Recommendation: Misfile
Gib recommends…
Misfile
Misfile
A webcomic by Chris Hazelton
A webcomic by Chris Hazelton
Misfile is a comic I can laugh at, grimace with, boggle toward, make strange faces in general direction of – I’m not sure there’s an emotional range it doesn’t take me though. Due to a lazy angel’s mistake, Ash is changed from male to female and Emily loses the last two years of her life. Though the experiences of Emily are mentioned, more pages of the comic are dedicated to Ash’s issues. Ze’s a guy in a girl’s body, literally, but is often made to do girly things to keep up zeir family’s and friends’ expectations of zem (who they believe has always been a woman).
Posted by xMech on December 23rd, 2010 at 08:00 am
Category: comics, recommendations, websites 9 comments »
December 23rd, 2010 at 9:08 am |
While we’re talking about webcomics, I’d like to just bring up Khaos Komix again. Right now they’re going through Charlie’s store and it’s as great as always (and as queer and genderqueer as always).
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December 23rd, 2010 at 6:47 pm |
I read this comic! I’ve actually often thought about recommending it. Its fantastic.
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December 23rd, 2010 at 8:06 pm |
This is a really good comic. I’ve been reading it all day (well when I get the chance).
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December 24th, 2010 at 8:59 am |
I lovee this comic. I read 1000+ pages of it yesterday after I saw this.
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December 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am |
funny thing i read quite a few pages as well after seeing this post really cool some of the writing could be a bit better but still good
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December 26th, 2010 at 1:26 am |
ok, so I’m sucked in, as usual with (web)comics! but I have a big problem with Misfile, which is that (so far at least, couple hundred pages in, 2006-era comics) it is really not supportive of gay-ness or queerness, and could be really hurtful or frustrating to someone who’s struggling with their own identity & sexuality in that way.
maybe it gets there eventually? or maybe that is part of the romantic / gender tension? it just feels a little homophobic to me.
(spoilers:)
Ash, the main character is a boy-transformed-into-a-girl, whose best (girl) friend can’t deal with her attraction to Ash, because “she’s a girl! a heterosexual girl!”
Male characters are also attracted to Ash, but Ash is kind of like “I’m a boy, why would I like a boy, ewwww”.
also, there are a lot of gender stereotypes: “to feel more like a boy” Ash practices getting angry and yelling… all the female-bodied characters wear sexy clothes & cleavage-y shirts… are generally not physically strong… etc.
so there is gender-boundary breaking, literally, through magical transformation… but no ability of the individual characters to transcend the societal roles for genders.
maybe I’m taking it all really personally? :) I’m still at the beginning. and I really like the storyline & plot & characters. but whenever a gender or sexuality stereotype is re-iterated, I seriously cringe…
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December 27th, 2010 at 12:33 am |
okay, maybe the author was just building up to something… it gets noticeably better around, say, p. 697….. :)
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December 27th, 2010 at 1:30 am |
maybe its not negative, maybe its realistic?
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jean c. replied:
December 27th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
I hope so? or, I mean, it’s sad that it’s realistic but I hope the author is trying to be realistic as opposed to negative about gayness/queerness. I read the whole darn thing & of course it totally entranced me & I really want to find out what happens next to the characters…
but I also hope that/wonder if that kind of gender switch would provide an opportunity for the author and/or characters to express their wonder/questions/confusion also about sexuality and gender roles and stereotypes, as opposed to just presenting “typical” points of view.
I know that questioning my gender has pushed me to do a lot of questioning about my own assumptions about “appropriate” or “desired” gendered roles & behavior, and about sexuality…
also sometimes I wonder if the author is just psyched about drawing female bodies in tight clothes (though maybe that’s just a standard manga-style trope?) and wonder if despite his/her supportive attitude towards trans people, he/she is just psyched about fantasizing about a “boy in a girls body”… I dunno. don’t want to fully level that accusation — because his/her empathy for the emotional lives of the characters is so clear. so I’m gonna go with “manga drawing style has no room for girl-bodies in baggy clothes” and leave it at that…
but I constantly found myself feeling like saying to the main character, “Ash, your body might stress you out less if you bound, or didn’t wear an underwire-&-cup-style bra, or at least wore some less-tight sweatshirts and some baggier cargo pants…” and I feel like the author putting the character in those clothes & those bras is kind of like torturing him/her…
ok, extreme over-identification with and over-analysis of a webcomic…. !!!!!
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