Will the real goth please stand out? Page 1

TITLE HEADER

Decorative banner with ornate scrollwork reads "Olivia Bryce stars in Will the real goth please stand out? by Rachel Nabors SubcultureofOne.com" with a cameo portrait of Olivia in an oval frame.

PANEL 1

A school hallway scene. A goth girl with long dark hair wearing a black dress with lace trim (Meg) talks with Olivia, who has spiky dark hair. Behind them stand other students dressed in goth-style clothing - one wearing a "DETH BANGA" shirt with skull design, another in dark clothing.

MEG: "Remember when wearing black and skulls meant something?"

OLIVIA: "Everyones such a poser now that goth is mainstream."

PANEL 2

Close-up of Meg speaking thoughtfully, with small decorative bat illustrations.

MEG: "Its not all bad."

MEG: "Im kind of happy that the gothic look is so widely available in stores now!"

MEG: "It used to be so hard to find striped stockings unless it was Halloween!"

MEG: "And all those cute little accessories..."

PANEL 3

Close-up of Olivia looking annoyed with arms crossed.

OLIVIA: "But now I dont know whos a real goth and whos just a trend whore!"

I made this comic gURL.com (where it is still posted) around the time that Avril Lavigne was topping charts and Hot Topic was turning into a place to buy prom dresses.

I loved drawing Olivia comics because I could go to all my favorite gothy clothiers online and draw on their fashions for inspiration. I think everyone in Olivia’s world was becoming a goth, which made me very happy

Now I’m an adult with money and I can buy all those gothic outfits I wanted so badly when I was in my early 20′s… only now I’m a bit sick of them and the scene! But I think my fashion wishlist on Pinterest still speaks volumes.