RISE AND GRIND 🔥🔥🔥🔥

This is just a list of LGBTQ+ comics mainly focusing on ones I've read recently or within the past year.

Abbott by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä (BOOM! Studios)

Abbott is a five issue horror mystery comic series. It follows Elena Abbott who is a Black woman and journalist and it takes place in the US in the 1970s. I don't want to spoil it too much but there is a sapphic relationship. I found out recently that there are two follow up series for this one and I plan on checking them out!

Warning for anti-Black racism and violence.

We're Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology (Stacked Deck Press)

This trans comic anthology is cool because it features stories from trans people of different backgrounds and experiences. Each story is pretty short but there are many stories included. And of course not every story was my favorite or resonated with me but I feel like part of the charm of anthology comics is just about being exposed to many different creators with their own personalities and styles. It also has a foreword from Rachel Pollack which is awesome.

Warning for transphobia (the individual stories usually include their own specific warnings)

7 Miles a Second by David Wojnarowicz and James Romberger (Fantagraphics Books)

The writer of this comic is better known for his works in other mediums but I think it was cool and impactful to see his writing with illustration in this way. But yeah he was an AIDs activist and a gay man who lived in New York and died from AIDs in the 1990's. The work is autobiographical so it talks about these topics.

Warning for homophobia and childhood prostitution

The Sucker by Elle Shivers (Silver Sprocket)

I read this work because I had read another work from this comic creator and wanted to check out more. So they are Filipino and this work takes place in the Philippines and is a story about two people reconnecting and trying to do environmental conservation and hooking up.

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin and Jenn St. Onge (Image Comics)

This story is about two girls who fall in love but then are separated and then reconnect when they are older women. I think this one is special because it explores love between older women which we don't often get to see in media. The writer is a Black queer woman who advocates for more representation in comics.

Warning for homophobia

Apsara Engine by Bishakh Som (The Feminist Press)

This is another anthology but all of the comics are made by the same creator who is an Indian-American trans woman. There's only one story that has trans characters but it's a cool story and the other stories are also definitely worth checking out because they're all interesting.

Some comics I read a while ago that I still think about are The Pervert by Remy Boydell and Michelle Perez and A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll. I might revisit them because it's been a while since I read either of them.

Some comics I'm planning to check out:

Abbott: 1973 by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä (BOOM! Studios)

The Wilds by Vita Ayala and Emily Pearson (Black Mask Studios)

Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir by Bishakh Kumar Som (Street Noise Books)

Firebugs by Nino Bulling (Drawn and Quarterly)