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Extra Credit: Luisa- Now and Then (3 Points)

 For an additional personal reading that I did this week, I read Luisa: Now and Then, a comic that deals with a girl realizing some truths about herself. I felt that this related to some of the underground readings that I read this week, so writing about this feels relevant. In the comic, Luisa in her teenage years finds herself somehow transported to the future after riding a late night bus to the end of the line. After some confusion, she meets her older self, to which both find each other upsetting. Younger Luisa finds older Luisa upsetting because she wound up alone with a different career path than what she wanted, and older Luisa is upset that younger Luisa acted like her mom by barraging her with many questions about her life. Along the way, we learn that Luisa (both younger and older) has feelings for women, but younger Luisa has a harder time admitting it because of her mom's and friends' homophobic beliefs. The story turns into a coming out story with the realization that it is okay to feel those sorts of feelings. 

I feel that this relates heavily to the coming out stories presented in the Coming Out and Gay Comics underground comics. While this is a more modern take, with a modern art style and narrative, it still has the basic feeling of being scared to come out. Both the older comics and this newer one also present how relieving it can be to finally accept one's truth and come out for who you are. To me, this commonality of presentation even after so many years is significant because it shows the resilience of the community. Additionally, I thought it was notable to point out that one of the main differences between the comics is that the older comics were considered taboo and underground comics, while the newer comic is available for most, yet they both have sexual and more intimate moments. While the similarities of the theme show the resilience of the community, I think this shows the progress being made to make people in the LGBTQ+ community more than a taboo hidden with the other (essentially porn) underground comics. 

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