Something Like Summer - The Comic - Volume One: Summer

Something Like Summer- The Comic #1

by Jay Bell

The hot Texas nights were lonely for Ben before his heart began beating to the rhythm of two words; Tim Wyman. By all appearances, Tim had the perfect body and ideal life, but when a not-so-accidental collision brings them together, Ben discovers that the truth is rarely so simple. If winning Tim's heart was an impossible quest, keeping it would prove even harder as family, society, and emotion threaten to tear them apart.

Jay Bell's bestselling Something Like... series is retold in vivid color, the story now accompanied by Cassy Fallon’s evocative art. This adaptation is the perfect starting point for newcomers, while those familiar with the novels and movie will discover fresh twists and turns. Experience a love story like no other in this first volume of collected comics!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Romance, LGBT, Comics, Queer, Contemporary, Fiction

125 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2019

About the author

Jay Bell is a proud gay man and the award-winning author behind dozens of emotional and yet hopelessly optimistic stories. His best-selling book, Something Like Summer, spawned a series of heart-wrenching novels, a musically driven movie, and a lovingly drawn comic. When not crafting imaginary worlds, he occupies his free time with animals, art, action figures, and—most ardently—his husband Andreas. Jay is always dreaming up new stories about boys in love. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can get the kettle boiling by visiting www.jaybellbooks.com.

Reviews

[Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one immensely!
There are so many important issues and topics that are tackled and the combination of the story and art is amazing! <3

I loved how Tim and Ben discovered their love for each other and even though I was not okay with a lot of the things that happened in here, I still think that it's important they were a part of the story. Coming out is never easy, especially not if you have parents that won't or can't accept you the way you are. Poor Tim! My heart hurts so much for him, but also for Ben because none of them deserves to go through this. Ben leaving the key at Tim's house at the end of this broke me!! T_T

I love how many thoughts Jay Bell put into this and how perfectly the artist captured them. This feels real and true! And I can't wait to continue with "Autumn"!

P.S: I love Jay's comments on every episode. They really make you think and feel. =)

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am having trouble liking the two main characters here. But I do know that things are going to change in the second volume. It's just who the characters are.

The characters are in their stage of life where things in life are rather confusing and I totally get that. Let's stop expecting the young adult characters to behave like mature adults who are making their worse mistakes their lives. With this mind when I read such genres, I tend to understand the characters better.

Ben has been facing harrassment and homophobic comments on a daily basis ever since he came out.
He ignores everything but he just cannot ignore the fact that he's alone and he needs someone in his life to have that special relationship. He develops a hopeless crush on Tim who's giving him mixed signals throughout the entire story ever since they became acquainted with each other.

Ben has an amazing best friend and a loving, understanding family, don't get me wrong. We all know how it feels to want to be with someone special. But I was always on the edge while reading this hoping he doesn't get hurt. Like I was actually worried about him. Damn, he became my cinnamon roll that easily 😋

So far the characters are developed well. The second volume seems promising enough!
Already into the first 5 chapters of the next volume.

Hope things work out for Ben.

I didn't like some stereotypes as was being depicted in the story.

[Calafthereader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The comics is very well made. I didn’t expect it to be as good as the book and I was right. Everything is done well but could have been expanded considerably. I had the feeling it skimmed the surface of Tim’s character. Also, and Jay Bell is okay with that, some details of the story are different. It’s a bit like having read the book real quick and being distracted all the time. Normally the visuals should imprint themselves in the mind, but not here. I keep thinking how the book treated the scenes and characters with more complexity.

While the book has some intimate scenes that are treated with frankness but also a good dose of modesty, the comics is even more reticent in that regard. There’s even one panel where partial frontal nudity is blocked with a crude blot of black ink - the equivalent of the blurred spots on film or pictures. It’s like this comics adaptation had gone from a Teen/YA rating to a non controversial PG one. Maybe the idea was to bring a MM teen romance to a younger audience.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4 stars

This book is Jay Bell and Cassy Fallon’s graphic novel adaptation of Something Like Summer, the first book in the Seasons series (and part of the larger Something Like series). I have only read the first of the novels and loved the ever changing trajectories of the main characters. Fans of the novels should understand this graphic novel only covers Ben and Tim’s senior year of high school, whereas the book went quite a bit further (the novel covers around a decade).

