TransCat at SF ZineFest 2026

 

It was a FUN FILLED weekend with Zaphie and Hazel at SF Zinefest!
This was my FIRST Zinefest as a San Fransisco resident. I missed last year because I was only two weeks out from my FFS recovery, and had just begun a new job, so I had to sit it out, sadly.
So this is a triumphant return, and how fitting that I came with two of the best people I've met since I've been up here :3
We got there a little late, mostly my fault. Gettin' harder and harder to be on time for shit in my old age :3

Zinefest was at a NEW location this year, the Hibernia. A place that I guess USED to be a bank? I'll say one thing it was certainly a PRETTY venue. It was gorgeous actually. White and green marble pillars and counters, big high ceilings and bay windows. wish I'd taken more pictures honestly but I was too busy being cute with Zaphie and surveying the art.

I will say, i miss the Moscone Center. I feel like that venue breathes better. This place got REALLY hot as soon as it full of people. I wanted to wear my hair down but had to put it back up midway through cuz I was suh-WEATIN'! I'm sure Moscone prolly got real 'spensive thought, so I understand seeking an alternate venue

I saw a lotta people I had not seen since before the car crash who were wondering how I've been doing. I was pleased to show the progression of my healing.

We got a lot of great art, and even sold some books of our own!
Tara was representing at the Prism booth and of course we pitched in and lent a hand. Zaphie took to it like a natural. She is a natural born tabler. Girl knows how to hawk merch for real. I hope i'm able to bring her to more shows in the future.

Hazel unfortunately had to bounce early but they had a great time while we were there.
We wound up getting lunch at Falafelland.
We had the bad luck of showing up during THE RUSH, but it was WORTH the wait. There was one man working, the owner. He was multi-tasking like crazy and he still produced top-notch food for us.

Zaphie and I unfortunately had to leave a lil early as well, cuz she was helping to put on a show at Gilman, which is actually where we met in the first place. Buncha bands I did NOT know were playing but it was still very fun. I have to admit, after the con I was pretty tired so I didn't get VERY into the show. I mostly watched on the periphery, or from the concessions table (where Zaphie was stationed).
I feel like in a place like Gilman, my place is NOT in the mosh pit at all since most of the clientele skews pretty young. I would feel like a tool if I shoulder checked an 11 year old in the pit. This isn't a place for me, this is a place for them. I was jsut there to chill with Zaphie and help out.
I DID help out a lil bit, I filled out some membership cards for future use.
But mostly I got to meet Zaphie's work buddies which was a delight and a treasure on it's own. Feels like we're getting closer and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.

Again, i was mostly having fun, so I did not take a ton of pictures, but I did get a few!

I blurred the faces of the kids in the crowd cuz they did not consent to being posted on my blog.
The performers on the other hand, you should hella know who they are,, and check them out.

The band up top was "A French Project" and the band on bottom is "Moosetrout".
Not pictured: Chrysalis, Big Tractor, Fixxer and Mugslug.

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/a-french-project/1788144112
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/moosetrout/1707981879
https://www.instagram.com/bigtractormusic/
https://fixxerhc.bandcamp.com/album/promo
https://mugslug.bandcamp.com/

I could not find a site for Chrysalis.
There is a DIFFERENT band called Chrysalis that is very prominent and easy to find, but I canont find the band that played that night :(
Sad!

Anyway, it was a great night. We danced a lot and stayed out too late and had such a great, fun time.

I got a new blog on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TransCat/posts/transcat-13-i-pg-168969931

Also, help support Zaphie: https://ko-fi.com/caelestis5231/
Helping her out is also helping ME out :3

WORST COMIC-CON EVER!!!

 

 

It began like a day just like any other!
I left my house at 5am to drive to San Diego for Comic Con.
I had been nominated for an Eisner award for a book me and many other artists put out last year in the "Best Anthology" category. The book, "Come Out And Play" is still available here. 

 I'm SURE everyone's been here at least once!

