Archive for the Western Comic/Comix Category


The Cold Ever After

April 12th, 2026

On a colorful sigil-like background that hints of monsters both human and creature, two women, a knight and her queen embrace looking intently at one another.In Tamsyn Muir’s The Locked Tomb series’, Gideon The Ninth we are first introduced to a young woman named Gideon who has spend her entire life abused, rejected and trained to be a fighter well beyond normal humans. 

The Cold Ever After written by Jeremy Whitley (Navigating With You) and illustrated by Megan Huang  has a similar premise, only we meet the protagonist long after everything has gone to shit. Sir Noelani Mahi’ai was a young girl chosen to be the Holy Champion. Her teacher was an abusive fucker who did everything in the name of his god. Like Gideon, Noelani survived and grew stronger out of necessity. Eventually she and young Queen Isadora fell in love. When the Queen had a child with the often-absent king, the two of them raised the new princess as their own. But there was no happily ever after for them, and Noelani was set-up, exiled and, she hoped, forgotten. Now Noelani has been called back by Queen Isadora, to find the missing princess, their daughter.

I compare this to Gideon the Ninth because, like that protagonist, Noelani is despised by the people around her, who fear and need her. She is raised in violence, and lives in despair, but keeps fighting. Folks that liked Gideon, but wanted it to be a bit more grim, or take itself a bit more seriously, might find what they want in this story. 

To be honest, I found it a hard read. Not because it was badly written, but because it was unremitting from beginning to end. There are no good people, bad decisions are made for bad reasons, all the men in the story are appalling and the bad guy, as it were, is both obvious and tiring. Reading this, I was reminded why Shakespeare had comic relief in his plays, no matter how dire they seem now. You just need to sometimes breathe. 

But again, if you loved the grit, violence and horror of Gideon and hoped for even more with a very human, but more selfish outcome, you might genuinely enjoy The Cold Ever After.

Ratings: 

Art – 7 It is often on the cusp of being really good or really bad in places
Story – 7 Same as above
Characters – 7 There are no good people, but there are people who might have been good, but could not be
Service – 4 Some nudity
Lesbian – 10

Overall – For me this was a not a high score, maybe a 5, but I can totally imagine for the right audience, it would be significantly higher.

 




Just Between Us

March 9th, 2026

A woman in a black and gold skating costume twirls on the ice, mirrored by a women in white in the ice.Lydia Chen is driven. She’s driven to be the absolute best female skater in the world, and she doesn’t really care who gets hurt in the process. When Elaine Yee begins to seriously be a rival for the top spot, it throws Lydia into a downward spiral that will call into question everything she believes…by making her realize she doesn’t really believe in anything at all, not even herself. Elaine just wants to be friends, Lydia just wants to be left alone to skate. Their rivalry will push them both past a breaking point where they will have to find something to hold on to.

Just Between Us, Adeline Kon’s sapphic ice skating story landed on my feed just as Alyssa Liu was completing her own redemption arc at the Olympics in what is the finest women’s free skate performance I have ever seen in my life. It seemed kismet, as I’m always hoping for a good Yuri rivals-to-lovers sports story. Just Between Us is not exactly what I am looking for, but it is very good.

To begin with Lydia and Elaine are both in theirs 20s but Lydia, especially, comes off as extremely immature. After a decade of competing, her inability to grow from loss felt very childish. This works well, if the story you want is athletes struggling with inner demons. Lydia’s inner demons have been winning for a very long time when we meet her. Elaine is a bit more sympathetic, as her struggles have not served to twist her. She holds her hand out over and over to Lydia. It isn’t until a common enemy appears that Lydia suddenly realizes that she’s the problem here.

If you are looking for a rivals to lovers story driven by deep emotions, delving into family obligations, scandal and expectations, you will love this book.

The art is really expressive. I especially loved the different-colored patterns of skating and the stop motion graphs of the jumps. It felt very much like a book with its hands thrust right into the foundations of woman’s competitive ice skating. The font size is occasionally small, but the art is worth it.

While I was hoping for a story in which the competition itself took the place of the tension between them, I do genuinely believe this is a solid book about athletes, competitive pressure and finding both ones’ self and love in that world.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 10
LGBTQ – 9

Overall – 8

The cover is the best example of this, but there is a very Odile/Odette vibe between these two skaters, in the sense of a story I wrote a long time ago. I thought the costuming choice was a good one.





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.