So I while I love anime and manga to bits, I do occasionally venture into other forms of media – including at times comics. You know, those Western things which…aren’t manga? Yes, those.
(Technically manga are also comics, which are technically sequential art – but I’m not going to have that technical discussion here. Maybe another time in another article.)
But you didn’t come here to hear me ramble on, you came to learn about LGBT comics that are worth reading. Well, the good news is that there are plenty. LGBTness (is that a word?) is becoming more and more widespread and mainstream, and there have been a lot of great comics that are definitely worth checking out.
It’s beyond the scope of the article to list all of them, so I’ll just talk about some which have happened to have captured my fancy.
Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms
This is a fairly light-hearted romp set in contemporary times about a transgender teen who is trying out for the cheer squad during her transition. Themes like gender dysphoria, parental approval and that classic of adolescence – fitting in – are treated with a combination of humor and drama that I found quite refreshing.
While this work isn’t a heavy hitter by any means, the bright, bold colors and the antics of its characters had me coming back for more. Not all LGBT stories need to go for hard-hitting social commentary, and sometimes less is more. There are some cute moments as both of the main characters go through explorations of their still-changing sexuality, but I won’t talk about them in detail as I don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone.
Sunstone
This comic is kind of a classic in the kink world…mainly because there aren’t very many comics that deal with BDSM in the first place. While I do recommend it for people who are interested in that kind of thing (the author himself is kinky and does a fairly good job of explaining kink to newcomers through his art and writing) it’s the LGBT angle I will be talking about today.
Sunstone is very matter-of-fact about its portrayal of the romance between its two leads, neither of whom full on identify as queer at the beginning of the story. It’s a story that could very much happen in real life, as it’s set on New York in contemporary times. Queerness is treated without angst, without drama – just as a fact of life. Some are, some aren’t.
It’s a refreshing take on queer identity that isn’t that often found in media. When the subject does come up, there’s some soul-searching, yes, but a minimum of hand-wringing and wailing. Each of the characters are shown dealing with the discovery of the orientation in different ways – and yes, I could see of all it happening in real life.
So you might want to come for the kinky lesbian sex (it says right in the first page!) but you might stay for the varied and detailed portrayal of life, love and queerness in NYC – while the BDSM content might be just the cherry on top. Or maybe it’s the main draw – Sunstone is a strong enough work that it can be read in many ways and still be engaging.
Harleen and Harley
I’ll admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Harley Quinn. While technically a villain (I mean, she is the Joker’s on and off partner) she has stepped into the antihero role quite a few times as the years have gone by. There is something about her unique blend of mayhem, unpredictably and openly bisexual nature that has me checking on her antics every few years or so, despite my manga-leaning stance.
DC tends to play it safe with the character in general – I would appreciate more attention paid to her codependent relationship with the Joker, the dynamics of having two lovers (is Harley polyamorous?) and the complexities inherent within herself (a psychologist who herself is not mentally stable is interesting territory which few writers have plumbed)
But I digress (and also try not to ramble overmuch!) This particular comic is intended for young adults, and as such certain aspects that we’ve come to associate with Harley Quinn (violence, for instance) are toned down. The Joker is also not present, and she’s definitely presented in a sympathetic and more compassionate life, having to deal with parental pressures and the long arm of the law – albeit in a different way. There’s no Batman here, just Big Pharma and probation for our spunky heroine to overcome.
It’s a softer take on Harley that I found intriguing. Her psychotic tendencies are explained in a different way here (which I won’t spoil) and it’s interesting to see Harley shine as the star of her own show without many of the familiar aspects of the Batman mythos. Here she’s just a young teenaged bisexual girl navigating the challenges of adolescence…albeit in unexpected ways.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would – and maybe you will too.
Alice in Leatherland
A different kind of queer coming of age, this comic follows the exploits of the titular Alice who travels to San Francisco in the wake of being dumped by her girlfriend. What follows is her reinventing herself professionally, romantically and personally – and the trials and tribulations which she encounters along the way.
Having actually lived in San Francisco for a year, I can attest to the fact that while the comics is of course fictional, a lot of the depictions of the queer dating scene there actually hit quite close to home. Alice is a likable protagonist in general – a small town girl thrust into the world of the big city, in which she has to adapt and change in ways that she had neve considered before. Through it all, she never really loses her innate qualities and charm, though her naivete is quickly lost and her mettle tested by having to figure out how to make her dreams into reality – or even change or cast some aside.
Alice’s romance with Robin is also quite engaging. Two very different women from different worlds, expressing their love in ways that themselves sometimes don’t understand…sounds like a lot like real life? Comics that can express the poignancy of real life relationships – queer or otherwise – with humor and panache are rare, but this one does with heart and style.
Fence
As a transcultural person myself (bilingual, who loves both Japan and America, comics AND manga) few things make me happier than seeing work that has the distinct qualities of the East and West, but which blends them into a whole that are greater than the sum of its parts.
This comic succeeds in bringing the high-octane action and intense relationships of sports manga into a different playing field – namely, fencing. The author has done their homework for the series (real-life instructors were consulted) but seriously – how much do you really need to know about a sport to read a comic about it? I found myself researching what a fleche was and various scoring conventions as I kept being drawn into the world of Fence – the cute boys and the solid linework had cast their spell over me, and I was definitely quite hooked for a while.
The authors have cited Haikyuu! and other sports manga as inspirations for this series, which shows both in its art and placing. It is also unabashedly very queer (it even won a GLAAD award) with more than half of the cast not straight. The romantic and sexual tension between the leads is palpable, and in time-honored sports manga tradition, you can feel it on and off the field.
There’s a lot to like about Fence – the excellent characterization, the action of the fencing scenes, the way the plot slowly develops…it’s one of the those works which its inherent queerness is evident, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with it, which I definitely appreciate. I was interested enough to read the spinoff novels, but unfortunately they lacked the charm of the series.