Bianca Xunise and Their Beginning

Bianca Xunise is a Black nonbinary cartoonist, illustrator, designer, and writer who is from Chicago, Illinois. They grew up “in an artistic household as the descendant of generations of creatives.” Their mother was a fashion designer (Nylon). In fact, their mom actually was a small cartoonist before she was a fashion designer. In an interview with Edgar from Comics Kingdom, they discuss how their inspiration was their mom. “My mom had ambitions to draw for Mad Magazine before she went into fashion design, so I definitely got my dark sense of humor from her. She used to draw all our chore lists as mini comics, and every birthday or holiday card came with illustrations” (Comics Kingdom). Xunise speaks about their early life in Say Her Name, where there is a lot of discussion regarding racism. However, there was a lot of mention of the relationship between them and their mother. “Xunise’s relationship with her mother seems complex, and she touches more on her mother’s parenting style in The Devil’s Music, where she reveals her mother’s preoccupation with her return to the Christian church” (Mangamaven).

They graduated with a “BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago” (Xunise). Their work, whether it was as an illustrator or cartoonist, has been published everywhere, especially in “Ragu, People Magazine, The Washington Post, Riot Fest, Vogue, Hello Giggles and The Nib and a personal column at Shondaland” (Xunise). They mostly focuses their work “on the plight and daily struggles of a young black feminist weirdo in modern society” (Bannerman et al.). As for their personal life, They are known to be a goth person of color. They express their goth identity by wearing shirts, such as their black shirt that says, “So goth, I was born black” (Nittle).

How did Bianca xunise become a cartoonist? What is their current syndicate?

Xunise was inspired to be a cartoonist from an early age as they used to love “reading books drawn by Bernard Waber and Ludwig Bemelmans” (Xunise). Due to their love for it as a kid, they would make comics in their diaries and people would encourage them to share them. They once stated that Hello Giggles was one of the first people to see their comics, and they asked them to publish a column. They credit them for starting their career in comics in 2015 due to the column (Rockett). Their journey continued in 2020 when they joined a major syndicated comic called “Six Chix” under the King Features Syndicate (Rueda).

Six Chix was created by the editor-in-chief of King Features Syndicate, Jay Kennedy, in January 2000. He was looking for new cartoonists and found women creators to bring women readers to the comics. In 2014, Six Chix received a nomination for Best Newspaper Comic Strip of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society. The Six Chix comic strip is written by six cartoonists that trade-off who write and draw comic strips throughout the week based on a fixed schedule. Since their debut, there have been eleven people who have worked on it and put their talent to use. Each of the six artists has different stories and stylistic elements in their comic strips, so there is something for everyone to enjoy within Six Chix. However, the comic strip focuses on some of the same themes like “relationships, child rearing, and other issues of interest to women. Six Chix is syndicated to more than 120 newspapers.”

The schedule has changed throughout time as there have been switches to what cartoonist creates a comic strip on what day. Some have the earlier creators started at the beginning in 2000. Here is the schedule, provided by Wikipedia.
“Monday – Isabella Bannerman
Tuesday – Bianca Xunise; Martha Gradisher (through January 2020); Margaret Shulock (through March 2017)
Wednesday – Susan Camilleri Konar; Rina Piccolo (through October 2016)
Thursday – Mary Lawton; Anne Gibbons (through August 2017); Carla Ventresca (October 2005 through July 2007); Ann Telnaes (through September 2005)
Friday – Maritsa Patrinos; Benita Epstein (through March 2019); Kathryn LeMieux (through April 2009)
Saturday – Stephanie Piro
Sunday – Rotates”

When Bianca Xunise joined Six Chix, they became the first non-binary cartoonist and second Black femme to contribute to a nationally syndicated strip. Xunise publishes its comics for Six Chix on every Tuesday of the week (Wikipedia). They also have the opportunity to work with Steenz, another black nonbinary person who was the first Black femme to contribute to the Six Chix comics. The comics Xunise publishes and makes are about everyday life, racism, fiction, and so much more (Comics Kingdom). The comic strips they publish in Six Chix are usually comedic versions of slice-of-life depictions. Depending on the holiday, Xunise sometimes even creates a themed comic strip on their Tuesday slot. Their most recent series is on aliens, due to Halloween not being that long ago.

What is bianca xunise’s comic style?

Growing up, Xunise always used to draw and communicate better through drawings. Xunise continues to master their craft as they draw all the time, even when it’s not concerning a published comic. They usually spend 4 to 10 hours creating comics or drawings, especially trying to get better with more practice. The reason behind drawing all the time is that they feel like they have to constantly remind themselves why they love creating art. The constant drawing also helps them to continue to challenge their way of thinking about drawing and art because they won’t be tempted to fall into comfortability or shortcuts.

Constantly creating art and making comics is bound to have Xunise have their own drawing style and art. Their drawing style is influenced by many different places. The main inspiration “stems from 1960s cartoons that featured simplistic circles, squares, and triangles.” They use this sense of style to create a different type of vibe while looking at their art. It comes “from a place of creating things that instill a sense of calmness”. They have previously mentioned that their art style has the same energy as “calmness in cuteness.” The way their art showcases the calmness in cuteness is by appealing to society’s “obsession with memes of babies, cats, and dogs.”

