FUN TIME SUMMER 2023 - "HOT SPACE"

An all-new original cartoon essay. 20 pages, full-color throughout, digest sized. 

Recently I saw an advertisement for Amazon Prime (I know, I know) where a young girl who feels ugly, channels her inner-Freddie Mercury and changes the way the world perceives her. I explore the origins of HOT SPACE, largely known as "the bad Queen album" and wonder if it might have been in fact ahead of its time. I consider my own lifelong relationship to the band Queen, and how I too have sought to embrace my inner-Freddie. And I write about how Freddie Mercury, an LGBTQ icon, loved by younger generations, was never able to live visibly in his own lifetime. Finally, I ask, what do we owe young people hoping to live visibly themselves, beyond just our admiration and respect from the sidelines.