Title: A Woman's Voice
Comic Type: Bande Dessinée
Author: Aude Mermillod
Illustrator: Aude Mermillod
Target Audience: Adults
Status: Complete; available in English through Europe Comics, can be checked out at hoopladigital.com



Based on Martin Winckler's novel of the same name, A Woman's Voice dives into women's health from the perspective of a medical student hesitantly doing her final residency in a gynecological department.

This is a very clinical description of this book, but it's quite an emotional story and the only comic I've read to state to have an intersex character.  You learn about the trauma these patients endured through their dialog, and every story element is treated with the utmost care.  It has a gentle approach to heavy topics, and it's a book I would recommend to people unafraid to face these issues.

No page previews, unfortunately.

Title: The Adventure Zone
Comic Type: Graphic novel
Author: Clint, Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy
Illustrator: Carey Pietsch
Target Audience: Not for Kids*
Status: Ongoing; available through First Second
_{*which I only mention so you babies will know just how cool you are for reading.  What's up, you cool baby? B)}


The Adventure Zone is an adaptation of a podcast where three brothers and their dad play a tabletop campaign.  Jokes and improvisational acting ensue, and it's a fun ride.

This series is based on their most popular "Balance" campaign, where three men are hired to locate and destroy dangerous artifacts to prevent world-ending tragedy.  And I have to say the first book is not the best one.  It's fine, but it's not the best one.  The Balance series really starts getting good around the second and third arcs with the introduction of more long-standing characters and the unfurling overarching plot.  And it's funny and heartfelt and heartbreaking.







What's stellar about this adaptation is the tweaking of plot points and character writing.  If you've heard the podcast and expected this to be a 1:1 adaptation, you're gonna be surprised.  Of course, locations and characters needed to be renamed because of copywrite, but The Boys are written to be more consistent from the get-go and important scenes are either recreated or made special for this comic's run.  Petals to the Metal is currently the best example of this .

It also slips in some fun nods to other McElroy jokes if you're familiar with the family's work.  If you're not, I encourage you to listen to some of the scenes that didn't quite make it into these books.  Like the buck wild way they got the Philosopher's Stone in The Crystal Kingdom.

And I'm writing this before The Eleventh Hour's publication, to which I say y'all.  Brace yourselves.  That's a ride and a half.

How many rounds are there? or does it just keep going until only one remains?

Second choice.
There's no planned roster cap.  The round number will be calculated from the final total of entrants, but bear in mind there may be rounds that pit three artists instead of the standard model of one VS one.

Title: Rat Queens
Comic Type: Comic series
Author: Kurtis J. Wiebe
Illustrators: (rotated throughout the comics run) Roc Upchurch, Stjepan Šejić, Tess Fowler, Owen Gieni, Priscilla Petraites, Marco Lasko, Moritat, Casey Silver
Target Audience: Adults
Status: Ongoing



We just finished hosting the Dungeon Master of Disaster event, and you maybe want to read more comics along the vein of crazy things happening to a group of adventurers.  I gotchu covered.

Rat Queens is a high fantasy that focuses on a group of heroines who, um--

Okay, they're not actually heroines.  More like mercenaries?  They're maidens for hire who will do anything and everything for profit.  You have Hannah the elven rockabilly-themed mage, Violet the dwarven fighter who's shirked all traditional presentation of her culture, Dee the cleric who has no faith in her god, and Betty the halfling who loves to steal and smoke suspicious substances.  Very much a group that butts heads and keeps things crass.



In a nutshell, it's kind of like a group of people fucking around in a tabletop campaign, and you're reading the end result.

Title: Upgrade Soul
Comic Type: Comic series
Author: Ezra Claytan Daniels
Illustrator: Ezra Claytan Daniels
Target Audience: Adults
Status: Complete; available through Oni Press



Did you like Ice Cream Man?  Do you want more existential horror?

Hank and Molly Nonnar have decided to do something special for their 45th anniversary--a procedure that would guarantee them a longer, rejuvenated life.  And it works.  It works too well, actually.



