Archive for the LGBTQ Category


LGBTQ: Oath, An Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes

January 29th, 2017

I’m horribly backlogged on the books I backed on Kickstarter in 2016. Today I’m going to take a look at Oath, An Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes. 

Created by a lineup of talented creators, this book is a fully diverse anthology that takes a look at the stories of people who are or have become, heroes and whose gender, sexuality, race and body size do not in any way negatively affect their ability to function as heroes.

My two favorite stories were Theo Nicol Lorenz’ story “Lunch Break” in which two people with secrets learn to trust and love one another – a theme that repeated throughout the book and Lee and Ty Blauersouth’s “Safe House” which broke age barriers as well and had a truly joyful ending.

“The Fourth Option” by Adriana Ferguson and K. Van Dam actually made me laugh out loud with it’s quirky “information assimilant” who makes packets with key information, including her name. 

And Jenn St-Onge’s No Sugar was a tale that would be familiar to any manga fan of magical girl stories.

As one might expect (and for me, desire) in an anthology, the art styles are varied, but I’m going to  say that the story telling as tighter then usual for an anthology. Especially one that has such a broad overarching topic as “Heroes.” I don’t think any of the stories left me feeling as if anything wwas missing and almost all of them felt scripted exactly as they needed to be – enough to tell the story, not too much to preach, not too little to leave us wondering what as going on.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

As Kickstarter anthologies go, Oath was one of the best I have read. Oath is available digitally on the Oath shop or softcover in print.

 





LGBTQ Comic: Honor Girl (English)

January 15th, 2017

I love that the phrase, “This one time at camp” has entered American cultural consciousness, whether because of or despite the origin of the line. Because, for most people of my generation, camp was a place where we developed our sense of self, worked through puberty and became who we actually were. I have many camp memories, and of them, most are really strange. ^_^

So for me, reading Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash was a bit like a view through a curtain of an alternate version of my own youth. Maggie’s experience at a Christian sleepaway camp is the alternative-universe version  of my own Girl Scout camp experience where none of these things happened and no one was weird (which is weird itself) and we all came and went and no one ever tried to stay in touch. I don’t think.

In Honor Girl, Maggie begins the story with an awkward meeting with a girl whom she had met and fallen in like with as a camper, when Erin had been a counselor. The bulk of the book focuses on Maggie’s life, her experiences at the camp, her falling in like with Erin, beginning to get a clearer picture of her own desires and leaving without ever having gotten a chance to address what she and Erin felt.

In between that, we watch Maggie wade the deep, dark, and treacherous waters of young adulthood and friendships and rivalries with other girls. Individual moments stirred long-dormant memories in me, none of which had much emotional baggage. I remember camp…I don’t remember a single person at camp, only the horses. ^_^;

Honor Girl is plainly told, with a very adult-looking-back-at-her-youth tone, as if Maggie is struggling to find meaning in it, when both we and she know that there isn’t any, not really.

The art is clean and easy to follow, no sketchy line work clogging up the panels. Backgrounds are simple with just enough detail to establish the mise-en-scène fully.

The relationships between Maggie and the other girls are exactly as fraught as I remember relationships being at that age. One wants so much to have someone to confide in, but there’s always the understanding that betrayal could come for the most absurd of reasons. Maggie’s relationship with Erin exists only in outline, but Maggie knows the moment that the moment has passed and it’s over before it’s begun. I appreciated her self-awareness.

Ratings

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 1 Nostalgia can be a form of “service”
Yuri – 3

Overall – 8

If you enjoy autobiographical comics like Liz Prince’s Tomboy or Mari Naomi’s I Thought You Hated Me, then you will also enjoy Honor Girl. I certainly did. ^_^

For today’s review, I must thank Okazu Superhero Clearesta T – thank you very much for picking something off the Yuri Wishlist! It’s greatly appreciated. Please contact me,so I can send you your Superhero badge!





LGBTQ: Biankon~Watashi ga Josei to, Kekkonshiki wo Agerumade~ (ビアン婚。 ~私が女性と、結婚式を挙げるまで~)

January 9th, 2017

In 2009, gravure model, TV talent and entertainer Ichinose Ayaka came out as a lesbian in an interview in FLASH magazine. In Biankon ~Watashi ga Josei to, Kekkonshiki wo Agerumade~ (ビアン婚 ~私が女性と、結婚式を挙げるまで~)  Ichinose tells us about her life and how she got to a place where she, a reasonably well-known entertainer, was holding a wedding ceremony with her girlfriend, professional dancer Sugimori Akane.

