Northwest Press

The Gay Comics List loves The Power Within!

// September 19th, 2011 // // The Power Within

One of the biggest challenges in doing “advocacy” storytelling is striking a nice balance between getting your message across and telling a good story. If you fail, you end up with something much less entertaining than preachy. The most rewarding feedback we’ve gotten since releasing our anti-bullying book The Power Within is that we’ve succeeded in telling an engaging, honest story that resonates with readers, and isn’t just a “me too” message book. François Peneaud, who reviews everything, it seems like, on his site The Gay Comics List, has seen his fair share of preachy comics, and I’m glad to say that The Power Within wasn’t one of them.

As much as one can enjoy seeing queer characters in both mainstream and indie fantasy fiction, the problems of the real world should always take precedence. Sometimes in a ham-fisted way, and sometimes in a moving, heartfelt way that shows the sincerity and skills of the creators involved. Fortunately, it is the latter that happens with Zan Christensen and Mark Brill’s The Power Within, a comic about LGBT teen bullying.

Later, he says:

The Power Within goes well beyond what’s expected of a project done with the best intentions. It’s a moving depiction of what’s unfortunately the real life of some teenagers in our society, and the creators involved can only hope it will contribute, in its own ways, to the improvement of that situation.

Check out François’ site for the whole Power Within review, and take a look at his numerous other reviews of great LGBT comics. It’s truly a treasure trove.

The Gay Comics List reviews “Rainy Day Recess”

// April 12th, 2011 // // Rainy Day Recess

François Peneaud over at the Gay Comics List has written a glowing review of David Kelly’s new book, Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics! He picked up on one reason that I thought it was so important to publish this collection:

The fact that Dan Savage has written an introduction for Rainy Day Recess is of course very significant: I’ve found his It Gets Better campaign toward gay youth very interesting, especially since I can’t see something like that happening in my own country. Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that American culture seems to be at a tipping point, where queer people are being mainstreamed and homophobes are finally being shown by the general culture as the danger they really are, the same way antisemitism and not Jewish people are the problem. That sounds so obvious, but the way that it is now seeping through popular culture makes me a bit more optimistic. In that regard, David Kelly’s strips are even more relevant than they were a decade and a half ago.

Check out the whole Rainy Day Recess review at The Gay Comics List!

Aeacus reviewed on the Gay Comics List

// December 2nd, 2007 // // The Mark of Aeacus

François Peneaud—the writer of another Class Comics’ recent release, Brother to Dragons—has just posted a review of The Mark of Aeacus on his site, The Gay Comics List. Anyone who’s been to the site knows that François has reviewed just about queer comic under the sun, so he’s seen his fair share of the good and the bad.

Seems that he puts Aeacus into the former!

(And if you haven’t read Brother to Dragons yet, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. In the first issue, it manages to introduce you to complex new world, get a number of plot points going, and still feel unhurried. A feat in itself, before you even consider the fact that there’s a lot of intense, man-to-man sex going on.)

▶