fingers of one hand,” recalls Joanna Folivéli, who confesses that she “almost gave up” comics in 2018. A meeting with Quebec designer Julie Delporte convinced her not to hang up her brushes. “She has a very special way of telling stories and drawing. Without her, I would never have persevered.”
Source: BFM TV
