Kip is a Jewish aroace comic artist. His comic, Heckin' Dead, is an adorable comedy in the 4koma style. One of the best things about the Pride project is getting to talk to people from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, whose works include a whole host of different genres and experiences.

What was your first experience of comics?

I was generally distantly familiar with web comics in the general homestuck era of webcomics, alongside the other big names of the time like Ava's Demon, The Property of Hate and the like.

Why did you start making comics on Tapas?

An artist I really liked posted their own comic on Tapas, which made it feel more accessible and I thought it would be nice to try and make one myself.

What was the most difficult thing you found when you first started out as a comic artist?

I think just getting all the artwork done in time; I'm generally a quick artist but I did my first comic while serving in the military which meant I often had to give up time with friends and family when I was home to instead draw my webcomic. I don't regret it at all, it taught me a lot about time management and learning how to take shortcuts in art (hint: don't hand-write all your text) but it was difficult.

I also struggled a lot with doing backgrounds, I think a lot of artists have that problem at first, and I'm eternally grateful for having something to push me into doing it. The best way to learn is to do, and the best way to do is with a deadline, haha.

Lastly, probably learning how to pose characters and frame them in interesting ways? I'm still constantly learning how to do that, but I think it's super important and super cool to see the theory and practice of how visually something can change with framing alone.

Does your LGBTQ+ identity change your approach to comics?

My LGBTQ+ identity essentially shapes my entire worldview, which of course effects my comics. My first comic was about a man who had an unhealthy fascination with a woman, and eventually that escalates to murder. I think coming from an aro perspective, it really surprised me realizing how much people attached to the suggested romantic element and didn't see a lot of the actions I intended to show off as creepy, it was mostly written off as "aw, awkward baby" moments.

It shaped my view on how to treat romance in the future with my comics as well. With my current comic, I always knew my main character was aroace but I was genuinely worried for a really long time to say so publicly, because I didn't want to completely lose the support of my watchers on something I put a lot of hours into making. A lot of the comments at the time were quite shippy, and I knew from other creators that sometimes having a character officially come out and say they're not interested in a relationship can break a comic's viewership.

I think those examples pretty much cover both the internal misinterpretation of an allo audience, and the fear from backlash and pressure to conform to what the audience wants to see even if that goes against your own values and identity.

What is your comments section like? Do you face any discrimination for being aro/ace or for your characters being aro/ace?

I've gotten some directly aphobic comments on my comic with an aroace main character, as well as comments revoking his orientation because it "hurts their ship" or just ignoring it for no foreseeable reason.

On my aroace themed Q n A, I've had people ask about who would he crush over, which was a bit ridiculous. I've also gotten some weirdly personal questions about things like masturbation, and I've gotten a couple of religious comments. I also have a gay-enby character who's gotten a few homophobic comments in their own right.

What things do you wish platforms or websites would do to support LGBTQ+ creators?

I find people telling their own stories to be extremely important, it would be good to see LGBTQ+ people be able to write their own stories, especially as they often know best how to avoid romanticizing harmful stereotypes like power-dynamics and age gaps. I also wish there was less of a push of LGBTQ+ comics all being about queer relationships, focusing also on other parts of the LGBTQ+ community, that is to say, promoting comics that are about the experience of being LGBTQ+; for example ace/aro, trans, enby, etc stories, and stories about gay, lesbian, bi, pan, etc people that focus on their sexuality/orientation, struggles, and culture instead.

Is there anything about the LGBTQ+ comics sphere that you wish was different?

Yeah, definitely wish I'd see more representation of aro people, ace people, and in general LGBTQ+ people who aren't in an mlm relationship.

Do you think more awareness needs to be raised regarding asexuality in the general community and the LGBTQIA+ community?

Yes. At the moment, a majority of people take a kind of ambiguous approach, "I don't really care either way", and others push directly against ace people being part of the LGBTQ+ community. I often hear statements like "they're part of the LGBTQ+ community only if they're also something else from it," which is really sad for me to hear because it shows a kind of underlying treatment of ace-ness as something that doesn't stand on it's own. It's not "really" a sexuality, it's just an add on.

Obviously, that's not true, and that kind of treatment can be really hurtful to ace people, particularly younger ones, and can even pit people in the community against eachother. I've also personally been told we don't feel discrimination when we do, both on a personal basis of being told my experiences don't matter or exist at all, and in a more global way with things like correctional-rape and sexual harassment, refusal of medication as asexuality today is still seen as a pathological symptom of mental disorders, and more. In fact, based on a 2019 UK survey, ace people have the highest percentage of people afraid to come out because of negative reactions regarding sexuality and orientation.

I think at the moment people haven't heard enough what ace is, and we need more representation and awareness both to help ace people feel accepted and understood, and to help allo people understand our experiences and identities.

Can you tell us the most positive experience you’ve had online as an LGBTQ+ creator?

After I had my character come out as aroace I had a lot of people reach out through the comment section to let me know how much they appreciate it, and how they were pleasantly surprised and touched by his coming out. I got some really sweet comments about how people view the comic as a comfort space. It just felt really really good to be able to create something that's for my community, and know I helped people in the way I needed as a younger aroace kid.

What do you like most about being an LGBTQ+ creator?

Frankly I don't really "like it". I own my orientation, but it's never been an inherently positive thing for me. Being a creator supposedly gives me the power to create the stories I'd want to see, but that doesn't really matter if they're invisible. At the end of the day it's kind of a fight against the algorithm and curators on the respective comic platforms, which doesn't favor non-rom comics, much less non-rom people. I think it's really telling both tapas and webtoons promoted every single one of my comics, but have never promoted my comics after they were confirmed not to have a fluffy mlw or mlm romance.