Comics are much more open about exploring queer tales than they ever have been earlier than. From unbiased queer-focused creations to even blockbuster satisfaction celebrations from the likes of Marvel and DC, the medium has taken massive steps towards bringing extra LGBTQ creators and their tales into the highlight. A brand new anthology from A Wave Blue World needs to go even additional and rejoice queer male love in all kinds of genres—and io9 has a glance inside.

Young Men in Love, due out this summer season, options 20 romance tales by queer, masculine-identifying and non-binary creatives, specializing in how the love between queer cis and trans males can transcend all kinds of genres. From piratical high-seas smooching to Sailor Moon fashion superheroics, from tales of near-future technologically enhanced smart-capitalism, to easy tales of younger males having meet-cutes over their favoceremony comics, Young Men in Love is a celebration of queer storytelling in all of the bizarre methods queer tales can and must be informed.

“For so many queer men, we grew up without any positive representation in media, and were always the punchlines, and the punching bags. Young Men in Love is an important book because it shows young queer kids they’re not alone, and that love is possible for them,” Matt Miner, one of many editors on the anthology—and the author behind What Do I Get?, that includes artwork by Ian McGinty and colours by Bradley Clayton—informed io9 in a press release supplied over e-mail. “With everyone’s massive effort, we’ve all created a book we wish we’d had when we were growing up, and it’s entirely created by writers and artists who are queer men or AMAB non-binary folks who have same-sex attraction. With this book we’re telling stories of men loving men from a place of complete authenticity, which is a uniqueness not always found in a marketplace littered with stories where straight folks are guessing what it’s like to be queer. No guesswork here!”

Part of what makes Young Men in Love so enjoyable that its queer storytelling speaks to range of what the concept of Romance comics may be, not simply telling modern tales of the queer male expertise however ones that play with all kinds of genres. “We didn’t wish to curtail any of our brilliant creators’ creativity, so we left it up to them if they wanted to stick to slice-of-life or be more genre-bending, as long as it stuck to the core theme of a romance for young men of any identity,” Joe Glass, Miner’s fellow editor on the undertaking and likewise one other author behind one among its tales, Love Yourself with artist Auguste Kanakis, added. “As a result, we got a diverse range of genres that really spanned the gamut, from slice-of-life to science fiction, to pirate adventures and ghost stories, even to folklore and myth.”

“Ultimately, I think this works in our favor. As a society, we seem to aim our fiction in such a binary fashion, with romance aimed at female audiences and male audiences having more action-oriented. It’s almost like we’re telling our young men—who grow into the adults of our society, of course—that romance is not for them, that they shouldn’t want or seek it,” Glass’s assertion concluded. “Young Men in Love, in that respect, is about challenging that by saying that yes, romance is for you too and look how it can be part of anything.”

The full anthology includes a host of tales by expertise together with writers reminiscent of Anthony Olivera, Sina Grace, Terry Blass, and io9 alum Charles Pulliam-Moore (possibly you’ve heard of him!), and artists together with Nick Robles, Hamish Steele, Daryl Toh, Judy Vigants, and lots of, many extra.

Young Men in Love is about to hit cabinets on July 5, 2022. io9 is worked up to debut a couple of samples from a few of the tales within the anthology within the following slides—click on via to see items from Second Star to the Right, by Tate Brombal and Jacoby Salcedo; The Treasure Map to My Heart, by Oliver Gerlach and Daryl Toh; My Personal Super Scout, by Josh Cornillon; Tyrone & Jamal by Greg Anderson Elysée, David Brame, and Vincent Batignole; A Bard’s Beloved, by Jarrett Melendez and Josh Cornillon; and Bright Idea, by Charles Pulliam-Moore, Dennis Yatras, and Daryl Toh.