November 2021 • Hello Barkada Comics #3

"To My Husband" by Tatum Begay

9-panel black and white comic. Panel 1 says, "To My Husband, TB '21." Panel 2 features a couple sitting across each at table and says, "When we started dating, I told you that I was sick. You loved me anyway." Panel 3 features a man bringing a glass of water to a woman laying in a bed and says, "As my illness took its toll, you stayed by my side." Panel 4 features the couple laying on a pillow, the man holding the woman as she cries, and says, "Yet even after we married, all I kept asking was 'Are you sure? Are you sufe?'" Panel 5 features a walking cane and says, "This year left me broken in such frightening ways as I lost mobility, muscle mass, and dexterity throughout a body that already felt like it betrayed me daily. How could anyone love me? I didn't even love myself." Panel 6 shows the man bringing two plates of dinner as the woman sits up by a table next to their bed, and says "But even when all I saw was darkness, you never stopped loving me." Panel 7 features bubbles floating up underwater, and says, "I am someone who often feels swept out to sea. Drowned in unrelenting pain." Panel 8 features two couple sitting on a coach playing video games, and says, "But you always manage to bring me back, and remind me that I'm more than my illness." Panel 9 shows the woman on the coach with the man kneeled down in front of her as she cups his face, and says, "You anchor me, every day."

© Tatum Begay

ABOUT THE ARTIST


Tatum Begay is a Navajo disabled creator, illustrator, and digital comic artist who self-publishes zines and web comics that range from slice-of-life to deeper reflections of her life and mentality. A graduate from Northern Arizona University with a master’s in English Literature, Begay currently lives in Arizona.


Find Tatum at @tb_comix on Instagram!


Support Tatum Begay by visiting her page on Tapas (formerly known as Tapastic), tapas.io/tatumbegay!


EDITOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to Julie Fiveash (@jooliefiveash) for recommending Tatum for this series!

TAGS: COMICS

Cartoonists are commissioned for an original comic to the Hello Barkada Comics series. Hello Barkada pays for first online rights, non-exclusive archival rights, first North American serial rights, and first anthology publication rights. Help us extend this opportunity to more cartoonists in 2023 by becoming a Barkada Backer today!


If you would like to be considered for publication in 2023, please reach out to the email address listed in our footer with a link to your portfolio site. Cartoonists who are BIP/WOC, LGBTQIA2S+, and/or disabled are encouraged to reach out. Please note that consideration does not guarantee a commission.

Text in black says "You May Also Like" followed by a black line break.
White text says, "Hello Barkada Comics #9. Each edition of our comics series features a new emerging or established cartoonist. In our second comic of 2023, nonbinary Diné cartoonist Julie Fiveash makes an appeal to think before asking in 'Bad Questions!'" Text on a darkened black and white illustration of the first panel of the comic, which features a clothed anthromorphic bunny with eyes closed and arms folded in exasperation.
White text says, "Collectively 2023. The second annual, month-long celebration of artists, writers, and creatives from historically marginalized communities is hosted throughout September, Hello Barkada's anniversary month, and features free online and in-person events, and the release of new content." Text on a darkened graphic of the tan Collectively logo repeated on a slight diagonal down a brown background.