NIGHTLIFE

The cover of the hardcover of NIGHTLIFE

If last month’s selection broadened the boundaries of what pornographic material can do for comics, this month’s selection redefines what comics can do for pornography. Published in 2009 by Bruno Gmünder, NIGHTLIFE is a wordless comic written by Dale Lazarov with art by Bastian Jonsson and colors by Yann Duminil. It contains three short stories that explore different evening erotic encounters.

Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It

The reprint cover for Massive, with art by Jiraiya

Can the erotic be art? It’s obviously a stupid question; works fueled by erotic passion have existed since ancient times. Yet the distinction between art and pornography is constantly being made by censors and moralists, albeit in ways that become increasingly irrelevant. This month’s selection does away with this distinction entirely, as it is filled with comics that amount to both. Some of the contributors gleefully accept the title of pornographer, though they are no less artists.

Single Issue Showcase: Midnighter #1 - “Midnighter”

The cover to Midnighter #1 by Aco and Romulo Fajaro, Jr.

I know the (admittedly loose) rules I established last year for the Single Issue Showcase stipulate that I highlight gay content in a series that does not typically feature any, but I decided to change things up for the first one of the new year. Besides, it’s my blog, my rules, and only one person is reading this anyway. (Hi, Gavin!) Also, Midnighter is a series that deserves more recognition, all the more so because it is up for cancellation as DC makes way for yet another massive reboot with its “Rebirth.” Other issues of this series have been singled out before for what they have contributed to the series itself and the comics medium as a whole, but I decided to start at the beginning. Why not?

Wuvable Oaf

The cover of the hardcover of Wuvable Oaf

I'm finally getting around to another piece of my CAKE haul from last year! This month’s selection is a charming love story about a bear in San Francisco and his friends (and lots of kittens). Wuvable Oaf by Ed Luce was originally produced independently, but it was published last year by Fantagraphics Books in a gorgeous hardcover with some excellent supplemental material. The fanfare that met this production was well deserved yet insufficient. Individual issues of Wuvable Oaf and other assorted merchandise about the character are available on Mr. Luce’s website.

The Complete Wendel

The cover of The Complete Wendel

Welcome back to the Queer Comics Blog, my devoted readers, for a second improbable year! I thought I would start with another entry about one of my favorite artists, the inimitable Howard Cruse. Before writing his autobiographical masterpiece Stuck Rubber Baby, he wrote an ongoing comic strip for The Advocate magazine beginning in 1983 entitled Wendel. It ran for most of the decade and was collected into The Complete Wendel by the Universe imprint of Rizzoli Publications in 2011.

Single Issue Showcase: All-New X-Men #40 – "Utopians"

The cover of All-New X-Men #40

In a year that was full of works of artistic genius and infamous missteps for the comics medium, All-New X-Men #40 was perhaps the most famous single issue comic of the past year. It is the issue Iceman is outed as gay and was released way back in April. Much has been written on it, and it has been celebrated as much as it has been derided. It’s taken a while for me to gather my thoughts on it because I didn’t want to react blindly. Also, there were other comics about which I wanted to write that I felt were more deserving of attention. I realized, though, that I wanted to share my thoughts and close out my first year with a Single Issue Showcase that could also serve as a retrospective of sorts.

It would be superfluous for me to write about Brian Michael Bendis’s writing for this issue or Mahmud Asrar’s art, though both have plenty of merit. In all honesty, I haven’t read a mainstream comic since 2012, the last time an event like this took place, when gay comics fans were treated to the Big Two celebrating Pride month with the double feature of Northstar marrying his boyfriend in Astonishing X-Men #51 and Alan Scott being outed in an alternate universe in Earth 2 #2. I barely recognized any of the characters in All-New X-Men #40, including ones I should have known since childhood. I still bought the issue, and the next one, and Uncanny X-Men #600. The significance of Iceman coming out cannot be overstated, but not necessarily for the reasons being touted by the fans, detractors, or press agents.

Potential

The cover of Potential

The high school chronicles of Ariel Schrag previously covered at this blog continued with Potential, which focuses on her junior year at Berkeley High School. Originally published by Slave Labor Graphics, it was republished in 2008. Longer than the comics focused on her freshman and sophomore years combined, this volume benefits from an increased scope and more experimentation in the artwork. A great deal of depth and exploration is added to the characters’ psychology as they deal with ongoing traumas and a burgeoning understanding of their own selves. Ariel as narrator addresses the reader and grasps panel borders. A more realistic art style is employed for dream sequences. The popularity of Awkward and Definition is an early conversation point and characters discuss what it’s like to be in a comic book.