I'm going to make an autobiographical graphic novel about my gender issues...  It will start out in my childhood, never clearly establishing whether I am a boy or a girl (as it wasn't when I was a kid) and then like 30 pages in, puberty hits and you have to turn the book upside down and read it manga-style, right to left, as I try to be a normal girl, and then my dreams and role-paying as a male would be right-side up and left-to-right again...  It's intended to be clumsy to drive home the "WTF" feeling of trying to get used to each gender switch, but for western readers the left-to-right sections will feel natural and the right-to-left assumed but you get a little used to it, just as the differing gender roles and forced behavior feels.

I thought it was frickin brilliant when I came up with it last night, somebody punch me in the face if you think it'll suck...  Otherwise, I think I'm going to be a little loose with it and make it semi-autobio with a little dramatization to make things more clear.  It might also be cool to include experiences I may not have had but that were incredibly important in the lives of other TS individuals, so if any of you have a vignette, a short scene, from your own life that you think is important in a positive OR negative way, it'd be awesome if you could write it up for inclusion, trying to be as detailed and real as you can cuz it's the realism and personality that would make this thing hit home.  Anything I include I would credit.

I want to make it have an impact.  I want it to be a work of art that will shine the light on a very real issue that is very misunderstood, and try, not to explain it away, but to make people empathize with the craziness of the situation for us.

The graphic novel bit sounds cool. Dunno about the awkward reading though, it also might put people off reading it. Disclaimer here: I am not an artist and although my taste isn't quite black velvet paintings of dogs playing poker, it does tend toward the conventional.

Dennis

I guess it might for people who aren't in the comics scene very much...  I might be over-estimating my audience, but the number of people reading manga is huge and just keeps getting bigger, so it might only be flipping the book that seems awkward, which is what I'm going for.  I've never come up with a good vehicle for these feelings and this kinda bowled me over when it came to me so maybe I'm just over-enthusiastic o_o

I think it sounds interesting and you should go for it.  It may turn some people off, but it may be such an innovative idea, that you may start something new in the literary world.  It's a risk, but one that is probably worth taking.

Melissa

Sounds interesting, I like it. 

Mikko,

      It sounds cool to me. It won't be for everyone, but what is? It is different and that is what will make it marketable.

                       Marco

I thought about the inconvenience of flipping as a detriment at first and now I think that as long as you don't go back and forth too much the symbolism will be almost tangible.

Go for it!
helen

Thanks   I'm really excited.  I'm working on the script bit by bit...

Quote from: Mikko on September 19, 2006, 09:32:19 AM
I'm going to make an autobiographical graphic novel about my gender issues...  It will start out in my childhood, never clearly establishing whether I am a boy or a girl (as it wasn't when I was a kid) and then like 30 pages in, puberty hits and you have to turn the book upside down and read it manga-style,somebody punch me in the face if you think it'll suck... 

mikko :
great idea! do your first story board and let us see it, we'll give you feedback if you want.
TG characters have been done with success but none from childhood that am aware of.
  Can't wait t see what you come up with.
break a leg
sheila18

Thanks, Sheila, I will do that.  It won't be for a while though, I have to fit this project in between all my work stuff :/

Hi Mikko,

I like your idea too.

Quoteyou have to turn the book upside down and read it manga-style, right to left, as I try to be a normal girl, and then my dreams and role-paying as a male would be right-side up and left-to-right again...

  People who read graphic novels tend to be adaptive, so I don't think that briefly manipulating the material will be necessarily intrusive to the reader.


I wish you well with the project,

Hey Mikko,
Actually the idea seems amazingly innovative - but I am having trouble visualising it    does it mean that the back of page one (page 2) is printed upside down?   that you read it through to the end and turn it upside down (or right way up    ) and read it back.  ?    naa that wont work either

So if page 2 is printed same way up but is actually the last page not the second one it wont make sense?

I am missing somthing here

Rana

Mikko,

I think its a fabulous idea!

There are a number of transition books in print, but they tend to be a little heavy and written for people my age.  I think a graphic novel will very quickly find an audience, probably with the 24 and younger crowd.

If you're not keeping a journal, you probably want to start.  It will give you ideas for the graphic novel.

Start sketching!

Chaunte