Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today, for our last entry, we look at one of the most acclaimed works of all time that featured LGBT themes!

Love and Rockets is an amazing comic book series written and drawn by the Hernandez brothers, primarily Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez.

Both Gilbert and Jaime had their long-running stories through the original series, and it is Jaime's series, Locas, that we're really discussing here today (although Gilbert's work is amazing on its own).

This hardcover collects pretty much the entire relationship between Maggie and Hopey between 1981 and 1996.

Maggie and Hopey are two of the most fascinating characters in comics, particularly when they are together, although it is notable how much time they spent APART during this story. Hopey is on the road a lot with her (bad) band, and yet we still get to see how much a bond the two share, even when not with each other.

The relationship between Maggie and Hopey began as best friends, but it soon evolved into something more than that, and more than a romantic relationship, too - their relationship is almost undefinable.

All we know is whether they are "with" each other or not, they are great together (Jaime's brilliant, Archie Comics inspired artwork certainly does not hurt matters).

I think acclaimed comic artist José Villarrubia put it best when he said "The Defining book for Alternative comics in the Eighties, Maggie and Hopey are the most beloved on and off queer couple in comics."

Well said, José.

I hope you folks enjoyed this month-long look at good LGBT comics! I hope you found some new books that you are interested in! There's obviously a ton of books I have not mentioned, so keep your eyes peeled, and be sure to check out Prism's website - they usually give folks a heads up when something cool LGBT-wise comes around!

6 Comments

• At November 30, 2008, K. Ross wrote:

  It should mentioned though that Gilbert's stuff also has a fair amount of LGBT characters in it. Luba's oldest ...

• At November 30, 2008, Mario Fernández wrote:

  Just when I though you were gonna forgot this astounding piece of art.

  This has been one of the most interesting ...

• At November 30, 2008, David wrote:

  Thanks for doing this series. It's been great getting to learn about all these LGBT comics, most of which I ...

• At November 30, 2008, Sam wrote:

  Man, I was really beginning to believe you were going to skip Love and Rockets all together. Like it wasn't ...

• At December 1, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  I notice a distinct lack of Alpha Flight in the last month...

• At December 1, 2008, Kyle wrote:

  This was my favorite themed month so far.

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a love story that took more than a decade to tell!

Strangers in Paradise is the offbeat love story of Francine and Katchoo, two best friends where one of the friends (Katchoo) had slightly less platonic feelings for the other (Francine).

The story, as it was printed in the first three-issue mini-series by Terry Moore at Antarctic Press, was a pretty straightforward story of a woman, her best friend (who is secretly in love with her) and her jerk of a (soon to be ex-)boyfriend.

In the second volume, done through his own Abstract Studio, Moore added some intrigue in the form of David, the third angle of the love triangle of Strangers in Paradise.

Katchoo loved Francine. David loved Katchoo. Francine...well, okay, I guess it is not exactly a love triangle, because Francine loved neither of them.

In addition, an action and adventure storyline was added in the second volume involving a secret group of lady spies who were out to get Katchoo.

The book eventually moved to Image for the third volume.

But Moore decided to take it back to his own publishing company...

And he eventually ended it just last year with the 90th issue of the third volume.

As you might imagine, with over 90 issues to tell a love story, things are likely to slow to a crawl at times, and Strangers in Paradise definitely had some "treading water" moments in the third volume, but eventually, Moore found a groove which he rode all the way to the book's climax.

The artwork by Moore is nice and smooth - he tells a story well, and each issue is packed with story. This is a hefty read, and an entertaining and endearing one with lots of great characters that you will soon grow to love.

Well worth reading!

Here's the website for Strangers in Paradise.

6 Comments

• At November 30, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  One of a kind.

  Maybe the best of its kind.

  Neither pornographic, or sexy for that matter.

  All about human relationships (with any ...

• At November 30, 2008, Edward Liu wrote:

  I highly recommend Hero Video Productions' Terry Moore: Paradise Found video for fans of SiP, which is an extended interview ...

• At November 30, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Edward, that's pretty funny, because you dropped it just as it got good again (well, not JUST, but close enough! ...

• At November 30, 2008, Super Kentendo wrote:

  SiP was the first comic book I ever read that actually moved me to tears. Yes it fumbles at times ...

• At November 30, 2008, stealthwise wrote:

  Terrible comic. I read the first four volumes and wanted to demand my time back (I borrowed them from ...

• At December 1, 2008, Alvin wrote:

  I've always been more the cape and tights type when it came to comics, I've read some comics outside ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a great, and often overlooked, Vertigo work by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo that Greg Burgas is going to unknowingly assist on!

I began writing a piece on Enigma, but then I saw that Greg had already done one of his "Comics You Should Own" pieces on Enigma, and, well, it just seemed silly to go on about the book when Greg had done such an in-depth look at the series (an incredible look at identity and sexuality through the familiar tropes of superheroes).