I would really like for y'all to go into this one blind, but it tackles the philosophical question of what makes "you".  Is it your body?  Your mind?  A combination of both?  And how far would you go to preserve "you"?

Title: Tree Mail
Comic Type: Graphic novel
Author: Brian Smith
Illustrator: Mike Raicht
Target Audience: All ages
Status: available through Dark Horse Comics

Rudy's got a dream, y'all--to be the best postman he can be!  It doesn't matter if the job specifically asks for birds and not frogs; he'll do whatever it takes to prove he'll get that mail in on time!

This is a seriously fun and cute comic.  You care for Rudy with his sunshine personality, the friends he makes on the way, and all the ways the birds try to sabotage his success only for it to backfire on them.  It also has a couple sequentials that I can only describe as delicious--check this movement out!


If you can, definitely check this one out.  It's a blast.

Title: Deadendia
Comic Type: Webcomic/ Comic series; first volume available https://deadendia.tumblr.com/
Author: Hamish Steele
Illustrator: Hamish Steele
Target Audience: Teens and up
Status: Ongoing; print editions available through Nobrow



If paranormal summer jobs is your forte, then Deadendia could be the book for you!  Soon to be a Netflix series by the time of this post, Deadendia tells the story of Barney and his friends who are trying to keep their jobs at the local haunted theme park.  Not only will he need to handle ghosts, demons, and other supernatural oddities, he's got to balance his life beyond the gates of the park.

Deadendia has a vibe similar to works like Adventure Time, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Finn and Jake's escapades.  I think it's the only comic I've read so far with a transman lead--and he is adorable?  I want to pinch his cheeks.


Seriously, if y'all know any other comics or other books with transmen leads, please hit me up.  I need to expand my palette.

Title: Venus Envy
Comic Type: Webcomic; http://www.venusenvycomic.com/
Author: Crystal Frasier*
Illustrator: Crystal Frasier*
Target Audience: Teens and up
Status: Cancelled

content warning: transphobia



Sometimes it's important to see how far we've come.  Venus Envy started in 2001, when transgender representation was scarce; even more so representation that didn't treat them as a punchline.  And this comic was an excellent starting point for me when I was first introduced to the concept many years ago.



The comic chronicles Zoë's transition, her growing pains of dealing with adolesence and trying to have her parents understand her identity, and how she fits into her community.  My memory is vague about any further details of the plot, but I do remember the main character was treated with the utmost respect and grace from her creator, an intersex transwoman.  It gets wild at the end of the archive, and I doubt it's going to be updated again.  If anything, consider this a time capsule.

_{*as of the writing of this post, the website credits Crystal as "Erin Lindsey"}

Title: The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal
Comic Type: Webcomic; https://www.tjandamal.com
Author: E.K. Weaver
Illustrator: E.K. Weaver
Target Audience: Adults
Status: Complete; print edition available in English through Iron Comics



It's a bit of historical fiction, taking place in the last year of Bush's presidency, way before the Marriage Equality Act was signed and marijuana was illegal in most states.

In the span of a single day, Amal had broken off his engagement, came out to his family, and made a pact with a stranger in a bar to go to Providence to attend his sister's graduation.  The arrangement's simple enough: Amal drives the car, TJ takes care of the finances.  They embark on a road trip where they smoke weed, get kicked out of a Waffle House, and fall in love on the way to Rhode Island.

This is one of my favorite comics when it comes to grounded dialog.  The conversations play out like I'm in the car with them.  It's the comic that showed me that expositing information didn't have to read like standard exposition.  While that's not a new thing these days, it was new to me back in 2011.



It's also one of those adult stories where the sex scenes enhance the plot, and it's drawn in a way that doesn't feel exploitive, to which I am very grateful.  Baby college me had been exposed to yaoi-flavored doujins before reading this, and I absolutely hated how they handled the emotional side of sex.  TJ and Amal is about as far from yaoi as you would expect when it comes to pandering, like a breath of fresh air.



