TRANSCAT'S BACK, ALRIGHT!

 

Click HERE to order TransCat B-Sides TODAY!

Gosh, it's been a lil over two years since my last update, ain't it?
I do apologize for the long absence, there's been SO much going on, all of which I will GLADLY tell you about now!

So the part you may know already is that the collaboration I forged to work on TransCat Issue #13 fell apart. I started focusing on TransCat B-Sides while I regrouped and concocted a way to re-write Issue #13 which utilized as much of my already finished art as possible.

THEN, The Come Out and Play compilation came along! 

Once in awhile, I got an opportunity from the fine people at Stacked Deck Press to take part in one of their amazing comics compilations. It had been awhile for me, since many of their recent compilations were themed around subjects and identities that didn't truly include me, so I took a back seat for a lil bit. but this opportunity came along in early 2024 and I wanted to jump on it.
The theme is queer people in sports, and I figured, athlete or not, as a trans woman, I got a lot to say on this topic.
I'd had this joke in my mind for a long time about TransCat playing volleyball, and accidentally colliding with one of her teammates as they both rushed for the ball, and as they both recovered on the gym floor, TransCat asks, in a daze "So does this mean we're like, going now? Or what?" So, a story about Volleyball became my focus.
The story went through many drafts, and eventually became a story about TransCat joining her community college's volleyball team in search of a much needed PE credit for her GenEd requirements.
She is at first accepted onto the team since they're just desperate for another teammate, but when it comes out she is trans, people begin demanding she be kicked off the team for having an unfair advantage, even though she clearly sucks at the game.
At pitched that draft to the editors and they really liked it, but THEN the Olympics happened and everyone started accusing Imane Khelif of being trans and I really REALLY wanted to change my story from a volleyball one into a boxing one. I wrote a new treatment and sent it to Stacked Deck and was like "Hey listen, i know I'm already deep into my first draft, but check THIS out!"
I wished I hadn't spent so much time on that second treatment, cuz they rejected it almost outright. Dunno why exactly, they were just like "No, please stick with your current pitch."
Maybe they were trying to court a little less controversy, maybe they just thought I was too far along to change course, but either way I'm was disappointed but eventually glad that they stood firm cuz the story I eventually finished ended up bringing down the house.
I wound up NOT using that "So does this mean we're like, going now? Or what?"
There was just no good place to put it in the story, so I'mma hafta hang onto that one for later. I have a feeling this won't be the last time TransCat plays volleyball.

So anyway, that took up a lot of my time.

I'm sure you're wondering "Knave, why am I not hearing about ANY of this until now?"

Well.

In 2024, my life ALSO changed in a HUGE way.

I'm sure many of you reading have heard of the recent film "I Saw the TV Glow".
If you've seen the film, you can probably see where this is going, but to put it bluntly, the ending of that movie really made me question all of my life choices.
I'd been "in transition" for the past 8 years, and in that moment, I felt like I was being lazy, sitting on my laurels, not making the moves I REALLY wanted to make, due to either anxiety associated with surgery recovery, or the social stigma that comes with VISIBLY transitioning. I'd already been doing that for awhile, as I've had pronounced breasts for at least 7 of the past 8 years. But I'd been wanting to mess with not just my junk, but my face as well. Biting the bullet and facing the pain of surgery, the awkwardness of recovery and the endless, endless possibilities that I wouldn't like what I've chosen.
This anxiety wreaked havoc not only on my private life, but my social life as well. I'd ceased any kind of romantic pursuits almost entirely, and went out only with friends I knew well and felt comfortable with, making no effort to meet new people or try new things. I gained a lot of weight, and my health went downhill.
But seeing the ending of "I Saw The TV Glow" really awakened in me this feeling that I'd been letting fear ruin my life, and that maybe I was running out of time to have the life I wanted and be happy. It was 2024 and I was gonna be 40 years old that autumn. And what had I done with that time?
I was devastated. I sobbed in the theater. I sobbed so hard, my nose bled. I dunno if those two things were necessarily related, but i had to apologize to the theater staff for bloodying up my seat. It was that bad.

