July 15, 2022 • Hello Barkada Comics #7

"Reminder to Self" by Nicky Rodriguez

9-panel black and white comic, laid out over three rows. First row includes two panels illustrating the opening of the back of a humanoid's neck, exposing a spine. Second row includes two panels illustrating a femme humanoid head on a pedestal with the body from the neck down performing adjustments to the back of the neck. Third row includes six panels, illustrating the humanoid completing the procedure and attaching the head back onto its body, ending on a fully black panel. Text appears in boxes throughout the illustration and overall reads, "The damage sparks a wild pain through the front of my head. These isn't really a permanent fix, but I think I've figure out how to manage it. Mostly. There are days I'd rather leave my head off altogether. But the pain continues, so, I keep at it. It's taken a lot of time... a lot of trial and error... and a lot of pain. It may not be perfect, but sometimes you just do the best with what you got, and that's okay."

© Nicky Rodriguez

ABOUT THE ARTIST


Nicky Rodriguez (she/her) is a Queer Puerto Rican comic artist based in Denver, Colorado, whose autobiographical and fictional work explores mental health, the impermanence of time and memory, existential ennui, and the meaning of home and homesickness in connection to being of the Puerto Rican diaspora. She is the creator of two webcomics, The Unlucky Ones and the Edge of Nowhere and The Smoke in the Mirror, an anime and manga writer and reviewer whose work is featured on CBR, and the illustrator of the picture book Con Papá/With Papa written by Frederick Luis Aldama.


Find Nicky on Instagram at @artofnickyrodriguez and on Twitter at @artofnickyrdrgz. 


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TAGS: COMICS

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