Transy Greatness: Eve's Apple

Lately, I've been reading the hell out of Christine Smith's two web comics: Eve's Apple and The Princess.  Both are honest, familiar, and each worthy of a lengthy post.  While I discovered The Princess first, Eve’s Apple was created first and so this is where I turn my attention today.Eve's Apple follows the heroine Eve, a young(ish) lesbian-identified woman through her day-to-day life.  Nothing too fantastic or unrealistic, Eve’s adventures mostly follow her navigating her community and the people within it.  Throughout the comic, Eve is delightful.  She’s fairly popular as the lead singer of a queer band, immersed within her undefined town’s queer community.  She’s femmey and fiercely genuine.  Eve’s also a trans woman.Eve’s trans status is no secret; she’s out and proud and fights for dignity when her identity is challenged (as do several of her friends).  But Eve is also vulnerable as she traverses unfamiliar terrain.  The story often delves into Eve’s psyche as she works to unpack her transy baggage, spreading everything wide open for all to see.  Eve’s internal dialogue sometimes comes across as overly complicated or superfluous—there's secretive hints about some situation with an apple (Genesis themes are all up in here) and three different characters representing youth-triggered insecurities—but most of the plot is down to earth and relatable.  Think Dykes To Watch Out For except much more transy.  And that's just the way I like it.And Eve’s world is inhabited by a bevy of diverse characters, showing that Smith is invested in representation of many different existences.  Best of all, no character is essentialized for their “diversity,” meaning the Black character isn’t THE Black character, the Latina isn’t THE Latina, the person with disabilities isn’t THE Crippled.  Instead the characters exist as whole people, their multiple identities adding to their richness without being highlighted as their only valid facet.  Candace is a side character in a wheelchair.  The comic doesn’t show why she’s in a wheelchair, there's no tragic flashback, no triumphant victory over adversity.  Instead she’s displayed as simply a friend, feminist and a lover in a failing relationship with her long-term partner.Similarly, while Eve is trans, she’s not THE Trans person.  Smith doesn’t spend a lot of time delving into Eve's coming out story or focus on Eve coming to terms with her identity.  Sure she explores how Eve navigates the world as a trans woman, but also as a lesbian woman, as a fat woman, as a woman in a community of queers.  Eve is sexy but insecure, easy-going but a complete nervous wreck; that is, she reads as a real person, a bevy of contradictions, which makes her so much more compelling.It’s uncertain whether Christine Smith is working through her own issues through Eve or if Eve is merely a vehicle via which readers can peek into the inner life of a trans person.  Either way, Eve’s thoughts, feelings, insecurities and dreams ring true.  Smith tugs on heartstrings while working in complicated issues of gender and cisgenderism/cissexism. Brilliant.Apple has a bit of everything, covering a wide range of transy and queer topics, including: body image; trans people expressing transphobia; gender essentialism; obsession with what's inside of a trans person's pants; lesbian love triangles; trans romance; and more (sound too much like an infomercial?)!This is seriously worth a read or two.  I truly hope Eve’s Apple moves away from its awkward and ad-filled DrunkDuck (what the?) host page and moves to an easier-to-navigate dedicated website.  Hopefully it can find a home within a larger publication, one that can increase the readership to larger collection of queer folk.  More people need to be exposed to the lives of trans people—not on the fringe and not as a side note or token, stereotyped character, but in a human, tender, respectful way.  And Christine Smith delivers.