“Long [Covid] Story Short,” is a work in progress 5.5x8.5” B&W, collaboration with my daughter about their ongoing struggles with Long Covid. The lineart is done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
Just as Peace steps out to fulfill their dreams, more than their Stanford PhD program is cut short when they are diagnosed with Long Covid...CONTENT WARNING: Two of the sample slides mention sexual violence. and show restraints under water.
Colored is a 40 page, 8x10” limited palette zine taken from my thesis project titled, “I’m Black and I’m Proud,” for CCA’s MFA in Comics program. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
These pages are now part of a larger work I am currently researching and drawing--
a graphic hybrid memoir about my journey as a Black woman bookmaker in America with the biography of the renowned historical figure, Phillis Wheatley.
“Telling Our Stories and Dear Fox” is a 7x9” three page, color adaptation for two of Lucille Clifton’s poems. I illustrate the parallels between two Black women poets, Lucille Clifton and Phillis Wheatley, who lived nearly 200 years apart. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
I pay homage to Ethiopian paintings in Coptic Churches to comment on the sacred contemplative work of poets, mothers and women.
”More Than a Song: A Black Woman’s Star Spangled Tribute,” is an 8 page, 8x10” limited palette nonfiction comic. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
This largely monochromatic comic traces the history of how “The Star Spangled Banner” came to be a song and how a jazz singer, Rene Marie, tried to honor her place in that sorted history and caused a media sensation.
“Gatekeeper,” is a 12 page, 8x10” monochromatic autobio comic about a tenacious ten year old who outsmart her unreasonable art teacher. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
Armed with a song, "Kids Are People Too," I stood up against ageism and well...you have to read it.
Butterfly Spirit is a 22 page, 6x9"
limited palette autobio comic about receiving love messages from my deceased grandmother through butterfly visitations. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
After sharing this comic, I found people who told me about similar experiences and beliefs about butterflies from Nigeria, Mexico and the Philippines.
Love, Like, Delete, Repeat: How Apps Swipe Your Dating Game is a 24 page, 5x7” color anthology zine inspired by my own fascination with romance. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
This compilation of comics and poems about dating features a nonfiction comic that examines the gamification of dating apps and the negative influence this industry has on relating and long term relationships--as the money made by corporations continues to skyrocket.
Curtain Drawn: A Glimpse of San Francisco’s Shapeshifter for Freedom: Mary Ellen Pleasant is a 24 page, 8.5x11 two color zine. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
Most folks who know anything about Mary Ellen Pleasant, know the unsubstantiated and salacious rumors spread by her detractors. But what's been hidden are the many documented contributions she made. I created this brief zine to honor Mary Ellen Pleasant and to celebrate her story.
Sometimes Love Makes No Frankincense is an 18 page, 5x7” two color zine written as a love note to Brooklyn. The lineart was done with pen and painted digitally in Procreate.
This excerpt presents three autobio mini comics; “Dog and Cat,” about a cat’s decision to leave a misaligned partnership, “Sometimes Love Makes No Frankincense,” about an octopus who loses her cool with a handsome crab, and “Breath In, Breath Out,” about a mother’s grocery shopping routine.
Copyright © 2025 Dimitrea Tokunbo- All Rights Reserved.