Bald-In-Progress by Hien Pham
on 12/30/2025 at 12:02 am- Comic »
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Everyone’s way of reconciling with their balding is a little bit different. Funnily enough, it took getting out of my own head for me to find some peace with mine.
Phew! This was a big comic to get through the finish line! I set myself up quite an ambitious task (especially in the art department) but I’m quite proud of how it all turned out! It’s not perfect, but imperfection’s become something I dearly cherish these days.
Matts Added Note:A real gem of a comic to end the year on! Thank you all so much for supporting us and our site for 2025 – at the start of the year we didn’t know if we’d be able to continue this project; but you guys really showed up. All of your support has just meant so so much.
This year you helped us make: 258 pages of comics: basically a BOOK worth of mature and sex positive comics. Artist-owned, curated, editorialized and posted for free for all the folks who need ’em. It’s meant the world – thank you for enabling us this year!
Here’s hoping you all have a great start to 2026!
Come follow us, and stay UpToDate for 2026 ~~~
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↓ Comic Transcript
Hien Pham draws in a lushly rendered style that alternates between realistic illustrations and simplified cartoons in textured pencil lines. He uses the full spectrum of colors. He is a Southeast Asian cisgender heavyset man with a short, bushy, black beard, fuzzy body hair, and glasses. He is mostly bald on top, with the rest of his hair pulled back into a bun.
Page 1
Narration: I've been thinking about my body a lot recently.
In a skinny horizontal panel, we see Hien's chibi hands holding a straw sun hat decorated with a wreath of leaves and flowers.
The point of view pulls back to reveal a spacious fantastical museum. The blue sky fill up the ceiling through its glass dome. The architecture looks like MC Escher meets Disneyland, a combination of reality bending and deeply appealing. They represent different aspects of his personality, body, memories, and experiences.
Narration: In the Hien museum, spots, scars, and discoloured textures have a place of importance. They are landmarks, fond imperfections that make up the story of my life.
The chibi-sized Hien stands in the center of the room, hat in hands, gazing up at a sculpture of two legs that resemble the view one would see while looking at your own legs in the bathtub. Between his knees is a constellation of stars, including one with the outline of his penis. Several assorted snapshots of his features are imposed around the constellation, including one of his butt and his face.
Narration: I've written about my hair before... but not about the lack thereof.
He looks over to the museum wing titled Reflections. It is an entrance underneath a giant sculpture of his own chibi face weeping a real waterfall that runs down the sides of the wall. There are puddles on the floor and caution signs, warning people to not slip.
Narration: I guess some things are just harder to reconcile with than others.
Little chibi Hien pulls his straw hat on to his balding head as he sets off at a brisk jog towards the Reflections entrance.
Page 2
Inside this hall, it is almost entirely dark.
Narration: At a glance, it's... annoying!!!
A wall of bathroom mirrors are barely visible along the corridor, except for one full size bathroom sink display that glows green. He gasps as he sees the image in the reflection, which is him cuddling up to some generically-drawn friends while sweating profusely. On friend has their arm around his shoulders while offering him a towel.
Narration: I love leaning my head against someone and getting pats... but there's no hair to stop moisture from wicking onto my friends!
Hien stumbles upon a bedroom vanity set-up, glowing in blue.
Narration: The patches of hair I do have left can never agree on the same length!
The image in the mirror shows Hien chatting with more generically-drawn people at a dinner party. He is dressed up in a button-down shirt and wearing a bowtie, while everyone has a glass of wine or cocktail in hand. His wispy head hair floats around his head at wildly different lengths.
Narration: Flyaways always frizz up and ruin the one look I'm confident I can pull off!
"Aw man!" Chibi Hien exclaims in dismay at the party scene reflection.
Narration: My hair started falling off in my 20s right when I felt like growing it out. Through no fault of my own, my body ages in a way some would consider ungraceful.
Poor chibi Hien huddles on the floor, pulling his hat down over his eyes, as two different bathroom sink and mirror set-ups loom over him, one glowing purple and one glowing blue. The portrayals of him in the mirrors are distorted dramatically. One reflection shows him brushing his hair, with locks detaching from his head. The other shows him looking a fistful of his own hair in shock.
"Waah!!" The real Hien wails, hiding from these memories.
Bursting out of the Reflections wing of his museum, he scrambles back into the sunlight main foyer again with his little legs rotating at top speed.
"GIVE ME A BREAK!" He shouts, cheeks red and crying. His straw hat begins to fly off his head from his speed.