So, well, here is a link to Greg's piece!

5 Comments

• At November 29, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Lazybones.

• At November 29, 2008, Ian A. wrote:

  Man, I miss Good Milligan...

  Here's hoping he's back in form for Hellblazer.

• At November 29, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  PS! THE ENIGMA PIECE LINKED TO HERE CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!!!

  (Or else we'll never here the end of it.)

  Anyway, ...

• At November 29, 2008, Ken Raining wrote:

  Enigma is one of the very best comics that Veritigo published. Ever. It's a shame that Milligan is ...

• At December 1, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  Great book. Peter Milligan has always been one of the best writers in the business when he's in his ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today, on Thanksgiving, we look at a book that later LGBT works would certainly be thankful for.

Certainly, as I've noted in the past almost full month now, there were plenty of notable LGBT comic book work during the 80s and early 90s. Some great work by folks like Alison Bechdel, Jeff Krell, Jennifer Camper, Tim Barela and Robert Kirby was out there.

However, I think Stuck Rubber Baby was probably (and you can certainly feel free to dispute this) the most acclaimed LGBT graphic novel of its time, and one of the very first LGBT graphic novels to gain vast national acclaim when it debuted in 1995. Heck, forget NATIONAL, how about INTERnational? The book has been translated into three other languages!!

The story of Stuck Rubber Baby is Toland Polk, a young white man who comes to term with his homosexuality during the 60s at the same time he deals with his own racist views amid the fight for civil rights in the South at that point in time.

The work is lush and realistic, and Toland Polk is an engaging protagonist, especially the unique way that he is not really a sympathetic character - he really is a bit of a fool, honestly. The comic is so detailed that as far as I know, Cruse has barely made any money out of this great work, due to the fact that it took him years to finish (which ate up the book advance) and as acclaimed as the work was, sales were not exactly out of this world.

On Cruse's website, he has a "teaser" for Stuck Rubber Baby that I feel weird just copying, as it is pretty long, but then I figured, this is meant to sell the book, right? So let me try to sell the book right now with the teaser! If it's too much, well, I apologize, Mr. Cruse!

So now - enjoy this teaser for Stuck Rubber Baby and see if it is the sort of book you would enjoy!

So if you haven't already purchased a copy of Stuck Rubber Baby, head right over to Cruse's website here and get one! He'll even autograph your copy if you buy it directly from him!

10 Comments

• At November 28, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Kinda reminds me of Richard Corben's art.

• At November 28, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  Decent book. It gets a bit overly preachy at times, but I imagine that's hard to avoid considering the ...

• At November 28, 2008, Stefan wrote:

  This is probably the only LBGT graphic novel I've ever read. It's also probably in my top five graphic ...

• At November 28, 2008, Mario Fernandez wrote:

  SRB remains one of the best GN I've ever read (and I've read...)

  But, it's a book about acceptance, in the ...

• At November 28, 2008, Rob III wrote:

  Howard Cruse was one of my teachers at SVA, It was his first time teaching, but it still remains an ...

• At November 28, 2008, Selling Books On Amazon » Blog Archive » What to do when you have the only copy of a book on the internet wrote:

  [...] A Month of Good LGBT Comics - Stuck Rubber Baby [...]

• At November 28, 2008, Ivan V. wrote:

  It is a classic, and a masterpiece.

• At November 28, 2008, Alternating Reality Bookstore » Blog Archive » 100 Bullets Volume 12 Dirty wrote:

  [...] A Month of Good LGBT Comics - Stuck Rubber Baby [...]

• At November 30, 2008, b_rad wrote:

  Glad to see this underlooked work promoted here. It's easily, in its own way, as influencail as Watchman or the ...

• At November 30, 2008, Anun wrote:

  One of the first graphic novels that I think really captured the idea that a novel is told in chapters ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a wonderful collection of graphic novels by Ariel Schrag detailing her high school experience.

Awkward, Definition and Potential are the three comic works (collected into two volumes, with Awkward and Definition sharing a volume) by Ariel Schrag about her days in high school which stand out as especially remarkable because Schrag began producing them while still in high school!

As a result, admittedly, the earliest comics of the collections are not nearly as good as the later stuff, but still, for a teenager, this was dynamite stuff. The important thing is that while the actual art by Schrag is not there yet in the first volume (it's more or less there by the last volume), the storytelling was there right from the get go.

A fourth volume is due out next year detailing her senior year, and it looks like the best of the bunch (I guess that's just logical, though).

This is a strikingly insightful look at Schrag's own experiences, and it is amazing how deep she looks into her own self in this work. Her bravery is remarkable.

In addition, seeing her transition from coming to terms with her sexuality - it is handled extremely well.

Here are three sample pages, one from each year - the improvement, as you can note yourself, is dramatic.

