Last week I completed the seventh Isle of Elsi storyline, “R.J. Jr. in The Underground Underground” which took two years to draw, and another year before that to write. You can read the whole story for free, starting here. In the last nine years I’ve posted 400 pages of Isle of Elsi!
If you would like to support the creation of more Isle of Elsi stories, please consider: 1) purchasing print collections of Isle of Elsi, 2) joining my Patreon where I document my creative process ($1+/month), or 3) making a small donation over on Ko-Fi.
In this moment, when the U.S. Government is actively trying to suppress trans and nonbinary people’s rights, I think it’s important to publicly state that on page 41 of this story Sally is specifically thinking about her gender, after being exposed to the Dwarf’s culture which treats gender very differently than the Human culture she was raised in. It’s my intention that Sally’s character arc across this series will contain a gender journey towards a nonbinary or trans identity.
To help me make sure that journey feels authentic I have enlisted the help of my good friend Maia Kobabe who has agreed to be a consultant on forthcoming Isle of Elsi storylines with a particular eye towards Sally’s character.
I know for a fact that I currently have multiple trans and nonbinary kids who read Isle of Elsi. To them I say: I’m going to work hard to make sure you can see yourself and your experiences in Isle of Elsi. You belong here. You can be the main character of a story.
To anyone who has hatred in their heart for trans people, especially for trans kids, I say: please find another webcomic to read.
Starting this week I’m taking my customary hiatus so I can write the next two Isle of Elsi short stories. After I draw and post those pages, they will be collected into the third Isle of Elsi book. Thanks to everyone who has supported this independent, self-published fantasy series over the years!
This is the fourth and final installment of the “R.J. Jr. in The Underground Underground” storyline.
