Comics studies is a field of academic research focused on comics and sequential art, including comic books, comic strips, cartoons, graphic novels, animation, digital media, and film.
If you have questions about finding comics or graphic novels for your research, please contact John Martin (he/him/his), the UNT Libraries Director of Scholarly Communication.
Watch No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics to learn more!
This film tells the story of five pioneering LGBTQ cartoonists- Alison Bechdel, Jennifer Camper, Howard Cruse, Rupert Kinnard, and Mary Wings- who depicted everything from the AIDS crisis, coming out, same-sex marriage, and themes of race, gender, and disability. The film explores how these artists resisted censorship and displayed tremendous courage and conviction in providing an uncensored window into queer lives from the 1970s onward, beginning at a time in which there was no other genuine queer storytelling in popular culture.
The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader: Critical Openings, Future Directions by Prism Comics is the leading non-profit, all-volunteer organization supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual and LGBTQIA-friendly comic books, comics professionals, readers and educators.
The following are a selection of comics, graphic novels, manga, and webcomics that feature LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
Queer comics start to appear in the 1970's, when the intersection of queer theory and comics begins, and can be used as primary source material, giving a snapshot of social issues at the time of publication. Additionally, because academia (where peer reviewed articles would generally come from) is still predominately white and cisgender, comics and graphic novels can be an avenue for publication for many historically marginalized populations that otherwise would not have a voice. In particular, "webcomics have become a lively space for trans and queer artists... to tell their stories."
Special thanks goes to library student assistant, Ryan McLendon (he, him, his), for contributing to this page.
The following is a comprehensive list of the LGBTQ comics published after 2000 in the UNT Libraries holdings:
No Straight Lines: four decades of queer comics by 
The OUT Side: trans & nonbinary comics by 
A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns by 
Tales from the House of Morecock by 
Theater of terror: revenge of the queers by 
The trans agenda: official propaganda for the radical and powerful trans lobby by 
What's Normal Anyway?: a comic about being trans male by The following is a comprehensive list of the LGBTQ graphic novels in the UNT Libraries holdings:
First Year Out: A transition story by 
Strangers in Paradise Bk. 1-6 by The following is a comprehensive list of the LGBTQ graphic memoirs/non-fiction in the UNT Libraries holdings:
Fun Home: a family tragicomic by 
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by 
Kimiko does cancer: a graphic memoir by 
Pregnant Butch: nine long months spent in drag by 
Queer As All Get Out: 10 people who've inspired me by The following are a selection of the LGBTQ manga in the UNT Libraries holdings. To find more, use the Advanced Search in the Libraries Catalog with the keyword of your choosing (lesbian/gay/transgender), enter "graphic novel" for the Genre and Japanese for the Language.
The Girl I Want Is So Handsome! - the Complete Manga Collection by 
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by 
My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1 & 2 by 
Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare by 
What Did You Eat Yesterday? by 
Would you like to be a family? by The following is a comprehensive list of the LGBTQ comics in the UNT Libraries holdings published before 2000, with one exception, for space reasons. Visit the Libraries catalog for more comics published by Alison Bechdel!
Abnormally Happy: A Gay Dictionary by 
Bitchy Butch: world's angriest dyke! by 
Domesticity Isn't Pretty: a Leonard & Larry collection by 
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by The following are a selection of free webcomics selected by the librarian:
