I Love reading comics. This format allows stories to be told that are unlike any other medium. The art and words can work together or contrast, adding different levels to the story. I love opening up a new comic and giving myself time to just admire the artwork, reminding myself to pause and take in all the visual cues. And of course, if it’s a sapphic comic, that’s even better.

This is far from an exhaustive list of sapphic graphic novels or comics! It’s just a list of my favorites that I’ve read so far. I’ve separated this recommendations into categories: comics aimed specifically at kids and teens, adult comics (many of which would also be appropriate for teens), manga, and a couple nonfiction titles. Let’s jump in!

Kids’ and Teens’ Comics

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, Volume 1 by Michael Dante DiMartino and Irene Koh

If you haven’t watched The Legend of Korra, go do that first. Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, then The Legend of Korra, then come back. I’ll wait. (Spoilers for The Legend of Korra ahead.) But if you have watched Korra, then you likely felt that bittersweet ending: more than we could have expected, but ending way too soon.

Turf Wars: Part One picks up exactly where the last episode leaves off, and it was everything I could have hoped for. It gives Korra and Asami their happy ending, where they basically go on a honeymoon in the spirit world. They kiss and hold hands. They are unambiguously a romantic couple. And honestly, that’s all I wanted! I haven’t been as impressed by the following graphic novels, but I think that’s because the first part of Turf Wars gave me everything I wanted from the story.

As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman

Melanie Gillman is one of my favorite artists, and this volume demonstrates why: their colored pencil illustrations are so intricate and beautiful, I can’t help but pause to stare at every page!

Charlie is a queer brown kid who was hoping to regain her closeness with God (not necessarily the Christian conception) during this trip. Instead, she’s found out that the camp is almost entirely white. She doesn’t feel welcome, and there seems to be no way to get out of this now that she’s hiking through the woods with them.

Luckily, she finds companionship with another camper, Sydney. Sydney also feels like an outsider at camp, and later we find out that’s because she’s trans. Sydney gets the distinct impression that if the camp leader knew that, she wouldn’t be welcome at this white feminist-y retreat. Sydney and Charlie get closer by commiserating and joking, and they plot to interrupt the camp plans. My only problem with this book is that it’s only volume one, and I want to read the whole story!

Check out my Review here!

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman

I always love Gillman’s intricate pencil crayon illustrations, and this collection is no different. Each page is a joy to look at, and there are so many panels I’d love framed and hanging in my room.

As it says on the tin, these are queer fairy tales, and despite being original, they really capture the timeless feel of a fairy tale that’s been around for many generations. The cadence also reminds me of classic fairy tales, with some stories using repetition just as oral storytellers do.

Of course, these aren’t classic fairy tales, and they all feature queer characters, most of whom are sapphic. A ranger who falls for a girl sneaking around in the woods she protects. A princess who tries to convince the beautiful goose girl to marry her. A giantess who isn’t the monster the villagers make her out to be. It’s also feminist, with characters dismantling unjust power structures, and an ending that made me want to punch the air in triumph–while these stories stand on their own, there are a few that cross over.

Buy this for a kid in your life and then buy it for yourself.

Check out my review here!

The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor

This is a quiet, almost slice-of-life graphic novel about a 13-year-old queer Chinese American girl’s life at a logging camp. Mei is the daughter of the camp cook, and she helps out in the kitchen and spends her free time spinning yarns for the other children in camp–especially about Po Pan Yin, or Auntie Po, a Chinese American matriarchal version of Paul Bunyan. She is best friends with (and obviously has a crush on) Bee, the foreman’s daughter.

This is a quick read, but there are lots of different aspects to dive into: I think this is a book that could act as a great conversation starter with young readers. It’s a thoughtful book about a topic of U.S. American history not often written about in middle grade books, and I highly recommend it.

Check out my full review here!

