Transboy Comics uses cartoons to spread messages impacting the transgender community
BOULDER, Colo. — Everyone has their own story to tell. For Will Betke-Brunswick, their story is told through comics.
“The first time I sat down to write a comic and make a comic, it was more out of the feeling of like this is a medium where I can fully express myself; this is a medium where I can explain what’s going on in my brain to other people,” the cartoonist said.
Betke-Brunswick works out of a lined notebook, flipping to a blank page and drawing whatever comes to mind. Their interest in cartoons first began with reading comics at a young age. After leaving a career in teaching math, Betke-Brunswick began creating original comics for their own business, Transboy Comics.
“My artistic style is pretty simple line-drawing, partly because that’s the way that I like to draw and also because I feel like it invites people in in sort of a friendly way then I go in for the hard commentary or humor or grief,” they said.
And as a nonbinary transgender person, Betke-Brunswick thinks it’s important for them to spread messages about issues impacting their community, share stories about being transgender, and celebrating others in the community.
“My drawing style almost balances out the weight of whatever it is I’m talking about, because often I am talking about heavy or intense subjects,” they said.
“This one is called So Your Kid Is Nonbinary,” they said. “So I gave it to my dad to sort of say, ‘Here are some ideas, this is what I want to communicate to you.’”
While the comic topics span racism, transphobia, and even life during the pandemic, Betke-Brunswick’s life experiences show up in most of the comics.
In addition, many of their comics are educational for cisgender individuals.
“Since I’m trans, I see the world through this trans lens,” they said. “Even comics that are just humor comics are often funny things that I’ve experienced as a trans person that other trans people could relate to. I also know that for some people who are cis that are reading my comics as a way of like learning about me and my trans identity so I try to just be also aware that cis people are also reading my work.”
Betke-Brunswick, whose work can be viewed here, is releasing an untitled memoir in 2022 about their mom’s battle with cancer and her eventual death when Will was a teenager.
Alexis Kikoen is a multimedia journalist with Rocky Mountain PBS. You can contact her at alexiskikoen@rmpbs.org.