Archive for the Western Comic/Comix Category


Starward Lovers

December 11th, 2025

On a hot pink background, with blue title letters that read "Starward Lovers" the cast of secret agents are featured.Starward Lovers was a webcomic by Miki Brewster that appeared online from 2016-2018 and can still be read on Tumblr. In 2025 Miki ran a successful kickstarter and late pledges are still open right now, so you have a chance to get a copy of the book while supplies last and that window is open.

The story is a simple one. Jen is a young, closeted lesbian who has a crush on a very cool handsome woman who frequents the coffee shop at which Jen works. One day, Jen follows the woman when she leaves the shop and finds herself entangled in an extraterrestrial battle. Without anything specific to return to, Jen joins a team of lesbian secret agents, hoping to become closer to the mysterious woman, Red. Life is not tht simple and Jen ends up fighting for her own life, the life of those she loves and all of existence!

Both art and story are fast-paced, lots of action and movement. Overall I found it entertaining, with one caveat. The plot relies heavily on Jen’s low self-esteem. While this certainly can resonate with many readers, I’d really like to have a new plot other than “girl hates herself” and “they stole everything for her and now, she’s out for revenge”. I’m just saying, could we have a story where girl gets opportunity and goes for it and, despite fear and challenges, kills it? It is doable, I promise you! My dear friend and publisher Gideon Marcus has a fantastic YA science fiction story series, the Kitra Saga, (the first of which I reviewed here on Okazu) which do this very thing, with a queer cast and only the very littlest bit of cringe.

Here, Jen is closeted and self-loathing for not having ever had community. She finds her first community ever among the Intergalactic Society’s agents, who all turn out to be gay, even the alien. ^_^ I very much enjoyed the diversity of body type and ethnicity ( and I think there is an interesting discussion to be had about one of the very few white characters being an alien. ^_^)

From there the story is a bit tenuous, as it relies on womens’ low-self-esteem to work and every character has a sad story.  The climax is a bit predictable for all that, but the conclusion is heart-warming anyway. 

Extra pages include character sketches and devlopments, storyboards and cover art and notes by Brewster for some fun behind the scenes action.

My backer level was pretty low this time, but the bookmark I received had my two favorite character, and a promo car for Brewster’s upcoming work  for next year. Starward Lovers was a solid PG-rated action story and I’ll look forward to Brewster’s story-telling and art maturing as she continues in her career. A good book or webcomic recommendation for the mature tween or early teen baby lesbian in your life. ^_^

 Ratings: 

Art – Style in progress, but fun and jangly
Story – Simple, but it works
Characters – Not quite simplistic, but not full developed either.
LGTBQ – 9
Service – 0

Overall – Solid, enjoyable 7





Sharp Wit and the Company of Women

November 30th, 2025

A collage style work of a naked woman with scars on her face holding a knife, while other women's hands are on her, pressing her up against a pillar.Way back in August I visited queer comic con, Flamecon. Of the books I purchased, I wanted to talk about  Sharp Wit and the Company of Women, an anthology of women who love women and their bladed weapons. This anthology is put together by Michele Abounader, and includes 18 stories by a host of artists and writers. Because is an anthology, each of these stories are short, often no more than a plot idea, but the overall point is lesbians are a natural match in swords & sorcery. 

The art here runs a gamut of styles, so there is surely something you’d like. The narratives, likewise. There’s fantasy of a dozen kinds, from barbarians to marvel-style heroes, Regency heroines and even a modern historical, a poignant piece called “Joan, Nineteen.”

There are tales of powerful swords, magical women, love, hatred, marriage divorce, even vampires, werewolves and gangsters. Every story centers lesbians in the middle of the chaos for some a really powerful tasting menu of storytelling. 

Ratings: 

Art & Story are variable, let’s call it a solid 8 average.

Overall – 9

If you’re looking for something that pairs lesbian love and swinging sword without any hemming or hawing, I very much recommend this anthlology. It’d also make a great gift for the sword lesbian in your life. ^_^





Navigating With You

September 23rd, 2025

Two girls, lay in separate beds, head to toe, reading the same book. One girl with bark brown skin, wears a beige cardigan and orange skirt, leg braces visible on both legs. The other girl has medium brown skin, and short messy brown hair, wearing a white sleeveless tee shirt and denim shorts. They hold hands across the distance that separates them.Walking around convention floors, my favorite thing to do is chat with publishers. After all these years I am still just a book nerd at heart. At Anime NYC 2025, I was wandering from book display to book display when I encountered Maverick books. The folks there were eager to talk (and sell, obviously) but I cannot express to you how much more likely I am to buy from a knowledgeable, enthusiastic bookseller, than from someone who is hired to sell and really isn’t steeped in the books themselves.

In this case, Spenser from Madcave Studios recognized me and cheerfully pointed me towards this book, Navigating With You, by veteran comics author Jeremy Whitley and illustrator Cassio Ribeiro, lettered by Nikki Foxrobot. Friends, I bought it, because it was exactly the right book to sell me. Good job, Spenser.

Gabby Graciana and Neesha Sparks are both transfers to a new school and, despite vastly different lives, they quickly bond as friends, then more. Both will work past past and present traumas, bad relationships, systemic inequity and, as they share their love for a popular shoujo manga from their childhoods, will fall in love.