God, I gotta read this again.  I love these boys so much.

Title: My Boyfriend is a Bear
Comic Type: Graphic Novel
Author: Pamela Ribbon
Illustrator: Cat Farris
Target Audience: I honestly don't know
Status: Available through Oni Press



So far I've written about comics I would recommend to y'all.

This is not one of those books.
In fact, I hate this book.

It's a romance between a 20something woman and a 500 pound black bear.  I'm not kidding, that's the premise.

You know what would have made this fun?  What would have made this an engaging, interesting, and cute read?

If the bear was a person in a suit.  Maybe they entertain in costume.


And then Nora would have to explain that yeah, her partner is different but they're still a valued partner in the relationship, and everyone gets hung up on the fursuiting hobby because it's something that's way out there compared to her exes' interests.

But no, she starts a relationship with a feral bear because her dating history was twenty-something hipsters or meatheads with no understanding of a woman's needs.  The problem isn't that guys are terrible, it's that her choice in guys is terrible.  She cannot disregard the human species as a whole just because her track record of shitty boyfriends is reflective of her desperation and fear of being alone.

I'm legit angry that it wasn't a romance with a fursuiter.  This is what we get instead.


And I understand the presentation is meant to be charming and sincere, but I just can't shake the thought that the couple I'm meant to root for is a young woman coupling with a literal black bear.  No exaggeration, they touch upon the sex angle of the relationship.  And y'all know my track record of favoring animal characters, so it could be argued that I'm protesting too much, but this ain't it.  This is a bear, not a bear man.  There's a shot of him relieving himself during hibernation.  I didn't ask for this.
(and I'm not supplying a picture because I value your eyes)

If you want to address the frustration of straight women trying to find an adequate partner, that's absolutely fine, but I don't agree with this direction.  I don't know who this is meant to be for.  Maybe y'all will have a better understanding and appreciation for this one, but I just don't.

Title: Flamer
Comic Type: Graphic Novel
Author: Mike Curato
Illustrator: Mike Curato
Target Audience: Teens and up
Status: Available in English through Henry Holt and Co.

Content warning: homophobic language and attempt of suicide


I'm struggling to give a clear synopsis about this book, but it focuses on Aiden and him trying to reconcile his sexuality with his faith, outer and inner homophobia, and the fear of rejection should he decide to be open about his identity.  It culminates into a rather difficult scene where, at his lowest point, he reaches an epiphany that I can't show but will only describe as poignant and beautiful.

And it's a summer camp book.  This takes place at summer camp.  I have a couple other books taking place at camp that I could recommend here, too.  We'll get to those at some point.

Title: The Prince and the Dressmaker
Comic Type: Graphic Novel
Author: Jen Wang
Illustrator: Jen Wang
Target Audience: Preteens and up
Status: Available through First Second Books



This book reads like a fairytale, and it's such a lovely one at that.  A dressmaker is commissioned to secretly create tailor-made dresses for the crown prince, whose fascination with wearing them allows him to undertake the persona of Lady Crystallia and enjoy life without royal constraint.  It's a delightul romance between the genderqueer royal and the seamstress whose dresses strengthen their arrangement, and all the dresses are stunning to behold.

Title: Lackadaisy
Comic Type: Webcomic (https://lackadaisy.com)
Author: Tracy J. Butler
Illustrator: Tracy J. Butler
Target Audience: Teens and up
Status: Ongoing; updates sporadically




Cats in Prohibition-era St. Louis!

I've been following this story since the late 2000's, and the art's only gotten better in that time.  It's a real testament to the comic's quality when Tracy spends weeks on a single update for her story to get the visuals this jaw-droppingly stellar.



She also invests much of that time researching the Prohibition era to maintain historical accuracy (ex. the commonplace presence of paper napkins).  While that level of detail isn't necessary to tell the story, that amount of care given is commendable.

The writing's plenty sharp, too.  Even the supplemental stuff that she does to answer fan questions.


Just--just go read Lackadaisy if you already haven't been.  It's the cat's pajamas for sure!