Here is a link to Schrag's website, where you can purchase her works (and see samples of the last volume, Likewise).

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a very fun comic strip!

Paige Braddock's Jane's World is notable in the way that it is just a normal, well-written funny comic strip. The fact that it stars mostly all lesbian characters is just part of the set-up of the strip - it really is not the focus of the strip, anymore than the focus of For Better or For Worse is that they are all Canadian.

Jane, the star of the strip, is a endearing protagonist, and she surrounds herself with a varied group of interesting characters, including her best friend (but is there more there? Think Stoltz/Masterson in Some Kind of Wonderful) Dorothy and her straight male roommate Ethan.

Since the strip began in 2001, Jane has had all sorts of wacky hijinx and different romantic relationships.

Currently, she is working as a reporter for a small newspaper.

Rather than belabor the point of how good Jane's World is, check out the current story arc, which involves Jane going undercover as a male busboy at a Hooter's (and a friend's fear of big breasts)....

Funny stuff, no?

Follow Jane's World at comics.com here.

The strips are collected into print form.

Here is a link to Girl's Twirl Publishing, who publish the print form of Jane's World! You can buy Jane's World books there!

Here's Paige Braddock's blog, for good measure!

9 Comments

• At November 26, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Some girls get ALL the luck.

  ;-)

• At November 26, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Any chance of Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise making the list?

• At November 26, 2008, David wrote:

  Wait, the people in For Better or Worse are CANADIAN?!?!?!?!

• At November 26, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Didn't you wonder why their heads flapped?

• At November 26, 2008, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  You didn't know what For Better Or For Worse is aboot Canadians, eh?

• At November 26, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  Heeheehee....Dare to dream....that's beautiful. XD

• At December 2, 2008, Tony wrote:

  Not to be a stickler, but that's not Dorothy in this arc -- till the last comic, where Dorothy appears ...

• At December 2, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Not a stickler at all, Tony!

  That was a silly mistake on my part! It's corrected now!

• At July 20, 2009, Comic Strips and the LGBTI Community - Lez Get Real wrote:

  [...] A Month of Good LGBT Comics – Jane’s World (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a fun book about four siblings!

Hopeless Savages is the endearing and fun comic book series by Jen Van Meter for Oni Press. The art for the series is set up so that for each volume, more than one artist contributes (typically in the form of one artist for the main story and one artist for flashbacks). The artists that have worked with Van Meter on the series are practically a Who's Who? of awesome indie artists, like Christine Norrie, Chynna Clugston, Andi Watson, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Ross Campbell (plus others I didn't even mention).

Norrie, though, is the one who designed the characters.

The main gist of the series is that two non-conformist "damn the man!" punk rockers, Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage marry and have four kids - now, the kids are mostly grown, and, well, hilarity ensues!

What else do you expect when you have kids named Rat Bastard, Arsenal Fierce, Twitch Strummer and Skank Zero?

The first volume details the three younger siblings dealing with a family crisis by going to get help from their oldest brother, Rat, who figured out that the only way to rebel from a rebel family was to, well, sell out and become part of a coffee chain's corporate headquarters.

The reason this series is featured on LGBT month is because of the sterling work Van Meter does with Twitch and his boyfriend, Henry (the younger brother of Arsenal's boyfriend). Their relationship, and Twitch's sexuality period, is handled so well and with such "who cares?" that it, despite Van Meter's intent, stands out.

Overall, though, this is a great series with cool artwork. Well worth checking out.

Ms. Van Meter has a new Black Lightning mini-series coming out, too, soon if folks enjoy her work here!

1 Comments

• At November 26, 2008, DIggity wrote:

  One of my FAVORITE series. I really hope there are plans for more.

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a powerful memoir of a notable art figure from the 80s!

Seven Miles a Second is an odd book in the sense that it was an autobiographical comic released in 1996, however, the guy the book is about, David Wojnarowicz, died in 1992. Prior to his death, he was working on a memoir comic book with a friend of his, artist James Romberger. After Wojnarowicz died, Romberger eventually continued the book using Wojnarowicz' dairies as the basis of the auto-biographical narrative.

Wojarowicz's life is an amazingly engaging one. He began hustling before he was in the double digits, life-wise. He eventually moved on from the world of hustling to become one of the most notable photographers in the country. Then he got AIDS and in 1992, he died.

In this book, we see all of the gritty realities of Wojarowicz's life - from the days of his hustling to his coming to terms with his fairly imminent death of a disease few understood at the time.

The comic is a bit raw, but raw here is good because it gives everything a heightened sense of reality to the story.

Here are some sample pages (I think the comic is currently out of print - make some more, DC!)...

It's a great job by James Romberger to bring Wojarowicz's life to the masses!

3 Comments

• At November 24, 2008, Mario Fernandez wrote:

  I'd have never guess James Romberger have done this kind of work (and for Vertigo, wich surprises me even more). ...