The story, especially in the beginning is a bit heavy-handed, but Neesha, who has Cerebral Palsy, has a lot to communicate about how living with disability is pathologized, infantilized and made harder in many ways by people who believe they are helping. Gabby is hiding her grief and trauma at her mother’s loss and has a controlling boyfriend. Both characters are queer and their families know. All of this and they way we understand “culture” is pulled apart slowly over time, until we understand that there is more to ourselves than just where our family is from and what foods we eat, who we love. Anime fandom is a culture, just as surfing is, just as being from New York or Florida or Mexico is. All of these things become pieces of who we are.

Gabby and Neesha learn that they both liked an old, out of print manga classic Navigator Nozomi. They decide to start a book club and find and read all of the volumes. We are given critical scenes of the manga in black and white throughout the story, each scene sparking conversation and confession and further intimacy between Neesha and Gabby. Again, much of the story telling is a bit heavy-handed, but there is NO doubt what story is being told. Whitley and Ribeiro are firm hands on the narrative wheel in case readers might miss the point.

The story reaches a brilliant climax as Neesha and Gabby attend an anime con dressed as Navigator Nozomi and her nemesis(?) Kazane to meet the manga creator where they are gifted with a rare and powerful gift – the story behind the story.

Neesha and Gabby are very different, but both likeable. Parents are supportive but in parenty ways. Real life is complicated and intrusive throughout, but by the end, we’re sure that these two young women have their heads screwed on right and will be fine. 

While I (cynical, world-weary comparative literature major who has read many thousands of books) found the beginning slow, the destination here definitely justified the journey.  And, while this book is itself a western comic, it gets some extra points for also being (and discussing!) Yuri manga. ^_^

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 2 Intimacy scenes are not intrusive
LGBTQ – 10

Overall – 8

This would be a terrific read for the YA reader in your life. It’s the kind of book that will open eyes on one level, enetertain on another, then make you cry, while opening eyes again.





S.I.R.

June 15th, 2025

On a background of roses, over silhouette of a motorcycle, a girl and boy in school uniform, clutch weapons, moodily, while a wolf howls.So, you say, I really love Revolutionary Girl Utena-inspired stories, but sword fights are done. Let’s have something cooler than a sword fight. Well, we have just what you are looking for in S.I.R.

Avery Sakai has lost everything. Her parents, their company, her girlfriend Nico. Having lost so much, Avery is unwilling to give up the last and heads to super-elite Bridleham Academy to find her. What Avery finds is a culture of dueling by motorcycle jousting…and Nico is the enemy everyone is aiming for.

This one-volume graphic novel by Fell Hound and Eleonora Bruni is a fast-paced, electric comic that seamlessly integrates a bunch of things lesbians love: Utena, absurd dueling hierarchies, motorcycles and a heroine named Sir Athene. This series is set up for success in this household, at any rate. ^_^

Nico as the Rose Bride is pretty bad ass herself. Positioned as the conflict, Oscar Sanson makes a good try at being the baddie, but we all know that, as a lesbian drama, it’s Avery’s and Nico’s feelings of failure and self-loathing that have to be defeated first, before they can kick Oscar’s sorry ass. And, so it is. Music, metal clashy sounds, engines revving, Mokushiroku. All is right in the dueling arena.

I’m joking about Utena, but the roses are a dead giveaway. This homage is merely homage, however, as the story and characters are not at all derivative. Right from the get-go Avery is a sincere hero. Nico’s darkness is a bit more complicated, the result of ongoing harassment, but Avery’s righteousness shines a light on the darkness and helps Nico to find her own way out.

As a single volume, this story slams straight through with few twists. It would make a great OVA. ^_^

Fell Hound’s art and story are easy to follow, full of movement and energy, brought to life by Eleonora Bruni’s coloring. Becca Carey’s lettering is great throughout, and especially fun on the knight’s names.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – lesbians on motorcycles, duh
Yuri – 10

Overall – 8

For a fun, powerful manga that is sure to scratch your dueling itches, S.I.R. is super read.





It Rhymes With Takei

June 8th, 2025

It’s a bit of a stereotype that a seinen manga protagonist has an incredible emotional journey from the beginning of their tale to the end, in classic bildingsroman fashion.  In George Takei’s autobiographical comic It Rhymes With Takei, we are along for an extraordinary journey, made even more extraordinary because it is a real person’s story of experiences he truly lived. For someone who only knows George Takei as an actor, or as an activist, this story takes us to places far more unreal than outer space. by whch I mean American politics.

Takei’s childhood as a Japanese-American citizen put into a “internment camps” by his own government is related in They Called Us Enemy and the musical stage play Allegiance. This book tells the the story of George Takei, the boy who felt different in many ways, and who carved out a career in acting, in politics, in activism and as a viral Internet memelord.

Takei’s story is told simply and plainly, his emotions and thoughts about living a closeted life and the losses he encountered when he finally came out of the closet at 68, as well as the triumphs, are conveyed strongly through the story written by Steven Scott and Justin Eisinger. Harmony Becker’s illustrations are absolutely fantastic. Characters are conveyed without portraiture, but their essences are caught perfectly, and the whole feeling of the moment is expressed with brilliant use of color and design, for a captivating whole. 

As a primer on LGBTQ+ American history  of the 20th century with a California focus, as seen by a man who was working with more than one prejudice against him, this comic is an important chronicle of the progress we’ve made and the work that went into it. 

For Pride Month 2025, I would recommend this book as way to ground ourselves, acknowledge our successes and failures and gird our loins for the next fight, knowing that there have always been good, smart and funny people like George Takei on our side.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – Autobiography is always hard to score, but this is also a very compelling and surprising narrative, 10
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

Thanks to Top Shelf Productions for the review copy of this outstanding memoir. You can get It Rhymes With Takei on Bookshop, Amazon and everywhere books are sold.