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12th out of 60 books
—
23 voters
The Complete Wendel
The complete collection of the entire groundbreaking gay comic strip series. Originally published in The Advocate throughout the 1980s, Howard Cruse’s Wendel is widely considered the first gay comic strip to be featured in mainstream media. A topical and heartfelt chronicle of one gay man’s journey through the often-rocky Reagan-Bush years, the strip followed the adventure...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
April 5th 2011
by Universe
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I really enjoyed this book, it's probably the best cartoon strip series I've ever read.
The strip traces the timultous 1980's with wit and compassion, making me both laugh and cry, but ultimately not doing too much of either. The strip really lends itself to the long-format story and an in-depth look at the lives of these characters.
I took a star off as I would have liked to laugh a bit more. Also I don't understand the tendency with collections to include long introductions discussing the work u...more
The strip traces the timultous 1980's with wit and compassion, making me both laugh and cry, but ultimately not doing too much of either. The strip really lends itself to the long-format story and an in-depth look at the lives of these characters.
I took a star off as I would have liked to laugh a bit more. Also I don't understand the tendency with collections to include long introductions discussing the work u...more
I just finished Howard Cruse's The Complete Wendel. Appearing in The Advocate between 1983 and 1989, Wendel tells the story of a handful of gay and lesbian characters and their families during the Reagan years following the overall arc of Wendel Trupstock as he comes into his own, begins a relationship and tries to be a writer. Throughout this is the beginning of the AIDS crisis and the 1987 March on Washington. You'll meet his friend Deb with whom he works at Effluvia magazine, his new boyfrien...more
I'm so glad this exists.
It kind of blows my mind that people have been this progressive for so long. Before The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, Cruse was chronicling the hijinks of a gay dude, his partner, his partner's kid, and a whole bunch of wacky secondary characters. He touches on parenting (and ex-wives), AIDS, advocacy, journalism ethics, unhealthy romantic entanglements, and more.
The illustrations are very in the Archie tradition, which was rather eerie for me, as I read a lot of Ar...more
It kind of blows my mind that people have been this progressive for so long. Before The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, Cruse was chronicling the hijinks of a gay dude, his partner, his partner's kid, and a whole bunch of wacky secondary characters. He touches on parenting (and ex-wives), AIDS, advocacy, journalism ethics, unhealthy romantic entanglements, and more.
The illustrations are very in the Archie tradition, which was rather eerie for me, as I read a lot of Ar...more
These are very good comics: witty, clever, sophisticated, satirical, realistic (more or less), insightful, and occasionally sad, as Cruse tracks the life of his eponymous hero, coming to trerms with gay adulthood in the 1980s (when these strips were written; hence the occasional strains of tragedy, as the AIDS epidemic was at its most horrifying during those years). These strips must have been groundbreaking at the time for the way they normalize gay life. Yes, there's sex and nudity (full front...more
I loved it! This book was so funny. It was insightful, realistic and hilarious. Gay comics=swoon.
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