Dedication: "To our queer and trans ancestors. Far too many of your stories were lost, but we remember you." - Melanie Gillman.
Come one, come all:
It's 'Stage Dreams'!
It's an LBGTQ wild wild west graphic novel, starring a queer Latinx cowgirl outlaw, Flor, and a white transwoman runaway, Grace, and their budding romance.
I'm not usually into western adventure stories; I tend to find them very boring. But if they were as fun, colourful, charming, truthful, and diverse as 'Stage Dreams', then I would have favoured them hard. The pastel colours art of the book is also beyond lovely and well done.
'Stage Dreams' is erased history come back to life; it is educational, feminist, and adorable yet unwavering in the face of brutality, colonialism, territorial takeovers, white men's wars, the patriarchy, rape culture and setting boundaries, and other issues.
There are hawks, heists and a highwaywoman! Plenty of dresses and tailoring too. If only it didn't end so soon and was a finished story, then I would have rewarded it all of the stars!
Read and fall for 'Stage Dreams' by Melanie Gillman: Learn what history classes don't teach you (that queer people have always existed, to name a few lessons), and have great fun along the highway!
Final Score: 4/5
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