As far as the story goes, I think the content has been whittled down enough to work well with a graphic novel format. Of course, most of the action focuses on Tim and Ben’s changing relationship, but there’s also the bullying Ben endures and the support Ben gets from his best friend Allison (TW: she is the target of some domestic violence; readers can see the bruising on her face). Bell strikes a good balance between developing the Ben/Tim story and incorporating the supporting cast throughout the book.

Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.

[That One Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that the graphic novel version of Summer was good. I think it can serve as a good introduction to the story for new readers or a fun refresher for those that are long time fans.

The artwork was really great, and I do like that they changed the time period to current times so it feels more relatable in the visuals with fashions and dialog. Ben is a little hipster and has definitely got some style! He's by far the cuter of the two, but then again I always pictured him as the cuter one.

I understand that in this medium, they had to shorten the storyline to fit, and while it makes sense, I felt that it oversimplified Ben and Tim's relationship. I dont think the medium was able to capture the nuances as much as the original novel. So, for me, the story didn't seem as captivating.

Its a fun, quick read though and being a huge fan of the whole series, its a nice addition to the collection!

[Marsh Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an interesting plot about an out gay character who connects with a closeted gay character after accidentally hurting him. It's a little unbelievable in that respect, but I felt the subject of self-respect and familial pressures were handled well and the ending was believable. The artwork was great. I'd recommend this one.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

having read the entire something like series, not sure what the comic version brought to the overall story. not much, really. Still, its always nice reading up on Ben and Tim.

[viccuza · Rating 2 out of 5]

love it kaoska!!

[Nathalie Korhonen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to try to be constructive in this review. I know that the plot is based off of aspects of the author's life, and I don't want to invalidate that in any way. Furthermore, I read this on Tapas for free, so who am I to complain? That said, all art is open to critique, so long as it's not malicious.
If it weren't for the more explicit scenes, I would say that this is a middle-grade book and I think that that's the main problem I had with it. I read it as someone who's already gone through coming out and high school, so the story didn't resonate with me as much. This is probably a good and helpful read for people in high school, figuring themselves out, but for me, it fell flat.
The story is pretty simplistic, and the reduced format of a graphic novel made the characters feel very flat. I haven't read the novel, so I don't know if this is also the case there. The characters feel underdeveloped and reliant on over-played archetypes. Parts of this story read like a fanfic: trope-heavy, over-dramatic, and rushed. I think that Victor's character is the best example of this. He has a couple strange personality traits, makes these insane "philosophical" statements but there doesn't seem to be very much behind it all. Like a lot of YA romance, the characters declare their undying love at the age of about 19, which I'm not a huge fan of. The characters do a lot of telling, but not a whole lot of showing.
There are a couple problematic aspects in this book. Some of them have been addressed by the author on Tapas, so I'm not going to talk about those particular examples. In the first few chapters, Ben is essentially a stalker. I would have been open to a discussion of how feeling isolated drives people to do bad things, but instead this is not really addressed. If anything, it's shown as justifiable since Ben is a victim of homophobic bullying. This would have been a good example to show character growth, but in reality his behaviour is rewarded: he does become involved with the guy that he stalks. This said, it's not actually a huge plot point, so I'll let it slide. My main issue is the lack of trigger warnings for anything other than explicit content. It's common practice on Tapas to have a trigger warning before a chapter, and I think it's especially important in a graphic novel. So here are the relevant trigger warnings: homophobic abuse, physical domestic abuse, suicide attempt, and self-harm.
This book just wasn't for me, but there are some things in here that I think are objectively bad.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Something Like Summer, Volume One: Summer” is a webcomic based on the original novel by Jay Bell with beautiful artwork by Cassy Fallon. The first volume was collected into physical print via Kickstarter, which I serendipitously stumbled upon during the third volume’s campaign. I had always meant to read Jay Bell’s novels after reading a few of his short stories & just never got around to it. This is partly because I also saw the film based on the series, & while I enjoyed it, I was sad the character I liked best ended up dying. He doesn’t even appear in this volume though.