In all seriousness, it was an honour I could not describe.
I've been an underground cartoonist for something like 17 years. I've never been given a nod like this before. Never thought I ever WOULD! in 2026, I am kinda under the radar by design. I think I had aspirations of breaking into the mainstream once upon a time, but ever since the writer's strike, all the stories about the abuse of talent in the industry, big studios fucking over creators specifically AND the Epstein Agenda of demonizing and abusing trans people going mainstream, my desire to "become famous" has waned. I feel MORE successful as an artist who is in control of my own IP than someone who made a deal with Cartoon Network, who made 10 lousy episodes out of their life's work and passion, cancelled it, and then cut them out of the contract for who gets royalties and merchandising rights.

All this aside, being recognized as a potentially Eisner-worthy artist felt GOOD!
Even if it was as a part of a large group of artists.
I've solidified my plan to try to make my next TransCat book JUST as Eisner-worthy as Come Out And Play. Apparently the Eisners do NOT differentiate between indie comics and big studio comes when it considers it's nominees. There were a lotta winners last week that ONLY released on Webtoon, never had a book in a store, or even in an artist alley. Imagine if the Grammys nominated someone's Soundcloud page alongside Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Bad Bunny. That's what the Eisners felt like. Especially for ME and our group of artists, who were competing against DC Pride, Judge Dredd and Noir is the New Black.

It was honestly kind of crazy just BEING in that room at ALL. 
Like, I've BEEN in a room with celebrities before. I go to these things all the time. But this was DIFFERENT because THIS time, I was there WITH them as opposed to there to SEE them. We were all sitting in the same section, being wined and dined by Comic-Con with all this bomb-ass gourmet food and shit. Being a vegan, however, my choices were limited. There was a pretty good kale and broccoli salad that basically saved my life though.
It was crazy being in the same room as George Takei, knowing we could both potentially take that stage that night and make a speech. I had a speech in mind, even! Until I found out that IF we won, it would be our editor taking the stage, not any of the artists :P

I am burying the lead here a little bit, we did not win :(
We wound of losing to DC Pride, which, I guess is a worthy opponent to lose to. Having shit I did being weighed on the same scales and Harely and Poison Ivy is already kind of a mind job.

I'm just glad the award went to some Gays, you know. It still FELT like a victory, even thought it wasn't mine personally. It wold not have been MINE personally anyway, I'd have shared the honour with so many others who helped make that book as badass as it is.
All this to say I'm TRYING to not be bitter, even though I REALLY WANTED THAT TROPHY!!!

...

Okay, calming down now.

So I'm burying the lead again. I didn't title this blog "Worst Comic-Con Ever" because I didn't win the award. I'm not THAT pissy of a piss baby.
No, the REAL bad shit actually happened the day after. I was lucky enough to get a spare ticket from my publisher Tara, so I was GONNA try and spend at least one more day at the con and actually see some stuff that wasn't the awards show. But I never made it there cuz I got into a TERRIBLE car crash on Highway 5.

It was stop and go traffic the whole time. We were going 50, we were going, 15. We were going 60, we were going 10. We were going 75, were going 5. All very stressful, all very dangerous.
I was maybe only about 5 minutes away from the exit to the convention center when suddenly I hear this absolute cacophony of honking and tire screeching. It felt REALLY close, like it was right behind me or right beside me. I nervously look over to see what is happening/about to happen to me.
But I never got the chance cuz in that split second my eyes were off the road, all the cars in front of me just STOPPED. I hit the brakes as hard as I could but it was too late. I tried to SWERVE but it was too late. I clipped the side of the bumper of the car in front of me, and because of the sped I was going and the pressure I'd applied to my brakes, the angle caused my car to FLIP! Right onto the hood!
ALL my windows shattered, I skidded for what felt like 20-30 seconds, and as the road rushed by my face, the only thing I had to protect myself was my arms.
The car screeched to a stop, I had to unbuckle my seatbelt and fall onto my ceiling so I could now crawl through all this glass so I could escape the car before it got hit by ANOTHER car.

