8 Woke IG POC Cartoonists Dropping Knowledge On Your News Feed
No one reads comics in a newspaper anymore, except maybe your grandpa.
Like nearly everything else in print, comics have made their way to the Internet and have found a thriving home on social media.
Illustrators of color are taking particular advantage of this to bring some light to their own encounters with everything from racism to body hair.
Representation matters (It can’t be said enough, to be honest) and webcomics are no exception.
Seeing a character that looks like you adds an extra bit of familiarity, no matter the medium.
The instagram webcomic @YesImhotinthis is a perfect example of this. Billed as “the misadventures of a slightly sweaty Muslim-American woman,” the comic has gained nearly thirty-three thousand followers in five months.
“I just wanted to see someone in comics who looked like me and shared my experiences,” said Huda, the artist behind the Instagram web comic. “As for representation in comics, there are a lot of different artists out there but not many that were women and not many that depicted women of color.”
After being rejected by several book agents for the publication of her book of short stories by the same title, Huda turned her stories into comics.
“Yes I’m Hot In This” is just one of several webcomic accounts that are funny, concise and typically spot on for those random experiences only people of color can truly understand.
Whether you’re feeling like the ambassador for your ethnicity, getting rid of all your tea cups after watching Jordan Peele’s Get Out, or playing rap music at your traditional Indian wedding, these Instagram webcomics have got you covered.
These 8 POC insta-illustrators are using instagram feeds to give followers their dose of everyday hilarity and wokeness. Check out their Instagram accounts and a few of their opinions on representation within the world of webcomics below, in no particular order.
- @yesimhotinthis is “a webcomic about the misadventures of a slightly sweaty Muslim-American woman,” run by artist Huda.
2. @goodbadcomics is run by Indian artist Adi. “Using brown color for skin in comics shouldn’t be looked at as something different,” she said. “I want everyone to become one and love and accept each other for what and who we are and I find comics to be a brilliant medium to express that.”
3. @yeahitschill is a webcomic about the daily misadventure of a cartoon character named Krysteen, based on real life experiences of the artist behind the comic Christine.
4. @hinsonmike “I just want to see kids, at the same age I was when I first started drawing, be inspired by characters that they can really relate to, ” said Mike Hinson, Buzzfeed web artist who runs the Instagram web comic @hinsonmike.
“Being younger and super obsessed with the video games, comics, animated shows, that had the most impact on me, any of them having a solid poc representation was pretty slim,” said Hinson.
“I would draw my own original characters as white just because it was the norm that I came to know, until about high school when I really thought about it for the first time like “it would be way cooler if these characters looked like me”.”
5. @brownpaperbagcomics is an Indian webcomic about “brown paper bags with multiple metaphorical connotations subject to individual interpretation so you don’t ask me what it means,” says the anonymous artist.
6. @revtimes is run by “ran by a foul mouth toddler,” says the Instagram bio. But behind that toddler and web comic are writer Brandon Howard and artist Sean Anthony Mack, the creators of the real life comic Revolutionary Times.
The comic “chronicles two young revolutionaries on their journey to shake up the establishment along with their mature baby cousin,” says their website.
7. @ugly.sweater “One French man. One Indian Woman. What could go wrong?” is how the webcomic @ugly.sweater is billed.
Created by an the interracial couple of an indian-american woman and french man, their webcomic covers everything from workplace millennials to a guide to Desi Dating.
8. @imaneimagination run by an amazing 15-year old Moroccan teenager, Imane with a talent for reimagining Disney cartoons.
9. @timmeroh is run by artist Tim O and “powered by Pizza,” with comics on everything from the toxic mess in comment sections to when to properly eat pizza (hint: always).
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Woke is your digital media space for content that is truly diverse and representative. We plan to launch a platform of streaming videos in 2018.
We are following the latest happenings in pop culture, art, entertainment, and tech. Tracking the shift to a more inclusive media and entertainment industry. Read More on Medium.com/woketoday
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