The story is a cute high school seniors romance between out Ben & closeted new jock Tim (who’s also biracial & bilingual). After Ben accidentally injures Tim, they become friends & something more. But will Tim be able to come out to his conservative parents? How long with Ben be content with being a secret?

All in all, I thought the story was a typical romance concept told with heart, humor, & enough uniqueness that I read it all in one sitting. Definitely for anyone who likes a cute romance that veers into being sensual & mildly naughty without being especially erotic or pornographic. Sex-positive, but it isn’t gratuitous. The plot & characters stay most important & the first volume leaves on a satisfying note while of course leaving the door open for a college-centric second volume. Tim & Ben take up center stage, but their families & friends make for interesting side characters. Ben’s best friend Allison especially gets great moments to shine & even have her one moments, though I hope she gets more development in the next volumes (which I think she does).

Also the art is just really lovely. Very webcomicy but more sophisticated than the more simple & subtle “Heartstopper” without also being overly glossy & unreal like a superhero comic. There a slight sketch grit to it that I find sincere & realistic. The characters look like they could be real people while still having animated charms. I like that all the characters have a style. Orange/Summer & Blue/Winter colors make for interesting symbolism.

A definite recommend for anyone who likes gay/queer comics with POC rep. Will read again. Could even be a comfort read. Much more curious about the novels now. I guess I’ll be lost in “Something Like…” for awhile. 😹

[R E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read the novel first so I could read this comic. Author Jay Bell updates the story in the novel from 1996 to today, streamlining as he goes so that this first volume of the graphic novel covers Part 1 of the book.

In general, it’s a successful adaptation from the story viewpoint. Both Ben and Tim come across as better people in the comic than in the book, although it ends similarly to the way Part 1 ends in the novel. But Bell hits all the key scenes and dialogue from the book, despite the fact that the teens now have access to smartphones (unlike the novel, set in 1996).

The art is another matter.

Bell makes it clear he’s happy with artwork, and I’ll likely by the next two volumes so I have a complete set. At times, artist Cassy Fallon’s work shines but more often it’s clear she’s cutting corners and doesn’t know how to create a consistent and compelling space within her panels. Rather than linear perspective, she often simply overlaps figures and objects to convey a hazy sense of the third dimension. The panels are often sparse. At least once she simply duplicates another panel while changing a characters expression. On another page showing Ben against a bright brick wall, instead of a coherent color scheme she resorts to giving the characters a darker halo of color so that they don’t get lost and show up better. Her figures can at times be lovely but more often are wonky; Tim is shown running with a strange, unnatural running gate, legs splayed out in an inverted ‘V’ shape. In a number of places figures’ proportions are fudged to fit into the panels with waists rammed up into torsos. Put this together with ever-changing head sizes and facial features (Ben sometimes has a broad chin and at others a narrow one) and other anatomical inconsistencies, and you have an artist that hasn’t quite mastered her medium - it frequently looks like the work of a college student rather than a skilled professional.

I won’t even talk about that lackadaisical panel compositions and the uninspired page compositions.

While I want as keen on the Something Like Summer story as I thought I’d be, it deserves higher quality art.

[Doug Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

So just having finished the source novel, I was curious to see how this translated in a graphic novel.
Now understand, I don’t read enough graphic novels to have a basis of comparison to know how to rate this.

Here’s what I do know:
1. The art is ok. I like that it isn’t typical of either superhero style or manga. I don’t love it tho either; it leans a bit too close to cartoons for me. I would have liked a more ‘serious’ (?) style.
2. Where diversions from the original plot are taken, they make sense. ...also proving there was some fat to trim in the original novel.
3. The GN ends at about the halfway point of the novel. So cliffhanger. No HEA or HFN. As a stand-alone piece, that’s a heartbreaker.
4. I still love Ben and Tim. As messed up as their young love is; I still feel their drama with them.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly I can’t review a graphic novel the same as I would a standard novel, and it’s made even more difficult since this was a successful series of novels I really liked, and the graphic novel is an AU retelling. Ben’s story takes place in the present day versus the 1990s, and there are substantive changes. Texting makes a big difference in the plot, and Allison’s father’s story is directly changed as a result of resources now available as well changed mindsets on mental health since the 90s. How well does it work as a comic book versus a novel? I’m not sure what I’d say if I didn’t have the book handy as well. It certainly loses something, and while the AU is a chance to do something different, different isn’t always better. 4 stars feels about right. It’s interesting as a companion piece.

