By Panagiota Katsaveli,
Superman, Batman, Spiderman are some of the most common comic books characters to ever exist. And that is what our brains have identified comic books with: strong superhumans with fancy suits or supernatural beings addressed to young people. This traditional notion of comics has been challenged by multiple artists who present different topics in their work, such as everyday life and the struggles of ordinary people. One brilliant example of such talented people is the Israeli couple named Yehuda and Maya Devir. The duo has stormed the Internet with their talent and their amazingly presented stories about their lives for some time now, so it is wise to take a look at their work.
Yehuda and Maya Devir are an Israeli married couple of comic book artists and they are mainly known for their webcomic series “One of Those Days”. On one hand, Yehuda Devir is an Israeli comic artist and character developer from Tel Aviv who was born in 1988. He has been occupying himself with artistic endeavors from a very young age when he painted his bedroom walls as an infant, which helped him understand his calling for art early on. His biggest influence as an artist has been American comic books and according to his loving wife, Maya, “he makes the ants look lazy” since he is constantly working trying to achieve even higher goals, and never letting anything stop him. The biggest struggle in his career so far has been his graduation project, Cinephile— a mural, 11 meters long and 2 meters high, giant scene of 300 most iconic moments and characters from the film industry (1920–2016). On the other hand, Maya Devir was born in 1989 and her husband, who we could say might be a bit biased describes her as a “goddess in a form of a woman who spreads joy wherever she goes”. She is an artist interested in realism in art and she loves teasing her husband. They both studied Visual Communication at Bezalel, Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, and now they conduct their lives peacefully in Tel Aviv.
The webcomic journey of the couple is currently on, but dating back in 2016, which now seems like it was ages ago. Maya and Yehuda had just acquired their university degrees and they were in the process of finding a new house and moving from their previous home base of Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. In this effort, they wanted to seek their friends’ advice on Facebook, but instead of sharing a boring status or a selfie, their creative sides came to the surface; they created a webcomic series to portray their current state of life. This first publication and the attention they received motivated them to continue sharing their lives in this fun creative way. As the creators have admitted, everything they publish has happened to them in real life. Today, Maya and Yehuda Devir are named as the creators of one of the most famous and successful webcomics around the world. It is important to note, though, that Yehuda is the one who makes the illustrations for all the stories, while they both come up with the ideas. Their famous webcomic series is not the only thing on their plate, since illustrations, books, and other comics also take up much of Yehuda’s time.
Now, it feels like the appropriate time to dive into the stories portrayed by the famous duo in their webcomic series. The talented couple is interested in sharing experiences of their everyday reality with fans from around the globe, such as teasing each other or cuddling with their significant other after a difficult day. However, it is important to stress the fact that they do not solely focus on the positive aspects of their coexistence. They also try to showcase the more negative sides, like their fights or disagreements, since it is important to normalize them as part of a healthy relationship. Interpersonal relations are not only characterized by loving moments but there can be bumps on the road. Helping people see how normal it is, makes them feel more at ease and hence they get the opportunity to better deal with the topic. The unrealistic ideal that the media presents about nearly perfect relationships needs to be deconstructed and the public needs to be exposed to more realistic standards. Showing how expected negative moments are in relationships and artists showing their everyday struggles helps people feel seen and understood.
Moreover, the Devir couple has chosen to share even more private developments of their lives, like Maya’s pregnancy and the upbringing of their daughter, as well as their second pregnancy. The brilliant artistic duo desires to be as close to their fans as possible and takes great joy in sharing their happy news with them in the best way they know how: by creating more comic stories about it. Millions of people globally admire the work of the artistic couple and announcing more private news with them makes the relationship more intimate and sort of makes them part of the Devir family, which they look up to so highly. In addition, new parents may find the whole experience —which is full of all-nighters and endless crying— daunting and scary to navigate, so seeing other parents going through the same struggles works in a way as having accomplices. Each one assists the others in the difficult reality since the involved parties can relate to one another.
If everyone can agree on one thing after reading this, it is that the Devir couple is proof that inspiration and success can lay even in the most ordinary places. This loving couple is here to prove that in order to draw attention to your talents you do not have to present something unusual or out of this world. Sometimes simply utilizing instances of your everyday reality with people that mean the most to you and trying to convey these emotions through art is all it takes. Positive emotions and love are apparent behind the work of these incredible artists and this element is what makes them so loved among social media users around the globe. Let’s hope that life will keep giving them material to use and present through their stories for the rest of the world to enjoy!
References
- Designer of the Week: Yehuda Devir, printmag, Available here
- The official site of Yehuda and Maya Devir, Available here
