Jacque Aye is a

Nigerian-American Nigerian Americans (; ; ) are Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigrants residing in the United States is rapidly growing, expanding from a small 1980 population of 25,000. The 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) ...

comic artist and writer. Her works are strongly inspired by

Japanese anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and tend to have Black women protagonists.

Early years

Aye was born in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and grew up in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, where she spent time together with her older brother, with whom she first discovered anime by watching ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

'', which would go on to heavily influence her adult works.

Career

Aye founded the lifestyle brand ''Adorned by Chi'' in 2015. In 2018 she began publishing her

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

, also titled ''Adorned By Chi''. It was inspired by works like ''Sailor Moon'' and the

Igbo culture Igbo culture () are the customs, practices and traditions of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. It consists of ancient practices as well as new concepts added into the Igbo culture either by cultural evolution or by outside influence. Thes ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, just like the positive representation of Black people in animes like ''

Tiger & Bunny ''Tiger & Bunny'' (stylized in all caps) is a 2011 Japanese anime superhero television series produced by Sunrise and directed by Keiichi Sato. The screenplay was written by Masafumi Nishida with original character design by Masakazu ...

'', ''

Michiko to Hatchin is a Japanese anime television series conceptualized by Manglobe and produced by Media Factory, Fuji TV, Shochiku, Yomiko Advertising and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners. It is directed by Sayo Yamamoto, with Takashi Ujita writing the scripts, H ...

'' and ''

Afro Samurai is a Japanese '' seinen'' ''dōjinshi'' manga series written and illustrated by manga artist Takashi Okazaki. It was originally serialized irregularly in the avant-garde ''dōjinshi'' manga magazine '' Nou Nou Hau'' from November 1998 to ...

'', and like other independent Western projects with a

magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...

theme. The graphic novel edition was funded by

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

. Her second work was ''The Magical Girl's Guide to Life,'' published with Ulysses Press. It is an adult nonfiction book about self-care, including guidance for readers and her own experiences. In 2023 she published her third work, ''The Magical Girl's Self-Care Coloring Book'', in collaboration with the illustrator Venus Bambisa and strongly inspired by the aesthetic of

s. She published her first novel, ''How to Be a Better Adult,'' in 2023. Her literary influences include

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

, and

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

. She shares with them dark humor and her writing style, although she addresses different themes in her work than those that characterize these authors. In 2024, she worked as the writer for the

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

series ''Monster High: New Scaremester'', based on the franchise ''

Monster High Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children ages 7–14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi ...

.'' The first three issues were published between August and November 2024. In 2025 she published her book ''How to Escape Death'', the sequel to ''How to Be a Better Adult''.

Works

* ''Adorned By Chi'' (2018-2019) * ''The Magical Girl’s Guide to Life'' (2021) * ''These Bewitching Bonds'' (2021, Anthology) * ''How to Be a Better Adult'' (2023) * ''The Magical Girl's Self-Care Coloring Book'' (2023) * ''I Live to Serve The Witch'' (2024) * ''Monster High: New Scaremester'' #1-3 (2024) * ''How to Escape Death'' (2025)

Personal life

Jacque identifies as a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

woman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aye, Jacque Nigerian LGBTQ people LGBTQ comics creators American comics writers American women writers Nigerian women writers Living people Female comics writers