welcome :)
⚡ it's substack time ⚡
Oh gosh, here we go! The inaugural substack post!
Hi, I’m Maia! I have made you a handy reference sheet:
Just to clear this up right from the jump: sometimes people on the internet get me mixed up with my friend Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer: A Memoir (which holds the notable distinction of being the number one banned book in the USA!). We both make comics about queerness, gender, and identity, but we are actually two different people who happen to both have the same first name with the same weird spelling. (It’s pronounced like Maya.) Wild, I know!
Anyway, thanks for being here! This substack is a bit of an experiment for me as I frolic my way towards my dream of writing and illustrating graphic novels. There’s more info in the About tab, but the tl;dr is that I’ll be updating about 1-4 times a month with most posts being free and available to the public and some more exclusive content available only to paid subscribers. The types of content you’re likely to see here:
brand new and previously unreleased journal comics about identity, mental health, queerness, and joy
new fiction & autofiction mini-comics
re-released & remastered comics & zines from the vault
blog posts about being a student at the Center for Cartoon Studies (fall 2023-spring 2025!)
sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes for comics projects that are in development
blog posts about process, creativity, and brain weather
sketchbook pages
possibly other arts and crafts projects!
What kinds of things are you most interested in seeing here? Let me know in the comments!
And hey—welcome. I’m so glad you’re here, and I’m pumped to get this newsletter rolling. :)
💜 Maia
I’m most interested to see subtle ethics related themes or subtle thought experiments. Like many other forms of writing, comics and graphic novels are at their best when they challenge the reader to engage in critical thinking and/or engage in self-evaluation. We gravitate toward works like the “Bitch Planet” comic series because it challenges us to reevaluate our perspectives on gender expression and gender norms. Live long and prosper. 🖖🖖🖖
From the moment she could hold a pencil, crayon, or marker in her hand, Maia was creating amazing artistic expressions of what life meant to her. We literally had stacks and stacks of her artwork (many tracings of her hands with rainbow rings and "lactation art" of momma kitties nursing baby kitties). Now she's following her dream and taking off for Comic School to share her skills with the whole world!