Autobio comics – important or self-indulgent?
Autobiographical comics, as you may have figured out, are comics drawn by the artist that depict events of their own lives. Autobio comics are popular with some comic fans because of their relatability and realness, but have also been heavily criticised and shunned by other comic fans.
Using Twitter, Sophia Foster-Dimino reached out to the Titter comic community to ask what it was specifically that people didn’t like about autobio comics and received a huge response.
Julia Gfrörer responded, ‘I get annoyed when they’re braggy or approval seeking. Anybody who needs to be the hero has no business writing autobio’. Some autobio comics unfortunately do portray a hero complex and this has definitely fed the stigma of self-indulgence, and yet, the point of autobio is not to be a hero, or even an everyday hero, but to be a human being; to be flawed.
(Above: Muggy Ebes - Lucie Ebrey)
Many of the responses brought up the issue of gender. Apparently autobio comics made by men are perceived by women as being a showcase for their male privilege while comics made by women are perceived by men as being shallow. Twitter user, ~Slime Dog concluded that ‘the only time [they] don’t like autobio is when they’re by boring white straight dudes [because] they’re boring and unrelatable’. Unfortunately, issues of race, sexuality and gender are often brought up in toxic and unhealthy ways when discussing autobio. It can be easy to feel as if you are not represented, yet are expected to be able to relate to the comic; however, just because one individual can’t relate to one autobio comic shouldn’t mean that the genre deserves to be criticised on the whole. Criticising an artist because of their gender, sexuality and race (all at once, in the above example) extremely prejudiced, and yet, comments such as this were abundant in the findings.
One of the greatest strengths of autobio is that anyone can be represented because of the fact that so many different people from all walks of life create autobio comics and as a last resort, you can represent yourself and create your own if you want to. There are many autobio comics created by the LGBTQ and POC communities. Because of this, it could be said that it is invalid and inappropriate to criticise autobio comics because of their protagonist, so to speak, unless the material is inherently sexist, racist, transphobic, homophobic or offensive in any way.
Another criticism of autobio comics is that they’re a gateway for younger or more inexperienced artists to take a dip into making comics, because subject material is so easy to find. You can create a comic about literally anything that happened to you ever and expect people to read and appreciate it. This is definitely self-indulgent but perhaps that is no bad thing, as reflected in the opinion of Sarah Glidden, ‘art is kind of self-indulgent? But who cares? Someone is communicating something. Let them do it.’
(Above: Safe Spaces - Schnumn)
And so, this raises the question, is it OK to communicate when you have nothing of importance to say? I would argue yes. Freedom of speech. I would also add that the more you practice communication, the better you will become at communicating, and perhaps, in time, you will have more meaningful things to say. Even with autobio comics, developing a narrative takes time.
(Above: Choice - Schnumn)
I interviewed comic artist, Jules Valera and asked for their opinion, ‘I feel strongly that good stories, factual or fictional, always thrive on authenticity, and I believe that authenticity comes from people’s ability to transform their own experiences into a narrative’. Thus, someone’s life story can become a deeply intriguing story in its own right, but requires skilful execution.
I asked Jules for their opinion on whether autobio comics are important for not only a reader but also the artist creating them,
‘I think there’s great importance in letting people narrate their own experiences. It’s often the case that when someone is experiencing illness, trauma, grief, any number of life experiences, they’re forced to abdicate some control over to other people— in my case, writing about mental health, control of my life and experiences were often handed over to my family, my doctors, and anyone else with an opinion. Writing about it put me back in control over my own history and gave me an outlet to work out what I felt and experienced without having to put anyone else first.’
(Above: In Your Shadow - Jules Valera)
When reading some autobio comics, you can find yourself wondering what the point of that was, or thinking something along the lines of, yes OK, that is relatable, but does it need to be a comic? Have you created this for the sake of art and expression or for the retweets? On the other hand, autobio comics done well convey something bigger and more important than the self. The self is just a gateway into an experience, feeling or observation. Autobio comics done well convey the human experience in its purest form, and that is something that we can all relate to.