John Preston was an American author of gay erotica and an editor of gay nonfiction anthologies.
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term graphic novel is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and industry professionals. It is, at least in the United States, typically distinct from the term comic book, which is generally used for comics periodicals and trade paperbacks.
Howard Cruse was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with Barefootz, he was the founding editor of Gay Comix in 1980, created the gay-themed strip Wendel during the 1980s, and reached a more mainstream audience in 1995 when an imprint of DC Comics published his graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby.
Tony Arena, also known by his pen name Anonymous Boy, is an openly queer artist, writer, and filmmaker. He is known for his comics, his involvement in the queercore movement, and other contributions to queer punk zines, his column in Maximum Rocknroll magazine, his public-access television program The Wild Record Collection, and animation such as his film Green Pubes.
Robert Kirby is an American cartoonist, known for his long-running syndicated comic Curbside – which ran in the gay and alternative presses from 1991 to 2008 – and other works focusing on queer characters and community, including Strange Looking Exile, Boy Trouble, THREE, and QU33R.
In comics, LGBT themes are a relatively new concept, as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) themes and characters were historically omitted from the content of comic books and their comic strip predecessors due to anti-gay censorship. LGBT existence was included only via innuendo, subtext and inference. However the practice of hiding LGBT characters in the early part of the twentieth century evolved into open inclusion in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and comics explored the challenges of coming-out, societal discrimination, and personal and romantic relationships between gay characters.
Prism Comics is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) creators, stories, characters, and readers in the comics industry. It does this through informational booths and programming at comic conventions, print and online guides to LGBT creators and comics, and the annual Queer Press Grant to assist publication of new LGBT-themed work.
Sticky is a book of gay erotic comics written by Dale Lazarov and drawn by Steve MacIsaac.
Robert Triptow is an American writer and artist. He is known primarily for creating gay- and bisexual-themed comics and for editing Gay Comix in the 1980s, and he was identified by underground comix pioneer Lee Marrs as "the last of the underground cartoonists."
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore is an American author and activist. She is the author of two memoirs and three novels, and the editor of six nonfiction anthologies.
Dale Lazarov is an openly gay American comics writer and poet. He is known for writing wordless homoerotic short stories and graphic novels. His work has been included in "best of" anthologies featuring erotic comics, and received critical praise. He cites Tom of Finland as an influence on his writing. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Jon Macy is a gay American cartoonist. He began his career in 1990 with the series Tropo published September 1990 – April 1992 by Blackbird Comics. Since then, he has contributed to various LGBT comics anthologies and gay pornographic magazines, but he is best known for his graphic novel Teleny and Camille, which won a 2010 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Erotica.
Elisha Lim is a scholar, artist and graphic novelist living in Toronto. Lim advocates the use of the gender-neutral pronoun "they". Lim is currently an assistant professor at York University, in the faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Their research focuses on social media, theology, and critical race theory.
Nimona is a science fantasy graphic novel by American cartoonist ND Stevenson. The story follows the title character, a shapeshifter who joins the disgraced knight Ballister Blackheart in his plans to destroy the over-controlling Institute. Blackheart's intent to operate under his code of ethics contrasts him with the impulsive Nimona.
Northwest Press is an American publisher specializing in LGBT-themed comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in 2010 by Charles "Zan" Christensen. The company publishes in print, as well as through digital channels such as ComiXology and Apple's iBooks, and also retails some similarly-themed books published independently.
David Kelly is an American cartoonist and comics creator. He is best known for his strip, Steven’s Comics, which ran in LGBT and alternative newspapers and zines from 1994 to 1998. His strip has won the Xeric award and he has worked alongside critically acclaimed cartoonist Robert Kirby. He and Kirby co-edited the gay comics zine series Boy Trouble.
Maia Kobabe is an American cartoonist and author.
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term's use as a reference to male homosexuality may date as early as the late 19th century, but its use gradually increased in the mid-20th century. In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun, referring to the community, practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. In the 1960s, gay became the word favored by homosexual men to describe their sexual orientation. By the end of the 20th century, the word gay was recommended by major LGBT groups and style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same sex, although it is more commonly used to refer specifically to men. At about the same time, a new, pejorative use became prevalent in some parts of the world. Among younger speakers, the word has a meaning ranging from derision to a light-hearted mockery or ridicule. The extent to which these usages still retain connotations of homosexuality has been debated and harshly criticized. This page examines gay characters in fictional works as a whole, focusing on characters and tropes in cinema and fantasy.
Hazel Newlevant is an American cartoonist and editor known for creating and editing comics about queer history, bisexuality, polyamory, and reproductive rights. Raised in Portland, Oregon, Newlevant lives in Queens, New York.