Goldie Vance series by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams

Goldie Vance is a Black queer teen detective! I really love the art in this volume. The colors are vibrant, and the character designs are distinctive and engaging, and the cast is diverse.

Originally, I had though that Goldie Vance was a preteen, but she’s a teenager, and the mystery is slightly more political and intense than I thought it would be! Unsurprisingly, my favorite part of this first volume was Goldie falling for Diane, who we first see rocking a James Dean-ish look.

Check out my review here!

Slip written by Marika McCoola and illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya

This is a YA graphic novel about Jade, who is preparing for her future as an artist by going to a summer art intensive.

Just before she leaves, though, she gets devastating news. Her best friend, Phoebe, has attempted suicide and is now in the hospital. Phoebe doesn’t want visitors and is concentrating on her own recovery, so Jade has nothing to do but go to the Art Farm, even though her art is now the farthest thing from her mind.

This is, unsurprisingly, an introspective and melancholy story. There is a touch of fantasy or fabulism here as well. When Jade burns her drawings of Phoebe, they briefly come to life in the flames, and she can speak to her best friend to try to understand how she got here. Meanwhile, Jade is also beginning a romance with another girl at the art collective. 

I hope this is one that makes its way to classroom and library bookshelves, because I can imagine that a lot of teenagers especially will appreciate this honest portrayal of what it’s like to love someone who is going through a mental health crisis—the helplessness and grief and anger and every other tangled, overwhelming emotion that comes with it.

Check out my full review here!

Aquicorn Cove by Kay O’Neill

I can’t get enough of Kay O’Neill’s artwork and stories. The illustrations are beautiful, captivating, and comforting. The pastel tones and softness of shapes matches the soothing tone of her narratives. In their author bio, they say that they write “gentle fantasy stories,” and I think that’s the perfect description.

This is a love letter to the ocean. Lana clearly loves being back by the water, and she nurtures a baby aquicorn she finds stranded in a tidal pool. The environmentalist message includes information at the back of the book about coral reefs and how we can take care of them.

The romance is between Lana’s aunt and an underwater woman creature (not a mermaid… she kind of reminds me of a Pokemon, but in a good way). In flashbacks, we see how they got closer, and then how they drifted apart. Their town depends on fishing, and it becomes a point of tension between them.

Check out my review here!

Princess Princess Ever After by Kay O’Neill

And, of course, I can’t forget to mention Kay O’Neill’s first graphic novel, Princess Princess Ever After.

This has the same adorable style I’ve come to expect from this author (even the end papers are adorable!) Originally a webcomic, this is a short romp about two princesses saving each other. It’s maybe not as well-developed as their later books, but still well worth the space on your shelves, especially to read to/with younger kids.

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The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag

This follows Morgan Kwon, a 15 year old with a plan for her life. She’s going to keep her head down until she graduates, and then she’s going to become her authentic self.

When she almost drowns and is rescued by a selkie, her plan is upended. The next day, Keltie appears on land in human form: something she can only do every 7 years. While they both clearly are romantically interested in each other, Morgan panics that Keltie–with her bluntness, her weird clothing, her unrestrained personality–will out her. But she doesn’t want to walk away, either, so she tries to balance these two lives.

I love the artwork here and the quiet exploration of Morgan’s character. She has to learn to be true to herself and embrace when life doesn’t go to plan–that it’s okay to let things get messy.

Check out my full review here!

Space Battle Lunchtime series by Natalie Riess

This comic is an all-ages queer women comic about a competitive cooking show… in space. What could be better?? Peony agrees to be in a competitive cooking show, only to be transported onto the spaceship it’s being filmed on. That’s when she realizes that this isn’t space-themed, it’s literally in outer space. But she takes the existence of aliens in stride, and concentrates on the competition. And, okay, maybe one of the cute alien contestants.

I highly, highly recommend reading volume 1 & 2 back to back, because they really are one complete story. Then you get the bonus of book 3. This is such a joyful series!

