Gaysians

Barely of legal age, closeted AJ escapes his upstate New York family for Seattle, looking to live an out gay life and find his first boyfriend. Art school also figures in his plans. Soon, he finds friendship with fellow Asian Americans John, Steven, and drag queen K in a fraternity they jokingly call the Boy Luck Club. But life isn’t easy when facing discrimination for being both gay and Asian. Stuck working as a barista, AJ repeatedly strikes out with dates, Steven uses anonymous sex to feel alive when he’s not emptying nursing home bedpans, partnerless John retreats behind his gamer pseudonym, and K risks harassment and worse while coming out as a trans woman. Curato’s (Flamer) wrenching and fascinating saga carries this quartet through affections, betrayals, careers, and simply staying alive amid threats of anti-gay and anti-immigrant violence. The three-dimensional characters and superb plotting draw on both stereotypes and realities associated with Asian Americans and LGBTQIA+ people. The work also includes depictions of sex and features snappy, humorous double-entendres. The excellent, emotionally rich art veers from rich blues into mauves, augmented with triumphal yellows toward the end.