• At November 24, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  I think I've got this kicking around in my mass of unread stuff. I'll have to dig it out ...

• At May 24, 2009, BEM wrote:

  This is a great book. Both sad and sweet at the same time. It's horrific to see the ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a comic strip that shows us what would have happened if June and Ward Cleaver were bears!

Leonard and Larry were created by cartoonist Tim Barela as minor supporting characters in a strip that did not end up working out. Instead, Barela put the spotlight upon the happy couple in their 30s, and what followed was an almost 20 year run as a comic strip from the early 80s until his last strip in 2003.

He has released four collections of the strips(the third is currently out of print).

The basic concept of the strip is a simple one - imagine a middle-aged gay couple living a sitcom life, basically. If the Chelsea Boys would make for a good animated series, Leonard and Larry would make for a good live action sitcom.

Leonard Goldman and Larry Evans are both middle-aged men with good jobs, and Larry actually has two sons, who we get to see grow up from teenagers to men as the strip progresses (and our heroes get closer to the big five-oh).

Barela has a real clean art style and an endearing sense of humor.

Here are some sample pages...

A CBR poster named Grazzt passed along to me one of his all-time favorite Leonard and Larry pages - here it is...

Thanks to the Gay Comics List for the images!

Be sure to check out the official Leonard and Larry website here! They are having a BIG sale right now! Each of the three in stock collections are only FIVE BUCKS!! WOW!

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at an intriguing work by a favorite artist of mine!

how loathsome is a tour de force performance by aritst Ted Naifeh, who folks might know best from his amazing work on Gloomcookie, Courtney Crumrin, Polly & The Pirates and Death Jr.

how loathsome is decidedly less All Ages-friendly, as it follows a young lesbian (or as Naifeh calls her, a "gender outlaw") exploring the "freak" scene in San Francisco - S&M clubs, drag bars, etc.

Catherine Gore, our protagonist, is an engaging and spirited character, which is due both to Naifeh's unique artwork as well as the dialogue that scripter Tristan Crane delivers for her. Crane really does a marvelous job taking Naifeh's ideas and making them into a story that both entertains and enlightens, especially in the way that the various stories of the collection (it collects the four individual issues of how loathsome) combine by the end to make an overall statement about how we are all basically searching for love and acceptance, both with others and also with ourselves.

Here is a sample from early in the comic, in probably the story that I found most engaging, when Catherine becomes enthralled with the transgendered Chloe...

Naifeh perfectly creates a "scene" for the reader to see the characters engaging in, while also giving them an engaging personality. I especially love how open Catherine is to her own faults. Very intriguing.

Naifeh is such an amazing creator - I really would read anything by him, I'm just glad he has chosen such quality projects over the years.

Click here to visit Naifeh's website where you can read more about how loathsome (and his other projects).

5 Comments

• At November 22, 2008, Robert Kirby wrote:

  I have been meaning to get this book for years. Time to get on that, sheesh! Thanks for ...

• At November 22, 2008, Anun wrote:

  How Loathsome is seriously one of the best comics I've ever read. However, I'm compelled to point out that ...

• At November 22, 2008, Lorrraine wrote:

  I'm pleased to see that with How Loathsome we finally get to the T in LGBT comics. I remember enjoying ...

• At November 23, 2008, Ryan wrote:

  Wow, that art is incredibly dynamic and really something. I love it when artists take advantage of harsh lines and ...

• At November 23, 2008, Eric HG wrote:

  Wow and here I was getting all ready to sned an angry message at the end of this month about ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at one of the most acclaimed and long-lasting comic strips out there!

Alison Bechdel has been producing Dykes to Watch Out For since 1983, and ever since it began it has been a striking strip, with it's mixture of humor, characterizations and topical discussions.

The book follows a diverse cast of characters (with a lesbian named Mo as more or less the main character), and while Bechdel has allowed their lives to develop in a serial narrative, the strips also tend to revolve around the characters reacting to whatever topic Bechdel feels like writing about.

It's really a fascinating strip, and it is to Bechdel's credit that it all flows so very naturally, and has done so for literally decades.

Check out how many collections of the strips there are!!

Currently, Bechdel is touring in support of the Essential Dykes to Watch Out For.

The strip is actually on hiatus right now, as Bechdel is working on her next graphic novel (her last graphic novel was the amazing memoir, Fun Home, which I featured earlier this month here).

Here are the last three strips before the hiatus...

Bechdel has also become a part of the pop culture lexicon with this strip from early in the strip's run (before she even had settled on a serial storyline approach - these earlier strips were with nameless characters just talking)....

The "rule" here is not one of Bechdel's creation (she credits in the strip the friend she heard it from), but it has been a very popular "rule" in discussing films.

Here is a link to Bechdel's site, where she has a strip archive and a handy dandy guide to the characters in the comic!