I walked away from that theater experience feeling lost and extremely down on myself, unsure of what I was going to do with these new feelings.
All I knew was I had to make a change in my life.

What happens next is complicated and not all parts of this story are for public consumption, but long story short, while in this new mindset, I met someone who wound up changing my life. Someone who was free in all the ways I wished to be. Someone who, through spending time with and observing, I feel like I learned a lot about how to love myself, and be who I wished to be.
If you asked her now, she would not want to take credit for this. she would say I did all the hard work, and she'd be right, but I think having her in my life made that hard work feel not so hard.

So here we are, a year and a half later.
I've gotten my FFS, I'm in the middle of scheduling my GRS.
I am dating again.
I am going out regularly.
I am going to the gym, getting in better shape.
I'm attempting to make some moves in my career and education.
AND I've moved out on my own, finally.
I am now a proud resident of the great city of San Fransisco.

And through all this, i have not REALLY been working on TransCat :/

BUT! Were back! We are SO BACK! I am a proud San Fransiscan artist and by golly it's about time I've made a name for myself. I've got a new book that you can buy RIGHT NOW, and I've already booked my first new show at Pride in Panels NEXT WEEK and the SF Public Library. 

Keep an eye out for MORE show announcements, because I have no intention of stopping here.
Also, Issue #13 is being worked on again, along with Issues #14, #15 and #16.

When I get good pencil drafts of all these issues down on paper, I'll start showing them off.
Keep an eye on my long forgotten Patreon for further updates.

I've also been toying with another concept called "TransCat's Livejournal" which will be  a collection of either one off jokes, random musings, short stories, or even very pointed references that I feel like putting TransCat in.
That one's still in the cooking phase. Stay tuned on that one.

I'm hoping I'll have more to say, and more time to say it in coming months.
My new work schedule is a little unpredictable and very demanding.
But PLEASE trust there WILL be more to say!

In the mean time, get your copies of TransCat B-Sides, and come see me at the shows! ^~^

CHEERY CHUNGUS FROM TRANSCAT!

Cheery Chungus, everyone!
Here's TransCat Santa Chungus! She's the GOOD one! Don't worry! You can trust your Christmas wishes with her!

If you follow me on my various socials, you have probably noticed that this lil guy has become my user avatar since the beginning of December!

What does she mean? What's going to happen with her? Oh, jsut you wait and see, my dearest lads and lasses! Just you wait and see! Maybe nothing? Who's to say? Maybe it will be THE most intense experience of all time!

Either way, you'll have to come in a check again on Christmas to find out for sure!

Hey, you know, it's been a long time since I updated this site! How do you like the new look? Let's just say I watched that short documentary on Brigitte Bond on Youtube, and was inspired. If you ain't seen it yet, HERE it is!
I've always been kind of a casual Ska fan, but I've never attempted to work the look and the aesthetics into TransCat. I've actually always been more of a punk fan, which, as you can see, is really represented in the site's new look as well. I would like for this to be a prooject I keep adding more to as the comic goes on and the site continues to evolve. There's a lotta punk rock icons that could TransCatified, and they will surely come to me more and more over time. When I got another two rows of brick walls worth of doodles, I'll add to the scroll.

Did you know I went to another con recently?
That's right, SF Fan Expo was just two weeks ago.
I practically INSIST you check out all my photos! Click the picture below :3

 

 

It was a GREAT con. And I'm not just saying that because it's the first con I've been to since March. It was legitimately very fun, and I did really good business there.
I also need to thank my table buddy, Stephanie, for accompanying me, helping me set up and break down every day, and guarding the table during my many bathroom breaks and explorations around the convention.

This was actually NOT a great con for merch! I hardly found anything there I wanted to buy. And the few things I DID want were FAR too expensive for me to justify. Maybe that's a good thing though, cuz I need to be better with my money.

I was sitting just over 50 feet away from the infamous Ken Penders himself.
I was so, SO tempted to cause some kind of incident over at his booth, but I really wasn't looking to get kicked out of the con either. Plus, I know Mr. Penders to be a very litigious person. He certainly ain't working on or releasing comics these days, so he's got all the time in the world to sue Sega, Archie Comics, IDW, Paramount Pictures and the like. Surely he would not mind adding me to the list of defendants.