Check out my review of volumes 1 and 2 here and volume 3 here!

Lumberjanes series by ND Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters

I feel like recommending Lumberjanes as a queer all-ages comic should go without saying, but I will say it all the same!

This is a comic that follows a group of girls at summer camp, where they get into fantastical adventures. The strongest part of the series is the dynamic between the 5 main characters. They all have different personalities, strengths, fears, priorities, etc, but they are a tightly-knit group. They support each other. And we get to see each one spotlighted at some point.

This is also a diverse cast, including multiple trans characters, and two of the girls start dating. This is a fun series to read as an adult, but I’m especially glad it exists for kids and teens. The main characters are different ages and also a little ambiguous, so this really works as a recommendation for 9 and up, I’d say. And it’s still going!

Check out my review here!

Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

SuperMutant Magic Academy takes place at a boarding school for disaffected, superpowered teens. The stories are more high school drama than superhero comic, though. My favorite character is Frances, a guerilla artist who relishes in disturbing the comfortable and is only ever shaken by one panel where a teacher coolly observes that her art is “a little 70s”.

Mostly stand-alone comics, the plot that does exist surrounds Marsha, a sarcastic, often apathetic psychic student, and her best friend Wendy, a fox girl who she has hopelessly fallen for. Marsha is closeted and debates about whether to tell Wendy about her feelings. Marsha is acts superior about Wendy’s naiveté and optimism, often criticizing her about it, despite the fact that those are clearly the traits that made her fall in love with Wendy.

Irreverent, funny, and just a little bit sad; if you’ve got a bit of a pessimistic sense of humor, you’ll love this one.

Check out my review here.

Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell

I love Sophie Campbell’s art style in this: colorful and vibrant, with characters of all different shapes and sizes. It is unbelievably cute.

You don’t have to be familiar with the original Jem and the Holograms to pick this up: it’s a re-imagining of the original concept. 4 sisters start a band together, but their lead singer, Jerrica, has debilitating stage fright. Luckily, they get access to hologram technology, so Jerrica can perform disguised as the confident and larger than life Jem.

Also, one of the sisters gets a crush on a member of rival band The Misfits! So much fun!

Heavy Vinyl, Volume 1 by Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva

Chris is a teenager who has just started working at the local record store. (It’s the 90s.) All her coworkers seem impossibly cool, and she immediately starts crushing on one of them. As the cover would suggest, though, it’s not just music that this group of girls is passionate about. Chris finds herself getting initiated into a network of teen girl vigilante gangs.

It’s a little bit Empire Records, a little bit Josie and the Pussycats (the movie), with bonus vigilante, mystery-solving teen girl gang and a queer main character. The strength and weakness of this is how cute it is. You wouldn’t think that a story about a vigilante gang would be so fluffy, but it is! It’s more Scooby Doo than anything else. If you’re looking for a fun and hopeful read, set in a 90s with no homophobia, pick this one up.

Check out my review here.

Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess Vols. 1-3 by Jeremy Whitley

Raven is the daughter of a pirate captain, and she was supposed to inherit the title. Unfortunately, her brothers stole that from her. Now, she’s determined to put together her own crew, get a ship, and regain what’s rightfully hers.

This is a diverse, all-women pirate crew bent on revenge. There’s an f/f romance between Raven and another member of the crew, who was a childhood friend until Raven betrayed her. (Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers?)

The whole crew gets time for their characters to develop, and there is a lot of diversity between them, including a Deaf crew member who uses sign language. In addition to adventure and heartbreak, there’s also a lot of satire, especially making feminist points, and fun references.

Check out my review here!

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Adult

Heathen series by Natasha Alterici

I feel like Heathen is a book that lots of people are looking for, but they don’t know it’s an option. It’s about a lesbian viking taking on the patriarchy. Norse mythology with a queer lead!

Aydis is banished from her community–and meant to be killed–for kissing a girl. Instead of feeling shame, she feels outrage at a system that punishes her for this. She decides to free Brynhild, a Valkyrie who is imprisoned in fire by Odin.

That’s only the beginning, though. This is a quest to take down the patriarchy, and along the way Aydis and her allies defend other outcasts. She also runs into some talking wolves and a talking horse as well as Freyja, goddess of love. Oh, and of course, she picks a fight with the most powerful enemy you can find in Norse mythology: Odin.

Check out my review here.

When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll

When I found out Emily Carroll wrote a sapphic vampire horror erotica graphic novel, I couldn’t believe my luck.

Carroll’s art style is gorgeous and compelling, and the black, white, and red color scheme works so well in this. The story has a haunting, almost fairy tale feel that slips into the dreamlike. Do I completely understand what happened? No. But I was enthralled. There is plenty of gore and blood, but it’s juxtaposed with the eroticism, which just heightens that feeling of unease.

Caroll is a master of page design, and almost every spread is arranged differently: the view through a keyhole, an all-text page telling a story, a coffin illuminated in a ray of light. I’d want them framed and on my wall if there wasn’t the nightmare factor.

Check out my full review here!

Motor Crush Vol 1 by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr

Domino races by day in motorcycle races that serve as the main source of entertainment in this society. She’s tracked by a floating camera asking for constant updates and interviews. By night, she races gangs, where there is no limits to the lengths you can go to in order to win the pot. (You can see Domino’s weapon of choice on the cover.) While others race for Crush because it boosts their engines (and apparently motorcycles can get addicted to it??), Domino needs it to live.

There are plenty of good reasons to like Motor Crush, but what really sold me on it was Domino’s ex-girlfriend, Lola. Who can resist a beautiful, curvy, femme woman with hot pink hair who’s on a motorcycle? Did I mention that she’s a mechanic, too? Swoon.

Check out my review here.

Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey, Pius Bak, and Roman Titov

Joey is meeting her boyfriend’s family, and it’s understandably stressful. They’re wealthy; she’s not. It goes about as well as you’d expect at first. Joey feels judged and out of place. This is a short graphic novel, so I don’t want to spoil anything, but I think you can probably guess that this rich community is eating people; it’s revealed pretty quickly.

This an over-the-top, gruesome, funny, anti-capitalism, queer graphic novel that I enjoyed from beginning to end. In just a few pages, I completely fell for Petal, the nanny, who wears a “Loud and Queer” t-shirt and assures Joey that yes, she knows how awesome she is. I think I can safely say that if you like the title and cover, you’ll love this book, and it was such a fun one-sitting Halloween read.

Check out my review here.

Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman

In Stage Dreams, Grace is in a stage coach, on the run. The coach is being driven through an area that’s being haunted by the Ghost Hawk, a supernatural giant hawk that swoops down on carriages and robs them! When Grace’s coach is targeted, she discovers that the Ghost Hawk is, in fact, Flor: a Latina woman who robs coaches, with her (regular-sized) pet hawk–not the story stagecoach drivers like to tell about the experience!

When the stagecoach fails to produce any worthwhile goods, Flor takes Grace instead, in the hopes of getting some ransom money from her family. Her plan falls apart when she finds out that Grace is trans and is running away from her family. Instead, the two end up hatching a plan together to pull of another heist–one that could set them both up for life.

Although I would have liked for this to be a little longer, I really enjoyed the art, characters, and historical context (the end notes are packed with info). Westerns are not usually my genre, but I was sucked into this story. Definitely pick it up for a quick, engaging read with a diversity of characters not often seen in this setting.

Check out my review here.

Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings and Vampire Island by Sarah Graley

Becka is an art school student who is crushing hard on Kim, a gothic girl in her class. Little does she know, Kim is a part-time Grim Reaper, and instead of heading off to the pub after class with a cute girl, Becka ends up being pulled into some dangerous undead shenanigans.

