tori holder

Saturday, September 28, 2013

you carry your demons well









So, I'm really proud to be able to finally post this comic (I was struggling to title it, and then just hadn't scanned the title page yet). Usually, I say that about posting comics that wind up in anthologies, or that a cool little printed version of this will be available at the next show I'm doing (which in this case is true), but this time it's for a completely different reason. For a very long time, I had (and somewhat still have) very strong feelings about things I did or didn't do, and the person I wasn't able to be and the one I shocked myself at being capable of becoming. It really started impeding on my life and my art, and this comic is kind of my way of laying it all to rest. I wanted to be clear about that, and be clear that in sharing it, I'm not trying to convince others that your guilt is always going to win out, don't let it; I just know we all have things we'd rather not have on our permanent record, and you're not alone. You can think everyone can can read it on your face, you think you're the worst thing that ever happened to someone (even yourself), you can think you're past doing any good, but you're not. Consider this a frog-blood-covered hand* to pull you out of the muck, because I swear, more people than you know have been there, and want to help you, so whether it's talking to a friend, seeking professional help, or drawing a comic, you deserve to help yourself up.

*super important note: I, in  no way, condone killing other people or animals for any reason. I am not a frog killer, it's an extended metaphor.

**less important note: I am not going to start turning my comics into some sort of quasi-sermon, promise. Still silly old me, who else could write this with St. Vincent's 'Surgeon' coming up on shuffle in the background and start giggling?

Monday, September 9, 2013

coffee and commercials

Just as a note, I've been posting everything on the tumblr earlier than it it shows up here... not sure if I'll eventually switch the whole operation over, but if it's your preferred method of consumption, you can do that too now.