[jshgvx · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boże, jak dobrze, że to się już skończyło. Już dawno główny bohater mnie tak nie irytował swoimi decyzjami i jakimkolwiek brakiem pomyślunku. Nie dość, że koleś dosłownie zawsze wybierał najgorsze możliwości, które nijak nie mogły się skończyć dobrze, to dodatkowo kompletnie nie docierały do niego informacje zwrotne o tym, że to, co robi, nie jest mile widziane. Ponadto był pełen hipokryzji. Nie przeszkadza mu jakoś wielce, że jego "chłopak", chce żeby się ukrywali, ale już nie potrafi zrozumieć tego, że nie jest on gotowy na wyznanie mu miłości. Dodatkowo, jako wisienka na torcie, niektóre zachowania głównego bohatera podchodzą pod prześladowanie. Jedyna pozytywna rzecz, jaką można wynieść po przeczytaniu tego komiksu to to, jak nie pisać historii miłosnych.

[Boris del Sauce · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Story was good, a little cliche, but a good cliche. Open gay in love with a closeted guy. The problem are some things the protagonist do and say, like that he deserves the love of the jock, because the world owes him something, and trying to force an "I love you". I know they are in high school, but come on.

Something I didn't like too, the problem with Allison's dad, it was so unrealistic and weird. Maybe they needed more panels to resolve it beter, because it just looked like a moment to show how brave was the protagonist.

The good things, it has good phrases and funny jokes.

The art was inconsistent, but when done right, was very good.

[Alan Villafana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the something like series and finished whole series, including the something like stories volume 3. This interpretation threw me off guard with the story taking place in the current time and though I am still on the fence, I love how the modern takes, speaks on current stuff going on currently in the LGBTQ community. I am looking forward to volume 2 and looking forward to where this new interpretation takes fans and hopefully attracts new fans.

[{Alexandra} · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/10 The animation style is really fitting, but the story is very abbreviated and thus took away a lot of the character from both Tim and Ben. There’s also some plot changes, nothing mayor but still a bit off-putting if you’ve read the books. I realized quickly that the comics are set in the 2010s instead of the 90s, which makes a lot of difference (for me at least). All in all, decent comic, the story could be better but it was transferred pretty decently from words to art.

[Moraa (vacation hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this in my Tapas library (where the author was kind enough to offer it for free) for quite some time and I'm glad I finally decided to pick it up.
I flew through it like crazy.

THINGS I LIKED
- Queer rep 🏳️‍🌈
- The story line

THINGS I DIDN'T IMMEDIATELY LIKE BUT GREW ON ME
- The art style (it's really good)

I really want to pick up the books but 12 books (with my current schedule) is 😬

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to read the first part of Ben and Tim's story as a comic. Because of this format, their story was very condensed. Having read the novel, it feels like their story was oversimplified. The artwork was beautiful though. I did like the minor changes to their story, including the change in time period.

[Chloe McGenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this on Kickstarter and was -peasant;y surprised by a decent story. There were things I liked, and things I really hated. I also got volume 2, so I’ll be reading that to see if I like the main characters more in the next volume - right now, I’m not that fond of either of them

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice starting off point

Condensed version of Jay Bell's first Something Like book told in graphic novel form. Well done with nice illustrations. I'm now curious to check out more of the series.

[Daftfader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been slightly pacing myself while reading this, a few pages at a time.
I like that the setting was changed from the 90s to now, adds a new twist.
Looking forward to the next volume

[Syd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars. BEAUTIFUL.

[nana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
[screams into the void]

[Lillian Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is gorgeous but the story is bittersweet.

[José Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Em pé de igualdade com Heartstopper. Mal posso esperar pelos próximos!!!!

[Hunter Lambright · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic “out guy dating closet case” story that really could have been tightened up with some editing.

[Patricia allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this story. It's so much heeling and all. I can't wait to read more.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent story but ready for some character growth.

[pəˈteɪtəʊ · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can the moon be so alone and still shine so bright.