This is so much fun to read. The plot is silly (they fight a bodybuilder and his army of cats!) and the art is super cute. I think Becka is the cutest character I’ve ever seen in my life.

Check out my reviews of volume 1 and volume 2.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg

The framing device here is that Cherry’s husband has made a bet with another man, Manfred, that he can’t seduce Cherry in 100 nights. In order to save Cherry from being forced into this arrangement, Hero (her lover and maid) tells Manfred stories over the course of these nights, with the promise that once he seduces Cherry, the stories will end. These stories are engaging in themselves, and resemble folk tales. They revolve around women, often sisters, and as those characters tell their own narratives, the nesting story structure grows.

Although there’s a timeless, folk lore feel to the story, there’s also some moments of great, clever humor thrown in, including the narrator cutting in for commentary, and Hero and Cherry using vocabulary I was not expecting! Mostly the humor is dry, feminist wit.

This a beautiful, epic love story that centers on two women. That fundamentally respects women and their love. This is a story that respects storytelling, that believes that stories can change the world. This is the queer feminist mythology we deserve.

Check out my review here.

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai

Ray’s sister is an overstretched single mother, and Ray offered to step in and take care of her niece twice a week. 6-year-old Nessie adores spending time with them, especially since Aunt Bron is the most fun to play with.

Outside of these adventures, though, Bron and Ray are struggling. This a painfully relatable story. It’s about the messiness of everyday queerness. Ray and Bron tried to build an ideal life together, but they couldn’t outrun the underlying issues of living in a transphobic heterosexist world, especially when they formed the foundation of your early life. There are no easy answers, just humans tentatively reaching out to each other, finding both hurt and comfort.

Check out my review here.

Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant

This is a queer, polyamorous, BDSM fluffy love story. Hazel is in an open relationship with her boyfriend, and she bumps into Argent, a confident and kind domme, at a party. They click instantly, and Argent helps Hazel learn more about negotiating polyamorous relationships.

Sugar Town is a sweet, soft story. Everyone in it treats each other with respect and caring. They check in. They talk about their feelings. Hazel is still figuring out jealousy and other aspects of polyamory, but that’s okay. They’re not simmering underneath, they’re freely discussed.

I also loved the art style, which reinforces that warm and welcoming feel. I want to crawl inside the pages and curl up there. This is definitely one of my rare 5 star ratings: I loved every panel, and I know I will return to it when I need something hopeful to dive into for a little while. What a treat.

Check out my review here.

Always Human by Ari North

I read this as a webcomic, but it’s newly available as a graphic novel! This is technically sci fi, set at a time where people can modify their bodies easily. Sunati loves changing her appearance all the time, though she never changes her natural skin colour. Austen is unable to change her appearance—her immune system rejects them.

But mostly this is about about the relationship between them. It’s a sweet, gentle, and thoughtful read. The art is beautiful and bright, and I plan to read anything Ari North puts out.

Girl Town by Carolyn Nowak

What a weird and wonderful book. This a collection of comic short stories, which differ in characters and style, but have a similar vibe of women’s complicated relationships with each other, and a general sense of unease and yearning. With beginning lines like “I have lived with Ashley and Jolene since we all got kicked out of astronaut school for being too good-looking to be sent to space,” Girl Town wastes no time in introducing you to a world that’s one step out of sync with our own, while still seeming eerily familiar.

Girl Town is a surreal and affecting read. I felt off-kilter while reading it, with the odd worlds and only brief glimpses into these lives, but the emotions rang true. I read this book because my coworker put it in my hands and said “I just read this and I think you’re really like it.” Not only am I glad to have had it put in my hands, I’m also flattered to be associated with a queer weirdo feelings comic like this one.

Check out my review here.

America Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Gabby Rivera

If you liked Juliet Takes a Breath, you should also pick up Gabby Rivera’s comics! Although this is a different genre, it has Rivera’s signature style, complete with pep talks.

