In 2024, I worked on Invasive Species, a park ranger x plant girl 18+ comic, written by Mel Gillman. It appeared in Succulent, and for a while that was the only place you could read it. Until now…
I wanted to take this mostly two-toned comic to the risograph world. The original color palette for this comic (and all comics in the Succulent anthology) was the lesbian flag plus a shade of green. What perfect parameters to turn into riso! After fiddling around with the CMYK levels in Affinity Photo, I exported all pages to two separate files: green layer (C and K) and red layer (M and Y).
Next step was to design front and back covers and add some credits. Here’s some exploration sketches I made for the covers.
I love the one I ended up going with. Easy to do typography on and eye catching on my table display at cons. It wasn’t until after I started assembling that I noticed it looks just like Grand Slam Romance 1. Emma and Ollie remain goat!
I kinda goofed on this first riso run in two ways. One: I said this comic was published in 2023 (one year off, oops). Two: I said this comic was printed in grass green. Once I actually got to Outlet, I realized that kelly green ink was the way to go. It’s more vibrant! So for the first run of 200 copies, I will be correcting these errors by hand. I think that extra love to each copy adds to the uniqueness that risograph already imparts.
I took the printed pages to the print shop I work at to trim. Trimming is so scary… I spent like $700+ on printing these, and one wrong move with the industrial chopper can cost me. So I check, check, triple check before hitting go on the guillotine.
Then I fold these by hand! Make sure all the pages are in the right order and orientation, then fold, then staple. All my riso zines are assembled by hand, which makes them very special.
I want to give a big shoutout to Outlet. They helped with the Nova and Mali project, In Their Clutches, by printing some 18+ prints for us, and they didn’t turn me away for printing my plant girl smut. There are increasingly fewer and fewer places in the world that allow the freedom of queer expression in the arts, and I appreciate Outlet being chill guys. Also while I was there, I printed some anti-ICE flyers to hand out at cons this spring. For free! You can stop by the shop and pick up some of their posters, too. I always feel very at peace when I’m at Outlet. Much love <3
For now, print physical copies of the riso edition of Invasive Species will be available at in person events (ECCC, C2E2, Squatchcon, etc) but I have plans to stock my online shop with copies, as well. Mel Gillman will also have a few copies that I'm sending them this week, if you are closer to one of their events!
There's only 200 copies in the initial print run, so I may have to reprint for online. BUT I’m letting Patreon supporters hit me up for a copy, and they have access to the digital version of this zine. So check it out! (Horn Dog tiers and higher, though if you're a member on one of the lower tiers, you can still DM me for a copy! It's $18 in the US and $20 internationally.) Patreon supporters will also be the first to know when I’ve added these to the online shop.
Working on this comic with Mel (and the Succulent editorial team) was awesome. It’s still one of my most favorite pieces I’ve made, and I’m so thrilled with how the riso version came out. I hope you enjoy!