Banner: Harper Bryant Shin.

Portfolio

A color comics page depicting a six panel sequence of a teenage girl with dyed blue hair talking on the phone with her friend. A color comics page depicting a three panel sequence where a car runs a red light down a nighttime street while the driver looks at her ringing phone. From the right, a truck approaches. A comics page that depicts two sequences from two different views through windows of a hotel. In the first sequence, a naked man looks out of the window, then puts on a long black gown and looks in the mirror before lighting a cigarette and sitting down on the bed. In the second sequence, a young couple take turns taking sips of their drinks and spitting them in each others faces. They laugh and fall into each others arms. The narration, which is an excerpt from J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, reads: The trouble was, that kind of junk is fascinating to watch, even if you don't want it to be. I mean that's my big trouble. In my mind, I'm the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. I can think of very crumby stuff. The thing is, though, I don't like the idea of it. Sex is something I don't understand too hot. You never know where you are. I keep making up these rules for myself, and then I break them right away. Sex is something I just don't understand. I swear to God I dont. An illustrated excerpt from chapter 7 of the book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond, which explains how almond trees came to be domesticated. The illustrations are done in a colorful, cartoony style. A seven-panel color comics sequence titled: The Creature, in which a young explorer travels through the bowels of a red, fleshy creature to search for their friend, Miles. In the final panel, they find Miles strung up in the belly of the creature, screaming in pain, with tendrils of the creature running though his body.
A color comics page depicting a five panel sequence of a car and truck colliding, and the teen girl driving the car smashing her head through the windsheild and dying. The next panel shows her alive and pulling up next to a house. A color comics page depicting a five panel sequence of a teen girl making box mac and cheese and talking with her friend. She encourages her friend not to tell their secret and to break up with her boyfriend. A page from a color comic done in a simple style. The narration reads: When I was six, our home developed a mouse problem in addition to the ant infestation. As the animal lover of the family, I was delighted. My Umma, as always, handled things practically, solving the pest problem and ending my pleas for a pet in one swoop. The four-panel sequence shows a family discovering mice in their kitchen, trapping one, and then shopping for mouse feed. A page from a black-and-white comic. Nine panels are arranged in a three-by-three grid. In the first panel, Harper is holding a skateboard under one arm and has bloodied knees. Their friend partially holding them upright. In the second and third panels, Harper attempts to pet a black cat only to be bitten. In the fourth and fifth panels, Harper is hit in the stomach while moshing. In the sixth panel, they show off the resulting bruise to their friend. In the seventh and eighth panels, they hit a bong and then cough. In the ninth panel, they walk down the street at night taking a puff of their inhaler. A four-panel sequence in blue and yellow. In the first panel, a child watches ants crawl onto a mouse in a cage. In the second panel, the ants cover the entire leg of the mouse and continue travelling upwards. The mouse looks distressed. In the third panel, the mouse turns to the child, its body swarming with ants. In the fourth panel, the mouse has been consumed. Ants pour out of its ears, eye sockets, and belly. The caption on the fourth panel reads: He died curled in on himself, like a little Buddha.