All About Me and My Comic
My name is Larime Taylor, and I’m a cartoonist. That’s the official, fancy term for someone who writes and illustrates their own comics, as opposed to just writing or penciling or coloring. I do the entire book, from script to finished, lettered pages, at the rate of 2-4 finished pages a day, which I’m told is pretty fast.
I also do it all with my mouth.
I was born with Arthrogryposis, a birth defect that leaves me with my joints in locked positions and little-to-no use of my arms and legs. I’ve been drawing by mouth since I was little, and have a professional background as a caricature artist. I’ve only made the jump to doing my own comics in the last year when my first issue was published by Top Cow/Image in November of 2013.
My book, A VOICE IN THE DARK, started as a Kickstarter to help me do a self-published pilot of sorts and get a publisher, and it worked. I got picked up by Top Cow, a part of Image Comics. Despite nearly universal rave reviews (<—- read them at the link!), however, sales are languishing. That’s largely because I’m a new creator, I’ve never worked at Marvel or DC, and few people know who I am.
It’s also in part because my book was black and white (the next mini will be in color), and features a predominantly female cast of characters, many of color, and with realistic body types instead of hyper-sexualized fap material.
Here’s a bit about the book:
Some people become killers.
Ever since she can remember, Zoey Aarons has felt the urge to kill. For eighteen years she resisted those urges and fought to be someone better than her base instincts would allow. In a moment of weakness and anger, however, she let go and took a life. That hazy Seattle summer day still haunts her, and as she begins college far away from home, she’s afraid that she will kill again.
She’s right to be afraid.
Instead of leaving that fateful day behind her and starting a new life as a college freshman, Zoey’s about to be tested and face temptation in ways far greater than she could ever imagine. The prestigious women’s college that she’s attending on a full academic scholarship is in Cutter’s Circle, California, and Cutter’s Circle has a dirty little secret: it has the highest population of serial killers in the country. The town is up to its proverbial severed head in murderers.
If you’re familiar with the movie HEATHERS, it’s a major influence. The book is dark, but it’s also funny. Here’s a trailer for the first volume, written in the same tongue-in-cheek sense of humor as the comic.
Zoey is of mixed-race, her black uncle is an openly gay homicide detective, her best friend from high school is an Asian lesbian, her dormmates range from a bubbly blonde sorority girl to an Hispanic business major to a bisexual goth-punk. I don’t write diverse characters as a checklist, they are bits and pieces of people I know or grew up with. They’re living, breathing characters.
So other than trying to spread the word, why am I posting this? Because as I said earlier, sales are dwindling and the book is nearing a tipping point. If they drop much more I’ll have to abandon it. I believe in this book, and I’m giving you a link to issue #1 (<—- click the link!) for free. It’s a double-sized issue, too. Decide if you like it, and if you do, here’s what you can do:
CALL or GO INTO your local comic shop and order the trade. The order number is APR140534. Don’t get it at Amazon, tell your comic book store there are readers. Monthlies aren’t sold on Amazon, and monthlies are how I make a living.
CALL or GO INTO your local comic shop and order the first two issues of the next volume. The order numbers are JUL140458, and AUG140691.
If you really want to see more diversity in comics, it starts with supporting the books that are already trying to make a difference. I’m not the only one. RACHEL RISING, GENIUS, CONCRETE PARK and many other great books about strong women and people of color are out there and they need your support. We’re all struggling.
Without it, we’ll have to close up shop.
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