Oath: An Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes

I’ve decided that 2018 will be the year of anthologies! As I looked over my bookshelves, I realized all the great talent that I have enjoyed, but only in short bursts of one, two, or twelve pages. I’ve amassed quite a few anthologies over the years, and now is the time to give them a chance to shine. First up, I wanted to write about Oath: An Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes! Funded by Kickstarter in 2015 (full disclosure: I contributed) and edited by Audrey Redpath of Hiveworks Comics, Oath has more than thirty contributors and is more than two hundred pages long. I picked it up at FlameCon last year and read the whole thing on the trip home. I’ve read it again since then, because the stories are all wonderful examples of economical storytelling. They have deep characterization and powerful messages in the amount of space most single-issue comics reserve for their first act.

Single Issue Showcase: Iceman #1 – “Iceman”

The cover of Iceman #1 by Kevin Wada

It’s December again, and that means checking in with the Queer Comics Blog’s favorite queer X-man: Iceman! This year saw the start of his own series, written by Sina Grace with covers by Kevin Wada, and this first issue drawn by Alessandro Vitti, lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino, and colored by Rachelle Rosenberg. This is a dream team for a dream book, and it has not disappointed. And so, at the end of the year, I wanted to go back to the beginning.

SuperCakes

The cover to SuperCakes

I’ve written before about the metaphorical breadth that superhero comics offer, despite few mainstream comics taking advantage of it, but Kat Leyh’s SuperCakes manages to find refreshing takes on several possibilities a few pages at a time. One story can start as a meditation on work/life balance to become a quiet exploration of a relationship milestone, while another can start as a more introverted story before turning to raucous superhero exploits. It maintains a light tone throughout, even when hinting at disturbing backstory, and is all the better for it.

Letters for Lucardo

The cover for Letters for Lucardo

The only letter we see is in the very beginning, and quickly crumpled up. Our first impressions are formed through intimate words and trembling hands. It isn’t until the second panel of the seventh page that we are introduced to Lucardo, and from the perspective of the so-far anonymous letter writer. That person is Ed Fiedler, a scribe for a family of vampires. Anne Rice is typically credited with making vampires sexy, but writer and artist Noora Heikkilä builds on a foundation going back to Bram Stoker’s original epistolary format.

Single Issue Showcase: America #1 – “Pa’ Fuera, Pa’ La Calle”

Joe Quinones's cover for America #1

The first issue of any series can face an uphill battle to entertain its readers, especially if it’s for a character with a complicated history in an established universe. It must introduce the character well enough that new readers don’t feel alienated but old readers don’t feel patronized or bored, accomplish this same task with the book’s premise and supporting cast, but bring enough superhero action and drama to satisfy all readers, and it must provide enough hints for future stories to compel future issues. Fortunately, America #1, released this past March, accomplishes each of these tasks with a vibrancy and deftness not typically seen in a mainstream comic. There’s a reason this book is still going strong.

7 Miles a Second

The cover of the 2013 Fantagraphics version

The medium of comics has many masterpieces, books that exemplify what comics is capable of as an artform and transcend their respective genres to make universal statements about life and the human condition. These are debatable criteria for defining art, as all such criteria are, but what is not debatable is that 7 Miles a Second is a comics masterpiece. An autobiographical story of artist and activist David Wojnarowicz with art by James Romberger and colors by Marguerite Van Cook, the title comes from the escape velocity for Earth’s gravitational pull, but also describes the propulsion through time and space that the reader experiences in a narrative that takes less than seventy pages but encompasses so much.

Aaron and Ahmed

The cover of Aaron and Ahmed

A time when George W. Bush can appear presidential in hindsight and the medium of comics is forced to deal with appalling images masquerading as conversation starters may be a good time to revisit an old Vertigo graphic novel, one that directly tackled such weighty concepts as Islamophobia, 9/11, and America’s complicity in terrorism. I’m writing about Aaron and Ahmed by Jay Cantor and James Romberger, which I picked up at FlameCon last year. Published in 2011, it’s an intense read, far more than certain comics that attempt to be challenging when covering such important, relevant topics.