A review by bookph1le
The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics by The Kao, Min Christensen, David Daneman

5.0

This is a lovely anthology. If I had a complaint about it, it was that I wished I had more time with some of the artists, since all of the comics were so short. However, the upside is that there are a wide variety of artists from lots of different backgrounds represented here, so there's something for everyone. I enjoyed seeing the changes between art styles, which really run the gamut, because it just reinforces how personal art is to an artist, and how their personal style helps them express themself. I thought it was very impactful that the artists had lots of different experiences with figuring out their gender, and I think that will be helpful for others questioning their own gender. It also goes to show how different and personal gender and sexuality are, and how embracing the idea of both gender and sexuality as a spectrum offers people greater freedom. Trying to force everyone into binary boxes doesn't really serve anyone well, no matter how vehemently and violently some people reject the gender spectrum and the sexuality spectrum.

I think what struck me most about this anthology was that, even though each artist had a different experience, the universal themes are relief and joy at expressing yourself the way you want to express yourself. I hope everyone learns to embrace that kind of joy and freedom.