We might be living in a horrible time for queer rights in general, but never let it be said that we’re not experiencing a Golden Age of queer graphic novels. This year, in addition to a new autofiction book by Alison Bechdel, Andrew Wheeler’s Hey Mary and Lindsay Ishihiro’s Motherlover, we got Checked Out by Katie Fricas, a rollicking tale of libraries, love, and WWI pigeons.
Fricas’s debut is wonderfully illustrated and buoyant with hope—something sorely needed in this ridiculous times. Our narrator takes us through a year (and change) in the life of a queer library page trying to write her own graphic novel while dating a wide range of NYC queerdos. It’s charming, beautiful, and a truly compulsive read. I finished this book in three seconds flat, and I wished I hadn’t because I wanted it to last so much longer.
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This out-of-print classic deserves more attention.
If you’re in need of something sweet, hopeful, and hilarious, Checked Out is the book for you. Get your hands on it stat!
