Tomboy Toons

Tomboy Toons is a powerful collection of sequential art pieces, or comics, that capture queer energy, love, and visibility. Created by RatQing Rios, the work is a reflection of queer resilience, the lived experience, and Latinx identity. RatQing shares, "Representation for myself, my inner teenager, and the communities around me is why I make Tomboy Toons."

RatQing's journey toward creating Tomboy Toons was deeply influenced by their personal experiences. They recall reading their first Alison Bechdel novel while substituting for a high school science class. "I had just been mistaken for a student and had mispronounced someone's name terribly during roll call, but what I remember most from that day was having a lot of time to read." One part of Bechdel’s novel, in particular, resonated with them: a queer kid seeing what she imagined to be an adult lesbian. "As a kid, I was consistently looking for role models in my teachers and the adults in and around me," RatQing reflects. "I was in tears."

It was in that moment that RatQing realized that they could be a role model for others. "And then another class came in, and I realized that I was that, or could be that for them." This realization led RatQing to earn their teaching certification shortly afterward, further cementing their commitment to representation and visibility.

Tomboy Toons is not just an artistic project—it’s a personal mission to give visibility to the queer and Latinx communities, and to provide the kind of representation RatQing longed for during their own youth.