Hello friends! Here’s a list of all the things I’ve read this month. What a fun month- as pride month in the city always is – and equally depressing as we watched our rights be stripped from us towards the end… Of course those of us with our ears on the ground saw this coming, more or less… In any case, here’s what I read to escape reality I guess. Lol.
Loved this graphic novel and HIGHLY recommend it- especially if you are curious about getting into one of the “big 2” (DC/Marvel) universes. I honestly recommend a lot of DC’s YA graphic novels if you are superhero-curious. Most of them stand alone and are their own stories outside of the continuity. This story is a really fun and sweet coming out, coming of age story with a queer romance as well. Definitely give it a read!!
DC Pride 2022 this year was AWESOME. Admittedly this is my first year reading it (don’t look @ me) as I’ve only recently gotten back into the “big 2” and I’m really glad I did. There are soo many great stories in these universes and in my opinion, DC is absolutely killing it with LGBTQ+ rep. This was a really fun read, and I recommend it to everyone. Pictured is the holofoil copy of the Jen Bartel cover which I got only (1) of and.. it is mine..for me. But I still have the cardstock version of this cover available! And it’s so cute.
This was a fun read – I am not familiar with Shakespeare’s As You Like It, but it read as a fun YA rom-com and was a pretty quick, easy read. The characters were fun and it was lighthearted for the most part which was nice.
This is one of the ongoing series of single issues that I’m really excited about. Poison Ivy is my favorite villain (obviously), she’s gay and in love with Harley Quinn, though they are having a ~rough patch~ in this particular story line (sad) – and of course her eco-terrorism is… relatable. Anyways, I’m looking forward to the next issue coming out next week as well as seeing the artist for the main covers (including this one pictured) Jessica Fong, coming in for a signing for the release of the third issue in August!! Mark your calendars for August 6th fellow PoisonxQuinn fans…! (That issue has a special PoisonQuinn cover btw)
This is another ongoing series I am really excited about. It’s a classic teen hero squad story. It reminds me of Teen Titans, but more queer. They had a story in the DC Pride issue and I really loved it so I picked this up and I’m glad I did. This is going to be a fun one!!! And of course I love the Stephanie Hans covers (pictured)
Nubia’s resurgence as Queen of the Amazons since Diana’s death is a storyline that I have been really intrigued by. Like I said, I only ever really loosely followed various storylines and continuities in the superhero land but it’s pretty easy to pick up on the DC stuff in my opinion. It doesn’t matter so much why Diana died, it’s just like, okay, she’s not here anymore and some of the heroes are dealing with it and now Nubia is queen of the Amazons and there’s a whole new storyline here for that which I’m really enjoying so far. Plus this cover….!
I decided to read all of the Wonder Woman graphic novels that I had in store at the beginning of this month, which I had been meaning to do for AGES and I was not disappointed. I liked this one a LOT. It was a Wonder Woman origin story (there are many – see also the next one) about her time on Themyscira and how she was created, and sort of like.. I dunno, treated as the runt of the amazons? It was a fun story though. She ended up in America and fighting for justice as we came to know her.
This is another Wonder Woman origin story but with the added lore of a “Warbringer” – don’t worry, the book explains it all. It stands totally on its own as its own story and I honestly really enjoyed it. It was a fun story with cool art and new interesting characters.
This one is an anthology of some of the most popular/famous recent Wonder Woman stories, and also includes the first appearance of Yara-flor (new fave btw). I thought this was a fun read and a good re-introduction of where we are in the Wonder Woman timeline more or less.
Another single issue/serial I’m really invested in. I think this is a really interesting sci-fi story with some dystopian vibes and great art – can’t wait to see where they go with this. Unfortunately I think #1 is sold out – I tried to order some of the second printing but probably won’t get many in store. If you did manage to get a #1, the second installment is out soon!
Well this was interesting, I’ll say that much. I’m not super familiar with the Merc world but I thought the cover was cool so I picked it up. It was definitely interesting and I felt like the storyline was easy enough to follow despite not knowing much about it. I might pick up #2 but I also might not.
This was super cute + gay, which is a lot of what I look for in a series, tbh. Girl has a crush on another girl, finds out she’s a grim reaper, hijinks and miscommunications ensue, girl questions said crush, grim reaper girl now has a crush back and tries to salvage her image… cute + def recommend.
Malinda Lo and fantasy fans – you will love this book. If you like high fantasy and sapphic stories, this is one for you. If you like Malinda Lo’s writing (Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Ash, Line in the Dark), you may want to give this a try even if you aren’t usually into fantasy stories. She does some really wonderful world building and the romance is pretty good too though not as satisfying an ending as I would have liked.
I keep trying to get into Marvel but lord help me I never know what’s going on. I can’t seem to remember what I read either. Such is life. Sorry this review is probably confusing but that’s how I felt reading this. Lol.
Same problem as above but I do remember this one had gay girls so that’s a plus. Didn’t follow up with the second one but I know there’s Marvel fans out there who probably know better than I do what’s going on in this world so I’ll just leave this to yall.
