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Description
An international and intersectional introduction mapping the history, impact, key critical issues and seminal texts of the genre, Queer Comics looks at queer creators and queer content in graphic narratives beyond . Not advocating for a canon but instead offering new avenues for exploration beyond what has thus far been very US-focused, this book surveys the queer experience, looks at the genre as a queering of an already queer medium and dives into how it can speak to all communities.
Accessible and inclusive in the easy-to-navigate structure of the Bloomsbury Comics Studies series, the book covers:
- A broader cultural landscape beyond American underground comix including manga, pornography, Tijuana Bibles, contemporary webcomics, zines, children's and YA comics and adult graphic memoirs.
- key texts by creators such as Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruise, Yamaji Ebine, Crystal Frasier, Megan Rose Gedris, Kay O'Neill, Jem Yoshioka and Tab Kimpton among many others
- Themes from censorship, stereotypes and queer coding to explicit material and reclaiming the queer monster
- Critical ideas linked to the genre, including visibility and erasure, binaries, self and mainstream publishing.
Taking a lead from queer and comics studies, the book also features a glossary of crucial terms and resources for further reading.
Table of Contents
What is Queer?
Queer Studies
Intersectional and Queer methods
Comics as a Queer medium
Queer in Form
Queer in Function
This book and how to use it
2. The history of Queer Comics
Early examples: Pre 20th century images inferring gender and sexual diversity
Emergence of queer coded comics 1900-30s (Tijuana bibles, queer-coded villains, the strange case of Wonder Woman)
[Physique magazines and fetish storybooks] Queer Beginnings: 1940s-50s (extends into the 1960s)
Establishing voices: Gay Comix, Wimmen's Comics and Underground Queer Comics 1960s-80s
Roses and lilies: queer content and culture in manga 1970s-2000s
Queering gay comics 1990s
The rise of webcomics and crowd-funded publishing 2000s
3. Social and Cultural Impact
Visibility and erasure - constructing our own narratives
Censorship - Government, Social, and In-community
Beyond the binaries - representation and Intersectionality
Self Publishing, Crowd-funding and mainstream publishing
4. Key Texts
Dykes to Watch Out For (Alison Bechdel)/Stuck Rubber Baby (Howard Cruise)
Indigo Blue (Yamaji Ebine)
Venus Envy (Crystal Frasier)/yu+me dream (Megan Rose Gedris)
Tea Dragon Society (Kay O'Neill)/Circuits and Veins (Jem Yoshioka)
Tarot Yohualli Ehecatl (Felix D'Eon)
Nether Realms (ed. Tab Kimpton & The Neon Caster)/We Belong (ed. William O. Tyler & Viktor Kerney)
5. Critical Questions
Explicit/Pornographic comics
Censorship
Stereotypes and queer-coding
Reclaiming/Re-embracing the queer monster.
Glossary
Resources
Index
Product details
| Published | Apr 02 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 192 |
| ISBN | 9781350477087 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 30 bw illus |
| Dimensions | 9 x 6 inches |
| Series | Bloomsbury Comics Studies |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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