Although I felt like I was missing something, because I haven’t read any other Marvel comics with these characters, I still enjoyed it, especially getting an openly queer women of color superhero. She also has two moms!

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Darlin’ It’s Betta Down Where It’s Wetta by Rosalarian writing as Megan Rose Gedris

Down Where It’s Wetta is a lesbian mermaid erotica graphic novel made up of short arcs, all featuring the same characters. This is light on plot, but there is enough variety in setting to keep it interesting.

I love Rosalarian’s artwork, and this volume is no exception. The subtle watercolor-like shading in the full-color edition really adds interest to the pages, I thought. Although the focus is definitely on sex, I also really enjoyed the humor in Down Where It’s Wetta. The author makes a few appearances in the pages, including defending their use of a half-page detailed illustration of shoes as definitely pornographic. Chloe, especially, makes for a ridiculous (and entertaining) character to read. She makes the kind of choices that you wouldn’t be able to stand in a friend but lap up in a fictional landscape.

(Also, fun fact, the Lesbrary banner is by Rosalarian!)

Check out my review here!

Manga:

I have only dabbled in manga! But it’s definitely something I want to explore more. If you want more recommendations, check out Okazu!

Run Away With Me, Girl, Vol. 1 by Battan

Several of the manga I’ve really enjoyed I haven’t yet reviewed, because I like to wait until I’ve read several volumes and review them all at once, so full review to come!

Maki and Midori dated all through school—but once they graduated, Midori broke up with her, saying they were now adults and needed to get boyfriends. 10 years later, Maki bumps into Midori and found she’s done just that. In fact, she’s engaged. But her fiancé is an asshole, and Midori and Maki still seem to still have their old chemistry. Maki can’t help wondering if she should try to convince Midori that she was wrong to ever break up with her.

This is a promising start to the series, and I absolutely love that cover. I can’t wait to read the next volumes!

I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up by Naoko Kodama

I know, I know, but ignore the title for a minute! This is genuinely good. This short, standalone manga is about a fake marriage: Morimoto is sick of being constantly set up by her parents. Her friend Hana suggests that they get married.

Unsurprisingly, Hana and Morimoto’s relationship changes as they live together. Morimoto also finds new confidence in herself: she is inspired by Hana, by her dedication to her passion (art) and her defiance in being unapologetically out. It was gratifying to see an out character, one who even uses the word “lesbian,” in the pages of a yuri manga. This has all of the appeal that yuri manga usually has for me: it’s a quick, absorbing, and adorable read. But it adds more depth and realism than I expect from this genre. It had me absolutely grinning as I read it.

Girl Friends: The Complete Collection by Milk Morinaga

This seems to the quintessential yuri series:  It’s school girls, and a lot of blushing, and the typical “girls don’t do this” heteronormativity. I read this in the omnibus, and talk about a slow burn! This is almost 500 pages, and mostly just about Mariko making a new friend, falling in love with her, and then (much later) realizing that she’s fallen in love with her.

Girl Friends is super cute, but with the melodrama of agonizing over a crush on a girl. This is a fun, quick, addictive read.

Check out my review of volume 1 and volume 2.

My Cute Little Kitten Vol. 1 by Milk Morinaga

When I saw Milk Morinaga had a new yuri manga series with adult main characters, I had to pick it up. And I was not disappointed.

This is adorable, as you’d expect from the title and cover. Rena and Yuna are roommates that started living together in college and never stopped. Rena is in love with Yuna, but has never told her. When Yuna brings home a stray kitten and wants to move to a pet-friendly apartment together to raise it, Rena confesses her feelings, unable to keep this up any longer. But Yuna’s reaction isn’t what she expected.

With most manga volumes, I feel like I’ve gotten just a taste of the story—each volume feels more like a chapter. This one covered a lot of ground in just volume one, though, and I’m looking forward to seeing these two stumble through their relationship and learning how to communicate with each other in the next volumes.

Check out my review here.