Enlightened Transsexual Comix

by Sam Szabo

"Perfectly balanced and ridiculously funny, Enlightened Transsexual Comix is an out-of-this-world parade of earthly delights, for fans of Lynda Barry and Adult Swim." – Shelf Awareness, starred review

The definitive collection of Sam Szabo's "ETC" comics series, serving up a psychedelic stew of social satire and gonzo gender theory!

The year is 2023. The astral plane has entered a tailspin. Fortunately, an ancient cosmological entity is on a mission to spread her fluidity across the galaxy. Our raw, uncut heroine roams the wasteland in defense of trans rights and trans wrongs. Will the Enlightened Transsexual convince humanity to chill out at last? Or will the planet choke on her filthy gags?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Queer, LGBT, Transgender, Gender, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

Published May 17, 2023

About the author

Sam Szabo is an American cartoonist from Massachusetts, currently based in Chicago. She has self-published a numbers of comics and fanzines.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Searingly honest and laugh out loud funny, Enlightened Transsexual Comix is one of the best things I've read all year. Being a human living in a body is truly a mind-melting psychedelic experience, and nobody gets that more than Sam Szabo.

10/10 recommend if you wanna cry a little, think a little, and laugh a lot.

If you've ever wished you could ooze into the floorboards instead of being perceived by your fellow humans -

If you've ever wondered if this is really all there is to 21st century living -

If you've ever thought, like, "wow, wait a sec, what even is gender" -

- then you gotta pick this book up stat.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Yes, it's extremely adult content, extremely online savvy, very smart and both punny and funny. It's smarter and funnier and more sublime as it goes on. It's the highly cerebral queer comix you didn't know you needed.

[Luca Suede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect! I too am now an enlightened transsexual. Thanks Sam & silver sprocket!

[Teddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het boek kwam binnen en ik heb 'm meteen uitgelezen. Ik wilde dit boek al zoo lang en heb 'm nu eindelijk als kerstcadeautje aan mezelf gegeven. De cartoons zijn zo slim, en herkenbaar, en raak. Echt heel goed gedaan.

[Tamara-Jo Schaapherder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took pictures of like half these pages!!!!!!!! So so so so so so so cool!

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first finished book of the 2025 trans rights readathon!! Starting it off with a bang ‼️ This is one of my favorite graphic novels I’ve ever read. Truly.

Thank you for my copy, Silver Sprocket!! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

[Squirrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate how weird this is. It definitely caused me to laugh out loud a few times, which doesn't happen very often.

[Leila Mustafa · Rating 5 out of 5]

beyond fucking amazing

[Drake Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. If you ever feel like the world is watching you perform gender like a circus monkey with cymbals, this book is for you. If you ever feel like you just want to recede into primordial ooze, this book is for you.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

so funny, but thoughtful underneath the tuned-in wit

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic slapped the HP book from my younger self, called me queer and fed me acid.

It was awesome.

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in one sitting because I couldn’t stop laughing! Szabo did an excellent job making every page visually dynamic and using satire to comment on all too real experiences for trans folx. But most of all, I love how much trans pride and joy is still woven throughout the entire book. We don’t see this enough in literature, and as a theybe, reading this book filled my soul. Definitely went back to a bookstore just to buy it.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A goddamn delight. Should be required reading. I can’t remember how I started following Sam Szabo (brainboogerindustries) on Instagram—maybe via Lynda Barry—but I’m glad I did, and I’m glad that this book exists.

[Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love love this! Critical, hilarious, psychedelic, insightful, relatable and yet like nothing I've read or seen before, Enlightened Transsexual Comix immediately made it to my top 5 graphic novels. I'll have to go get my own copy of it!

[Megan Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved. Laugh out loud funny with spot-on pop culture references. Surreal and astute reflections on gender. Bright drawings that manage to be both chaotic and coherent. Reminded me a lot of early King-Cat. This is a contender for my top comic of the year.

[Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fucking beautiful thing

[King]

So so so so so gooooooood. Revolutionized my idea of how to do non autobio autobio comics. Felt on so many levels. Smart, clever, and packed full on wisdom and jokes. I need more from Sam Szabo.

[zora · Rating 5 out of 5]

first graphic novel in a while! discovered the butler graphic novel rooms!! sat and read this instead of doing the research i came to do, nature is healing!!!

[Keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

genuinely hilarious & clever!! 10/10, 100/100 etc

[Benny · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellente. no notes.

[Izzy Pilares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had me giggling to myself all throughout! The juxtaposition between the beautiful enlightened words of the protagonist with the ignorance of the world surrounding them was not only hilarious but pointed. Serving as a window into the small moments of everyday bigotry, Szabo is very clear about one thing: the beauty of transness is one that is grounded in self-liberation making it something worth celebrating.

[A. Max Traphagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was incredible

[Marta]

omfg!!!! (in a trippy, funny, otherworldly way)

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

a book that made me feel so seen. theory reading futch trans women rise up

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crayon cosmic gender satire. If that doesn't pull you in, what will? Our protagonist is both of the world and beyond it - something of a metaphor about being trans.

[theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Yes, thats right. 👁️^👁️^👁️.I’m Transgender. But don’t worry. 👍😤I’m “cool” about it. 💀👹Very “chill”, in fact. A lot of trans people don’t like it when you say insensitive shit to them. 😭‼️Not me, though. 🌀😵‍💫Nothing you say could possibly hurt or upset me. You mean nothing to me. You’re like an insect.”🪲🫡

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly hilarious and irreverent. It’s so nice to read about trans issues from a voice that feels freed from concern over model representation, unafraid to delve into the messiness and contradiction of their personal experience. Sometimes she’s self-deprecating about acknowledging her own hypocrisy or self-regard or silliness, and sometimes she’s pointing out the absurd, repetitive hassle of being trans in public around people who are incapable of being normal around a trans person, regardless of their good or bad intentions. Szabo writes punchlines that are laugh out loud funny while also offering nuanced and subtle jokes in the margins. Her art is drawn in a messy colorful comix style (Lynda Barry is mentioned as an influence) that isn’t technically virtuosic but is still a blast to look at.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Szabo's Enlightened Transsexual Comix is stuffed to the brim with whip-smart jokes and some fairly transgressive, psychedelic visual gags. The humor is pretty tuned into current day pop culture/culture war issues, but Szabo manages to thread enough subtlety throughout to keep the humor subversive and engaging. The artwork is on the cruder side, but it works really well for the tone of the book. There isn't really an overarching story here - just a series of gags centered around a transperson who dishes out contemporary philosophy on the state of being. The humor is provocative but also very thoughtful. Easily one of my favorite books this year.

[Thea Barzditis · Rating 4 out of 5]

rolling with an aesthetic much like rocko’s modern life on acid, sam szabo’s comedic episodes are visual stunners with amusing wordplay, genuine humor that comes with “being trans” (not that it’s monolithic by any means), and a conclusion that hits home, esp for someone who’s transitioned but still feels dissatisfied with where they are in life. a niche read, but a lovely and more thoughtful assortment of comics than an initial glance might offer!

[Don Books Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a cisgendered straight man, I must say I loved this graphic novel for two reasons. The first being that I'm a fan of Sam Szabo's storytelling. The second being that I have trans friends and family members. So I always want to see art and books from their perspective. This helps me see how the world is from their point of view.