Rooster Tails

Rooster Tails delves into the personal stories of Sam Orchard. He calls them “mini-bios” in reference to his often one-page narratives with limited text [1]. Among other things, Sam detailed the experience of being transgender in New Zealand, how being trans affects queer relationships, and some details on the process of transition. The creation of Rooster Tails was a spontaneous decision by Sam Orchard after noticing the lacking representation of LGBT+ figures in comics, especially transgender-male and non-binary gendered people. While the purpose of Rooster Tails is often solely for entertainment, Sam stresses the spread of information for poorly understood parts of the LGBT+ community. Rooster Tails, along with many other comics which feature LGBT+ figures, allows readers to indirectly experience the other side of their stories, therefore expanding visibility for the diverse community [2]. Starting in 2010, Sam chronicled informative material on transition, reactions to political events, and artistic descriptions of terminology for people not entirely familiar with diverse sexual and gender identities. The webcomic is posted weekly on a custom WordPress website, and it uses still electronic drawings to depict events and ideas. Over the years, Sam found a fairly strong audience in the New Zealand LGBT+ community, so he used his platform to raise transgender awareness and promote artists and notable figures in the community. In an interview with Andrew Whiteside, Sam Orchard said he was excited that his platform was starting conversations about experiences, whether viewed relatable or completely different [3].

The “7th Annual Easter Egg Hunt” panel was pulled to represent the more entertaining side of Rooster Tails. It depicts Sam and his genderqueer companion entering a family competition to collect the most easter eggs. Sam chose to draw this event for Rooster Tails because it is amusing, as well as representative of a loving queer relationship. Similar “mini-bio” comics are fairly common on social media, though mostly of heteroromantic relationships. This comic appeals to that audience which enjoys relationship comics, as well as to the queer community, some of which are already fans of Rooster tails.

1. Orchard, Sam. “About,” Rooster Tails Comic, Accessed March 2019, http://www.roostertailscomic.com/about-2/

2. Shin, Kyoung Wan Cathy. “Transcending Boundaries with LGBTQ Webtoons: An Alternative Platform for Democratic Discourse,” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Indiana University, 2018: 10973657. Accessed March 2019, https://search.proquest.com/docview/2135269046?accountid=11107

3. Andrew Whiteside, Sam Orchard. “Listen: Sam Orchard Talks About Comics And Being Trans,” andrewwhiteside.com, Accessed March 2019, http://www.andrewwhiteside.com/?p=1576