Webcomic Recommendation: “Lee’s Ghost”

For some trans people, transitioning might mean shedding their past shelves, discarding them like old clothes or unwanted trinkets. But what if doing that starts to haunt them? What happens when they try to repress the feelings and memories of their pre-transition days? Lee’s Ghost by Ssium, a slice of life webcomic, does a magnificent job of executing this premise.

A ghost’s been haunting Lee. She follows him and doesn’t talk much. When Lee asks the ghost why she’s there, she says that he’s not happy. His grandmother (Nana) has recently passed away and he thinks he’s going crazy from thinking that there’s even a ghost. While cleaning up Nana’s house, his mother suggests taking Nana’s yarn and needles to reconnect with her. A younger Lee would enjoy watching Nana knit, but at present Lee thinks of the hobby as girly.

What’s worse is that his friends insist that he’s the same person and still kind of like a girl. A young trans man, Lee struggles with grief and his masculinity.

It’s difficult to explain the plot without adding a spoiler. A trans person might already figure out the purpose of the ghost haunting Lee from flashbacks and subtext. As a trans man, I certainly had my guess and I was right. During Lee’s interactions with the ghost, the ghost encourages Lee to try knitting as it can soothe his anxiety.

Lee wants to be seen as a man, but he eventually learns that he cannot erase his past and assigned sex at birth. At first, he tries to accept his feminine side by wearing a dress only to experience dysphoria. He continues to force the idea of a feminine man on him, but of course, it leads to more emotional harm. His story navigates the emotional process that comes with transitioning.

A powerful slice of life story of transition and self-acceptance, Lee’s Ghost conveys grief through the loss of a loved one and the self. As Lee confronts himself and accepts the past as part of himself, he begins to heal from the distress of caring how people see him.

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Lee’s Ghost is available to read on Tapas.

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You can check out the creator’s Tapas profile page here.

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If you’d like to check out more LGBTQ+ slice of life webcomics, check out this list.

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For more great webcomic recommendations, check out our Wednesday Webcomics archives!

Author: Bradda M.

Bradda M. currently lives in Virginia. He teaches ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) at a public school and spends his free time reading and watching movies each night with his partner. For The Geekiary, he writes about webcomics and SFF media.

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