In a Nylon article, they have been quoted as saying, “It’s cute, so it kind of calms you down.” They continued by saying, “It’s almost like my way of being non-threatening because it’s cute, but I’m going to tell you something. It looks cute, but you’re going to read this and be like, ‘Wait a minute.’”

There are other influences on Xunise’s art, such as the art style of graphic artists like Tove Johansson, Ludwig Bemelmans, and Naoko Takeuchi. Due to these influences, Xunise’s art has “a touch of sweetness. But with everything Xunise draws, there is always a theme of duality—the cute can be political too (Nylon.)”

What is bianca xunise doing now?

Bianca Xunise is still active in making comic strips for “Six Chix,” but they were mostly in the spotlight between 2017 and 2020. While making my Timeline JS on Xunise, I found out that in 2017, they won an Ignatz Award for “Promising New Talent” for their self-published comic and zine Say Her Name (Wikipedia). The Ignatz Award is an award done by the Small Press Expo that “has recognized outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The Ignatz recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression (Small Press Expo).” The award has been given out since 1997. Say Her Name was a comic (also turned into a zine) in which they talk about the anxiety and racism they face while being black in America. It was more of an autobiographical story of how they had personally experienced police brutality. They talk about how they’ve gotten into social justice and how racism and microaggressions affected them and their family. 

In 2020, one of their comics in “Six Chix” went viral due to the comic addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and police brutality that was highlighted by George Floyd’s murder. The specific comic has one panel, also known as a “splash page,” with a speech bubble at the top of the border (Del et al.). The comic takes place in a grocery store where a Black woman is wearing a mask, due to the pandemic, and her shirt says “I can’t breathe.” The quote on the shirt refers to Floyd’s last words before he died due to the police officers kneeling on his back, applying pressure while he laid his chest on the ground. The comic continues by showing a white woman with distinct blue eyes standing next to her that says “If you can’t breathe, then take that silly mask off!” There were many angry responses about the comic strip showing in many newspapers because conservative white people felt they were being targeted. So, many newspapers took down the “Six Chix” comic strip. However, Xunise released a Twitter, now called X, statement that says “So apparently the angry responses got my comic dropped from some newspapers and an apology that I did not approve of is running in its place. For the record I do not apologize for this comic and this is censorship” (Wong).

Below is a picture of the controversial comic.

 

Below is another example of Bianca Xunise’s comic strips.

BIANCA XUNISE’S wikidata profile

Wikidata contains a profile about Bianca Xunise and contains information about the cartoonist that was used to create this WordPress page. However, the information provided was very limited.

The Wikidata page starts by showing Xunise’s name and a description of her in two languages, English and Spanish. As expected, it is spelled “Bianca Xunise” in both languages. However, there is only an English description of her, noting that they are a “cartoonist.” There are empty spaces next to Spanish, Traditional Chinese, and Chinese languages for both her name and descriptions. The accessibility is already lacking in languages and for other people who may not understand English.

As the page continues, there are “Statements” listed. The statements include “instance of,” “sex or gender,” “country of citizenship,” “given name,” “occupation,” “employer,” “ethnic group,” “award received,” and “official website.” The items listed for each statement are listed in the respective order “human,” “non-binary,” “United States of America,” “Bianca,” “artist,” “DePaul University,” “African Americans,” “Ignats Award for Promising New Talent-point in time 2017”, and “https://www.biancaxunise.com/.”

At the end of the Wikidata page, the “Identifiers” subject listed contains Xunise’s “Google Knowledge Graph ID,” which is “/g/11h53mvfkv.” Also, there are links to Bianca Xunise’s Wikipedia page in three different languages, which are English, Spanish, and Igbo.

The information provided on Xunise’s Wikidata profile is helpful, however, there is so much missing. As previously mentioned, the accessibility is slim as the profile is only available in English. The information itself does not mention any of their work, nor any of her comic strips in “Six Chix”. There is a lack of information about who they truly are as a person, like what their pronouns are, what they like to do, their other talents not related to being a cartoonist, and so much more. In order for Wikidata to update the information it has, there should be a group of people who are familiar with who they are and their work that adds the previous information listed, and much more.

