Webcomic / Alienby Comics

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Alienby Comics

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Although the comics started out being strictly autobiographical, Formula-Breaking Episodes began appearing with increasing frequency later on to the point that it's difficult to classify exactly what type of webcomic Alienby Comics is. These comics include stories of transgender versions of fictional characters, the "Trans and Non-Binary Characters From the Vault" series of trans character profiles and comics about non-gender-related aspects of Riri's personal life.

This comic provides examples of:

• Adaptational Gender Identity:
  • "Awakening" is a The Legend of Zelda fanfic in which Zelda is Link's post-transition self.
  • "In Full Swing" is based around the common headcanon that Spider-Gwen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a trans woman.
    • Its two-part sequel "Can't Go Back" reveals that Peter Parker is a trans man in Gwen's universe.
  • "Ready to Stand" is a little more subtle than others, but it imagines Ariel — who is implied to be assigned male at birth here — as not only wanting to go up to the surface, but also wanting to specifically be a human woman as well.
  • "Trans Jesus" fittingly opens on Jesus showing off a top surgery scar that resembles the scars from the spear piercing him during his crucifixion.
  • "Pink Kryptonite" has the titular element being used like a Kryptonian equivalent of HRT by a transgender Superman.
  Batman: Tell me... do you bleed?
  Superman: Well, I used to once a month. But my pink kryptonite put a stop to that.
  • "Fraternal" is based on the common headcanon of Dipper from Gravity Falls being a trans boy. Here he comes out to his sister Mabel. Eagled-eyed fans will notice that Mabel first refers to Dipper as "Macie" — tying in to how his real name is Mason and a picture on the wall of Mabel with another girl who looks exactly like her.
  • "Catch a Clue" has a pansexual trans woman Daphne among the members of Mystery Inc, who are a polycule with plenty of Adaptational Sexuality in this comic.
• Alien Among Us: Riri's alien depiction from "Alien Enby" is briefly depicted as one of these to represent young Riri's struggles growing up.
  Riri: I spent years trying to look and talk like a normal human. But the antennae became too hard to hide...
• Anxiety Dreams: In "Untangled", Riri talks about their nightmares over their high school religion teacher scolding them for being queer. Thankfully, the teacher appears in a future dream congratulating Riri on their transition and then never appears again.
• Art Evolution: The art style becomes more colourful and detailed over the course of the series. Compare the very first comic to a more recent one.
• Contrast Montage: In "The Difference a Little Kindness Can Make", the first two panels show Riri and their partner Ruby overhearing some nasty remarks about them from a passerby, upsetting them. The next two panels show them out together when an elderly lady tells Riri that they're beautiful, which greatly pleases both Riri and Ruby.
• Creation Myth: "Self-Creation" is based on Christian creation myths, something Riri points out in the description from being raised evangelical. The comic itself entails a goddess that represents Riri's true self helping revitalise — and physically transition — a tired, closeted Riri.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The earlier comics have a more limited colour scheme and less-detailed artwork (see Art Evolution above). To a lesser extent, there's the fact that the comics were initially only autobiographical comics about Riri's personal experiences with being transgender.
• Evil Stole My Faith: In "Trans Jesus", Riri states that bigotry (heavily implied to be homophobia/transphobia) in the name of Christianity caused them to lose faith in the religion and stop believing.
  Riri: But my beliefs started to crack as I realized many of the people who proclaim this message of love also treat people in the margins of society with bigotry, malice and even violence.
