Candiloro’s comics colour the way for freedom of expression in gender identity.

Hailing from Melbourne, the visual creator has published over 20 comics under the label FrankenComics.

Most of these comics bleed into the genres of horror and sci-fi, and feature various characters and monsters set against a modern day backdrop.

Candiloro’s characters are faced with contemporary questions that are relevant to generations of the post-digital age.

The character Luce, from Hell Broke Luce is a green, hairy monster, who stares discontentedly at their reflection in the mirror.

Medicine Cabinet depicts a gender-diverse person, with pink hair, beard, and luscious pink lips.

And Raecl from The Black Cat wanders through “a world of gloom” in search of a “sanctuary ... where the downtrodden can find solace”.

Candiloro, who identifies as Agender and goes by the pronoun “they”, said that the themes of gender, body dysphoria and identity which feature in their work are certainly autobiographical.

“I came out as Agender in 2015,” Candiloro said.

“I have an issue with society in that it doesn’t seem to have a lot of room for gender expression which falls outside the male-female binary.

“It can create discord and anxiety about who I’m supposed to be.” 

They said that while they enjoyed reading classic comics by Marvel, or DC’s “Superman” and “Batman”, nine times out of 10 the comics depicted “big, muscley, straight white men”.

“It’s not representative of the world at large.”

Candiloro believes the media is important in giving options to young people growing up in contemporary society, who may be struggling to figure themselves out.

“A lot of my protagonists are gender diverse, or they’re from different backgrounds,” they said.

“It’s one of my main goals: to give a younger audience a measure of choice.

“I mean, I’m 33 years old and I came out when I was 30.

“There’s a whole generation of kids who don’t have support services, which can be distressing.

“I want to let kids know that they’re not alone.”

Candiloro said that the character of Frankenstein, created by Mary Shelley in her 1818 book of the same name, was a big inspiration for a lot of their work (and their comic book label name FrankenComics).

Frankenstein was a loving and generous figure who was maltreated for not fitting into social expectation.

For this year’s Digital Writers' Festival, Candiloro has created Access: an interactive comic made with Twine, which emphasises freedom of expression in online identity.

They said that a lot of prejudiced people still lurk online and cause harmful backlash toward gender diverse people.

When asked on whether their Italian heritage plays a role in their creative work, Candiloro said that while growing up, traditional gender roles were prominent amongst the Italian community.

“I think there’s more acceptance now,” they said.

“But I think it influenced me to rebel against traditional gender roles.”

Candiloro emphasised, however, that the biggest legacy passed on from their Italian culture was a strong sense of family.

“I try to highlight family as much as possible in my work,” they said.

The Digital Writers’ Festival is an online writers’ festival dedicated to celebrating the work of writers from Australia and across the world, and fostering new relationships through collaboration between writers, where ever they may be.

Everything takes place online, so location is no barrier to access – all you need is an internet connection.

Click here to read Candiloro’s interactive comic, Access.

For more information on Candiloro’s work, visit their online store, Facebook, or Instagram.