From Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home to Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, comics have been a part of American culture since print first began. But comics are no longer relegated just to the newspaper, and as books like Maus or Persepolis have proven, this is a golden age for graphic novel storytelling. What is even more exciting is how the comics industry is currently championing narratives for all identities and ages.

Vermont Cartoonist Laureate Tillie Walden presents a look at the intersection of indie comics with queer identity through her many graphic novels—from science fiction to memoir to historical retelling. Explore process and power through visual narrative and learn why comics are relevant to Vermonters and beyond.

Tillie Walden has published five graphic novels and a webcomic. She won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for her graphic novel Spinning, making her one of the youngest Eisner Award winners ever. She was named Vermont’s Cartoonist Laureate for the years 2023 to 2026.

Walden’s On a Sunbeam was adapted into a graphic novel that won the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is currently working with Vermont Humanities on a historical graphic novel about Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, one of Vermont’s earliest queer couples.