Narration: I admit... it does get me down sometimes.
Page 3
Narration: But, on the other side of bitter... there is sweet.
Back in the main part of the Hien museum, sunlight illuminates the displays and the bench by a lily pad-filled fountain where he sits down.
Narration: It's a common sentiment for queer folks not to be able to see ourselves grow old.
In front of him is a wall of windows looking into various memories he shares of spending time with other people. One window shows him eating a microwave lunch with a companion in a conference room that overlooks a city background. The next shows a scene at a beach, setting up a towel under a shade tent with a friend. Another shows a more formal queer event, with an older bearded man leading another man around be a leash in front oh Hien. In the final panel, Hien watches as a friend shaves his head in a bathroom.
Narration: There used to be a void of visibility, missing intergenerational communities in which we could imagine a life beyond the difficulties we face.
Present-day Hien sits on his bench, his hat in hands, looking intently at these windows to his memories.
Narration: That is changing, day by day.
He looks at the beach memory, of a hand smearing on sunblock to another hand that wears a wedding ring.
Narration: And I am part of that change.
In the party window, he looks at the older bearded, bald man laughing while his cheek is caressed.
Page 4
Narration: I've been quite fortunate to cross paths with many queer men my senior.
The older bearded, bald man laughs as another collared and leashed man hugs him from behind.
Narration: It's incredible how fresh some had just come out of the closet, and how long others have been pillars of their communities.
On the beach, two fully nude, hairy men sit on their towels in the shade while one applies sunscreen to the bald head of the other.
Narration: I find so much comfort in finally getting to witness lives I didn't realize I could live right in front of me.
In the conference room memory, Hien and his friend laugh while eating their lunches with the cityscape behind them through the window. The friend is his age and has an intentionally shaved-bald head.
Narration: My balding head's a reflection of theirs, and it comes with an every-growing sense of hope.
Hien laughs in his memory as he helps shave his friend's head in the bathroom.
Page 5
Narration: Everyone's relationship with hair loss is different.
Chibi Hien walks away from the weeping Reflections entrance in the museum, following a sign that states, "New exhibit! Under construction" From a suspended walkway, he looks over the edge at a construction worker below who is chipping away at a rounded rocky surface, turning it smooth. Blueprints and tools surround him.
Narration: It's a big, deeply emotional thing that's not always easy to be at peace with.
Two other sets of feet join Hien on the scaffolding, on either side of him. One belongs to a boy and the other walks with a cane.
Narration: Who knows, maybe one day someone will look at me and feel okay about growing into my image.
From behind the trio of Hiens- young, current, and elderly- we can now see that the sculpture that the worker is chipping away on is an enormously large head and it is the hairline that is being chiseled away, leaving a smooth, bald dome.
Narration: Wouldn't that be something!
Transcribed by Erika Moen on December 28, 2025 for ohjoysextoy.com
Page 1
Narration: I've been thinking about my body a lot recently.
In a skinny horizontal panel, we see Hien's chibi hands holding a straw sun hat decorated with a wreath of leaves and flowers.
The point of view pulls back to reveal a spacious fantastical museum. The blue sky fill up the ceiling through its glass dome. The architecture looks like MC Escher meets Disneyland, a combination of reality bending and deeply appealing. They represent different aspects of his personality, body, memories, and experiences.
Narration: In the Hien museum, spots, scars, and discoloured textures have a place of importance. They are landmarks, fond imperfections that make up the story of my life.
The chibi-sized Hien stands in the center of the room, hat in hands, gazing up at a sculpture of two legs that resemble the view one would see while looking at your own legs in the bathtub. Between his knees is a constellation of stars, including one with the outline of his penis. Several assorted snapshots of his features are imposed around the constellation, including one of his butt and his face.
Narration: I've written about my hair before... but not about the lack thereof.
He looks over to the museum wing titled Reflections. It is an entrance underneath a giant sculpture of his own chibi face weeping a real waterfall that runs down the sides of the wall. There are puddles on the floor and caution signs, warning people to not slip.
Narration: I guess some things are just harder to reconcile with than others.
Little chibi Hien pulls his straw hat on to his balding head as he sets off at a brisk jog towards the Reflections entrance.
Page 2
Inside this hall, it is almost entirely dark.
Narration: At a glance, it's... annoying!!!
