Contact High is a landscape format, one-shot sci-fi comic about a society where human touch has been outlawed, and one man's fight for meaningful connection in that world. This work is entirely for charity: 50% of sales go to the Southern Poverty Law Center, and 50% of sales to Lambda Legal.
21 years ago, Azrael pardoned a life...
Cunning Fire is an urban fantasy story about witches and spirits in modern day Chicago, following the journey of Akiva Stein as she enters this unfamiliar, hidden world and learns the craft of the Death witch. Caught up in her new coven's quest to create the legendary Elixir of Life, Akiva is forced to face her ability to see spirits and come to terms with the ways magic has tainted her past, and how it will shape her future.
CONTENT WARNINGS: This comic contains some scenes and imagery dealing with death, blood, and abuse. Crude language is used throughout the story. The above categories will be warned for in the description sections of each chapter cover page. Please proceed through the story with this in mind.
DESTINY, NY is a 120-page graphic novel about love, loss, magic, cats, coffee, sex, growing up, and the way we build our own destinies every day.
This is going to be a bit of a Squee - you have been warned.
I first heard of DESTINY, NY when I was scrolling through Kickstarter and decided to back Vol. 2. Magical girls in love? Sign. Me. Up.
Fast forward a bit, and I've got a digital copy of DESTINY, NY (Vol. 1) waiting for me on the iPad. I had a terrible day yesterday. Not going to get into specifics, but trust me, I needed a pick-me-up.
Turns out, DESTINY, NY was just the thing! The original GN is 160 black & white pages, with two different art styles - one for present and one for flashbacks. I loved both styles, and really dug the blurred, surreal feel of the flashbacks, particularly the magical aspects.
Magic, you say? The main characters are both part of a group of young people identified by seers as having a "destiny." They go to a special school to learn about their destinies and prepare them for the challenges to come. After they've completed their destiny, the school provides them with the training they need to re-enter society at large and get on with their lives. Logan, the main heroine, fulfilled her destiny when was just thirteen years old, which has made the last decade of her life rather... unfulfilling. She's lost the love of her life, she's working as a barista, and she's pretty unhappy. Then she meets Lilith, our second heroine, and her life tips upside down.
First things first: this story is definitely a romance. Lilith and Logan have a pretty great meet-cute, followed by a hot and tumultuous relationship. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, but I choose to believe their Happy-For-Now will be a Happily-Ever-After. (Volume 2 explores this, but I don't have my hands on it yet.)
No matter how much I liked Logan and Lilith, the secondary characters really steal the show here. Gia, a fat girl with a scary destiny, is really well done. I loved that her size isn't "a thing," and that she was unapologetically into sex and love and friendship. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to see characters who don't fit the the "ideal" living full lives.
My biggest (only?) criticism is that the "big bad" felt undeveloped. She's evil from the time she's a little kid, which doesn't tell me much about her motivations. She is definitely awful, however, and it's quite satisfying to see her get her due.
Tl;DR - I loved DESTINY, NY and can't wait for Volume 2. The first volume proved to be exactly what I needed at the end of a rotten day, and I hope it gives you the same feels. Rated R for nudity, sexual situations, violence, language.
Evil Witch Allie is a comic about some average kids dealing with normal teen problems like babysitting the world’s worst magical girl, solving yet another murder, and getting that darn ghost cat to stop sleeping on the keyboard.
Fables chronicles the world’s most beloved fairy tale characters hiding out in a magically hidden neighborhood within Manhattan. Run out of their happily-ever-after homeworlds by a mighty conqueror known only as The Adversary, these universally recognized princes, princesses, talking animals, heroes, and villains now face a new challenge: adapting to a modern world filled with sex, violence, and lots of moral ambiguity. Mixing mystery, action, humor, and more, Fables follows these cherished characters’ war against The Adversary and their ongoing struggle to survive alongside one another in the modern world. But who is this Adversary that has rocked their lives?
The king is dead and the prodigal daughter has returned to claim her throne... Much to the frustration of the Queen, the infamous stepmother. Everyone is anticipating on the return of their sweet princess, but who actually knows the heart of someone who has been away so long...
Desire and power make a poisonous combination, but who can resist
The fruits of Fairest Love
Born from Cruelest Hearts
Oisin, a shy young druid, lives in a ferocious world of sacred sexuality and erotic elder gods. When he falls for Byron, a simple wolf who only mates for life, their love threatens the plans of those who desire a forbidden power. Do the star-crossed lovers stand a chance when lascivious Druid masters and savage elder gods threaten their fragile new relationship?
FEARFUL HUNTER is a fascinating mix of druid lore, punk/youth culture, and werewolves. The plot is summarized elsewhere, so I won't go into it too much. I will say that the author's intro definitely informed my reading of the story, giving it an allegorical bent that I might have missed otherwise.
If you read reviews of the store elsewhere, you'll probably see that it contains a lot of sex and nudity. The druids walk around naked most of the time, with the exception of any time they go into "town." They commune with their "allies," or nature spirits, through sex. The central couple, a young druid and werewolf, also have rather a lot of sex. If I interpret it correctly, they're young men in their first relationship. The sex doesn't seem out of place, is what I'm saying.
As for the art, Macy's pages with abstract or magical imagery are far more evocative than those in between. The art isn't in a style I usually seek out, so my appreciation of the book is much more skewed toward the plot.
Overall, I'm glad I read it. I probably won't be re-reading FEARFUL HUNTER, but if you've ever wanted to know if a druid will choose love with a werewolf over fulfilling his initiation rites... give it a try.
