I had a blast with this atypical Aqueduct Press release, which appears to be a companion piece to his 2022 book 'Queering SF', also for Aqueduct. It looks like that tackles science fiction prose, while this tackles science fiction comics.

He's good at setting the scene, as he does in a strong introduction. He provides a basic grounding in what comics are, how they started and how they changed (hello, Frederic Wertham), leading to the emergence of the underground, where queerness shows up. He sees the Golden Age of Queer SF Comics as being from 2010 to 2022, then tackles forty-five different relevant titles in forty-five different chapters called Shades, setting up four definitions for "queer" then primarily applying two of them to each book. Those are queer as in sexuality, so gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc., without a firm limit on those three; and queer as in an unconventional approach.

His approach is relatively consistent across these Shades, though I don't believe they were written at the same time He identifies a theme, outlines how he's going to tackle it then researches what will fit within its scope. Each title gets its own chapter, with an anecdote, comparison or historical aside to lead into what he calls a reading. The tone is more scholarly than pop but more pop than scholarly. He calls out specific issues when appropriate, but doesn't include footnotes. And he calls out the pronouns of everyone mentioned, whether real or fictional. Also, while each Shade stands alone, there is a general flow, especially as the titles are addressed chronologically.

Now, I do much the same thing with my own books and zines, sans pronouns and without so overt an introduction to each piece, so I was fascinated to see this approach in someone else, not least someone highly qualified to speak on the subject who's been nominated for awards for his work. I was very happy to find that I enjoyed this approach as much as a reader relatively ungrounded in this topic as I do as a writer highly grounded in mine. I was even happier to find that what I got out of this was what I try to put into my own books, namely discovery.

Every Shade is interesting to some degree, even though some cover books that don't seem likely to be ones I'll ever pick up, even presented with the opportunity. However, others tackle titles I'll absolutely seek out on the basis of this book, having never previously heard of them. I've long felt that most critics seem happy to cover all the same things, whether books, films, music, whatever.  That helps us to identify voices we trust, which can lead to discovery. What it doesn't help us to do is to dive into a whole new genre or niche, because they're unwilling to be our guide. Calvin wants to be our guide into queer SF comics and I'm very happy that he chose that role.

Inevitably, of course, some Shades bite more than others and certain titles discussed stand out for attention in a similar way, but that's fine. That's what discovery is. If I seek out 'Gingerbread Girl', 'Crowded' and 'Cyclopedia Exotica', just to cite three that particularly piqued my interest, and find that I enjoy them, as seems likely, then I have two directions forward. I can come back to this book, because I'll know that Calvin is a critical voice whose tastes I can trust, and follow up with 'Inhibit', 'Crema' and 'Almost Human'; or I can follow side paths that manifest after becoming familiar with the initial three titles, providing me with a little grounding. Or, of course, I can do both, gradually learning more and becoming more familiar until I won't need that guide any more.

I didn't pluck those six titles out of the air. They're six highly varied examples from ten that I made note of, with that goal firmly in mind. 'Gingerbread Girl' is queer both in characters and narrative approach, exploring a girl whose sexuality is dissociated from her physical body. 'Crowded', with its dystopian ideas like crowdfunding assassinations on Reapr, reminds me of the 2024 film 'Jackpot!' 'Cyclopedia Exotica' uses the one-eyed Cyclopes species, living alongside us two-eyes as metaphor for what sounds like every social quirk. 'Inhibit' is thoroughly indie, thoroughly queer and Scottish. 'Crema' is a Brazilian historical ghost story. 'Almost Human' sets up body modification as so trivial and routine that anyone can change anything physical they like, asking how that affects attraction and identity.

Here are the other four, should you wonder and also for my future reference. 'Decrypting Rita' is a webcomic with a challenging form, unfolding in multiple timelines that are identified through a different colour palette. 'Contact High' is a skimpy twenty-six page PDF about a dystopian future in which the physical act of touching another human being is illegal. 'SfSx' pits sex workers against fascism, which is enough to make it a gimme for me. And 'Apsara Engine' features blood maps as a form of trans-geography. And should I end up digging all ten, well, there are thirty-five more here to follow up with.

It's pretty important, I think, to highlight that, at this point in time, I haven't read any of these SF comics. In fact, I hadn't even heard of any of these SF comics. This simply isn't my medium of choice but not through deliberate decision. I've merely never immersed myself deeply enough in comics to have encountered them. Some are certainly underground and most of them occupy a very tiny niche. That doesn't affect their value, only their accessibility to those who don't know to look for them.

My very deliberate monthly graphic novel project has introduced me to a barrage of titles I hadn't previously read and the stack I'm working through now, coincidentally lent to me by a gay friend, is opening my eyes further. I'm very happy to now have a guide to the next stage. ~~ Hal C F Astell