Eight graphic novels to read if you’ve finished Heartstopper

Isaac would be proud

2 years ago

So you’ve watched Netflix’s Heartstopper three times, read the graphic novels twice, and now you’re wondering what to do with your life? I know exactly how you feel. Luckily for us, there are plenty more graphic novels out there by queer people, about queer people. We’ve rounded up the best. Here are eight LGBTQ+ graphic novels to fill the Nick and Charlie-shaped hole in your heart.

Fun Home – Allison Bechdel

An absolute titan when it comes to queer comics. Allison Bechdel (of the Bechdel test) is a lesbian cartoonist who wrote Fun Home about her coming of age and coming out. The novel focuses on her relationship with her closeted dad, his job at a funeral home, and Allison’s experiences as a lesbian in the 80s. Fun Home was also adapted into a Broadway musical and won five Tony Awards!

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me – Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connor

If you’re missing the teenage relationship ups and downs of Heartstopper, you’re going to love Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me. This contemporary graphic novel follows Freddy, a 17-year-old lesbian as she navigates her on-again off-again relationship with her sometimes-girlfriend Laura Dean. There are lots of cute friendship moments in this one too, just in case you’re missing Tao, Elle, and Isaac.

How to be Ace: A Memoir of Growing up Asexual – Rebecca Burgess

Rebecca Burgess is an autistic, asexual writer and artist who uses they/them pronouns. Their memoir How to be Ace documents their journey of pretending to be something they’re not, battling anxiety and OCD, and discovering themself. This is the ace person’s Heartstopper: a great read if you’re looking to understand more about asexuality or to cry to if you’re asexual.

Bloom – Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

The main characters of Bloom, Ari and Hector, are a little older than Nick and Charlie, but their cute love story makes up for it. Ari has just graduated high school and wants to escape his job at the family bakery and move to the city. As he’s interviewing potential replacements for his job, he meets Hector, and I bet you can guess what happens next.

Breaks – Emma Vieceli and Malin Rydén

Breaks calls itself “a love story… but a little broken” which is perfect if you love crying over Heartstopper and have Why Am I Like This? in every one of your playlists. Everyone’s very angry and angsty in Breaks, which tells the story of Cortland and Ian as they fall in love in high school. It’s also enemies to lovers. And by the writer of the Life is Strange games.

Gender Queer – Maia Kobabe

Rave – Jessica Campbell

Gender Queer started as a way for author Maia Kobabe (e/em/eir) to explain eir’s nonbinary and asexual identity to eir’s family, and quickly snowballed into an autobiographical graphic novel about eir’s life. The graphic novel charts Maia’s journey of self-discovery in a really beautiful portrayal of queer identity and belonging.

Rave has everything you could want from a queer graphic novel. Early 200s setting? Check. Religious trauma? Check. Bashing homophobes? Check. The story follows Lauren, who isn’t allowed to bring evolution textbooks home so has to go to her schoolmate Mariah’s house to study. Again, pretty sure you can guess what happens next.

Kisses for Jet – Joris Bas Backer

Kisses for Jet, by trans Dutch author Joris Bas Backer is set during Y2k and follows Jet as they discover their own transgender identity in an age before widespread internet use. It’s translated from its original German and takes place in a boarding school-style house. Chef’s kiss.