Tough Love: High School Confidential - Softcover

Denson, Abby

3.38

80 ratings by Goodreads

9781933149080: Tough Love: High School Confidential

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933149086 ISBN 13: 9781933149080

Publisher: Manic D Press, Inc., 2006

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"Abby Denson's teen romance has the simplicity and heart of a secret love note on lined composition paper."—Howard Cruse

"Abby Denson is a pioneer . . . doing something that few others have even thought of doing."—Manga News

Inspired by shounen-ai manga—melodramatic Japanese comics by girls about gay boys—Tough Love is a teen romance and coming-out story about a shy boy named Brian. More realistic than Japanese manga, this story centers on the relationships Brian develops with the boy he likes, Chris, and Julie, the girl who befriends him. Serious issues like gay bashing, suicide, and coming to terms with one's own sexual identity are depicted with an honest, gentle touch. Socially relevant, fun, immediately accessible, and a bit of a soap opera, Tough Love helps gay teenagers to be more comfortable with themselves and less troubled, especially when they’re feeling alone and misunderstood.

Abby Denson has been drawing and writing comics for XY magazine since 1996. She has also scripted comics for The Powerpuff Girls, The Simpsons, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, Disney Adventures, and Nickelodeon magazine. She has a BFA in illustration from Parsons School of Design. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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About the Author:

Abby Denson lives in Brooklyn, NY. She has been drawing and writing comics for XY Magazine since 1996. She has also scripted comics for The Powerpuff Girls, The Simpsons, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, Disney Adventures, and Nickelodeon Magazine. She has a BFA in Illustration from Parsons School of Design.

From Publishers Weekly:

Derived from Japanese boys' love comics (yaoi/shonen-ai), this tells the story of Brian, a newcomer to his suburban high school, and his budding romance with Chris, a classmate. Denson substitutes reality for romance, confronting issues of adolescent homosexuality with a self-conscious sincerity. Often times, the boys are suspended between cold reality, as when the jocks in the school assault Brian, and bliss, when Chris and Brian are able to act as a couple. Denson's jagged illustration evokes a punk rock aesthetic that harkens back to the anti-establishment sentiment of adolescence. Unfortunately, true to adolescence, much of Tough Love is portrayed with an awkwardness that flattens intense moments of confrontation. For instance, in Brian's coming-out scene with his mother, she expresses disappointment but remains relatively unfazed. While Denson attempts a more realistic portrayal of teen homosexuality than is seen in Japanese comics, sometimes the real-life elements of the story feel the most fantastic. However, as the first book to combine the cute guys of yaoi manga with the American sensibility of gay pride, Tough Love becomes a shy, anxious testament to growing up gay in suburbia. (June)
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