Fresh Romance, Vol. 1:
FRESH ROMANCE is an exciting collection of romance comics from some of comics' most talented creators, including Kate Leth, Arielle Jovellanos, Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sarah Kuhn, Marguerite Bennett, and Trungles. From unhappy historical marriages to covert teenage romances, there's something for everyone in FRESH ROMANCE.
Fresh Romance, Vol. 2:
FRESH ROMANCE VOLUME 2 is an exciting collection of romance comics from some of comics' most talented creators, including Cecil Castellucci, Irene Koh, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sally Jane Thompson, Suzana Harcum & Owen White, and Julia Hutchinson. From testing new relationships to romances spanning decades, there's something for everyone in FRESH ROMANCE!
Suzanne's post from July 2016, originally posted at Heroes & Heartbreakers is below. Rosy Press's content was acquired by Emet Comics, who published the second volume of Fresh Romance.
*****
Sometimes I get tired of reading novels (OMG did she just say that?!) and I flip on the latest episode of Jane the Virgin. And sometimes… I read comics. Okay, a lot of the time. I’m in a comics-for-ladies monthly discussion group called The League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen. It’s a real thing and it’s amazing.
So I’m maybe a little biased toward the graphic novel/comic medium.I love the way that a talented writing and art team can reveal character traits and plot points with such subtlety that you don’t pick up on it. While there’s still a lot of “cheesecake” (women drawn with an abundance of T&A and little clothing) in some comics, a great number of female-forward comics are being published and gaining popularity. Examples include: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Ms. Marvel, Saga, Sex Criminals, and of course, Buffy.
You probably want to know why I’m writing about comics on a romance site. Loads of comics have romance B-plots, but none of them have been 100% romance focused since the 70s. (Saga has an awesome star-crossed lovers in space with a baby thing going, but the romance isn’t always at the fore.)
Allow me to introduce Rosy Press’s Fresh Romance, a bimonthly comic featuring 3 10-page stories in each issue. These have been serialized up until now but are available in completed versions on their website and will be printed and available at a comic store near you (or online) on August 10. The stories are diverse in terms of setting, sexual orientation, and racial makeup.I’ve read the first three stories and loved them. There will be 5 in all in the print edition, but you can get them now digitally if you’d like.
School Spirit
High school kids involved in some hijinks. I wasn’t sure at first what was going on, but it’s intentionally written that way and it’s very cute. The characters are hiding their relationships for different reasons, mainly family judgments. Subtle exploration of the ways we might be biased against certain relationships while accepting those others might shun. Plus, boys who say things like “Dude. The reason you don’t have a prom date is because you talk about girls like that.” No stilted dialogue, and such good messaging.
Ruined
Ruined by Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle & Ryan FerrierDo you read historicals set in England? The title of this one ought to tell you enough. The credits list a “historical consultant.” You guys, just read it. It’s got scandal, an unfortunate? marriage, and of course, the romance.
The Ruby Equation
Adorable cupid/fairy uses math/logic to match people to earn her way back to her homeworld and a “better” assignment. Hijinks ensue. Will Ruby realize her true calling and the value of love?
Here’s the copy from the Kickstarter for the print edition:
I’m sure some of you will tell me in the comments about the extensive range romance-focused manga out there. PLEASE DO. I haven’t started on manga because it’s intimidating. If you’re feeling that way about comics, Fresh Romance is a great place to start!
Order from your local shop!
One kiss from Tinka's sparkling lips leads to some unexpected consequences for the callous boys of Portage High School. After a secret romance goes up in flames, she looks to a fortune teller for answers on finding true love, which leads to the summoning of some accidental — but hilarious — magic. But in the end, Tinka has to learn to take responsibility for her own decisions, with or without the aid of magic.
First things first: the description of this comic is a bit misleading. I don't find it about Tinka learning to take responsibility for her actions so much as all of the boys in her life learning to take responsibility for theirs. Tinka is every girl who wants to be liked and is trying (unsuccessfully) to fit our society's completely unattainable criteria for acceptance and love.
Tinka likes makeup and dressing up. After she overhears the boy she's been secretly seeing (because he refuses to go public with their relationship), Tinka asks a friend to read her palm. Magic happens, and her newest, glittery lipgloss is enchanted. That boy, Jason, wakes up the next day as a girl, and has to experience the weight of societal expectations of women for the first time.
A while back, one of the other boys at school decided to publicly shame Tinka because she wouldn't do anything more than kiss him. In her words, "A slut is someone who sleeps with everyone. A bitch is someone who sleeps with everyone but you." Tinka is called both, and mocked by both sexes at school. It's an unfortunately honest and common high school story.
I appreciated the revenge fantasy that is GLITTER KISS. It was refreshing to see both boys and girls buying into and falling victim to misogynistic mores. Not that it's fun in fiction or in real life, but it's important that we acknowledge that it's not just boys or just girls who treat girls poorly for these reasons. A girl labeled "easy" is going to get hit from all sides. A girl who visibly seeks approval and affection? Even worse. She must be desperate.
Tinka's eventual confrontations with Jason, with her father, and with the boys at school who've been mistreating her are resolved in what I felt was a wholly satisfactory way, and I kind of wanted to do a fist pump. Don't take their shit, baby girl.
Heartbreak's a bitch.
No one knows this better than Eulalie "Lee" Griffin.
After three years of what seemed like the perfect relationship, she found herself watching Ant leave after the discovery of his long-term affair.
A demon summoning later, Lee's down one ex-boyfriend after a brief reconciliation that only uncovered the depth of Ant's deceit.
It's only a matter of time before Rosier collects. There's still questions about the circumstances around Ant's death, not to mention damage control for any unforseen consequences of Lee's actions.