OutSources: Kim & Kim: A (Trans) Life in Comics

Join Outsources host Angela Palermo for a conversation with trans woman comics writer Magdalene Visaggio. Magdalene is the creator of the Kim & Kim comics series. The two Kim’s, trans woman Kim Quatro and her cisgender best friend Kim Dantzler, are planet-hopping, interdimensional queer bounty hunters who carry out their assignments with a punk rock, riot grrl vibe. These two bad ass chicks don’t care who you are and aren’t afraid to do battle with robot gorillas, among a host of villains sent their way. Both critics and readers have hailed Kim & Kim as a breakthrough comic. Bleeding Cool named Kim & Kim as one of Six Books that Made Comics Fun in 2016. Daryl Sztuka writing for The Mary Sue takes it a step further and calls Kim & Kim the “funnest book of the summer,” bar none.

During our conversation, we discuss the origins of Kim & Kim, why she made one of the Kim’s a young trans woman, the state of trans female representation in comics, transphobia and trans exploitation, and trans women creators/artists in the world of mainstream comics and her future projects.

To support Magdalene’s comics, please visit her Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/MagsVisaggs.

To read her article in Paste: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/09/the-biggest-problem-with-cis-creators-writing-tran.html.

To see Mags’s curated list of her favorite Kim & Kim music: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/07/guest-list-magdalene-visaggio-on-the-riot-grrrls-o.html.