The graphic novel is comprised of 56 interviews Rhea Ewing conducted with a wide variety of people asking them what does gender mean to them. This is central to why Fine is such an excellent book. I found this a powerful example of what happens without the language: The interviewee discusses how the LGBTQIA+ communities found that creating a language to describe their experiences and realities was necessary as a way to cope, process and understand themselves, and-using 1984 as an example of how ‘ strategically removing language’ was a method towards control-how important it is to be able to share this language. Towards the end of Rhea Ewing’s Fine: A Comic About Gender, there is a discussion on language as a tool for processing experience. ‘ This book is dedicated to everyone who wonders if they are enough. Tender and wise, inclusive and inviting, Fine is an indispensable account for anyone eager to define gender in their own terms. Amidst beautifully rendered scenes emerges Ewing’s own story of growing up in rural Kentucky, grappling with their identity as a teenager, and ultimately finding themself through art―and by creating something this very fine. Questions such as “How do you Identify” produced fiercely honest stories of dealing with adolescence, taking hormones, changing pronouns―and how these experiences can differ, often drastically, depending on culture, race, and religion.

A decade later, this project exploded into a sweeping portrait of the intricacies of gender expression with interviewees from all over the country. As graphic artist Rhea Ewing neared college graduation in 2012, they became consumed by the What is gender? This obsession sparked a quest in which they eagerly approached both friends and strangers in their quiet Midwest town for interviews to turn into comics. A vibrant and informative debut with “great documentary power” (Alison Bechdel), Fine is an elegantly illustrated celebration of the transgender community.

Fine by rhea ewing