My memory is kinda hazy at this point but I tried to grab anything and everything I could get out of my front seat, which wasn't much. My glasses had flown off my face and my phone was nowhere to be found. I had my wallet, my CD booklet (which had been almost totally destroyed), and the program from the Eisners from the night before, which had my seat ticket AND my con ticket folded up into it.

This part I remember very clearly though. As I crawled out, there was a lady trying to help me. I don't think she was involved in the accident. I think she was just a kind bystander who wanted to help. When she saw how bloody I was, she shouted "SOMEBODY CALL HER AN AMBULANCE!"
Gendered correctly, even when I'm at my worst. Still got it, baby!
Paramedics showed up almost immediately. I was shocked at how quickly they came. THEY saw how much I was bleeding and said "Let get you to the hospital!" They cleaned out as much of the glass and gravel out of my arm as they could. Disinfected it, which stung like the dickens, and got me to the nearest hospitals for X-rays. When they dropped me off, one of them handed my my belongings in a bag and she showed me the Eisner program, absolutely smeared in my blood, and she said "THAT'S badass. Get that framed."

I was panicking because I STILL didn't have my phone and had no way of contacting anyone to let them know what happened. I was now stranded in San Diego. There was NO way my car was gonna be good to drive again, which was making my panic more cuz I NEED my car for my JOB. NOW what am I gonna do. Between cleanings of my arm, I asked a nurse if she could get me a phone. I have two phone numbers memorized. My Mom and my Dad. But I was calling from a weird hospital phone number way outta town, of COURSE they're gonna think it's a spam call! So I left them messages instead, and said "I cannot receive calls from this number, it just connects to the hospital's phone tree. So I'm gonna try calling you over and over again every 5 minutes until I can CRY with you."

I did finally get ahold of my mom, who is the REAL MVP of this weekend.
she flew out and helped me with everything. The hospital, getting in touch with my friends and my job, getting the rest of my shit outta my car, replacing my glasses and my blood soaked clothes. Then we flew home. I am finally safe back in SF. Hallelujah.
I STILL have a lotta glass and gravel and burns and road rash on my arm.
I'm still in some pain, and have a ways to go for recovery.
I won't be able to draw for awhile, because it's my DRAWING arm! they TOOK my DRAWING ARM!!!

But you know what? I... can rebuild.

       

The words of one of the paramedics still haunts me.
He said "It's not very often we see someone walk away from a crash that bad."
I am still alive, and it's crazy cuz its only just in this past couple years that I felt like my life was important enough to be worth preserving. If this had happened to me before 2023, I'd be like "fuck it dude, don't save me at all, i'll just stay in the wreck. Crush me into a cube, who gives a fuck?"
But my life is BETTER now and I have shit I wanna live to DO and SEE and EXPERIENCE! The closest I ever got to death was when I most tenaciously clung to life. Ain't that always the way?
I got a home in wonderful city, so many amazing friends and family members who love me, and I got a special someone these days who's REALLY making life worth living <3

ALL of this to say...
PLEASE support my PATREON!
The after math of all of this is going to be EXPENSIVE and the best way you can support me is be interested in my comic book.
Have I mentioned that I'm Eisner Nominated?
I promise I'll make it worth your while. I have a lot of new pages of TransCat issue #13 as well as some other related projects that I cannot wait to show you. and as soon as my arm is better, I'll draw EVEN more!

But yeah, please tell your friends.
I need/want more readers <3

When I get my next Eisner nomination, I don't want people saying "wtf is TransCat?"

See you... OUT THERE!!!

TransCat at Q-Con in West Hollywood 2026

 

As "He Is Legend" once proudly proclaimed, "I Am Hollywood!"

No, that is not even remotely true. I am very much not Hollywood at all. I am FAR too Bay Area to be Hollywood. I would have thought that after living in San Fransisco for the past 9 and a half months wold have acclimated me to a city as dense and seedy as Hollywood, but it remains a wholly different beast.

Do I love visiting? Oh, hell yeah, without question.
Could I live there? Not unless i got REAL cool with some shit REAL fast. I'm still getting used to SF as my home.

The show went very well, I think. Aside from some fuckery with the hotel room, the visit went well too! I got some good food, caught up with some old friends, picked up some new books, and even sold a few!

