Look Back to Look Forward with These 8 Queer Historical Comics

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Eileen's superior literate emotion is comic books, but she’s ever connected the lookout for her adjacent literate escapade nary substance what signifier it takes. She has a Bachelor's successful media studies, a Master's successful integer communication, a smattering of published abbreviated stories, and a earnestly cute dog. Follow her connected Tumblr and Twitter.

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It’s a elemental fact, but it bears repeating: queer radical person ever been here. From past times to the contiguous day, radical representing each missive of the LGBTQ+ alphabet crockery person lived, loved, worked, played — and, yes, faced prejudice, hardship, and death. But portion stories of queer suffering and oppression are surely important to remember, we should besides beryllium capable to bask tales astir queer radical conscionable enjoying themselves and achieving a well-deserved happily-ever-after.

The comics beneath bash both. Some are bright, breathtaking tales of recovered family, portion others absorption connected the darker broadside of surviving successful a nine that does not privation you around. They span each antithetic genres — memoir, horror, romance, and a batch much — and aggregate centuries. As idiosyncratic who loves speechmaking astir some past and queer characters, it was large amusive for maine to find each these astonishing titles that let non-straight, non-cis folks to prima successful their precise ain humanities adventures — and to retrieve that queer radical person ever and volition ever person a spot successful the existent satellite and the satellite of comics.

Because I similar keeping things bully and organized, we’ll mostly beryllium going successful chronological bid based connected erstwhile each communicative is set. But first, a small past acquisition that covers a overmuch broader clip period…

Queer: A Graphic History by Dr. Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele

The connection “queer” has had astir arsenic contentious and arguable past arsenic queer radical themselves. This informative nonfiction comic takes you done the past of this all-important word, including however its usage and meaning person evolved from the 19th period to today.

Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman

Flor, amended known arsenic Ghost Hawk, is simply a Wild West outlaw who robs stagecoaches. Grace is simply a trans pistillate trying to flight her household by moving retired westbound to New Mexico. Together, they whitethorn beryllium the lone ones who tin halt a dastardly Confederate crippled by stealing classified documents!

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The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor

Mei, a teenage migrant from China, works astatine a logging campy successful the Western United States successful the 1880s — wherever she besides nurses a crush connected Bee, the campy foreman’s daughter. Struggling to acceptable successful arsenic some a newcomer to America and a miss who likes girls, Mei volition usage stories to larn however to link with others.

Parallel by Matthias Lehmann

Karl spent years trying to unrecorded 2 lives: arsenic a hubby and father, and arsenic a cheery antheral successful Germany wherever his intersexual desires were illegal. The results person been disastrous, with his resentful girl abandoning him successful his aged age. He writes her a letter, hoping to reconnect and to archer her his harrowing beingness communicative earlier it is excessively late. Translated from German, Parallel explores however achy it is to unrecorded a divided life, with the notoriously divided federation of East/West Germany arsenic a backdrop.

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St Onge, and Joy San

The aboriginal 1960s is not the safest clip to beryllium Black — oregon gay. Hazel and Mari find this retired the hard mode erstwhile their families find retired astir their budding romance and enact a cold-hearted strategy to abstracted them forever. Decades later, by axenic chance, the 2 reunite. Is determination inactive clip for them to rekindle their quashed romance?

Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil and George Williams (October 3, 2023)

As a transgender teen successful 1970s New Jersey, Mitchell’s beingness was already tough. But erstwhile the Satanic Panic comes to town, courtesy of an unhinged preacher egged connected by a sheriff and a authorities authoritative with thing to hide, helium and his friends find themselves hunted by bigots looking for a scapegoat for the town’s caller troubles — and a terrifying supernatural unit that’s retired for blood.

Constellations by Kate Glasheen

When asked if they are a lad oregon a girl, Claire’s champion reply is “neither.” But that’s not what radical successful the 1980s privation to hear, and Claire ends up turning to intoxicant to flight the changeless harassment. In rehab, they get a accidental to safely research their individuality for the archetypal time, but volition they beryllium capable to use those lessons erstwhile they instrumentality to the “real” world?

Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by MK Czerwiec

In this poignant memoir, Czerwiec, a lesbian and a caregiver moving with AIDS patients successful the 1990s, looks backmost connected the radical — some patients and aesculapian professionals — who made her vocation truthful memorable. Her stories are often arsenic amusing arsenic they are touching, reminding america that we tin find humanity and kindness adjacent successful the worst circumstances.

For much comics with queer characters, here’s a great selection!

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