• Fire-Breathing Diner: In one panel of "Riri and Ruby", Riri is doing this after eating some spicy food while on a date with their partner Ruby, who is laughing about it.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: Not every comic is about Riri's identity. Initially these were the exception rather than the sort-of norm they are now.
  • The Adaptational Gender Identity comics, natch.
  • "Transfemme Fashion Tips" is exactly what it says on the tin.
  • "EoE" is about eosinophilic esophagitis, an autoimmune condition affecting the digestive system Riri and their brother have.
  • "Riri and Ruby", a comic made to celebrate Riri's one-year anniversary with their partner Ruby.
  • "Trans and Nonbinary Characters From the Vault", a series of comics analysing transgender characters and their portrayals in popular media. For example, here is the first installment.
  • "The Bionicle Fan-to-Trans Pipeline Explained" is an explainer of the prominence of transgender people in the BIONICLE fandom, as Riri grew up with the series.
• Green-Skinned Space Babe: Riri depicts themself as a blue-skinned alien in "Alien Enby". The design also has some Call-Backs to their alien form from "Not Human", such as the gossamer wings.
• Half-Identical Twins: Riri discusses being one of these after having grown up looking identical to their twin brother in "Breaking the Set".
  Riri: Growing up my brother and I were always seen as a collective pair, rather than as individuals. Many people couldn’t tell us apart, and some didn’t see the need to, since they saw us as a matching set. One barrier I faced in coming out was the disappointment others would have with me ‘breaking the set’ by no longer looking like my brother—as if somehow my being trans tainted the twin part of my identity… But I will not make decisions about my appearance for the whimsy of others.
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: In "No Signs", Riri's 13-year-old self insists there were no signs of them being a closeted trans person. Gilligan Cut to them in their bedroom making flimsy excuses for their more feminine behaviors e.g. singing their heart out to Britt Nicole's "Still That Girl" because "it's Christian music" and wearing a women's T-shirt because they liked how it fit. An embarrassed look sets in on their face as present-day Riri shrugs nonchalantly.
• Innocently Insensitive: In "Catch a Clue", Fred says "Man, I love traps!" while setting up a Booby Trap in front of Daphne, who is transgender in this comic. In case you don't get it, "trap" is a transphobic slur referring to people with characteristics considered atypical for their gender.
  Daphne: Fred, honey, you need to stop saying that.
  Fred: ...But not as much as I love my beautiful girlfriend!
• Jesus Was Way Cool: In "Trans Jesus", Jesus is depicted as an all-loving, non-judgemental figure whose beliefs are similar to modern progressive values, such as breaking bread with sex workers and outcasts.
• Mental Monster: In "Inner Demons", Riri pictures their anxiety, depression and gender dysphoria as monsters that torment them but can be overcome through coping mechanisms.
  Riri: I see Anxiety as a smoldering thorny hound who breathes fire at my belly (explaining the burning sensation I often feel when I’m anxious). Depression is a sluggish, tentacled grim reaper that drags me down into the depths of despair where I’m left to drown. Dysphoria is a backwards upside down monster with limbs and fingers jutting out every which way, with mirror shards stuck in its body, weaponizing my own reflection against me. I think it’s good to visualize these obstacles as entities separate from myself. I am more than my Depression, Anxiety, and Gender Dysphoria, and they are not me.
• My Future Self and Me:
  • In "Futures", Riri meets two future versions of themself - one who is a cis man and the father of a young daughter and the other is a more feminine, later-in-transition version of Riri.
  • In "Meeting My Past Selves", Riri meets up with their 20-year-old, 13-year-old and 5-year-old selves.
  20-year-old Riri: You're me? What happened?
  13-year-old Riri: Noooo! This isn't what God had planned for your life!
  5-year-old Riri: I- I'm gonna be pretty!