If anything the show was too dang short.
I've seen this lil show balloon in size over the past 4 years. I feel like the next step is extending it to a two day event. Saturday and Sunday. That would rule! I love the drive, don't get me wrong, but it's kinda anticlimactic to arrive Friday and leave Saturday. Give me an excuse to stay one more day! I suppose I COULD just stay one more day on my own? But I feel like I need the excuse. I think I'd be MORE likely to wanna go out, see the town, go clubbin', etc, if that was the schedule I was expecting.
Like Fanime, there's a certain point where the con "closes" and we're all expected to go to our hotel rooms and sleep, but instead we get together and dance and smooch and shit. Even at the end of the day on Saturday, I didn't hear no one even talking about an after party!
It's like, come on, were all gays here, and we're in Hollywood! Our ancestral homeland!
I really think that if it was an overnight stay, people would WANNA party! That's what Q-Con is missing!

One thing Q-Con is NOT missing is friggin' COSPLAYERS! They came out in force that day. I hate to say it, but the cosplay contest kind of DOES take over the space while we (the artists) are trying hard to schmooze and sell our books. And after it's over, it kinda sucks the momentum outta the rest of the con. This is further argument in favour of lengthening the duration of this con. The Cosplay Contest is kind of the crescendo of the whole event. I think it would be a good mid-con event, something to cap off the end of the first day. Then we return the next day and have a more solemn end of ceremonies event on Sunday.

OR! Another idea. The cosplay contest can be the end of the whole thing. I think it wold feel less disruptive if it was the actual endcap of the convention. We wouldn't have to worry about the sudden momentum drop of the convention having an hour left after the biggest event of the day wraps up.

There was generally a very disdainful attitude towards the cosplayers among the artists, which I do not want. We're not in competition. We're just there together. One artist I will not name said they actually hated the cosplayers. Not only because the event is disruptive, but also because they never BUY anything. I dunno man, sounds like a skill issue to me. I got cosplayers buying from me all the time. But I also got this winning personality that seems to sell most of my books FOR me. Hopefully they get them home and read them actually like them, but usually I am just very charming and flirty and it makes people all the more interested in what I make, whether they're in costume or not.

But alas, Q-Con remains only a one day event, and who knows if it can ever expand???
Maybe someday, someone will ask me to lend a hand in the planning and plotting and I can see for myself all the reason two days would never work. OR! I can be the one just crazy enough to pull it off! I got high hopes, ya know?

The drive back was murder but I made it!
I LOVED being back in my own bed again, and having my own toilet and shower.
From now on I will VERY thoroughly research ANY place I book to stay, especially if it's in SoCal.
I am a pretty pretty princess and I deserve ONLY the best! (but I shouldn't have to pay for it).

Stay tuned for more!

TransCat B-Sides Release Event, Fanime, ComicCon, and Other Drama!

 

Good Afternoon TransCat Fans!

SO! The first official TransCat B-sides event has come and gone!
How did it go? And what's coming up next???

First, let us simply address all the elephants that somehow got shoved into this impossibly small room and say this event was DIFFICULT to plan. I don't want to get too into it for the sake of not spreading drama, but I will say simply that I had to seek out a different venue VERY last minute, and I am SO LUCKY that 7 Stars Bar and Grill in Campell was so incredibly willing to step up and take me in when it looked like I was gonna have to cancel entirely.

7 Stars is by far not an environment I am used to for promotional events. I'm used to comic conventions, comic shops, book stores, LGBTQ community centers or events, etc. This is a bar and grill, which is a little out of my element. The angle, however, is that it is a STAR WARS themed bar and grill, so this is definitely a nerd positive environment. 

I am worried that events I do in the future will somewhat fail to measure up to this, because the one thing 7 Stars has that will be very difficult to guarantee anywhere else I go is a nice lil menu of vegan food. They actually have ALL kindsa food, AND drinks, in fact. If you are in the Campbell, CA area any time soon and you're looking for some badass vegan nachos, or banh mi, or meatball subs, THIS is the place!

