MariNaomi

MariNaomi's has been drawing comics since 1997, starting out as a zine creator.[1][2] Their comics are usually autobiographical. They talk about the search for their roots, their status as a mixed race queer woman, as well as their feminism. Their article "Writing People of Color" discusses how people of color should approach writing about people from a race that is not their own.[3] MariNaomi stated "I feel like race is such a sensitive issue that I wanted feedback and I wanted to know how better to do it and to share that information.".[2]

MariNaomi wrote an article It Happened to Me: I Was Sexually Harassed Onstage at a Comic Convention Panel for XOJane in 2013 describing their experience of being harassed on stage as a panelist at a comics convention.[4] They did not name their harasser, but Scott Lobdell later came forward and issued a public apology for his actions.[5][6]

MariNaomi founded and maintains three online databases of cartoonists: the Cartoonists of Color Database, the Queer Cartoonists Database and the Disabled Cartoonists Database.[7][8][9] In 2014, they began the Cartoonists of Color Database and created the Queer Cartoonists Database soon after.[10][11] In 2019, they launched the Disabled Cartoonists Database.[12] The opt-in per creator database Queer Cartoonists contains 775 entries as of May 2018 and has been reported to be helpful in the professional careers of upcoming cartoonists.[13] Librarians and archivists specializing in comic book studies have also highlighted the need for open access databases like these.[14]

MariNaomi has written and drawn comics columns for several websites, including The Rumpus and SFBAY.ca.[15][16] In 2016, they were featured at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center conference on imagined futures.[17] MariNaomi’s column on The Rumpus won an honorable mention in Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Comics 2013 and a SPACE prize.[18] Their art can be found in the Smithsonian, De Young Museum, Cartoon Art Museum, Asian Art Museum, the Japanese American Art Museum, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.[19][18] MariNaomi also taught classes for California College of the Arts Comics MFA program.[20]

Since 2017, they and fellow author Myriam Gurba have been hosting an advice podcast called AskBiGrlz Archived 2021-11-26 at the Wayback Machine where they answer listener questions.[21] In 2011 and 2018, MariNaomi toured with Sister Spit and is also a guest editor of PEN Illustrated.[22]

In 2021, MariNaomi created a Stop AAPI Hate mural in Garvey Park in Rosemead, California. The comic-strip inspired 60-by10-foot mural covers the side of a recreational park building.[23][24] Connie Chung Joe of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles said the mural is "a wake-up call that Asian-Americans in this country have been scapegoated. Not just by this pandemic, but time and time again in American history.”[25][26]

In May 2023, MariNaomi released their book, I Thought You Loved Me. In this book, MariNaomi goes on an emotional, reminiscent journey to try and figure out why their friendship with Jodie ended abruptly with a phone call. They used details from old journal entries and told the story through colorful collages made with mixed media such as drawings, email threads, and postcards.[27][28] During the publication process, MariNaomi faced budget issues and even a cancellation, until Fieldmouse Press picked it up.[29]

Their mother is Japanese and their father is a Caucasian American. Born as Mari Naomi Schaal in Texas in 1973, they grew up in Mill Valley, California and later moved to San Jose, California.[2] They began using the name MariNaomi in 2003. They worked in illegal hostess bars while they briefly lived in Japan.[30] They wrote about those experiences in their memoir, Turning Japanese.[31]

• Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial, 2011) ISBN 0062009230
• Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories (2dcloud/Uncivilized Books, 2014) ISBN 1941250017
• Turning Japanese (2dcloud, 2016) ISBN 1937541169
• I Thought YOU Hated ME (Retrofit Comics, 2016) ISBN 1940398495
• Losing the Girl (Graphic Universe, 2018) ISBN 1541510445
• Gravity's Pull (Graphic Universe, 2018) ISBN 1541545265
• Distant Stars (Graphic Universe, 2020) ISBN 1541587006
• Dirty Produce (Workman Publishing Company, 2021) ISBN 1523513314
• I Thought You Loved Me (Fieldmouse Press, 2023) ISBN 1956636161

• Personal website
• Cartoonists of Color database
• Queer Cartoonists database
• Disabled Cartoonists database