Super Late Bloomer

There's something inherently magical about great comic strips. In a few short panels, artists can convey surprising depth and emotion and forge an instant connection with a reader. This is especially true for Super Late Bloomer, a collection of webcomics artist Julia Kaye posted as she started her gender transition in 2016. The comics serve as both record and reflection of the day to day challenges she faces. Like any journey, there are good days and bad days, and the author doesn't shy away from any of it. From the logistical details of hormones, cosmetics, and shoe sales, to the intensely personal rollercoaster of emotions dealing with family, coworkers, and the face in the mirror, Julia tells her story with poignant candor. By the book's end, readers will see how it is more than just the account of a transition; it's testimony to one woman's perseverance.

This is a very personal, very cut to the bone series of strips about transitioning from male to female, along with all the good and bad days that go along with it. Julia is writing an autobiographical strip, and does not hold back anything. When she sees herself as still looking like a man, she mentions it. When she thinks that everyone is looking at her because they think she is a man in drag, she writes about it.

It is not easy reading these. It makes you want to be able to reach out and hug her, and tell her it will be ok. But that is the way it is with strips written about your life. You let everyone know your deepest thoughts, no matter how bad they might be.

As I said, it is not a fun journey, but that is not why one reads autobrigraphic comic strips.

Here are some sample strips.
<img src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-07-at-8.48.16-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-302" />
<img src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-07-at-8.47.05-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-303" />
<img src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-07-at-8.46.38-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-304" />

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Lovely and heartfelt.

** Trigger warning for transphobia. **

Growing up, artist Julia Kaye didn’t know she was trans. While she felt a certain, low-level sense of discomfort with her own body, it wasn’t until she was twenty-four – when she stumbled upon a website where users documented their transitions – that she identified the source of her gender dysphoria. And it would take another two years before she was comfortable enough to come out to her friends and family and begin her transition. A near-daily diary in graphic novel format, SUPER LATE BLOOMER documents the first six months of her transition, from May through October of 2016.

SUPER LATE BLOOMER very much feels like the fabulously queer cousin of a Sarah’s Scribbles collection. The visual style is similar (princess eyes and puddle of flesh = pure joy!), yet still its own; and Kaye’s social awkwardness and anxiety feels familiar to me, even if the source is something that I can only try to understand. Kaye documents the tiny triumphs and devastations that marked her path along the way.

The bad: misgendering; being outed by well-meaning but clueless family members; post-laser stubble; friends who suddenly make themselves scarce.

The good: being complimented by other women; finding a dress that fits; accepting parents; looking in the mirror and seeing your true self stare back.

At turns funny, sarcastic, and bittersweet, SUPER LATE BLOOMER is essential reading for humans in this word.

This book is a collection of the author's simple cartoon strips detailing her life and experiences as a recently out trans woman. The strips are very engaging and the author comes across as very honest, likable and relatable as she details the high and low points of her every day life.

Review to come in April on all sources listed in my profile.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I have been following Julia Kaye for quite some time now, first on Webtoons around 2015 and later on Twitter when she stopped her Webtoon (which I still think is sad, but I can totally understand the whys).

So most of the comic is not new to me as she has been posting them on Twitter regularly, but I still very much wanted to read them all again. See how it all began. See the process of transitioning, changing her name and getting assigned the right gender, make-up, shaving woes, moments of doubt, misgendering (please people... it is not that hard), and much more. At times I was just tearing up, not only during the sadder moments, but also tears of happiness for her.

I still love her art, it is also very fun to see how much they improved. Not saying they were bad, but these days they are even prettier.

I am happy that I had the opportunity to read these comics bundled as an ARC, I will be buying the book when it comes out in May, I need to have this comic on my bookshelves.

I would like to talk more about the book, but I am still worried that I may say something wrong/make a mistake, so I will just keep it to what I have written so far. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone.

Ups and downs and everything in between, this collection from Julia Kaye's webcomic Up and Out takes readers through all the feels! How does she say so much in only three brief panels? Such a powerful memoir.

This is a nice collection of brief, autobiographical comics documenting Julia Kaye's thoughts and feelings as she transitions to living full-time as a woman. Some of the comics are happy and hopeful, while others deal with the more complicated feelings around transitioning and passing (or not passing) as female - and a small subplot addresses the hurt she feels when a family member pretends to be okay with the transition and then proceeds to shut her out almost completely.

It's a great collection that I can imagine will reflect the experiences of many trans folks and can serve as a friendly introduction to the trans journey for people who might not otherwise be inclined to read about it.

Julia Kaye's SUPER LATE BLOOMER is a collection of comics she drew to help her cope with her transition, as well as to understand her past gender dysphoria. She's a self-proclaimed "super late bloomer", having taken awhile to understand why she felt as she did growing up.

Not everyone in Kaye's personal story was accepting. There were days when she wasn't easy on herself. The book is relatable for that reason. There will be people we love boundlessly, and think love us back the same way, until we tell them a truth about our being that they cannot accept. And we survive that. And there are times when we struggle to love ourselves, yet we survive that also.

Others, though, embraced her far more than she expected. I hope we all have those people as well.