Available to retailers. Stores can order the book from Diamond PREVIEWS using item code NOV13115
The new Northwest Press release QU33R, fresh off its successful Kickstarter campaign, is listed in the November Diamond PREVIEWS catalog for retailer order using code NOV131152. Readers can use Diamond’s Comic Shop Locator service to find a local store and ask them to reserve a copy. Northwest Press encourages buying from a local shop; readers will have to pay no shipping charges and they will be supporting local businesses.
This anthology features all-new, all-color work—over 240 pages—from 33 comics creators exploring queer lives and culture. The book includes industry veterans and new talents alike, and includes new work from Diane DiMassa (Hothead Paisan), Andy Hartzell (Fox Bunny Funny), Howard Cruse (Stuck Rubber Baby), Christine Smith (The Princess), MariNaomi (Kiss and Tell), Nicole Georges (Calling Dr. Laura), Rick Worley (A Waste of Time), Eric Orner (The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green), Jon Macy (Teleny and Camille), and more. The book also features a foreword from Lambda-Literary-Award-winning editor Justin Hall (No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics).
QU33R had its genesis in an all-color queer comic zine called THREE, which featured three stories by three creators or teams per issue. Rob Kirby published three installments of THREE annually from 2010 to 2012, and the series did well, garnering not only an Ignatz nomination for Outstanding Anthology or Collection but also earning Rob the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant in 2011.
Producing the anthology was immensely gratifying, but featuring just three comics and publishing only once per year meant a lot of cartoonists weren’t getting the exposure they deserved. The publishing opportunities for queer cartoonists and queer subject matter are still limited, even today, and Rob longed for a wider distribution than he was able to manage on his own. He approached Northwest Press about doing a bigger compendium of all-new work.
While THREE was happening, Justin Hall was preparing his book No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, which Fantagraphics published in the summer of 2012. No Straight Lines traced the history of queer comics from their humble beginnings in the late 60’s/early 70’s all the way up to the present. The book was a whopping, award-winning success. Rob got to thinking that a follow-up volume—a sort-of-sequel focusing on all new work—would seal the deal, informing the world at large that we are still here, still queer, and still producing fresh and innovative work. He wanted to include not only several queer comics veterans, but also some fresh new faces and a few folks who haven’t necessarily belonged to the orthodox “queer comics scene” but have been doing non-heteronormative work all along.
For complete information about the book, visit qu33r.net.
Northwest Press publishes graphic novels and comics collections by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender comics creators. Their books are available in print through bookstores and directly, as well as digitally through iBooks and Gumroad.com. Northwest Press books are also available to retailers direct from the publisher and through distributors Diamond, Prerogatives/Pride Catalog, Last Gasp, and Bulldog Books (Australia).
