Cheer Up! Love and Pom Poms is the perfect graphic novel for fans of the cult classic movie But I’m a Cheerleader. As written by Crystal Fraiser and illustrated by Val Wise, Cheer Up! is a sweet teen romance. The outcome isn’t a surprise; don’t worry, there’s the expected happy ending. Only now, thank goodness, it’s not the only story around about a lesbian cheerleader. Or the only one featuring a trans character. We’ve come a long way, particularly in […]

Limerence Press, an imprint of Oni Press dedicated to “quality erotica, sex education, and gender and sexuality studies comics,” has a line of guides on tricky topics. Suitable for older teens and adults, these graphic novels aren’t afraid to tackle issues of current interest, and they’re written from knowledgeable perspectives, with creators that can personally speak to the subject matter, giving them an autobiographical overlay that makes the material easy to relate to, no matter one’s previous familiarity with the […]

St. Ivory Academy, a magical boarding school run by Mr. Lynch, has accepted its first Black student as a recipient of a minority scholarship. His name is Tom Token, his familiar is a crow named Jim, and you may have already gathered from the names that this is not a subtle story. But who says it should be? As written by Daniel Barnes and illustrated by D.J. Kirkland, the book opens with Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and John Henry in […]

Katie O’Neill’s latest project has the charm of her previous Aquicorn Cove and The Tea Dragon Society, but in an abbreviated form for younger readers. Dewdrop is an axolotl, or a cute pink lump, who has a number of aquatic friends, including a turtle, a newt, and some fish. It’s time for the sports festival, and Dewdrop’s friends are competing, writing songs, and cooking. Each enjoys these activities, but the pressure gets to them, and they begin questioning themselves and […]

Katie O’Neill, author of The Tea Dragon Society, returns with a graphic novel bound to satisfy her audience. Aquicorn Cove has the same beautifully colored images, the same confident, sometimes wordless storytelling, similar relationships with unusual creatures, and a corresponding message about the necessity for balance with nature. As you can see in the preview pages below, Lana and her father have come to visit her Aunt Mae in a coast-side town cleaning up after a substantial storm. Lana’s mother […]

In Sheets, Marjorie is trying to keep the family business, a laundromat, together. Her mother passed away, and Dad has mostly checked out. She has to cope with self-centered customers and a pushy, smarmy neighborhood businessman. Then the ghosts appear. The spirits all look like the classic children’s image, white sheets with a rounded top for a head. But they go to support groups to try and accept how they died, and their world is notably less colorful than Marjorie’s. […]

The classic idea of a magical transformation, and the lesson of being careful what you wish for, is revisited in The Altered History of Willow Sparks by Tara O’Connor. This high school-set graphic novel does a terrific job with individual moments but doesn’t fully assemble them into a coherent whole. Willow has acne, one good friend, and a part-time job at the local library. Both she and her friend are bullied by the pretty, popular crowd, a situation Willow is […]