Here is the link to Bianca Xunise’s Wikidata profile: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q66266784

BIANCA XUNISE’S Timeline js

Here is a visual of Bianca Xunise’s life in Timeline JS:

[timeline src=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JPYmdDexJOS7wvz-Jl1lCzWmpB516ny6SPvLMp-KvLE/edit#gid=0″ width=”100%” height=”650″ font=”Abril-DroidSans” lang=”en” version=”timeline” ]

Here is the Google Sheet version of the information:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JPYmdDexJOS7wvz-Jl1lCzWmpB516ny6SPvLMp-KvLE/edit#gid=0

The Timeline is a visualization of Bianca Xunise’s life and dedication to their art. The timeline starts with their birth date, and then it continues to show their journey of creating comics and zines, the awards they’ve received, and their future projects. The highlights that users should pay attention to are the very few years they have professionally done their work and how fast their career took off. From their first publication, it only took them five years before they got syndicated. I found that really interesting because I feel like there are many cartoonists who have worked for many years, and they do not get any recognition until many years down the line. The gaps in research that should be acknowledge is that there is so little information about Bianca Xunise’s life and work as a cartoonist in the first place. However, when combined with having to put a date to the little access to information, it created a harder time trying to find information to put into the timeline. I hope the audience will gain an understanding of Xunise’s short life as a cartoonist and understand that it is important to document the events that Black artists and other creatives go through. It can influence people who identify with these cartoonists and they will have a reference for how to follow the same path.

There are differences between making a virtual art exhibit and creating a visual timeline. Creating a virtual art exhibit involves describing in a more extensive matter situations that have occurred in the cartoonist’s, Bianca Xunise, life. There is not a need to put events in a specific order because there is just a need to know different types of information about the cartoonist. The visual timeline gives more of an overview of the cartoonist’s life. There needs to be dates involved because there is a set design and layout of the events that happen in Bianca Xunise’s life. There is a little less detail within the timeline, but more of the main idea of the events.

 

 

WORKS CITED

“About the Ignatz Awards: Small Press Expo.” Small Press Expo | The Premiere Event for Graphic Novels, the Comic Arts, and Cartooning, 31 Mar. 2023, www.smallpressexpo.com/ignatz-awards/.

Bannerman, Isabella, et al. “Six Chix by Bannerman, Xunise, Konar, Lawton, Patrinos & Piro.” Comics Kingdom, comicskingdom.com/six-chix/about. Accessed 14 Sept. 2023.

Bianca Xunise, “‘I Have Been Using My Platform To Tell Our Stories Since I Started In Comics’: An Interview with Bianca Xunise”, The Comics Journal, 2021, https://www.tcj.com/i-have-been-using-my-platform-to-tell-our-stories-since-i-started-in-comics-an-interview-with-bianca-xunise/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2023

Bianca Xunise, Goth Millennials, https://www.biancaxunise.com/comics, Accessed 14 Sept. 2023.

Bianca Xunise, Six Chix, July 28, 2020, https://twitter.com/biancaxunise/status/1288161524020842496, Accessed 14 Sept. 2023

“Bianca Xunise.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 July 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianca_Xunise.

Cavna, Michael. “Newspaper Comics Hardly Ever Feature Black Women as Artists. but Two New Voices Have Arrived.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 21 Apr. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/04/20/steenz-heart-city-bianca-xunise-six-chix/.

Contributors to Women In Comics Wiki. “Six Chix.” Women In Comics Wiki, Fandom, Inc., womenincomics.fandom.com/wiki/Six_Chix#:~:text=Six%20Chix%20is%20a%20collaborative,on%20it%20since%20its%20debut. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.

Cupcake, // Lorena. “Chicago Creative: Bianca Xunise’s Comics Dance in the Dark.” Riot Fest, 11 Jan. 2018, riotfest.org/2018/01/11/bianca-xunise/.

Del, Rey Cabero Enrique, et al. How to Study Comics & Graphic Novels: A Graphic Introduction to Comic Studies. Oxford Comics Network, 2021.

Edgar. “An Interview with Bianca XUNISE from Six Chix.” Comics Kingdom, 25 June 2020, comicskingdom.com/trending/blog/2020/06/25/an-interview-with-bianca-xunise-from-six-chix.

Gore, Sydney. “Bianca Xunise Makes ’60s-Inspired Comics for Modern Times.” Nylon, 16 Nov. 2016, www.nylon.com/articles/bianca-xunise-interview.

Morganarhalina. “Black Creator Spotlight: Bianca Xunise.” The Manga Maven, 28 Apr. 2021, mangamaven.com/index.php/2020/07/10/black-creator-spotlight-bianca-xunise/.

Nittle, Nadra. “Meet the Black Girls of Goth.” Vox, 23 Oct. 2017, www.vox.com/2017/10/23/16492192/black-goth-girls.

Rockett, Darcel. “Six Chix’s First Black Cartoonist Bianca Xunise at C2e2.” Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2020, www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-c2e2-bianca-xunise-20200225-20200224-76swfsistzd3jjvwd4ysghujj4-story.html.

Rueda, Edward A. “‘it’s All about Visibility’: How Bianca Xunise and Steenz Make Their Mark on the Comics Page.” NBCU Academy, 24 Apr. 2023, nbcuacademy.com/cartoonist-bianca-xunise-steenz-comic-strip-artists/.

“Six Chix.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Chix.

Wong, Wilson. “‘I Am Being Silenced over White Feelings from a Gag Comic’: Black Comic Artist on Her Work Being Pulled from Newspapers.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 3 Aug. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/i-am-being-silenced-over-white-feelings-gag-comic-black-n1235668.

Xunise, Bianca. “About Me Portfolio.” Bianca Xunise, 2020, www.biancaxunise.com/about.