I am not sure the first time I met Maia, but once we did get aquatinted we became friends pretty quick. I know for-sure we kept running into each other at various zine and comic fest. Maia was always trading eir ‘Gender Queer’ mini comics with me, so it was amazing to see it turn into a graphic memoir. Maia’s GENDER QUEER graphic memoir would go on to win the Alex Award and Stonewall Book Award in 2020.
Maia does a lot of work behind the scenes that people might not even know e does, but that doesn’t mean Maia shouldn’t be recognized for it. The thing I love about Maia’s work is how e lays out eir pages. Maia’s instinct for composition and layout is incredible and I often find myself getting lost in the pages.
You can find Maia’s work in many anthologies, like The Nib’s ‘Be Gay, Do Comics’, Prism Comics, ‘Alphabet Anthology’ and so many more.
GENDER QUEER 2019
SNAKES
MAIA KOBABE INTERVIEW 2020
Are you from the Bay Area or did you move here?
M: I was born and raised in Sonoma county! I still live less than 10 miles from my high school, my elementary school, and where I was born.
When did you start making comics?
M: I started drawing little slice-of-life gag comics when I was in high school, in which I depicted me and my friends as cats and wrote out actual things we said and did. They were very silly and usually never made it out of my notebooks. In college I decided to turn this into a webcomic and I posted one strip a week for about a year, but then I set comics down for a while because I was working on an undergrad degree in illustration. After I graduated I had the opportunity to audit a class taught by Matt Silady. We ended up becoming friends, and later that same summer he told me "Hey, I'm starting up this new Masters in Comics program at California College of the Arts. Submissions for the first ever class open up this fall- you should apply!" I had started a second webcomic by that point, a medieval fantasy adventure series called "The Thief's Tale", which I turned into my Master's Thesis. I worked on that story for five years before setting it down to turn more towards memoir and journalism comics.
How has the progression of your cartooning career impacted your life?
M: The biggest change for me was shifting from writing primarily fiction when I was working on "The Thief's Tale" to shifting towards working on comics about current events and my personal experience. This happened in late 2016/early 2017, when I was starting to come out as nonbinary, and when the Trump administration was coming into office. This time period made me re-examine everything about my work: what I was trying to say, what audience I was trying to reach, how to integrate activism and social justice... Even my drawing style changed. I gave up (for now) on intricate fantasy backgrounds in favor of drawing as little as I could get away with to get my message across.
How have you grown since your earlier comics?
M: When I started writing about myself and about the current moment, people began to respond way more strongly to my work than they ever had before. In late 2016 I started posting a series of tiny "Genderqueer" comics on instagram, exploring themes of gender, sexuality, queerness and identity. Posting those first strips online was terrifying. I am by nature kind of a reserved person. These comics talked about dysphoria, sex, body shame, periods, masturbation and misgendering. Sometimes I would post them at 3am in hopes that no one would actually see them. But every time I took another step at sharing personal work I would receive a wave of love and support from my friends and community. That encouraged me to continue to explore these subjects and in the process I got better at talking about my emotions, better at writing from memory, less ashamed and more brave.
What are some of your most memorable moments of your career so far?
M: My first book, "Gender Queer: A Memoir", which grew out of those early instagram strips, was published in May 2019- a few weeks after my 30th birthday. Sharing that book with readers has been the most rewarding thing I've ever done. I did a long-month couch-surfing book tour with stops in Washington DC, Miami Florida, Annapolis Maryland, LA, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and Petaluma in California, Eugene and Portland Oregon and Seattle, Washington. It was exhausting and wonderful.
What is different about The Bay Area comics scene compared to other places you have been?
M: I've really only spent time in the Bay Area and to a lesser extent LA, so I don't have a huge basis for comparison. But I love the Bay Area comics scene. I have so many friends from the CCA program and also from attentending the San Francisco Zinefest every year between 2013-2019. Petaluma has LumaCon, a fantastic library comic con in January every year. Santa Rosa has a few events, and there's the Queer Zine fest in Oakland, Dear Diary, and the East Bay Alternative Book and Zinefest. When I was first starting out I loved the Alternative Press Expo (RIP) and Silver Sprocket's event schedule brings out so many great touring cartoonists.
Any comics recommendations?
M: SO many. I'll just recommend ones by friends:
Get Over It by Mary Shyne
Koreangry by Eunsoo Jeong
Debian Perl: Digital Detective by Melanie Hilario, Lauren Davis and Katie Longua
Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman
Stargazing by Jen Wang
No Ivy League by Hazel Newlevant
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
Baggywrinkles by Lucy Bellwood
Super Late Bloomer by Julie Kaye
We're Still Here: An All-Trans Comic anthology edited by Tara Madison Avery
Primahood: Magenta by Tyler Cohen
Seattle Walk Report by Seattle Walk Report
Fetch by Nicole Georges
Be Gay Do Comics edited by Matt Bors
Crushed by Trinidad Escobar
Trans Affirming Magical Care edited by Alex L Combs
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
No Straight Lines edited by Justin Hall
Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
The Big Bisexual Book of Trials and Errors by Elizabeth Beier
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
Grease Bats by Archie Bongiovanni
The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes
The American Dream by Shing Yin Khor
The Chancellor and the Citadel by Maria Franz Capelle
Bezkamp by Samuel Sattin and Jen Hickman
Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen Crenshaw
Isle of Elsi by Alec Longstreth
Wuvable Oaf by Ed Luce
Dragon's Breath by Mari Naomi
Any cartoon/tv shows or movie recommendations?
M: I don't watch very much TV, but if anyone hasn't seen Steven Universe yet what are you waiting for?
What influences your work?
M: Friend's work. Fairy tales. Homesickness, heartsickness, current events. My mother's garden. My own teenage emotions.
What do you want to do in comics in the next 5 years?
M: Publish multiple books with trans and nonbinary main characters.
What are you working on now?
M: See above :)
What does your work represent to you?
M: I have designed my life around being able to draw at home in my pajamas while listening to podcasts or audiobooks for as many hours as possible. Making comics is my favorite way to spend a day, and the best way I know to connect with the world.
Maia’s Comic For The BAYlies 2018.
Thank you to Maia for doing this interview. It’s important for me as someone who is here right now to not only archive and document comics history, but to shine light on what has been and still is here. Maia is a part of the many folx behind the scenes that constantly and consistently makes sure others are always connecting. It’s an honor to have Maia be a part of this.
Please Check out Maia’s work!
Peace and love
-Lawrence