HELLO BARKADA - Tatum Begay Hello Barkada Comics

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."

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!

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