Diana Green (cartoonist)

Diana Green is an American comics comics creator. She is known for her debut comic strip Tranny Towers and is one of the first transgender cartoonists to include openly transgender characters in her comics. Throughout her career, she has contributed to various LGBTQ publications, such as Gay Comix and "Omaha" the Cat Dancer, as well as publishing her own works.

Diana Green
BornNew Mexico, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Graphic design, storyboarding, drawing, illustration, writing
Notable works
Tranny Towers, Gay Comix

Personal life

Green spent her early years of childhood in New Mexico.[1] Her parents were both in the United States Air Force, so Green moved around numerous times before she settled down in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Diana Green came out as transgender in 1985, and underwent gender reassignment surgery a couple of years later. She is an outspoken activist for state-funded surgeries.[2] She is an advocate for AIDS victims, illustrated and designed for the Minnesota AIDS Project, and donates to LGBTQ+ charities and organizations.[3]

Education

Diana Green received a BFA in Comic Book Illustration from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD).[4] She is credited as the first transsexual woman to earn this BFA. She has a Master's Degree in Liberal Studies from Hamline University, with a focus on creative nonfiction and screenwriting.[5]

Career and works

Notable works

Green made her comic debut in 1993 with the publication of "Little Athena in Genderland" in the 18th issue of Gay Comix.[6] It is recognized as one of the earliest forms of transgender representation in LGBTQ+ comics, and tackles issues of body dysmorphia, gender norms, and alienation.

Tranny Towers, her first reoccurring comic strip, was published in Lavender Magazine from the years 1994-1995. It was viewed as a landmark work as one of the earliest self-identified transgender comics.[7] This strip showcased some of the first explicitly transgender characters in comics.

Green interned for Reed Waller and contributes to the popular erotic comic "Omaha" the Cat Dancer. Her work can be seen in issues 13 and 14.

Diana Green was also a staff cartoonist for the magazine TransSisters between 1994 and 1996. Created by Davina Gabriel, TransSisters served as a "Journal of Transsexual Feminism."[2] The magazine included discussions of transgender theory, socio-political issues related to the transgender community, interviews with queer women, and various short comics and illustrations. Diana Green worked in collaboration with other artists and writers, such as Alison Bechdel, Leslie Feinberg, and Rachel Pollack.

In 1999, Green self-published Speedy Ricuverri and his All-Girl Orchestra, a comic book which sold almost all of its copies. In 2006, she self-published another comic book titled The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away.[4]

Teaching and academic publications

Diana Green has been an adjunct professor at MCAD since 2006. She teaches studio courses in comic book creation, comic book writing, illustration, animation, and advanced drawing. She also teaches liberal arts courses, including comic book history, underground comics, and film history. She has taught grade school and high school level courses at Aldrich Community Center in comic book creation as well. In addition to her teaching, Green has been a conference coordinator and an education director at MCAD.

Diana Green has contributed written work to many books and publications regarding comic book history and queer comics. Some of her contributions include:

  • Duncan, Randy, et al. The Power of Comics: History, Form, and Culture. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.
  • York, Chris. Comic Books and the Cold War: 1946-1962 ; Essays on Graphic Treatment of Communism, the Code and Social Concerns. McFarland, 2012.
  • Clanton, Dan W. The End Will Be Graphic: Apocalyptic in Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012.
  • Duncan, Randy, and Matthew J. Smith. Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman. Greenwood, 2013.

Current work

Diana Green is currently working on turning the Tranny Towers stories into a graphic novel titled TransScending. Green in also in the process of releasing a graphic memoir called Sharp Invitations, which she releases in short, one-page illustrations weekly on her blog and her Twitter account, accompanied by a personal analysis of the work.[8]

Green recently finished her film script, Private Myths, which centers around lesbian relationships.

Diana Green showcases her illustrations and new works at art exhibits, primarily those held at MCAD, in addition to posting them on her social media accounts.[9]

References
  1. "Interview with Diana Green". University of Minnesota. 2017-06-27.
  2. Brown, Candice, et al. "Interview with the Transsexual Vampire: Sandy Stone's Dark Gift." TransSisters: The Journal of Transsexual Feminism. Vol. 1, no. 8, 1995.
  3. Holmes, B.C. "My Inspiration: Tranny Towers ." Foxtown Manor, https://www.bcholmes.org/foxtown/trannytowers.html
  4. "Diana Green." Diana Green | Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MCAD, https://www.mcad.edu/faculty-alumni/diana-green .
  5. "Diana Green." Prism Comics, https://www.prismcomics.org/profile/dianagreen/ .
  6. Green, Diana. "Little Athena in Genderland." Gay Comics #18, vol. 1 no. 18, Bob Ross, 1993, pp. 31.
  7. Abate, Michelle Ann et al. The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions. University Press of Mississippi, 2022.
  8. Green, Diana. Trosper and Ignatz Meet Gentle Giant, 8 July 2010, http://trosper-ignatz-gentlegiant.blogspot.com/2010/07/original-art-sundays-50-tranny-towers-p.html.
  9. Green, Diana [@DianaBodefan] (September 12, 2022). "From Friday's MCAD Faculty Biennial opening celebration, my work on display. t.co/UsVigYHoIM" (Tweet). Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via Twitter.
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