The story of Bonnie N. Collide, a roller-girl, and the adventures she has at a humdrum day job. Bonnie’s inability to separate her vibrant roller derby life from her normal working life means she gets to gleefully crash from one aspect of her life into another, seamlessly, and using the same amount of gusto. Oh, and one of her coworkers is a werewolf named Herb.
Bonnie N. Collide is a strip-based romantic comedy, full of roller derby and office hijinks. Bonnie is wonderfully wacky, and Stuart plays a charmingly awkward straight man to balance her off-the-wall antics. Their romance is awkward and slow to develop, but charming, and the cast of secondary characters (including a werewolf?) adds depth and humor to what would otherwise be a very sitcom-y strip. A nice light comic to read after a hard day.
It's a classic love story: doughy appetizer boy meets doughy appetizer girl. Together they exist in a world cohabited by humans.
Croquette is looking for love—his sweet, silly other half. Empanada hopes she can find someone who accepts her for who she is. It’s a match made in tasty, tasty heaven. Internationally bestselling author Ana Oncina’s Croquette & Empanada explores modern love and domesticity with charming comics. Enjoy the antics of this adorable, culinary couple as they navigate romance and cohabitation, from deciding to move in together to purchasing their first pet.
DAR! chronicles the six year long autobiographical story of Erika Moen, a lost 20-year-old lesbian artist-wannabe in college who falls in love with a boy in England and the evolution that her sexual identity undergoes before winding up marrying him as a queer 26-year-old full-time cartoonist. Along the way there are many vignettes about sex, farts, the queer community, the Brits, vibrators and figuring out sexual identity.
(This is the comic that preceded Erika Moen's Oh Joy Sex Toy)
Toby Landon's love life is a bloody mess. His on and off girlfriend has once again tossed him aside. His mate Mark gives him some advice: Try something different. With a kiss, the lives of these two friends go from being black and white to being full of vivid color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
What is everyday life like for a professional summoner, their zealous assistant, and the demons who crash on their couch and help out with taxes?
From Sarah's site: A story of two guys from different roads of life. Jasper prefers growing flowers over pastries, while Damian is a young musician with a dream to perform on stage. By chance the two cross paths at a bus stop and they start to become friends.
Lavender Tea follows a teenage boy working in his aunt's tea shop. The comic explores gender expression, love, and friendship, with some very cute art.
Moth Girl is a slice of life lgbt comic about love through metamorphosis, solidarity through change, and the benefit of being a moth when everyone wants you to be a butterfly.
Read it here, plus links to physical and digital copies!
Pictures of You, the graphic novel series from Gibson Twist, a funny and emotional, drug- and sex-fueled chronicle of a group of friends as they come together and fall apart. MATURE READERS
Hitting the road on a journey of self discovery and acceptance, this coming-of-age tale gives a backstage look at friendships and the plights of fame as experienced by a modern British rock band.
On the fast track toward fame, the five members of the fictional British rock band, Radio Silence, enter into an exciting new life on the road with their best friends. As they tour across the United Kingdom, they excitedly embrace this new lifestyle and all the resulting challenges, including living in close quarters with each other with little privacy, and the overwhelming reaction of the public to their new-found success.
This comic explores mature themes, such as domestic abuse, self harm, sexism, sexuality, neglect, and life threatening medical conditions. It will also contain swearing and the occasional sexual themes, albeit avoiding being explicit.
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!
Love in Panels is two blogs, each with their own searchable database. One blog covers comics with queer and romantic elements, the other is dedicated to romance novels. We post news, reviews, and lots of other fun stuff!