• Cover illustration for the comic titled Leaf Lace, by Ashanti Fortson. The title takes up half the composition, hand-lettered in a cursive style to evoke thread and yarn. Beneath the title, a dark-skinned woman kneels over, tenderly and sadly clutching an older woman’s hand. Tears fall from the central woman’s face, echoing her teardrop earrings. The older woman is not visible aside from her hand. The central woman’s dark, tightly curled hair sweeps upwards from her form, becoming the backdrop for the title
  • PAGE 01. Comic page from Leaf Lace by Ashanti Fortson. Ananke, the goddess who spins mortals’ life threads, sits in her studio and spins her yarn. Mnimi, her mortal wife, picks vegetables and tea leaves from her garden. She brings a tray of tea and treats to Ananke, and the two share a kiss. Mnimi looks like an old woman, but Ananke ruminates on meeting Mnimi when Mnimi was young. The page is illustrated in lush, warm colors.
  • PAGE 02. Comic page from Leaf Lace by Ashanti Fortson. Through second-person narration, the goddess who spins mortals’ life threads reflects on the time she has shared with her mortal wife. A flashback sequence, framed by intertwining threads of yarn, shows the two meeting when her wife was still young. In the last panel, the mortal woman points out her newly-flowering orchids to her immortal wife, but the mortal woman is now old. The page is illustrated in lush, warm colors.
  • PAGE 03. Comic page from Leaf Lace by Ashanti Fortson. The goddess who spins mortals’ life threads reflects on the time she has shared with her mortal wife, who is now old. The two are intertwined, caressing each other, spending time outside together, and laughing together. The goddess wishes that she had more time with her wife. The page is illustrated in lush, warm colors.
  • PAGE 04. Comic page from Leaf Lace by Ashanti Fortson. Narration at the top of the page reads, You deserve to live forever. Mnimi, the old, mortal wife of the life-spinning goddess, shakily prepares a pot of tea. She shakes as she carries it to her wife, who is in her studio. Mnimi cries out for Ananke, her wife. She falls, dropping the tray, teapot, and teacups. The panel layout echoes this fall: the panels become irregular, tumbling down the composition. The page is illustrated in purples, hot pinks, and
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Ashanti Fortson

Leaf Lace

Leaf Lace

$7.00 USD
$7.00 USD
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A comic about love, mortality, and knitting.

Ananke has lived an inconceivably long life, spinning the life threads of mortals...including Mnimi's, before the two of them became entwined. As Mnimi's life approaches its end, Ananke's grief threatens to unravel the land around them, the sky above them, and her own understanding of life itself. 

Leaf Lace was the winner of the 2021 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, and was also nominated in the categories of Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Online Comic.

25 pages, full color.

This comic is intended for readers 13 and up.

28 pages

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Ashanti Fortson

Ashanti Fortson is a cartoonist, comics editor, color designer, and multidisciplinary illustrator. Their work explores the rifts and connections between people, they are deeply interested in textiles, and their love for color is a thread that runs through everything they make. Their short comic Leaf Lace won the 2021 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, and Shades of Fear, the color-focused horror comics anthology they co-edited with Allison O'Toole, won in 2022 for Outstanding Anthology.

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