My local library has a surprisingly marginalized community-centric comic book section, and NO STRAIGHT LINES seemed like a good place to start. The editor, Justin Hill, provides an excellent introduction for his book, and he outlines the goals and limits of the anthology with apologies that he couldn't include more. There are then little essays giving broadstroke overviews of each era of queer comics, providing context and highlighting influential artists and writers. Hill's writing is informative, celebratory, and accessible. I felt satisfied immediately.

Then, I got to main point of the book: the comics. While the front matter had buzzed my little brain cells, the actual comics went right for the heart. The book itself is a hefty one, but it got heavier and heavier as I read. As an art medium, comics bring an immediacy like no other medium does. The characters on the page weren't existing decades ago: they were struggling right before my eyes. I could feel the pulsing weight of their happiness, anxieties, hardships, and triumphs. As a bisexual woman, I emotionally realized the history I was inheriting. It is full of enduring pain and joys snatched right out of the jaws of indifference and homophobic cruelty. Many, many comics centered on the AIDS crisis, and, at some points, I had to put the book down for a breather.

If I had any quibbles, it would be the heavy focus on lesbian and gay comics. Bisexuality is mentioned briefly, and more often than not in a disparaging way. Lots of "lesbian who sleeps with one man" instead of "bisexual with a preference for women." Asexuality is seen exactly once, but not explained by name: the character shouts "I'm nothing!" and is saved from this oh-so-awful fate via genie-granted wish. Intersex people are not mentioned by name, only hinted at via characters who present as genderqueer. In addition, I was expecting more transgender comics. Hill explains in his intro that the transgender comic scene didn't gain popularity until recently, but there were still more L & G comics in the modern comic section. I suppose I'll just Google that all myself.

In his beginning, Hill encourages readers treat the book like a collection of signposts, to use these brief excerpts to find your future favorite comic. Sound advice, though I gave up on the project when I realized I wanted to read all of them. The limits of representation don't keep NO STRAIGHT LINES from being a deeply moving homage to subversive art, and I recommend it to any person who wants to learn more about the queer comic scene and ear-to-the-ground queer history. Despite not being pictured as I would like to be, this book changed me and I love it.