YINZ CITY

︎ YINZ CITY is an ongoing graphic novel series following four trans folks and their friends as they navigate found communities, awkward relationships, shitty part-time jobs and shittier parties. each issue focuses on one of four protagonists: unsteady Seti Marimbe, kind-hearted Kit Kitterson, simmering Sage Koski, and ill-mannered Isaiah Kitterson. together, the four of them find their own ways to handle daily life as queer trans people of color living in a small city in western PA.

the characters of YINZ CITY ask themselves: can good people be shitty friends? can good friends be shitty people?

YINZ CITY can be read ONLINE (!!) for FREE (!!!!) at WWW.YINZ.CITY!!!!!!!!! phyiscal copies can sometimes be purchased via my online store.

i started drawing YINZ CITY in spring of 2019! there are currently 5 issues, with the first four collected into a single volume in spring of 2022. i plan for YINZ CITY to consist of 25 issues altogether, to be collected into 5 volumes. each volume is set one year and one season apart. i release them one issue at a time; there is no schedule beyond “every few months or so, maybe”.

volume 2 of YINZ CITY (issues 5-8) is being funded by the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant, which i was awarded in fall of 2022 (you can read more about that here). the grant funds were used to conduct interviews with 10+ different QTPOC living in the Pittsburgh region in order to include broader shared themes and experiences. the interviews focused on our definitions of community, how we find them, and what our places are within them; they also focused on who we share space with, either by choice or because of circumstance. these interviews are being used to inform the writing in the series— how the characters relate to each other and their own identities. in the future i’d like to continue collecting interviews.

YINZ CITY is an ongoing fictionalized archive of localized QTPOC historys!

it’s ethnography, baby!!!!!

although YINZ CITY isn’t based entirely on any true story or specific events, it’s been described as “an alternate history 2015-era Pittsburgh”. some landmarks may look familiar and some background characters may remind you of someone you know.

the series is loosely influenced by my love of shoujo and BL manga. it’s about petty drama, shifting relationships, and a sense of saftey among friends. life is like that. sometimes your best friend is dating your other friend who you haven’t talked to in a while, who is dating six of your other friends and that one dude you can’t stand who works at the farmers market and who you know for a fact hangs out at that one white supremacist punk bar. everybody can get a little messy now and then, and that’s what YINZ CITY is all about.

cuz ya know, aren’t we all a little nebby sometimes?

if you are interested in having a cameo appearance in YINZ CITY, feel free to email me ︎