bashsbooks's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I've long heard chatter about Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For - how you can you be in queer spaces & not eventually hear of her groundbreaking comics? - but I didn't have much of an idea about what the strip was about, aside from dykes. Well, it's about their lives, loves, jobs, educations, families, and politics, and every messy bit that pops up in those areas. The strip has an extremely diverse cast of characters, parrying the conservative complaint that characters who are marginalized on multiple axes is modern woke bullshit. It's also refreshingly inclusive - though some of the characters struggle with the concept of transgender, the comic itself is affirming and depicts trans people as real human beings. This should not be a big deal, but it feels revolutionary to me. And, on a related note, Lois is my favorite of the dykes. (Seriously, the comic that discusses bisexual lesbians AND trans men in the same strip changed my life. Those are not modern made-up things or tumblr identities! Here they are, being discussed in our community long before the popularization of the Internet. So validating.)
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, and Pregnancy
Minor: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Vomit, Police brutality, Abortion, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Bullying, Excrement, War, and Misogyny
starrygal's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An honest, realistic, and heartwarming portrayal of a group of people (mostly lesbians) living their lives. I found it hard to put down, and it made me laugh more than a few times. The part that I enjoyed less was that it spent a lot of time on the intricacies of US politics - several decades ago. If that kind of thing is your cup of tea, then more power to you, but otherwise, you'll probably do as I did and skim that in order to get back to the relationship drama.
Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Ableism, Infidelity, Grief, Cancer, Death of parent, Animal death, and Biphobia
Minor: Car accident, Dysphoria, Genocide, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Xenophobia, Deadnaming, Dementia, Medical content, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, and Hate crime
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