7 Comments

• At November 21, 2008, Mario Fernandez wrote:

  This "month of..." is being quite interesting, but you better talk about "Stuck Rubber Baby" before the month ends...

• At November 21, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  There's quite a few major works that I've "saved" for the end of the month, Mario!

• At November 21, 2008, Anun wrote:

  One of the greatest strips, IMO. I'm impatient for her next memoir to be done so that the strip ...

• At November 21, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  I've love it if the last solid week of this was just Authority trade paperbacks.

  Okay, I wouldn't.

• At November 24, 2008, ZEITGEIST / Quick hits wrote:

  [...] Neil Gaiman CBLDF Team-Up History I Loved This Poster Did Herriman Pass? A Tribute To Sid Brown On ...

• At February 19, 2009, NYCC Interview: Jasika Nicole | Pink Raygun.com wrote:

  [...] A Month of Good LGBT Comics - Dykes to Watch Out For (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At April 26, 2009, Comic Strips and the LGBTI Community | Lez Get Real wrote:

  [...] A Month of Good LGBT Comics - Dykes to Watch Out For (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a comic that inspired its own Off-Broadway musical!!

Jeff Krell's Jayson reminds me a lot of Archie comics (and I am pretty positive that that is no accident).

The stories in the comics are all pretty darn simple, the laughs are more slight smilers rather than outright hilarious routines, and the characters are all basically stereotyped by one or two notable characteristics (over the years, that has been one of the biggest critiques of Krell's comics - that they're too stereotypical, in a bad way, but I never bought that - it's like complaining about Veronica being portrayed as too mean or whatever - it's not like Krell is using his strips to express his political views, which quite a few cartoonists do - if you DO do that with your comics, then yeah, I think you owe an obligation to be fair, but if EVERYone in your strip is a stereotype, a la Archie, then I don't think it's a problem).

And like Archie comics, when done well, this style of comic can be quite entertaining, and Krell's Jayson strips are done well.

The jokes are always executed right on point, and Jayson (and his gal pal, Arena) are just so darn endearing that you quickly get caught up in their misadventures and enjoy the ride.

In a lot of ways, Jayson and Arena are a lot like Will and Grace - at least the good episodes of that show!

Here are some sample strips, including some from Krell's brand new (well, from this year, at least) 25th Anniversary Jayson graphic novel, titled Jayson Goes to Hollywood...

Check out Ignite Entertainment here to buy copies of Krell's Jayson collections, including the new one!

3 Comments

• At November 20, 2008, Kane wrote:

  Thanks, Brian! I have not looked at Jayson in a long time!

• At November 20, 2008, Ryan wrote:

  This looks hilarious! I do love the various send-ups of Archie Comics. I'll have to check this out.

• At November 20, 2008, Real Life | The Spicy Cauldron wrote:

  [...] A Month of Good LGBT Comics – Jayson categories: assertions, rattle bag ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at an earlier work of an artist quite a few people are liking nowadays for her I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates comic book.

YU+ME is the first major comic book project by Megan Rose Gedris, who is currently producing the humor/adventure comic book, I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates.

YU+ME is the adorable story of a teenage girl coming to grips with her sexuality when a new girl in town moves in next door to her and attends the same Catholic School as our protagonist, Fiona.

The basic premise of the book is that Fiona has a pretty awful life. She has no friends at school, the nuns keep treating her like crap and her family life is no better. Her only refuge is her dreams.

However, when a new girl in town moves next door named Lia, who befriends Fiona, suddenly Fiona's dreams no longer have the same appeal, because she is now dreaming about Lia. This is further complicated when Fiona befriends a gay boy in school, who introduces to her the notion of same-sex love. This leads to more romantic dreams that Fiona tries to avoid by avoiding sleeping, which of course, has negative ramifications.

It's all presented quite sweetly in a heavily manga-influenced style.

That said, there is also a MAJOR twist at the end of Part 1 that, well, flips the whole thing upside down (and honestly, all things considered, I liked the book better pre-twist - think about it as the difference between Mork and Minday Season 1 and Mork and Mindy Season 4).

Still, it's a good series.

Here are some sample pages...

Click here to visit Gedris' site, where you can purchase YU+ME, plus other merchandise...

3 Comments

• At November 19, 2008, Juan Da Charro Ninja wrote:

  first of all, Fiona's girlfriend is Lia, not Li, second, although it did startesd as a manga, it switched to ...

• At November 19, 2008, Patrick Rennie wrote:

  He mentioned the Lesbian Pirates. Interested parties can track it down.

  And having not found YU+ME until after the twist happened, ...

• At November 20, 2008, StereotypeA wrote:

  I'm just going to be elitest with Juan's comment of "it did startesd as a manga". Unless she was publishing ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at one of the most acclaimed works featured this month.

