Teddie Bernard

queer artist and cartoonist

[tea-ddie]

Wrote this last year for Crucial Comix about Trans Day of Visibility. Things have continued to escalate for trans folks in the USA and across the globe since last year. Despite all of the fear and rage, I'm glad to be me, to continue to feel more comfortable and happy in my body and identity than I thought was possible. Trans lives are worth defending and protecting. Solidarity between all trans folks, now and forever. We are all worth it.

[tea-ddie]

The darling and dashing @rosemarymeow

[tea-ddie]

We’re so back folks!

[tea-ddie]

BTW—I will be at Twin Cities Zine Fest on Feb 7th and the TCZF Kickoff Reading on Feb 6th!

[mr-press]

you'll never see me again baby!!!!!!!!!! by teddie bernard published by Mr. Press in 2025 risograph two-color zine

[tea-ddie]

My latest zine, "you'll never see me again baby!!!"

[tea-ddie]

growing vegetables (2025)

[tea-ddie]

Seeing Stars (2025)

"Seeing Stars" was written for Vol 2 of Dike Stynk—get your copy now, it's a rad magazine full of cool lesbian art, comics, writing, etc. Happy International Lesbian day, I am always so inspired by the people who've fallen under that term in both past and present and can't wait to see what queer futures we continue to build.

[tea-ddie]

a symbol of service (2025)

the handy-dandy guide to transmasculine success in the corporate workplace. first edition, risograph printed in medium blue and black. get your own here.

[tea-ddie]

@rosemarymeow is incredibly shaped and I love her so much

[tea-ddie]

♪ dance with me ♪

[tea-ddie]

Flood Development — from concept to comic

The idea for my comic Flood has been in the back of my head for years—I drew some butch musicians as background characters in other comics and couldn't shake the idea of them. Here they are in 2023-or-so for the back cover of Beatrice:

I thought about these two a decent amount but didn't have a concrete story. They didn't even have names. Someone once said to me that it looks like every character in the crowd shots I draw probably has a story of their own, and that is absolutely my approach to crowds. Figuring out what that story is, however, is a different feat.

I started playing with the idea of these two again in Spring of 2024. I wanted to make a mini-comic to debut in the Fall/Winter of 2024 and was developing a few ideas co-currently. This was what I came up with at the time, for a story I started calling Butches in the Band.

Still, the question of what the story was wasn't solidifying to me. I wanted to touch on butch culture, on lesbian bars and beaches. There was some sort of tension between these two, although if it was romantic or platonic I couldn't quite decide.

The turning point for the project came after a somewhat traumatic event in my personal life. I was left reeling, unsure how to process what happened to me, but feeling like maybe my upcoming mini-comic would be the place to do so. I started developing a more direct memoir comic but found it too painful. At the same time, my band butches were still pinned to my drawing board. The loose narrative space I built became a home for my difficult feelings, a place for both of these characters to process their own pain and trauma and come out better for it.

This was when I committed to the comic fully, now called Flood. Here are some character references I made for myself as I started working on the comic:

The unnamed trumpet player and drummer became Jack and Edwin, respectively. Many of my comics are focused on heavy narrative and are grounded in reality, but Jack and Ed's story started to flow more like a poetry comic, sinking into long moments and glimpses of magical realism.

Flood went through many drafts. If you happened to read any of them, know I'm incredibly grateful for your eyes and any feedback you gave. I rewrote the ending four times, and each time added about 8 pages. By the time I landed on the final draft, my 36 page comic had become a 60 page one. And, of course, every time it went through a big rewrite, the timeline was pushed further back. A hopeful Winter 2024 release became a Summer 2025. Honestly, I'm still a bit thrilled and surprised I have been able to release it this early considering the amount of time that's gone into it!

I won't bore with the details of every rewrite, but it was crucial to me to strike a balance between pain and love: holding space for different types of hurt and healing. It was easy enough to write the best ending and the worst ending. Treading the line between those two points was more difficult, but in the end I struck a balance I'm comfortable with.

Flood is also my first long-form full-color comic in a few years. I had a lot of fun with the palette and trying to create a story not just with the art and writing but with the color as well. I think the color journey is one of my favorite parts and if people are interested in hearing more about my approach to color I could make a follow up post.

If you'd like to spend more time with Flood, you can find the first few pages on Tumblr and the book itself on my website. Thanks for reading!

[tea-ddie]

The opening pages of my new book, Flood. Flood is a 60-page full-color comic that follows two members of a butch musical ensemble in mid-century America. Drummer Ed and cornet player Jack find their friendship suddenly and wonderfully extending beyond band rehearsal. But when Ed disappears, emotionally-repressed Jack spirals without her. Flood explores queer friendship and the necessity of connection in face of a hostile world.

You can pre-order Flood here. Orders will be sent out in August.

[tea-ddie]

For Village Archive Comix Occult Comix Anthology.

[tea-ddie]

Redraw of a Brenda Starr reporter panel with Marjorie and George. Original under the cut.

Love using comics panels as reference, learning from the comics that came before, etc, etc.

[tea-ddie]

Ballyhoo Book Two is roughly in the works—right now I'm deep in the rewriting and research stage. But while I'm in that stage, I've been working on character outfits for the next few chapters. Here's a few of the characters and potential designs for upcoming scenes.

Oretta Adams:

Kit Holiday:

Gina LaRue:

Ron Barnes:

Floyd Brennan:

[tea-ddie]

The beautiful @rosemarymeow 🧡🧡🧡

[tea-ddie]

Cleaning the apartment means finding the first full drafts of both of my current projects, WIP titles “dead skin” and “Flood.” I won’t say too much, but one is a prose and poetry narrative, the other is a comic. I’m hoping they’ll be out by the end of this year.

I graduated with my bachelors in fine arts just one year ago. Once you leave the art school bubble, time slows down. I often feel like I’m not making much because I’m not on the expedited university deadlines. However, when I look back on the last year, I am pleased with what I managed to do. When I look back on the last year, I’m holding two finished first drafts, on top of all of the smaller projects I tackled that year.

I am genuinely so excited to share more about both of these projects but will be holding my tongue for a few months. I will say this: both of the stories center queer protagonists who are difficult, messy, and complicated people. No matter what happens in the following months and years, I’m going to continue to make and publish queer stories. And I can’t wait until these are objects people can hold in their hands.