Oath: An Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes
by Audrey Redpath, Blue Delliquanti, Carey Pietsch, Sfé R. Monster, Megan Gedris, Rachel Dukes, Sarah Winifred Searle, Vaneda Vireak, K. VanDam, Camila Fortuna, Adriana Ferguson, Katherine Verhoeven, Theo Nicole Lorenz, Alex Law, Sara Goetter, Jenn St. Onge, Jon Erik Christianson, EA Denich, Ty Blauersouth, Lee Blauersouth, Apollo Pop, Milkrainn, Aud Koch, Kori Michele Handwerker, Steve Foxe, Allison Paige, Rian Sygh, Tini Howard
We picked this up at SPX 2016 because we've read and loved [b:Beyond: the Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology|20625032|Beyond the Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology|Sfe R. Monster|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441720978s/20625032.jpg|39910718] and other very similar anthologies. This has many of the same contributors.
My initial impression was that this was a very weak anthology on average. When I started listing the pieces I liked for this review, I realized it wasn't as dire as I'd thought. Unfortunately the bad stories are worse than average and none of the better stories reaches higher than four stars.
Overarching problems: Repetitive themes/plot points (it's an anthology: can't you solicit outlines or scripts to make sure that three or four different people aren't going to use the exact same idea?), poor/confusing writing (yes, you draw quite well. no, you should really get someone to read your script and help you fill the gaping leaps of logic).
Some of the high points, in order of appearance:
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One Dress, With Cape: Didactic but simultaneously cute, so I don't mind. Plus, the advice about parenting a GNC/trans kid is good.
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Lunch Break: At this point,
romance between two characters who turn out to have been worried about having to tell the other person they're trans is verging on a cliche, but I'm giving it a pass because I like that shit, and this is my review. Get your own. -
Jump: Successful because it doesn't try to be a full story, just capture a moment/feeling. And it does that so well in just three pages.
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Greenhouse: Interesting art, and one of the more original plotlines.
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Run!: Not very original in plot, but the art is beautiful and the subtleties of their expressions have a lot to do with how compelling the characters are. Also some of the better writing.
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Power Couple: A surprisingly interesting and coherent take on coming out as a superhero that successfully riffs on both lesbian and trans coming out narratives. ("Surprisingly coherent" sounds like damning with faint praise, but if you've read as many bad SF&F coming out metaphors as I have, ranging from "clumsy" to "unintentionally offensive" to "I don't think you even tried," you know how rare and precious that is.)