75+ Wonderful Graphic Novels with LGBTQ+ Characters

When I first published this post in 2014, I had room for most of my fave LGBTQ+ graphic novels and comics in one post. Now they cannot be contained!

So – after a few recommendations that only appear here – this post is now an index of queer graphic novels recommended across my blog. It’s organized by blog post, with a link to the post where you can find more info about the titles listed. Or just look them up on your book research site of choice.

Let’s get started, because I know you’re going to find something here to love. (Disclosure: Amazon links are affiliate links.)

My Brother’s Husband (Amazon/Kindle / Goodreads) By Gengoroh Tagame.

Fascinating, heartstring-yanking duology about a Japanese single father, Yaichi, whose estranged gay twin brother Ryoji moved to Canada and married a Canadian man named Mike. After Ryoji passes away, Mike comes to see Ryoji’s Japan for the first time and get to know his lost husband’s family. Yaichi has never confronted his own homophobia until Mike arrives. His daughter Kana bonds with Mike immediately, but Yaichi has a more difficult time though he works at questioning his own assumptions. There’s some sadness here, since Mike is grieving and Yaichi is confronting the permanent loss of his brother. I actually cried during the second volume, and that’s not normal for me when reading! The feeling of hope and positive change, though, are much stronger, and that’s what I walked away with at the end. Unless the grief aspect is going to be wrong for you, I *strongly* recommend this.

Gender Queer (Amazon/Comixology / Goodreads) By Maia Kobabe, colored by Phoebe Kobabe.

No one memoir can cover all of the nonbinary experience, and no memoir is perfect, but this one is really excellent. It breaks my heart how much hate it’s gotten simply for telling Kobabe’s story openly and honestly from eir perspective.

“In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity–what it means and how to think about it–for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.”

Our Dreams at Dusk (Amazon / Goodreads) By Yuhki Kamatani.

“Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he is also terrified that he has been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own. In this realistic, heartfelt depiction of LGBT+ characters from different backgrounds finding their place in the world, a search for inner peace proves to be the most universal experience of all.”

Trans Girls Hit The Town by Emma Jayne (Buy Direct From The Author / Goodreads)

“Cleo and Winnie experience the soaring highs and crushing lows of a night on the town.
Winner of the 2019 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Minicomic
Winner of the 2020 Prism Award for Outstanding Small Press Comic”

I really enjoyed this black and white comic, as well as the followup Trans Girls Hit The Field! These are both slice of life comics where trans women support each other in dealing with the realities of life, which aren’t always fun. But in both stories, friendship is centered, valued, and the key to getting through tough times. Jayne also made me laugh out loud more than once.

Stone Fruit (Amazon/Comixology / Goodreads) By Lee Lai.

This reminds me of an independent film in the best way in its attention to the connections between people, in a story tightly focused on a small number of characters. The art style is super distinctive, especially when Bron and Ray are babysitting Ray’s niece and they’re all engaged in imaginative play. I can’t wait to see what Lee Lai does next.

“Bron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray’s niece, six-year-old Nessie. Their playdates are little oases of wildness, joy, and ease in all three of their lives, which ping-pong between familial tensions and deep-seated personal stumbling blocks. As their emotional intimacy erodes, Ray and Bron isolate from each other and attempt to repair their broken family ties — Ray with her overworked, resentful single-mother sister and Bron with her religious teenage sister who doesn’t fully grasp the complexities of gender identity. Taking a leap of faith, each opens up and learns they have more in common with their siblings than they ever knew.

At turns joyful and heartbreaking, Stone Fruit reveals through intimately naturalistic dialog and blue-hued watercolor how painful it can be to truly become vulnerable to your loved ones — and how fulfilling it is to be finally understood for who you are.”

The Single Life, Volume 1: 60-year-old lesbian who is single and living alone by Akiko Morishima (Amazon / Goodreads)

“Miyuki is single, female and a lesbian. No girlfriend, no life partner… and today is her 60th birthday. This is the first in a series of short stories that portray the single life of those who are of a sexual minority and are middle to senior aged.”

This is a self-published 30-page manga (only available digitally on Amazon as far as I know). I truly enjoyed how this short slice of life comic just lets main character Miyuki contemplate her present, reflect on her past choices, and weigh whether she’s satisfied. (It’s not meant to be plot-heavy, so don’t go into it looking for that.) I’m hoping Morishima is able to continue the series as planned, because she has a great way of establishing a character’s personality through small details.

Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman (Amazon / Goodreads)

A fun, affirming graphic novel about a queer outlaw and a trans gal who fled the Army going on a mission to steal secrets from the Confederacy. After the outlaw kidnaps the deserter. It’s a bit of an awkward meet-cute, but it works out in the end! Love to see a historical story with diversity, and both characters really come alive. I read this back in 2020, then reread it recently in 2023 and enjoyed it possibly even more.

AND NOW the index! Every graphic novel or series indexed here has either one or more LGBTQ+ main characters OR at least one queer secondary character who gets significant screen time and delighted me. Mostly the former.

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