Be Gay, Do Comics: Queer History, Memoir, and Satire from The Nib

Culled from the webcomics site The Nib, this bright LGBTQ anthology features an international roster of millennial and Gen-Z contributors, offering fresh takes on gender, politics, historical LGBTQ heroes, and more. Highlights include memoir pieces by Breena Nuñez on attempting (fruitlessly) to explain their nonbinary gender identity to a clueless therapist, Dylan Edwards on identifying as asexual, Robyn Jordan revealing her experience with embryo donors, JB Brager reminiscing about connecting with other mid-aughts queer teens on LiveJournal, and Alexis Sudgen unpacking her history of gender identity with breast dysphoria. Each artist effectively uses humor to lighten sometimes weighty subject matter. Meanwhile, other pieces examine facets of the queer umbrella: Sam Wallman probes the conservative gay movement with unexpected empathy, while Max Dlabick pays tribute to Gilbert Baker, who pioneered the use of the rainbow flag to celebrate the LGBTQ community. A few less successful comics don’t transfer as well from web to page, especially those that favor the didactic over the narrative. But the cartooning is solid across the board. This is an overall invigorating sampler of the current queer cartooning scene and a celebration of the sheer breadth and diversity of experiences it reflects. [em](Aug.) [/em]