Recently I was delighted to see that a Queer/Femme comics pop-up was being hosted at Stories Books & Café, one of my favorite haunts in LA. It wasn’t just any pop-up, though: it was filled out with the likes of Lisa Hanawalt and Julia Wertz, two of my idols in art and storytelling. I gathered a little group together and we checked it out, only to find that a few vendors had dropped out due to COVID concerns.

That ended up working well in my favor, though, because I got to meet Koreangry: someone whose comics on Instagram were so impactful to me as an Asian woman, I didn’t follow her for the longest time because they hit too close to home. In the end, the event was more than worth it just for the chance to talk to her, and see her iconic clay doll self in person (yes, it’s just as cute and angry as you’d expect). I bought a book and a sticker, and then picked up a beautiful planner from another Asian vendor, Hellen Jo (whose art is featured up top), on the way out. In total, I spent around $60.