For context, Ken Penders is the man who is most often credited for sinking the ship that was Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog adaptation. He is definitely also some kinda weird sex pervert too, if the storylines he kept trying to explore are any evidence. But yeah, he wound up adding like 100 new characters to the Sonic the Hedgehog roster during his time working on the comic, and for some reason, neither Archie nor Sega took the time to make this guy sign any kind of forfeiture of ownership agreement when he got hired. Both Sega and Archie CLAIMED this document existed. But after Ken got fired from the comic for being a sex pervert, and he made the claim that all of his original characters actually belonged to him, neither side could produce the document. So, they had no choice but to allow Ken Penders to take his army of cartoon furries with him, many of which had become INTEGRAL to the plot, thus sinking the comic.

You can make the argument that it was Sega and Archie that really dripped the ball here, but I still choose to think of Penders as the bad guy here because when you think about how fucking STRANGE the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom is, I feel like you can trace it directly back to this man.

But I guess the GOOD news was that IDW picked up the Sonic license afterwards, and decided to ONLY use characters from the games, which, should have been Archie's strategy to begin with. But, in all fairness, in November of 1992, when they first picked it up, Sonic the Hedgehog had exactly three main characters, Sonic, Tails, and Robotnik. So I guess the need to create a supporting cast WAS there. i just wish Ken Penders hadn't had such a heavy hand in creating it.

Anyway. I let the whole con go by and never gave this man a piece of my mind. I was actually kind of surprised that NO ONE did, considering how infamous he is. I cannot think of anyone who is a "fan" of this guy. Maybe that's why, honestly. Maybe people just walked by his booth not knowing who he was or what he did. Maybe I'M the weirdo for knowing all this, and wanting revenge after all these years. I am at least willing to explore the possibility.

Anyway, it wasn't all bad. I had a really cute incident where this little kid was walking by my booth with his parents, and he excitedly pointed at my booth and shouted "CATBOYYYYYY!" I smiled and simply said "CatGIRL", to which he responded "CATGIRRRRRLLLLLL!"
Probably the highlight of the entire con.

I was also sitting next to a really talented Filipino artist named Kristian Kubuay who I wound up buying two books from.
The first one is COMPLETELY in Tagalog, and I cannot read a single word of it. I am not even sure what it's called, but it is apparently a fashion magazine from the Philippines that features a friend of his who is a transgender model, and is not only working on transgender advocacy, but is also very vocal and outspoken about sharing Filipini cutlure that existed pre-colonization, and urges fans and followers to not forget these roots, and actively fight back against homogenization, etc.
I could be wrong, but i think her name is Geena Rocero. That's what I get when I type "Filipino Transgender Model" into google, and those pictures KINDA look like the pictures in the book, and since I can't read it, iIam going on faith.

The other book I got from him is called Apoy Ni Lakapati, which apparently just means "Lakapati's Fire". Lakapati is a Filipino God who blesses not only the harvest, but also pregnancies. I am not SUPER well versed in the story behind this figure, but apparently, different interpretations of this God's stories lead people in the modern day to think of them as a transgender figure. I guess there's certain aspects of them that are thought of and conveyed very masculine, and others that are very feminine. I have not read the book yet, so perhaps I'll learn more about it after I do, but the good news is, I CAN read it, because it is in English! Phew! More to come, perhaps! If you wanna read it for yourself, you can get it HERE.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the con. Perhaps I'll say more later, but there's a lot going on in my house and I can't be on the computer all day. I'll close by saying my application to go to Queer Comics Fest in SF is in. Fingers crossed I get in. That will be February 18th.
I'm also considering going to Galaxy Con in August, which is a far way off still, but it's on my radar.

Pray for me :3

WonderCon 2023 and other little things!

 

Click the picture to see the photo album!

Heyyy guyyyssss

Long time no see, huh? I keep forgetting I have a blog. I keep updating the Facebook, the Instagram and the Patreon and then neglecting this boi right here. I mostly think of this as a link to purchase my books, and I need to get over that, because blogs are fun and I like writing them.

