Tough Love: High School Confidential

Derived from Japanese boys' love comics (yaoi/shonen-ai), this tells the story of Brian, a newcomer to his suburban high school, and his budding romance with Chris, a classmate. Denson substitutes reality for romance, confronting issues of adolescent homosexuality with a self-conscious sincerity. Often times, the boys are suspended between cold reality, as when the jocks in the school assault Brian, and bliss, when Chris and Brian are able to act as a couple. Denson's jagged illustration evokes a punk rock aesthetic that harkens back to the anti-establishment sentiment of adolescence. Unfortunately, true to adolescence, much of Tough Love is portrayed with an awkwardness that flattens intense moments of confrontation. For instance, in Brian's coming-out scene with his mother, she expresses disappointment but remains relatively unfazed. While Denson attempts a more realistic portrayal of teen homosexuality than is seen in Japanese comics, sometimes the real-life elements of the story feel the most fantastic. However, as the first book to combine the cute guys of yaoi manga with the American sensibility of gay pride, Tough Love becomes a shy, anxious testament to growing up gay in suburbia. (June)