10 Comics with Fat Characters
It’s August AdiPOSE, a month long celebration and challenge started by Kivan Bay to include more fat characters in your art! This is such a great challenge, and I love seeing more fat characters in art overall, but especially in comics. So I thought I’d celebrate this month by highlighting 10 comics with fat characters in them (plus one bonus one)!
Let’s start out with the comic that introduced me to #AugustAdiPose:
#OCOverkill: Csilla’s Story
Illustrator + Author: ONeillJones, she/her
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: 32
ISBN13: N/A
“A 22 page comic written by Twitter and drawn by me! The result of a year long storytelling experiment gone horribly wrong.
Low fantasy, slice of life. Content warnings for entomophobia and trypophobia”
One of the things I love about comics is the ability to make them in so many creative ways, and I love ONeillJones’ approach here with the way she let the readers contribute to the creation of the story! I remember how excited I was to vote in the polls and watch the story unfold as she took our votes in each time. This story is cute and charming as hell, and full of cats, your friendly and reluctantly friendly neighborhood demons, shenanigans, and lots of yummy treats– you’re in for a good time! 😁
Big Jo
Illustrator: Julia Arostegi
Publish Date: 2015
ISBN13: N/A
“Jo doesn’t take crap from no one. Being fat as a teenager isn’t easy, even when you know you’re awesome. Watch as the clever Joan Rodriguez deals with school, bullies and all those people trying to change her.”
Bingo Love
Illustrator: Jenn St-Onge, she/her
Colorist: Joy San, she/her
Letterer: Cardinal Rae, she/her
Writer: Tee Franklin, they/she
Publisher: Image Comics
Publish Date: 2018
Pages: 88
ISBN13: 9781534307506
“When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid-’60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.
From TEE FRANKLIN (NAILBITER’s ‘THE OUTFIT,’ Love is Love) and JENN ST-ONGE (Jem & The Misfits), BINGO LOVE is a touching story of love, family, and resiliency that spans over 60 years.”
Cut Open
Illustrator + Author: Kameron White, he/him/his, xe/xem/xer
Publisher: Self-Published
Publish Date: 2022
Pages: 28
ISBN13: N/A
“PDF of my zine, ‘Cut Open’! This zine details my top surgery journey from before my surgery, during my recover, to time after it along with my thoughts about the process and what I want other people who want top surgery to know.”
Gordita: Built Like This
Illustrator + Author: Daisy “Draizys” Ruiz, she/her
Publisher: Black Josei Press
Publish Date: 2023
Pages: 28
ISBN13: N/A
“Gordita: Built Like This is an autobiographical comic by Daisy “Draizys” Ruiz, published by the award-winning publisher Black Josei Press. In this 28-page color comic, we follow Gordita, a young Mexican-American teenager who lives in The Bronx. She’s judged for having no ass by classmates, strangers, and even family. Gordita struggles with low self-esteem and body dysmorphia. But, through her friendships with other girls who are also getting bullied and mentorship with her guidance counselor, Gordita, begins to speak up for herself and see that she is more than just her body.”
A Lightness
Illustrator + Author: s. win searle, aka Sarah Winifred Searle, they/she
Publisher: Self-published, distributed via ShortBox Comics Fair 2022
Publish Date: 2022
Pages: 50
ISBN13: N/A
“There’s this funny thing that happens when you reveal yourself to the people you love and they accept you with their whole hearts. See, without that, I would’ve sought wholeness in other ways. Maybe I could have learned to be content.
But without the burden of fear…my mind was now open to possibilities I had never dared dream before.
Follow one person’s journey to ease the Ache in their chest. They find themself chasing an elusive fluttering lightness that seems to be pulling them up into the mountains, through a fantastical landscape toward the sunrise.”
Monster Pop!
Illustrator + Author: Maya Kern, she/they
Publisher: Self-published
Publish Date: 2012
Pages: 88
ISBN13: N/A
“Monster Pop! is a fun and fresh romcom slice of life webcomic about George Tinsely, your average fun-loving, leaps before she looks cyclops, and her adventures in friendship, love, and growing up. Monster Pop! features music, animated panels, and interactive character blogs.”
My Brother’s Husband
Volumes 1 + 2
Illustrator + Author: Gengoroh Tagame, he/him
Translator: Anne Ishii, she/her
Publisher: Pantheon, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Publish Date: 2020
Pages: 704
ISBN13: 9780375715181
“Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, and father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself to be the widower of Yaichi’s estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji’s past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in.
What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it’s been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it.
As Mike continues his journey of discovery concerning Ryoji’s past, Yaichi gradually comes to understand that being gay is just another way of being human. And that, in many ways, remains a radical concept in Japan even today. In the meantime, the bond between Mike and young Kana grows ever stronger, and yet he is going to have to return to Canada soon—a fact that fills them both with impending heartbreak. But not before more than a few revelations come to light.”
Stargazing
Illustrator + Author: Jen Wang, she/her
Publisher: First Second, an imprint of MacMillan Press
Publish Date: 2019
Pages: 224
ISBN13: 9781250183880
“Moon is everything Christine isn’t. She’s confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known.
But after Moon moves in next door, these unlikely friends are soon best friends, sharing their favorite music videos and painting their toenails when Christine’s strict parents aren’t around. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she has visions, sometimes, of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. Who reassure her that earth isn’t where she really belongs.
Moon’s visions have an all-too-earthly root, however, and soon Christine’s best friend is in the hospital, fighting for her life. Can Christine be the friend Moon needs, now, when the sky is falling?
Jen Wang draws on her childhood to paint a deeply personal yet wholly relatable friendship story that’s at turns joyful, heart-wrenching, and full of hope.”
Taproot: A Story about a Gardener and a Ghost
Illustrator + Author: Keezy Young, they/she
Publisher: Lion Forge, now part of Oni Press
Publish Date: 2017
Pages: 128
ISBN13: 9781637150733
“Blue has been living as a ghost for a year when he meets Hamal, a beautiful and sweet gardener who has the ability to see and communicate with spirits. Together, their friendship develops into something more, but being a ghost, Blue can never truly be connected with Hamal.
When Blue realizes Hamal’s strange ability may be putting him in danger, Blue has to find a way to protect him–even if it means leaving him.”
Starved
Illustrator + Author: Jessi Eoin, they/them
Publisher: Self-published
Publish Date: 2023
Pages: 7
ISBN13: N/A
I almost forgot I can share my own work in lists like this! lol So here’s a bonus one for you:
A lonesome figure wanders vast stretches of land in search of another’s touch only to be met by months and waves of grasses and passing clouds. A wordless exploration of touch starvation and isolation.
What are some of your favorite comics with fat characters in them? Let me know in the comments so I can check them out!
If you enjoyed this, you might like my comic review series More Comics Please! or perhaps my monthly release lists of new comics! Sign up for my newsletter Into the Bramble to get notified of new posts. And if you know anyone looking for a good comic with fat characters to read, feel free to share this with them!
*Comic creators and publishers, I do my best to get the details accurate in my posts, but if you catch a mistake, feel free to reach out to me. You can email me at hellojbeoin [at] gmail [dot] com; it’s much appreciated!
Jessi
Jessi Eoin (they/them) is an illustrator who loves making, reading, and talking about comics, and they have come to accept that this is probably how they would be lured by a kidnapper.
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