I've been doing plenty in the past few months, I just ain't been writing about them like I should be.

Like did you know I went to WonderCon? Of course you didn't, because I barely talked about it when it was happening! The end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 was such a mess for me, professionally AND artistically. I was actually travelling quite a lot for work, and then wound up travelling a lot for art and for fun as well. Work sent me both to Columbia, South Carolina AND Tacoma, Washington in a two month period, and right after I returned home, I wound up in Disneyland with three VERY good friends. A week after that I was swept away to WonderCon and since I've been home, I've been attempting to decompress between changing assignments at work, dentist appointments, car repairs and relatives coming to visit. What a life!

So anyway, a Monday to myself (mostly, at least) seems like a great time to pick up the good habit of writing in my blog, and why not upload my WonderCon photos as well? They've been sitting harmlessly on my phone for a month, and now, I unleash them upon you, the unwitting public!

I was first contacted for possible participation at WonderCon back in February by longtime collaborator Tara Madison Avery. you'll remember her from Stacked Deck Press, she is responsible for getting me into the "We're Still Here" and the "Alphabet" compilations. She at first was asking me if I knew anyone who would be a good fit for their Furry Panel. Most of the furries I know in real life don't really draw that much anymore. Being the opportunist I was, I volunteered! She said that sounded great, and before i knew it I was tumbling headfirst into into being part of the Furry Panel, the Trans Voices Panel and setting up a signing at the Stacked Deck and Prism Comics booth! I think most of these plans were being made from my hotel room when I was still in Tacoma.

The really funny part was after spending a week at Disney Land in Anaheim, I came back home and went RIGHT back to Anaheim. I guess I did not realize at first that the convention center was literally just a block or two away from Disney Land. It's interesting how many such cycles I tend to notice in my life. I find myself revisiting locations like this over and over again, and I dunno. It strikes me as fascinating and somewhat whimsical.

Our hotel was about 6 blocks away from the convention center (Me and Tara wound up sharing). Far away enough that I didn't wanna walk it, but close enough to where diving felt like a hassle. Also, parking was a nightmare, but that was mostly my own fault cuz I kept on sleeping and deciding I wanted to show up around 11 or 12. The second day, the garage was actually closed and surrounded by police! I dunno if something actually happened there, or if those are just the measures the city of Anaheim has to take to guard parking structures at or around the convention center and Disney Land at peak hours? I wound up parking in a different hotel's parking garage instead which felt a little too meta for my own good.

In either case, the convention was GREAT! The panels went GREAT! and above all, hanging out and signing at the Prism/Stacked Deck booth was GREAT!

One of these panels did make it onto YouTube and I highly recommend you watch it!

Click the picture to see the video!

There WAS a video taken of the Furry panel, but I'll be real, I have not seen it uploaded anywhere yet. I'm in touch with all three people who were on the panel with me and neither of them have spoken up yet, saying they got it. Please trust me though, as soon as I become aware of it being uploaded anywhere, you guys will hear about it too!

I know you're probably wondering, cuz I was wondering a lot too. WHY was I on a Furry panel to begin with? Well maybe you're wondering, maybe you're actually "In The Know", but TransCat, while not being a furry in the strictest sense of the word, but she's managed to amass quite the furry fanbase regardless. Makes sense, right? Catgirl? Cat ears? I didn't give her a tail, though. I'll bet if I did, I'd have an even BIGGER furry fanbase! Oh well, lessons learned.

There's s'more progress to report on. More music from the TransCat soundtrack is being released! My dear friend Dylan Farnum put together a badass rendition of "Santo Gold" from the mysterious unreleased film Blood Circus! When I first saw the trailer to this lost piece of shit, I was enthralled by the song that was in it, entitled "Santo Gold" by the equally mysterious and lost artist, also named "Santo Gold". The song, and by extension, the movie, was all meant to be one big commercial for director Santo Victor Rigatuso's fake gold jewelry telemarketing scam. Despite it's extremely inauspicious origins, the song remains a banger, and Dylan did a great job with it! Check it out!

Click the picture to hear the song!

The full soundtrack is still being pieced together, as is the new graphic novel it's to laugh alongside. Everything's been kinda derailed by the difficulties I've had with Issue #13 and my ever changing work situation.

