We reached out to Riri to ask some questions regarding their comic series. Firstly, the artist gave us some insight into themes and motifs recurring in their work: “The underlying themes of my comics are the joys of being transgender despite hardships. There’s always an element of transformation in my work: of bodies, of beliefs, of feelings, of treatment by others. These big life changes can be jarring and uncertain, but I focus on the brighter side and the good and funny things that can happen with these changes. Trans people like me need joy right now!”
The creator of the ‘Alienby Comics’ shared how they come up with ideas for new strips: “A lot of ideas for my comics come from real life experience, albeit with a bit of fantastical [flair] to capture the big feelings of experiences. Other ideas come from re-telling stories of well-known characters through a queer lens, often making existing subtext the literal text.”
Riri shared that most of their comics are semi-autobiographical, featuring themselves and their real-life loved ones as characters. However: “Other characters are parodies of recognizable pop culture characters, like superheroes or video game characters.”
Lastly, the artist shared with us what they believe makes humor an effective medium for storytelling: “I believe positive feelings carry more weight and can be more memorable and persuasive than negative ones. People are more likely to want to engage with things that brighten their day and lighten their load. Funny and heartwarming stories are effective at relieving some of life’s tension.”