Fun Home is Alison Bechdel's powerful memoir primarily about her relationship with her father, who died in an accident (Bechdel believes it was suicide) at the age of 44 soon after Bechdel came out to her family. She soon discovered that her father, himself, was a closeted homosexual.

The book took years for Bechdel to complete, mostly because she was meticulous in her attention to detail (not to mention her methods of drawing people included her posing for each figure).

While the narrative of the book is a strong one (examining the life of her closeted father as she herself awakens to her own homosexuality), the key to this book is clearly the deep, emotional resonance the characters evoke to the reader, which is due to a brilliant piece of characterization by Bechdel of herself AND her father.

The "Fun Home" of the title was the family's funeral home that her father ran besides his job as an English teacher.

There is no linear plot to the book, as it mostly contains Bechdel reflecting on various points of her life - it is all very powerful stuff.

Here are some sample pages from the site for Fun Home that her publisher put up (check out the page here).

See the impressive way she reflects upon both herself and her father?

The whole book is filled with stuff like that, all with great artwork by Bechdel.

This is truly a masterpiece of comic book literature, and deserves all the acclaim it received (which was a LOT).

8 Comments

• At November 18, 2008, Leandro wrote:

  No, I don't think Fun Home deserve all the acclaim it got. It's, at best, an OK graphic novel. Most ...

• At November 18, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  What struck me, firts off, was the level of detail in the art. bechdel isn't a Dave Gibbons or Geoff ...

• At November 18, 2008, Anun wrote:

  And as a counterpoint to the above comment....I find the book brilliant and heart-wrenching. Coming from a similarly well-read ...

• At November 18, 2008, Anun wrote:

  Sorry, I was counterpointing to the first comment.

• At November 18, 2008, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  I read it a year ago, after hearing all the praise heaped on it, and I loved it. I recommended ...

• At November 18, 2008, Aunt Soozie wrote:

  If you must refer to Alison Bechdel as snobby genitalia I would think that snob vagina would be more apropos. ...

• At November 19, 2008, Leandro wrote:

  But, you see, there're other memoir books that, even though the author is talking about him(her) self, I find more ...

• At November 19, 2008, Aunt Soozie wrote:

  You're right Leandro... so true.

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at an amazing collection by an amazing artist.

A commenter made an interesting point that it seems like most of the works featured so far this month have been very much writer-driven. That's probably pretty fair, but this work is very much artist-driven!

Maurice Vellekoop is a Canadian artist who has contributed to basically every installment of Drawn and Quarterly since it first began.

Vellekoop's style is in the style of the classic 50s/60s New Yorker style of art - it's has a very European feel.

Vellevision is a collection of various works by Vellekoop over a decade or so.

Thanks to a Vellekoop fan site (here), here are some sample pages from the book.

This is from his early work - it's pretty straightforward stuff.

He later added in some more bizarre humor...

Next, he has a section dealing with music, mostly drawings of opera settings...it's pretty trippy.

This is a sample of the section where he places dots of color to give after-effects of color - it's really a striking idea....

The next section is this campy science fiction story with lots of trippy aspects...

He ends the book with samples of some of the standard illustration work he's done over the years...

Vellekoop is one of the more unique comic artists out there, and this book is a great sampling/introduction to his work.

Here is a link where you can buy the book. There is an excerpt from the book there, too.

3 Comments

• At November 17, 2008, DubipR wrote:

  Great choice! I've been a fan of Maurice Vellekoop for some time now. His illustrations are just wonderful ...

• At November 17, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  Wow. I'd honestly never heard of Maurice Vellekoop. His work is really great!

• At November 18, 2008, Eric wrote:

  I'll take his advice in that ad and try men! Hello, Sailor!

  "Men - They're Everywhere" Love it!

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at an interesting attempt at an American version of Shōnen-ai manga.

Shōnen-ai manga are basically melodramatic stories written mostly by women about romance between homosexual boys about high school age. There is more to it than that, of course, but that's the basic premise that Abby Denson was working off of when she created Tough Love: High School Confidential as an American version of Shōnen-ai manga.

Tough Love stars Brian, a young teen coming to terms with his sexuality and his crush on another boy, Chris. Brian also develops a deep friendship with a female classmate, Julie.

Denson's artwork reminds me of a slightly rougher Andi Watson, which does lead to some pretty darn rough artwork at times in the comic, but it gets the job done and really, at other times it also evokes the punk rock stylings of Jim Mahfood - which definitely works for the type of story Denson is telling here - this is not an "establishment" tale here.

In any event, the story is really what carries the book, as Denson presents an extremely realistic portrayal of young love (while also at times, it is intentionally UNrealistic, with some goofy parts of the story) for a gay kid in high school during the 1990s, and that involves some pretty messed up stuff. It also involves a GREAT deal of awkwardness, which Denson depicts well.

The book is a bundle of anxiety - laughs one minute, tears the next.

In many ways, it is a good follow-up on the ideas presented in Ivan Velez's Tales of the Closet.