Def recommend this one if you haven’t read it yet but are a Junji Ito fan. His brilliance in the horror genre never disappoints. I believe this was another collection of short stories. Very good as always.
Finally read this and BRUHHHH I can’t wait until the live action netflix series.. I have high hopes! (@ netflix pls do not disappoint me, you’re already on thin fucking ice) This is definitely one of his best works which I believe is rarely contested. As a fan of horror, manga and everything in between, Junji Ito reigns supreme. This is no exception. It’s long but worth it. Did I like it more than Uzumaki though? Good question…. In some ways yes, maybe… In others, no…
Really loved this one – tragically only got a few copies of the paperback and sold them all almost immediately. I did order some more, not to fret. I was not super familiar with Lobo’s storylines or Crush’s addition to the Teen Titans but I didn’t feel like I needed any of that to follow along. It’s a good story about a gay girl with major dad issues. Trust me, it’s good. Mariko Tamaki never misses.
This feels like the raunchier, more adult/no-holds-barred, unfiltered and unfit for ~educational~ purposes version of “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe. It was also funny as hell. It’s still educational but seems to be aimed at an older audience which I really appreciated.
This is trans as hell!! Interesting story about a guy who is amazing at makeup and transforms his childhood best friend into a super cute girl and she’s like… super into it. And she starts going to school as a girl, in girl’s uniform, and presenting female outwardly soo… yeah this is a story about a trans girl for sure. But there was also seemingly some confusion and I think I read that people were like.. mad about that?? I dunno. It was cute though?? And a cute potential romance blossoming. However I am worried they’re gonna take back the trans stuff in the next volume and turn it into a BL due to some of the transphobic backlash… I guess we’ll see.
Ah so.. this one is also about a trans girl but is considerably darker. It’s addresses more adult themes as well, high schoolers discovering their sexuality and masturbation and such. Somewhat confusing that the girl in the story comes out as a girl, presents female, but everyone keeps using he/him pronouns for her? I dunno about it. Could be a cultural thing where they are pretending that she’s just a crossdresser and not actually trans…? Somewhat questionable. Curious to see where the next volumes will take us though.
This is an isekai volume and pretty standard for the genre. It’s really not my thing personally – not much of a plot, sorta boring overall – but it’s kinda funny. When she discovers masturbation is pretty hilarious.
I thought this one was super cute. It’s a new yuri manga about two girls who live together and are dating but just “roommates” to their friends / family / coworkers. It’s cute and also a little serious. I like that the yuri genre is starting to explore more adult relationships and themes and less glossing over societal homophobia.
The Nib never fails to impress. Really good issue about food that I highly recommend picking up.
Okay so I FINALLY read + fully caught up on this series in the month of June and damn I’m glad I did. IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! This seires has been recommended to me sooooo many times and I’ve just been putting it off but I’m glad I finally read it. It’s about a shy trans boy who makes an unlikely friendship with a sort of like gangster-looking dude who has no shame and is filled with unearned confidence and they start a brand together. It’s about coming out, coming of age, what it means to express yourself and your passion through art using fashion as a medium. Really recommend.
This one isn’t technically out yet but as soon as it’s released I know it’s gonna be very popular because it’s SO GOOD!! And it’s a theme you really don’t see much of in comics. This is a graphic novel about a group of Black girls, their closeknit friendship, their romantic trials and tribulations, all centred around their hair and the maintenance required that bonds them together.
This is probably one of my new favorite superhero storylines. I’m really looking forward to vol. 2 (because I haven’t been keeping up with the single issues) – this is about Superman’s son, and it’s another coming of age story. And he gets a BF!!! It’s really cute and it also touches on a lot of important social issues. as Superman stories often do.
So I picked this up because I love the art style and one of the co-creators had a hand in Yuri on Ice! which is one of my all time favorite anime. The story/writing did not disappoint, though it is not as gay as I thought it was going to be- that said, I only read vol .1 and there’s like 10 or 11 so it has potential to get more gay.
I am not super well versed on Marvel stuff (as I mentioned before) but I really liked their pride issue. It didn’t rely on much lore / continuity stuff and was cute and gay.
Really looking forward to where this storyline goes. This branches off from the Tim Drake Special where it’s revealed he is bi and starts dating Bernard (some twitter controversy about that but let him have his normie twink, comic nerds!) and this goes further into the group forming after the loss of Diana and Clark Kent.
A lot of people were asking for Iron Man stuff so this is the best you’ll get, people! Just kidding. I also got the Hellcat Annual. I didn’t know the difference before but now I do! I love the cover obviously so thought it might be interesting to try. Features Felicia Hardy being gay and dramatic. Loved it.
Loved this- I think it’s a great back to the basics of Superman graphic novel and Gene Luen Yang’s writing is superb. His blurb at the end is also well worth reading in its entirety. I didn’t realize this is an almost verbatim retelling of a very old Superman story and it’s so good. I think more stories like this need to be told in this time of escalating fascism.
That’s it for now! Til next time…