Plus, the whole place is lined up and down with Star Wars memorabilia of all kinds. Action figures, comics, statues, art prints, as well as some cool props which I can only assume are hand-made. They got a life sized Han in Carbonite sculpture out front with the face cut out, so you can get behind it and get your picture taken. They also got a not QUITE life sized Jabba the Hutt all the way in the back towards the end of the bar. It looks mostly paper mache. 
 

it's pretty skillfully done.

Unfortunately, along with the venue change came a time change as well. The comic shop had a tighter schedule that I was allowed to be there in. 12pm to 4pm. Not sure why it had to be so tight for the but I work with what they give me.
Weirdly enough, this odd timing actually seemed to work out for a lot of my friends and fans, who I guess were free in the early part of the day, but had shit to do in the evening. 7 Stars, however, opened at 4pm, so that was our start time. The good news was we had a LOT more time to schmooze and promote, cuz the bar owners were happy to have us there until closing. Sadly, it meant that a lotta folk who had shit to do in the evening just plain couldn't make it. 
It's okay though, because there WILL be more events! And also, the people who COULD make it had a GREAT time and I'm SO grateful for that. I was surrounded by family and loved ones and comic fans and even strangers who had no idea who I was, but were interested in what I was doing anyway.

At the end of the day it was a wonderful event. I sold a LOTTA the new book, plus some of my old books as well! I actually wound up selling out of my original graphic novel, as well as, really randomly, Issue #8. I guess I just ain't re-ordered that one in awhile.

And at the end of the time, we got karaoke!
Seriously, that's ALL my favourite shit right there.
Comics, vegan food, Star Wars and karaoke!
Could there possibly be an event MORE tailor made towards my specific interests? In the immortal words of Marge Simpsons, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see!

So that was my weekend LAST weekend.

The weekend BEFORE! Hooboy! THAT'S Fanime!

So this was not my first Fanime OUT as a trans woman. It wasn't even my first Fanime outwardly and specifically presenting as a trans woman. But I WILL say the Fanimes prior, I have gone with predominantly straight men. THIS year I went with girls, gay girls, trans girls and non-binary peeps. Before, Fanime was always a 10/10 experience. No complaints. Loved it every year. This year? Hard 11/10. Best ever! More of this, please! 

I have not been to Fanime as an artist in awhile. I do miss it, though, cuz I always did so well every year, but the Artist Alley has gotten harder and harder to get into as the focus of the alley itself has shifted hard into fan art of existing properties and away from original, anime inspired art or stories.
I never understood the selling of fanart, myself. Very seldom have i desired to have a print of someone else's rendition of Goku on my wall. I get why it appeals to people in general, but for me, that's just not WHY I go to the Artist Alley, and it's not the kinda thing I want to have to make to get INTO Artist Alley. I will however say that I DID see more original art than usual this year. I even found a book that seems to be VERY much in the vein of TransCat called Scarlet Star by Da Vin Kim.

https://kimjdav-shop.fourthwall.com/products/scarlet-star-vol-1

The way the author pitched it to me was "A delinquent boy transforms into a magical girl". And you know me, it does NOT take much to sell me with ANY kinda queer content, but this is VERY laser focused at ME and MY interests, so it was an INSTANT buy. It was a LITTLE pricey, not gonna lie, he charged me $45 at the con. LOOKS like I could bought it for $30 on the website, but whatever, I am happy to help this artist pay for their table a lil' faster than usual. Plus, this is 172 pages of content so you're getting your money' worth on this one.
Feels like maybe I should be raising MY prices a lil bit! My first TransCat graphic novel is 192 pages, and B-Sides is 218, and I sell those for $25 each.

I dunno times are tough and maybe raising prices is a natural reaction to that.
but on the other hand, I kinda ALSO want people to hear a number lower than they were expecting, and feel like giving ME that money is not even an action they gotta think too hard about.

These books cost a lil over 10 bucks each to print, so a $15 profit ain't that bad, tbh.
Makes me wonder where Da is getting his books done. They're damn fine quality!