Here is a link to Denson's website, where you can purchase Tough Love and Tough Love merchandise.

1 Comments

• At November 20, 2008, abbycomix » Blog Archive » Tough Love in CBR's "MONTH OF GOOD LGBT COMICS" List! wrote:

  [...] Check out this amazing list of LGBT comics being covered this month at Comic Book Resources! I’m so proud ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a popular comic strip that might eventually be making its way on to television!

Chelsea Boys is a long-running popular comic strip by Glen Hanson and Allan Neuwirth about three extremely different gay men who live together in an apartment in the neighborhood of Chelsea in New York City.

Nathan is the short, forty-something member of the group, probably the closest the strip has to a "main" character.

Soiree is a self-proclaimed fabulous black club diva, and his tempestuous nature leads to many a confrontation.

Sky is the young, buff and naive art student whose naivete gets himself into trouble often.

The strips had been collected into an earlier collection titled simply Chelsea Boys, but I think the second one is a better one to spotlight, mostly because you really don't need to start from the beginning with these strips, and also because the second collection is in full color, which looks quite good on Hanson's drawings.

Here are a sampling of the strips (to clarify, Richard is Nathan's gay best friend and Ricki and Lucie are a lesbian couple who live in the same building - Nathan donated sperm for their baby) ....

As you can see, they mix in pretty straightforward sitcom-esque humor with more down-to-Earth storylines, like Nathan and his sister dealing with their mother's sickness.

There was talk awhile back that MTV was planning on turning Chelsea Boys into a cartoon series for its Logo network. I do not know if anything came about from that, but these characters would easily make the transfer to a TV series, I think.

The images are courtesy of the official Chelsea Boys website, where you can get links to purchase the collections as well as read some other strips.

6 Comments

• At November 16, 2008, joe c wrote:

  I really enjoy this strip. Also, Allan Neuwirth wrote a very good book on the animation industry a number of ...

• At November 16, 2008, SageShini wrote:

  Why always the stereotypical black "queen" gay guy portrayal? I mean, I'm not gay (though I am black) but ...

• At November 17, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  Awww, this is CUTE!!! It's too bad it wasn't on Saturday morning cartoons when *I* was a kid.

  Of ...

• At November 17, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  Sage, I've been backstage at many a drag show...and they do flame on and on. If people are getting ...

• At November 17, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  And I wasn't talking about just blacks. Every party boy I've ever seen acts that way, regardless of race.

  Let's ...

• At November 17, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  NOW look what you did...the image of Michael Clarke Duncan popped into my head............XP

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at an intriguing look at the barriers that still exist between different classes in modern society.

It's a shame that I couldn't find any preview scans of the book online, as Mia Wolff's artwork takes a bit getting used to, and I would have loved to have shown you what her style looks like - it is this rough, simple style that often works in fantastical elements into the book. It's quite unique and striking.

That said, the book is mostly carried by writer Samuel Delaney, as the story is literally his, re-telling his relationship with a homeless street vendor.

Delaney, an accomplished and critically acclaimed African-American novelist strikes up an unlikely friendship with Dennis, an Irish-American homeless man. Though Dennis is quite honestly filthy, there still exists an attraction and soon the men develop a friendship, then a sexual relationship and then ultimately a committed relationship (the book is almost a decade old now, I do not know how long they remained together - I know they were still together when the book came out).

In this novel, Delaney plays with basically every distinction made between people in modern society - black/white, rich/poor, even clean/dirty!

And he does so in a manner where it all falls apart in the face of love (or at least the hope of love).

If you don't take my word for it, take a look at this piece from the introduction, written by one Alan Moore:

Bread & Wine affirms the central truths of all Delany's writings with conviction that is absolute, a light unscattered by the necessary mirror-surfaces of fiction: that love will transfigure and redeem. That the profane can only be the sacred. That the scum of all the earth and salt of all the earth are of the same coin. This is wisdom. This is necessary radiance to drive the shadows from the underpass, the ghosts from needle park, to blow the fogs away from culture's edge, it's coastline, and revel the widening ocean of the dispossessed beyond as objects not of fear, but of desire, of love. This is a marvelous book, filthy with feeling, with discovery. I recommend it utterly, and without reservation.

5 Comments

• At November 14, 2008, K. ross wrote:

  Have any links on where it can be bought?

• At November 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I didn't add a link because there's no specific site for it - just Amazon, etc.

• At November 14, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Here's a link, though! :)

  http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Wine-Erotic-Tale-York/dp/1890451029

• At November 14, 2008, K. Ross wrote:

  Thanks!

  I might I add that it seems that a lot of these comics have more of an appeal from the ...

• At December 13, 2008, Links « The Serpent’s House on Triton wrote:

  [...] Comic Book Resources has an LGBT Comics Month and Delany’s Bread & Wine is featured in an article. Here.  ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at one of Judd Winick's earliest comic book works.

