Robyn Smith is a Jamaican cartoonist best known for her mini comic The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town and as the illustrator of the comic Wash Day by Jamila Rowser. She has an MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies and has worked on comics for NECIR (New England Center for Investigative Reporting), the Seven Days newspaper, College Humor and The Nib. She loves cake and cats and holds onto to dreams of returning home to the ocean.
Website: https://www.robrosmo.com/
Shop: https://robynsmithcomix.storenvy.com/
Twitter: @RoBroSmo
Instagram: robrosmo
WASH DAY DIARIES - illustrator
(Chronicle Books, July 2022)
2023 LA Times Book Prize finalist (GNs)
Autostraddle’s “Best Queer Books of 2022”
GoodReads Choice Awards, 2022, #6 of 20 (GNs)
NYPL's “Best Books of 2022”
Polygon’s “The 10 Best Comics of 2022”
PW’s “2022 Graphic Novel Critics Poll” #3
The Mary Sue’s “Best Comics of 2022”
Rights: subrights@chroniclebooks.com
Wash Day Diaries follows four best friends—Kim, Tanisha, Davene, and Cookie—through the ups and downs of their daily lives in the Bronx, celebrating Black sisterhood through portraits of shared, yet deeply personal experiences of Black hair care.
At times touching, quiet, triumphant, and laugh-out-loud funny, the stories of Wash Day Diaries pay a loving tribute to Black joy and the resilience of Black women.
Marisole - illustrator
(Jordan Brand, 2021)
A slice-of-life webcomic about Marisol Garcia, a 16-year-old Afro-Dominican sneakerhead from Washington Heights. Illustrated for Jordan Brand, featured in the SNKRS app.
NUBIA: REAL ONE - illustrator
(DC Comics, Feb 2021)
Can you be a hero...if society doesn't see you as a person?
Nubia has always been a little bit...different. As a baby she showcased Amazonian-like strength by pushing over a tree to rescue her neighbor's cat. But despite her having similar abilities, the world has no problem telling her that she's no Wonder Woman. And even if she were, they wouldn't want her. Every time she comes to the rescue, she's reminded of how people see her: as a threat. Her moms do their best to keep her safe, but Nubia can't deny the fire within her, even if she's a little awkward about it sometimes. Even if it means people assume the worst.
When Nubia's best friend, Quisha, is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia will risk it all--her safety, her home, and her crush on that cute kid in English class--to become the hero society tells her she isn't.
WASH DAY
(Black Josei Press, 2018) - artist
2019 DINKy Award for Best Floppy Comic
Wash Day is a slice-of-life comic that pays tribute to the beauty and endurance of Black women and their hair. The story follows Kimana, a 26-year-old woman living in the Bronx, as she cares for her long, thick hair. As Kim goes through her Sunday morning rituals, we see the highs and lows of her day—fresh coffee, rising rent, girl talk and catcalls.
The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town
(May 2016)
TCJ: The Best Short-Form Comics of 2016
The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town is an autobiographical mini comic dedicated to the intersectionailty of Blackness and mental health. Basically it's about being really Black in a really White place.