Those are all my updates for now, but in June I'll be going back to Q-Con in Hollywood and you can bet I'll have a lot more pictures in stories! 

Until next time, dear readers. See you... OUT THERE!

TransCat at Fan Expo SF!

 

Suuuuup everyone!
I've got some actual NEWS to share for the first time in awhile that does NOT have to do with TransCat issue #13!

I'll be at Fan Expo San Francisco next month!
I'll be there in the artist alley for all three days.

No new comics avaliable, but if you have not gotten TransCat issues 11 or 12 yet, I'll have them ready for you.

I'm also realizing that I never put them in the shop like I said I was gonna, so we're gonna do that today, so that's the OTHER cool piece of news I'm sharing today. Go check out the TransCat Shop to get those two new issues right the eff now!

Here's what the covers look like, in case you somehow forgot.

Anywho, I'll leave it at that for now. I'll make more updates when I officially get assigned a table and stuff. Hope to see some of you there!

Oh man, another quick update!

 

Click the image to hear a brand new song from the TransCat Soundtrack!

Hey, remember the TransCat soundtrack? The one I started talking aobut like... I dunno, 5 years ago? Yeah, I'm still planning it! It has been a slow road. turns out, getting a bunch of musicians on board to one unified project is actually quite time consuming and easy to lose track of! Thank you to everyone who is still on board after me dropping the ball so many times, and i wanna give a SPECIAL thank you to my dear friend Jin Gin for her brand new submission "Like The Wind".

Now, if you're like me and you basically live on the internet, then you miht be aware of "Like The Wind" or as it sometimes also goes by THE MOST MYSTERIOUS SONG ON THE INTERNET! Basically, this song was found on a cassette tape recorded off the radio in Berlin roughly 1983-1984. That was the first and last time anyone ever noted hearing this song. The song title and the artist were NOT mentioned on the air, and to this day, the song's origins are a mystery. The title and much of the lyrics are all guesswork made up by people on the internet.

The investigation has gotten close so many times to unearthing any, ANY information at all, but when it comes down to it, we still don't know a single thing about this song that we didn't know in 1984. We may NEVER know where this song came form, or the mysterious people who performed it.

Many people have done thier own interpretations of this song. That much is not new. What is new is my dear friend Jin's version that she did for the TransCat soundtrack. she really did something special, and I really want you guys to hear it before I get my shit together making this actual soundtrack.

Also, you need to check out the rest of her music because it is all kinds of badass! I am definitely sifting thorugh her discography as we speak for a secondary track to include on this soundtrack. 

Anyway, thank you for indulging me in this quick update!

MAG West 2022 and some other updates!

 

Check out the full album on Patreon or Facebook

Yo! 
So here we are at MAG West! I came here as a very sudden surprise!
My friend tiger texted me like a week before and made it sound so fun, I could not resist. 

I did not get a table, because I already had to rearrange my work schedule a lot to make it to even 2 of the 3 days. So I resolved to just do the con as a regular attendee. I wrote a whole blog about it on my Patreon. Please go read it, it's not paywalled in any way. I WANT you to see that shit. Drop a dollar in the bucket on the way out if ya feel like it.

Next week I'm going to SF Zinefest.
I can't remember if I announced that officially or not. I got accepted, it's a very exciting time.
In preparation for this event, I finally ordered prints of TransCat #11 and #12. This is their first time in print, since they both came out during the pandemic, and we're only available on Comixology. But now there ain't even no Comixology no more, thank you very much, Jeff Bezos! So for a little while these two issues of TransCat were what YouTube would consider "Lost Media". Well now we have 'em on paper. Like comics USED to be, before everything started going so WRONG for us!

Will I put these comics on the TransCat store? Yes I will!
But Zinefest gets a crack at them first! After Zinefest, they go up on the store.
There is also a super secret special surprise in store for those of you who can make it to Zinefest. something that will not be available in the online shop! If you've seen me at cons before, you know what it is ;-)
If you cannot make it to Zinefest, or ANY conventions on the west coast that I'm likely to be at, don't despair! There IS a way to obtain this mysterious item! Stay tuned, for I shall be revealing the method SOON!