A wall of bathroom mirrors are barely visible along the corridor, except for one full size bathroom sink display that glows green. He gasps as he sees the image in the reflection, which is him cuddling up to some generically-drawn friends while sweating profusely. On friend has their arm around his shoulders while offering him a towel.
Narration: I love leaning my head against someone and getting pats... but there's no hair to stop moisture from wicking onto my friends!
Hien stumbles upon a bedroom vanity set-up, glowing in blue.
Narration: The patches of hair I do have left can never agree on the same length!
The image in the mirror shows Hien chatting with more generically-drawn people at a dinner party. He is dressed up in a button-down shirt and wearing a bowtie, while everyone has a glass of wine or cocktail in hand. His wispy head hair floats around his head at wildly different lengths.
Narration: Flyaways always frizz up and ruin the one look I'm confident I can pull off!
"Aw man!" Chibi Hien exclaims in dismay at the party scene reflection.
Narration: My hair started falling off in my 20s right when I felt like growing it out. Through no fault of my own, my body ages in a way some would consider ungraceful.
Poor chibi Hien huddles on the floor, pulling his hat down over his eyes, as two different bathroom sink and mirror set-ups loom over him, one glowing purple and one glowing blue. The portrayals of him in the mirrors are distorted dramatically. One reflection shows him brushing his hair, with locks detaching from his head. The other shows him looking a fistful of his own hair in shock.
"Waah!!" The real Hien wails, hiding from these memories.
Bursting out of the Reflections wing of his museum, he scrambles back into the sunlight main foyer again with his little legs rotating at top speed.
"GIVE ME A BREAK!" He shouts, cheeks red and crying. His straw hat begins to fly off his head from his speed.
Narration: I admit... it does get me down sometimes.
Page 3
Narration: But, on the other side of bitter... there is sweet.
Back in the main part of the Hien museum, sunlight illuminates the displays and the bench by a lily pad-filled fountain where he sits down.
Narration: It's a common sentiment for queer folks not to be able to see ourselves grow old.
In front of him is a wall of windows looking into various memories he shares of spending time with other people. One window shows him eating a microwave lunch with a companion in a conference room that overlooks a city background. The next shows a scene at a beach, setting up a towel under a shade tent with a friend. Another shows a more formal queer event, with an older bearded man leading another man around be a leash in front oh Hien. In the final panel, Hien watches as a friend shaves his head in a bathroom.
Narration: There used to be a void of visibility, missing intergenerational communities in which we could imagine a life beyond the difficulties we face.
Present-day Hien sits on his bench, his hat in hands, looking intently at these windows to his memories.
Narration: That is changing, day by day.
He looks at the beach memory, of a hand smearing on sunblock to another hand that wears a wedding ring.
Narration: And I am part of that change.
In the party window, he looks at the older bearded, bald man laughing while his cheek is caressed.
Page 4
Narration: I've been quite fortunate to cross paths with many queer men my senior.
The older bearded, bald man laughs as another collared and leashed man hugs him from behind.
Narration: It's incredible how fresh some had just come out of the closet, and how long others have been pillars of their communities.
On the beach, two fully nude, hairy men sit on their towels in the shade while one applies sunscreen to the bald head of the other.
Narration: I find so much comfort in finally getting to witness lives I didn't realize I could live right in front of me.
In the conference room memory, Hien and his friend laugh while eating their lunches with the cityscape behind them through the window. The friend is his age and has an intentionally shaved-bald head.
Narration: My balding head's a reflection of theirs, and it comes with an every-growing sense of hope.
Hien laughs in his memory as he helps shave his friend's head in the bathroom.
Page 5
Narration: Everyone's relationship with hair loss is different.
Chibi Hien walks away from the weeping Reflections entrance in the museum, following a sign that states, "New exhibit! Under construction" From a suspended walkway, he looks over the edge at a construction worker below who is chipping away at a rounded rocky surface, turning it smooth. Blueprints and tools surround him.
Narration: It's a big, deeply emotional thing that's not always easy to be at peace with.
Two other sets of feet join Hien on the scaffolding, on either side of him. One belongs to a boy and the other walks with a cane.
Narration: Who knows, maybe one day someone will look at me and feel okay about growing into my image.
From behind the trio of Hiens- young, current, and elderly- we can now see that the sculpture that the worker is chipping away on is an enormously large head and it is the hairline that is being chiseled away, leaving a smooth, bald dome.
Narration: Wouldn't that be something!
Transcribed by Erika Moen on December 28, 2025 for ohjoysextoy.com