Love Is Love

Love Is Love
Hundreds of creators organized by Marc Andreyko, published by IDW, 2016

Premise: This comic anthology was created in response to the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Proceeds benefit the victims, survivors, and their families.

It's not easy to review any anthology, and this is an extreme example. Every piece is only one or two pages, and they range from straight art pieces, to evocative art and poetry, to stylized or indy comic style pieces, to classic modern superhero mini-stories.

Common themes include resilience, grief, and, of course, love. There are little stories about children coming out to parents, about the place clubs have in LGBT culture, about the shock and anguish as the reports came out, about how hate is passed on and how it is overcome.

Not every piece hit home for me, some were more esoteric or I'm not sure I understood. It is an overall a very emotional book to read, though.

Some of the most powerful pieces (no surprise) were personal perspectives from creators who are themselves LGBT, although there is an enormous variety of fascinating micro-stories here.

I found the ones that used licensed superhero characters (both characters who identify as gay or lesbian and others) to be a mixed bag. Some worked for me, some felt a bit half-hearted or obvious.

Overall this book succeeded before anyone read it: despite landing in stores in the last week of 2016, it was the best-selling graphic novel in December. I had to try a couple stores to find a copy, and as of writing, it's out-of-stock on Amazon.com.

I'm thrilled that it's been a best-seller, but the lasting value is the honest grief, love, and hope on every page.