What else is happening?
I'm going to Tacoma Washington for a month. Not a month. Like 3 weeks. Almost a month. It's a work trip, it won't be fun, but I'll MAKE it fun! I worry I'm gonna slow down on my art while I'm there. Or maybe I'll speed up? Who knows. I'm gonna TRY! I'm gonna try my hardest. i won't have my scanner but I'll have my phone. I'll tryin' make shit happen.

Stay tuned cuz I'll for sure have some pictures from Zinefest coming up eventually, plus news about the new TransCat books and possibly even more to come in the not too distant future.

Convention Photos for 2022 (So Far!) Plus some updates!

 

Album #1

Album #2

Album #3 (Patrons Only)

Album #1

Yo yo yo yo!
So I said I was gonna be posting here more and I'm gonna make good on that promise, cuz I actually got shit to post.
So I finally finished posting all my convention photos from Fanime and Q-Con! You can check them all out on Patreon, don't worry, they are all free. Except for Album #3 from Fanime because that's all the personal photos. If you wanna just see me and my friends hanging out and other cool shots like that, you gotta pay!

I wrote blogs on each one of the albums, and you should read 'em, but here's a quick synthesis of everything I wrote.

It was so great to be back at Fanime. After a 2 year hiatus, I was definitely jonesin'. The line management in the beginning was a nightmare, and I know it was because they were trying hard to check out everyone's vaccine status and I appreciate that. They were very on it as far as checking for masks too. I witnessed one guy get booted cuz he wouldn't keep his mask on and i heard stories of another guy, a vendor, who was told to leave for similar fuckery.

Lots of stuff was cancelled because of covid concerns and lack of volunteers, but in a weird way, that kind of helped me enjoy the con more. I was forced to really explore the program for activities instead of just falling back on the shit I ALWAYS do when I'm at Fanime, like the theaters, the masquerade and the music video contest, etc. I was bummed at first, but once we really started exploring everything the con really had to offer, we really started having fun. One of the best things we got to see was the CWF, the Cosplay Wrestling Federation. I highly recommend checking out my blog in photo album #2, cuz I go in depth on those events. You should ALL know how hilarious and fun it was.

Q-Con was also hella cool. It felt too short, it was only one day, and I had to drive a lot to be there. But at the same time, it was also kind of mercifully short because being out there was expensive, and i only kinda/sorta turned a profit being out there. If I had payed for one more day at the hotel, I may have just BARELY broken even, or lost money, and yeah it would have been fun, but man, I would be sad if my first con tabling since September of 2019 actually lost me money.

But I DID come home with some money and I DID have fun! The highlight of this con was easily the cosplay contest which I detail in the one and only album I posted from Q-Con.

someday perhaps in the not too distant future when I am a little more secure in my career, I can happily take some extended time off work and hang out in SoCal and just accept I'll probably take an L on comic sales vs. how much i spend being out there. I am very attached to the idea of TransCat making me money, but the simple fact of the matter is I have a real adult person's job that pays me extremely well, and TransCat is more of a hobby now and less of a hopeful career. That being said, I am never going to stop hustling TransCat, because she is extremely important to me, even if she is not my main money maker. I just want her to be out there, reaching as large of an audience as possible, which is why going to L.A. in the first place was important to me.

Anyway! That's all for the cons!
I told you I had some news!

So I mentioned in my previous update that during my depression induced hiatus that Comixology got properly absorbed by Amazon, and all the digital TransCat comics that USED to be on Comixology all just sorta vanished into the aether.

So! I'm gonna get all my old TransCat comics back in digital form, and I've started with the classic issue #1!

Click Here to Purchase!

I uploaded only the first one because I wanted to make sure it worked out. I'm gonna try and tackle uploading the rest of the series tomorrow, if I can possibly wedge it into my already busy day. In either case, I am gonna try and make this happen. Digital TransCat comics have been unavailable for too, too long, and it's time to change that.

I am still on the waiting list for SF Zinefest, so no new news there yet. I'll keep you all apprised. 

That's all for now, friends. 

See you...
OUT THERE!