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If
the two big mainstream publishers, DC and Marvel,
have lesbians, then you can bet the independent titles are
brimming with them as well.
Besides
Love and Rockets, one of the longest standing indie titles is the GLAAD-nominated
Strangers In Paradise by Terry Moore, a story that
speaks to anyone who has ever fallen in love with their
best friend or who can understand the desire too. It follows
the misadventures of Katchoo (a lesbian) and Francine (a
straight woman), two friends since high school who go through
life one day at a time. The series has as many ups and downs
as any serialized television show and just when you think
you have the direction of the plot figured out it abruptly
changes course.
Nothing
about Strangers in Paradise is black and white,
except the pages of the comic themselves, but the lack of
color shouldn't scare people off because the story is just
that good. These
characters aren't perfect, the women aren't size zeros,
the answers are never easy, and sexuality is fluid (and
that goes for just about everyone). In the SIP universe,
violence and lies aren't out of the question, and you can
always count on someone to do or say something stupid. But
no matter who hooks up with whom, it is very clear is that
Katchoo and Francine are soul mates.
This
is just a small taste of the vast and varied lesbian representation
that exists in comics today. Queer boys have loved comics
for a long time, but queer women who take the time to learn
what the fuss is about won't be disappointed.
Other
books to consider:
Global Frequency by Warren Ellis - episodic graphic
novel that follows a giant elite force protecting the world,
many smaller stories under one umbrella story. At least
two lesbian main characters have been featured. Filmed as
a pilot for television starring Star Trek's Michelle
Forbes, it unfortunately hasn't been picked up for fall.
Exiles - written by San Francisco Real World
cast member and comic writing genius Judd Winick, it's described
as Quantum Leap in the X-Men universe.
It features a team of mutants forced to work together to
correct timelines in different dimensions. The lesbian member
of the team is featured in the early batch of issues. Many
lesbian comic fans consider an arc in the middle of the
run to be one of the best lesbian comic stories of all time.
Buffy
the Vampire Slayer - following in the footsteps of
the series the books fill in between many of the shows episodes
and feature Willow and Tara in the later issues including
two books written by actress Amber Benson.
Ultra
by the Luna Brothers - a short eight-issue series that will
be out as one trade paperback soon. It features a world
where superheros are the world's celebrities. The lead female
trio of characters read like girls you have met, as they
balance their demanding jobs with the rest of their lives.
Giving away the lesbian plot in this would be telling, but
the reveal is one of the coolest panels in comics this year
and one of the sweetest.
Clockwork
Angels - Lea Hernandez's romance between a Victorian-era
spirit medium and her best friend, Clockwork is
the first comic by a female creator that featured lesbians
as main or prominent characters to be published by a mainstream
U.S. comics company.
