Various, The Book of Boy Trouble - comic review

GAY

Edited by two of its contributors, Robert Kirby and David Kelly, The Book of Boy Trouble brings together selected highlights of the first ten years of the alternative fanzine of the same title (minus the ‘book’ bit). It’s a collection whose themes and attitudes are as varied as the drawing styles, from wide-eyed American cuties in sweet, fine-lined strips, through heavily-hatched cynicism, to boggling embarrassment from - no surprise - a British contributor.

The best include strips by Anonymous Boy (whose hard, sexy teenage exterior hides an interior that’s in the uncertain process of giving shape to his feelings), Sina (the aforementioned Brit, who captures the gulping awkwardness of young attraction) and Jaime Cortez (a sublime narrative concerning an older white guy’s appreciation of a Mexican muchaco boy). Although a touch too ‘apple pie’ in places, there is enough range here to strike a chord with any gay boy reader.