Ichinose-san did not have an easy life. Suffering from undiagnosed ADHD, her school life was stressful and her mother was a shut-in with some other issues. That she has become as successful as she has is due, in large part,  to her own will and drive to make her career happen. 

This autobiography is bluntly told, without linguistic flourish, much as it might be if you were sitting with Ichinose-san over a drink. The book takes us from her first love through subsequent relationships, to meeting Akane and deciding that they would have a marriage ceremony in public in Japan, where such things are still not legal.

There’s no particular skill in writing, or storytelling on display, this book feel more like Ichinose-san is compelled to get her story out there in print, so no one can deny it of her…much the same way she created her own career.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

I was especially interested to note that the publisher of this book is Futabasha.  They are also the publisher of Morinaga Milk’s work and Tagame Gengoroh’s Otouto no Otto. I’m convinced that there is a LGBTQ ally, or family, at high levels there. ^_^





LGBTQ Anthology: Absolute Power: Tales of Queer Villainy Pre-Order

December 4th, 2016

apIt’s here, it’s queer and it’s a must-have this holiday season!

Absolute Power: Tales of Queer Villainy, is available for pre-order at a discount and if you are or know someone who will love amazing LGBTQ fiction, grab this book. Heck, buy a baker’s dozen!

It’s especially good for the late teen evil psycho lesbian in your life.  You want to make sure you provide positive, strong role models for them. ^_^

And, let me take this opportunity to thank all of the more than 500 Kickstarter backers who believed in this book. It was very gratifying to see so many friends among the ranks. I am completely confident that you will enjoy this book as much as I did, (even after reading it a half dozen times for editing. ^_^)

Evil. Was it born this way? Maybe these villains knew from the very beginning, maybe not, but by the time you get to meet them, they’ve come through the crucible and learned to accept themselves for who they are.

 

 

 





LGBTQ Manga: Otouto no Otto, Volume 3 (弟の夫)

November 17th, 2016

ono3In Volume 1 of Gengoroh Tagame’s Otouto no Otto, we meet Canadian Mike Flanagan, who has come to Japan in search of his late husband’s early life. We also meet Yaichi, Mike’s husband’s older brother. Yaichi’s assumptions about life and the passive homophobia he feels are challenged by Mike’s very existence. 

In Volume 2, Yaichi begins to see his passive homophobia and start to examine it, in the context of his accepting daughter, Kana, Mike’s talk with a closeted young boy from the neighborhood and a neighbor’s negative reaction to Mike. Volume 2 ended with Yaichi having a dream of Kana growing up to be gay and waking full of uncertainty.

In Otouto no Otto, Volume 3 (弟の夫), the volume begins with Yaichi’s mind full of that dream.  Kana doesn’t help by deciding that she, Yaichi, Mike and her mother Natsuki should all go on a trip to an onsen. When Yaichi shares the dream with Kana’s mother, Natsuki’s acceptance of that future adds to Yaichi’s confusion. And he’s sharing a bath with Mike. Yaichi is absolutely bombarded with things he has never before had to deal with.

Returning from the onsen trip, Yaichi is recognized by a classmate of his brother’s. As a reader, it was almost impossible to not instantly realize that the friend was himself gay. Mike, for the first time, is brought face-to-face with the uncomfortable tension of adult gay life in Japan.

The volume ends with trouble brewing. What, specifically will happen we don’t know, but it will involve Kana, which makes us angry.

In Volume 3, the honeymoon is over. Mike’s no longer the teacher, and Yaichi, the student is flailing in deeper water than he ever realized. There’s moments of sincere discomfort and, for me, anger, as so little has changed, or can even be done. 

Tagame-sensei’s deft drawing of expression and body language communicates so much more than the text itself. It’s very adult and subtle book and assumes an adult readership, attuned to adult society. Such a pleasure to read, even when it hurts, as it surely will.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
LGBTQ – 10
Service – 7 (Nude guys in bath, duh)

Overall – 10

This manga reminds us that the world is changed one person at a time. 

2017 Update: Pantheon Books has released it in a gorgeous English-language (what will be 2 volume) edition. My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 has launched!