Anyway, long story short, Fanime was rad.

what ELSE is going on in the world of Knave?

Oh!
Remember that come Out And Play anthology I was part of last year?
We've been nominated for an Eisner award!

Outrageous! I know! I have been in this biz for like, 18 years. I've been doing TransCat for 12 of those years! I never in my life imaged I'd be up for such a prestigious award. Granted, it is not SPECIFICALLY TransCat that is nominated, it's TransCat and like, 50 other amazing talented artists as well. Or, if you choose to read it as such, I am riding 50 other artists' FAR more talented coat tails with my silly little cat girl comic. Whatever! This is AMERICA! Benefiting from the hard work of others is practically baked into our culture.

SPEAKING of which!
When I first got the news, it was somewhat bittersweet, cuz while it is an honour to be nominated alongside the likes of DC Comics and Judge Dredd, there was... well... ANOTHER book on that list that really really sank my spirits. You mighta heard of this. "Stardust the Super Wizard". The first book the Eisners have EVER nominated made with AI.

Like I said, I been scrapin' by and payin my dues in this biz for nearly two decades, and there was a part of me that was very hurt to know that I'd finally made it HERE... alongside a fucking BOT!
I had plans to bum rush the stage Kanye West style if the robut won, snatch the mic and make shit REAL WEIRD for EVERYONE in attendance. Yes I more than likely would have been kicked out, MAYBE arrested. But if people are gonna be clappin' for a clanker, their boo's mean nothing at all to me.
But there is good news as well, which you'll notice by observing that Stardust is NOT on the list I just provided. Looks like the backlash against allowing an AI book to even be nominated was enough to make the judges rescind their decision. See? Bullying WORKS! we are safe from AI for at least another year.

So! I'll find out at the end of July if we won or not.
And you know, even if we don't bring it home, I'm STILL throwing a great big party when I get home, because as much of a cliche as it is, it IS an IMMENSE honour to be nominated! That's a badge I can wear with pride for the rest of my days. And even if we DO win, the goal of being nominated for a standalone TransCat book is still on my bucket list. and since AI seems to not being going anywhere no matter WHAT we do, I gotta long road ahead, as an artist who creates using their actual hands.

I'll be keeping you updated, of course.
In the mean time, I still have Q-Con in Hollywood coming up this month.
THAT'S gonna be a big to-do for sure!

Thanks for wading through this wall of text with me!

Just as a reminder, i STILL update my Patreon every week with new WIP art from the upcomming TtansCat issue #13.

https://www.patreon.com/c/TransCat

I've hemorrhaged a lotta patrons this past couple years since the books been on hiatus.
But I am back, the book is back, and I want YOU back!

$1 per month gets you access to ALL of the WIP pages I upload every week.
$5 per month gets you that, plus .PDF's of all of my past issues, PLUS... new issues when they are finished :D

I've also been tinkering with a new free comic I wanna start drawing and uploading every week.
Stay tuned for that too! :3

TRANSCAT AT ILLUSIVE COMICS AND GAMES

We got ANOTHER TransCat event coming up!
If you are in the Bay Area and want a chance to meet the REAL TransCat, come on down to Illusive Comics and Games in Santa Clara May 31st between 12pm and 4pm.

I'll be selling the new graphic novel, plus every other book I've released. I'll be signing autographs and maybe, if I'm lucky, will be doing a reading from the new book.

Come on by, brings you friends, bring your family, but most importantly, BRING MONEY!

The good folk at Illusive Comics have been TransCat supporters since the early days and I cannot thank them enough for hosting me again.

If you CAN'T make it and still wanna support the TransCat Cause, don't forget to support the Patreon.

I am doing my best to revive this long forgotten page with new weekly content.
I know we're in a recession and no one can afford nothin' no more, but I did my best to not only make all my tiers cheap, but include a vast array of free shit too!
Seriously, any engagement helps at this point T^T

Anyway! Hopefully I'll be hopefully making more announcements for events soon! I'm trying like crazy to book more. Maybe I'll come to YOUR area!!!???