Pedro and Me is Winick's tale of the friendship he struck up with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora when both men were cast members on MTV's The Real World in Season 4 of the show (set in San Francisco).

Probably the number one thing you take away from reading this graphic novel is just how heartfelt the whole thing is - Winick really manages to dig in deep and tug on the heartstrings, but never in an offensive, over-the-top manner. He simply slowly reveals information about everyone involved until you care about everybody, so that you are practically weeping when we get to Pedro's tragic passing from AIDS at the far too young age of 22.

Winick's characterization work is spot on, including a particularly good job handling his own characterization. He shows an uncanny knack for self-examination in the comic, including some not-so-flattering depictions of himself, like his initial reaction when he learned he was going to be living with someone with HIV - how suddenly his super liberal ideals were tempered by his actual feelings when he actually meets someone with HIV. Very good stuff.

It is striking how much of an influence that one season of Real World had on Winick - he met Pedro, but he also met his future wife, Pam Ling, on the show. The book details the beginning of their relationship, too. It's noteworthy to see just how different Real World was as a show back then - someone like Ling would never be on the show nowadays - she was too busy with a "real" life to interact much with most of the cast members, while the current show stresses cast member interaction.

I remember someone, when this book came out, noting that the book is probably most powerful if you read it all in one sitting. I think that's probably accurate, so just bear that in mind if you ever read it.

Winick's artwork sometimes doesn't fit the style of the book, as a few of his characters seem oddly cartoonish (while at other times, his cartoonish artwork really helps get across the story, particularly in scenes with Pedro), but for the most part, his work is fine. It doesn't really HURT the story ever.

The storytelling is quite excellent - Winick paces the comic beautifully. I think he even mentions that Pedro helped him work on this skill - it shows up here in full effect.

So yeah, this is a beautiful and poignant comic book - one of Winick's finest comic works, if not his finest.

9 Comments

• At November 13, 2008, Mario Fernandez wrote:

  I've never seen this book as a LGBT one, for me, this is an humanitarian tale above anything else, as ...

• At November 13, 2008, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  This is one of those comics I can get non-comic book readers to read. Pedro & Me is a favorite.

• At November 13, 2008, Karlos wrote:

  This season of The Real World was shown in the UK only the once, on some throwaway time slot, but ...

• At November 13, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  I HAVE to get this book. My experience reading Winnick-penned comic books wasn't really satisfying, but I have been told ...

• At November 13, 2008, Rebis wrote:

  This book is really great — and yes, touching without being cloying. After he wrote it, Winick toured the ...

• At November 13, 2008, Julio Juri wrote:

  Judd Winick wasn't Exiles writer? He was in Real World? I saw that show and never noticed that!

• At November 13, 2008, Moflo wrote:

  This is by far one of my favorite graphic novels. I have a real appreciation for Winick's work, ...

• At November 13, 2008, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  I've been a fan of Winick since his newspaper comic strip "Frumpy the Clown". Followed his work on Green Lantern, ...

• At November 15, 2008, John Seavey wrote:

  I'll add to the praise for this one; this, Barry Ween, and Frumpy the Clown (and possibly his Green Lantern ...

Here's an archive of the featured works so far!

Today we look at a collection of cartoons by the editor of a previous comic featured this month.

Jennifer Camper is the brains behind Juicy Mother, the excellent LGBT comic book anthology featured here (you should click on the link and make a comment about Juicy Mother - it'd be a nice change of pace to see a comment there about the book itself).

However, she's been doing cartoons herself for about two decades, and this a "best of" collection of her strips. It's called Rude Girls and Dangerous Women.

Camper's cartoons examine gender, race, sexuality and politics, and often in a sardonic and sarcastic way, but usually with a view of good fun.

Do note that most of these strips are from the early 90s, so while the art is serviceable, Camper has improved a lot, artistically, since then.

However, the artwork of Camper's strips are not why you're reading them - it's her commentary and her jokes that makes the strips work. That said, when she tries out some unique angles and uses of negative space, her work definitely does take on an impressive feel - it just seems that more often than not, the artwork comes off as secondary to the words being written, as though the art is there just to give the words context, rather than being a separate expression of the story.

Here are a sampling of some of Camper's strips....

See? Pretty funny and sometimes edgy stuff!

Check out her website here (where the images are courtesy of)!

4 Comments

• At November 12, 2008, JackKing wrote:

  This may be my favourite so far

• At November 12, 2008, El Charro Ninja wrote:

  Girls with mullets are the coolest on Earth. Period.

• At November 12, 2008, El Charro Ninja wrote:

  I deeply recommend the Megan Rose Gedris work: I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space

  and YU+ME: dream. ...

• At November 16, 2008, SageShini wrote:

  This one's very good. I feel like Caucasian Translation is my favorite though, as even as a straight person ...