224 pgs. color | $25.99 hardcover | W & A: Archie Bongiovanni
Laura, a young adult living in the small Alaskan town of “Squarebanks,” thinks she’s got it all going on: she has a substantial internet audience as the influencer #LesbianWarrior (“your favorite long-hair butch”), works for the Alaska Bird Observatory, and does most of her real-life socializing with her local best (straight) friend, Rachel, at a local straight bar. The online viewers somewhat compensate for the lack of a local queer community but also lead to Laura obsessing about her viewership statistics and failing to expand her friend network. Plus she’s a really shitty friend to Rachel, taking her for granted and expecting her to do what Laura wants while never considering trying some of the activities that Rachel enjoys, like hiking and camping.
Then, as Stephen King would say, a stranger came to town. Not a complete stranger in this case, since Court is an old friend of both Laura and Rachel (whom they then knew as Courtney), but a somewhat changed one due to having undergone gender transition/affirmation and now presenting as male. Court schools Laura on the presence of other queer people in her community and suggests that a social life centered around alcohol consumption may not be the healthiest choice in the long term. Laura also gets a real wakeup when Court introduces her to a Grindr-like site for men who want to meet up with other men, cis or trans, and she discovers that she may have desires she never considered before. Court, meanwhile, has to deal with his less-than-accepting mother and Rachel has to consider if she’s neglecting herself and settling for an established relationship that really isn’t very rewarding for her, plus whether she wants to continue to work for her exploitative boss or take the plunge and start her own business.
Leo Rising takes on issues common to many young adult and new adult stories—discovering who you are, finding your place in the world, negotiating relationships with your family and your community—but does it through the lens of people who aren’t necessarily straight or cisgender. Author and artist Archie Bongiovanni does a great job of presenting the realistic struggles that many young adults face and including both those specific to people of differing gender and sexual identities as well as the stuff that knows no borders. The characters are likeable even if their behavior isn’t always, so you want them to work it out and become better versions of themselves. It also makes the point that queer people are just about everywhere but it’s up to each individual to make the effort to find them and become part of a real-life community. Straight, queer, or otherwise, it’s easy to fall into a comfortable rut while it can feel threatening to put yourself out there, but the rewards of taking the risk are usually worth it.
Bongiovanni’s art is a form of simplified realism that clearly differentiates the characters without overloading the page with details. It’s mainly black and white with blue highlights and relies heavily on visuals (including a variety of layouts and frame sizes) rather than dialogue to explore different characters’ emotions and experiences, so this volume is a fine example of the art of showing rather than telling what you want the reader to know.
A few notes about this volume. First, the Abrams website has a subtitle for this volume which doesn’t appear on my copy but which tips you off unambiguously as to what it’s about: “Queer Spaces, Sexuality, and Fame.”
Second and more important: Leo Rising is part of the Surely imprint of Abrams ComicArts that publishes LGBTQIA+ stories by LGBTQIA+ writers and is curated by none other than Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer, Skim) and edited by Wash U graduate Charlotte Greenbaum (Parable of the Sower, Dune: The Graphic Novel). So if you’re interested in own voices LGBTQIA+ novels this is an imprint to watch. | Sarah Boslaugh
You can see a sample of the artwork for Leo Rising here.
