A bisexual, polyamorous love story for the modern era. Hazel is already in a happy relationship when she meets Argent, a dominatrix who’s sweet and tender outside of the bedroom. Sugar Town is a fun, colorful comic about a young woman’s journey through the delights and disappointments of multiple lovers.
Sugartown is, I believe intentionally, hard to categorize. The main character, Hazel, is in an open relationship with Gregor. She's in Portland, OR for the summer, while Gregor is back home in NYC. She meets a super-cute domme, Argent, at a club one night, and the two strike up a friendship/relationship.
The book explores themes of jealousy, long-distance relationships, communication, and queer friendship, but none in depth. The art is super cute, but the writing is a little stilted, almost as if the creator was trying to say a lot in not a lot of pages. I've listed it as "definitely a romance," since Hazel and Argent are in a relationship by the end of the book, with I-Love-Yous and so on. I believe that Hazel's relationship with Gregor also deepens and evolves throughout the book. As for sexiness, there's some mild nudity and sexual situations, but that's it. I gave it an R simply for a flogging scene, otherwise it'd be PG-13.
The entire thing is broken up into four mini-issues, each around 15 pages. The entire book is 52 pages, including title and so on. This wouldn't be a problem, if not for the fact that the book ends up at $10. I understand that indie comics are most costly to produce, but the insides weren't oustanding enough for me to recommend it to my readers at that price. If you find it on sale, go right ahead!