  • The semi-sequel, "No Signs", features Riri having a one-to-one with their 13-year-old self.
  • In the final panel of "Trans Jesus", Riri is seen sitting by a fire pit with the spirit of their childhood self standing next to and looking straight at them in awe.
• Prone to Tears: A justified example in "Progress Report" — as a result of HRT increasing their hormone level, Riri reports that they've been crying a lot more but now it's easier to process their emotions.
• Queer Colors: The final panel of "Inanna and Trans People in Ancient Mesopotamia" shows the titular goddess blessing a Mesopotamian with the background colours aligned exactly like the transgender pride flag's stripes.
• Real Dreams are Weirder: Riri has experinced dreams that are this crossed with Dreaming of Things to Come before big milestones in their transition:
  • In this unnamed comic, Riri recounts a vision they had shortly before questioning their gender identity of a "cold, masculine, rigid" stone statue entombing an ethereal dragon spirit trying to break free as cracks appear in the statue.
  • In "Not Human", Riri dreams in freshman year that they are a member of a flying alien race left behind on Earth. They note that at the time they felt like they didn't belong in this world but in their dream they fit right in with the other aliens.
  • In "Refusal of the Call", Riri meets a future version of themself with a more feminine body encouraging them to start HRT. Riri refuses and tells their future self that they are not ready, future Riri tells them to take their time and that there is no wrong path to take.
  • "Futures" is based on a dream Riri had shortly before starting HRT. In the comic they meet an alternate future version of themself who is a cis man and a father. Riri cries tears of joy as their alternate self waves at them before meeting up with a more feminine future self.
  • In "Untangled", Riri describes a dream they had where their high school religion teacher, Mrs. A, compliments them on "the lovely young woman [they've] become". This occurred after a series of nightmares involving said teacher scolding Riri for being queer. Mrs. A then disappears from Riri's dreams, a sign they take to mean that this particular trauma has sorted itself out.
• Reimagining the Artifact: "Pink Kryptonite" is Riri's attempt to put a more positive spin on a more controversial element of the Superman mythos, the titular pink kryptonite.
  Riri: Anywho, there have been lots of instances where Superman’s story has been relatable to queer and trans folks—from his struggles with feeling like an outcast, passing as a human man, and figuring out his Kryptonian body (powers) to a heavily queer-coded coming out story where Superman reveals his secret identity... As for the pink rock, you might know pink kryptonite from a homophobic one-off joke from comics as “the one that turns Superman gay.” But it was used more recently in a Justice League Action animated short where pink kryptonite temporarily gives Superman femme-presenting body features for comedic effect. I decided to reclaim this complicated rock as a sort of Kryptonian hormone therapy for a trans Superman.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Riri sometimes uses imagery associated with Christianity as they were raised evangelical. "Self-Creation" (featured above in Creation Myth) is a story about Riri being remade as non-binary by a feminine creator deity.
  • Riri depicts their sense of hope as a basset hound (based on the family pet Gully, whom Riri describes as being "hopeful for treats, pats and attention of any kind") in "Unleashed Hope".
  • In "Balancing Act", Riri as an unsteady acrobat represents their struggle to stop buying feminine underwear that doesn't fit their body type.
  • "Made for Winter" is about how Riri views Vixen's plight in The Year Without a Santa Claus as a metaphor for how trans people thrive in environments they feel safe in.
  • In "Trans Jesus", when Riri states their Christian beliefs started to crack, the stained glass window in the background becomes cracked and broken and the colours become less bright as well. In the same comic, Riri depicts their self-love as a small glowing heart that somewhat resembles a communion wafer they hold in the palms of their hands.
  • Combined with Queer Colors in the Spider-Man comics: Gwen has a pink glow surrounding her when she comes out as trans and Peter has a blue glow when he opens up about his transition to Gwen. Pink and blue represent trans women and men respectively on the trans pride flag.
  • "Reforged" compares the process of picking a new name as a trans person to a blacksmith forging a new weapon, at least visually.
  • "Untangled" uses piles of string as a metaphor for Riri's religious trauma. When they overcome the fear of their old religion teacher finding out about their queerness, the ball of string Riri is holding untangles to a single thread.
  • "2 Years on HRT" shows Riri getting a computer program to work as a metaphor for their changing libido.
• Super-Deformed: The panel citing the sources referenced in "Inanna and Trans People in Ancient Mesopotamia" shows a chibi version of Inanna wearing a Fun T-Shirt that says "Make Love AND War".
• Trans Tribulations: Riri is not afraid to expand on the more difficult parts of their transition journey:
  • In "Going Outside", Riri recounts some examples of casual transphobia they had dealt with in public over a week or two, including one man not-so-subtly taking a photo of Riri without their consent.
  • "Dysphoria" is about Riri struggling with their appearance due to gender dysphoria.
  • "Gendered Interests" is about how Riri initially had trouble with enjoying the things they liked after coming out as transfemme out of fear of not being taken seriously over liking "masculine" things.
• Transformation Sequence: Parodied in "Transformation" where the trigger for the sequence is Riri's hair dye kicking in with the blow dry.
• Very Special Episode: "Inanna and Trans People in Ancient Mesopotamia" is about the evidence that ancient Mesopotamia had transgender and non-binary people as accepted and cherished members of society. Riri states a few times in the comic that they believe that being transgender is not a new trend, but something that goes back centuries, with ancient Mesopotamia being one example.
• Vision Quest: Riri is in the process of going on one in "The Trans Road".

• Visual Pun: Early on, Riri explained that the name "Alienby" was chosen to represent how being non-binary and autistic made them feel alien. They later spun this into a comic called "Alien Enby" where they depict themselves as a literal alien as a metaphor for their experiences.
• Weight Woe: In "2 Years on HRT", Riri comments on how weight gain due to their changing metabolism has caused them to have trouble fitting into some of their clothes.