"Melanie Gillman's beautifully crafted YA graphic adventure reveals the hitherto little-known historic diversity of the Old West."―Emil Ferris, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters ( Other Print) Gillman, whose As the Crow Flies was named a Stonewall Honor Book, delves into queer history and spins a witty and extravagant yarn about a dashing duo."―starred, Publishers Weekly ( Journal)
Euphemisms and ambiguity leave readers to connect the dots in this Wild West whirlwind, though Grace's peach-fuzz facial hair implies trans identity. Both are smitten, and nervy Flor now has an accomplice for a daring plot involving a sly tailor, ball gowns, and espionage. ('Despite appearances, it ain't my intent to hurt you,' she later says, while tying her captive to a tree.) When Flor removes her prisoner's bonnet, however, she meets an angry, green-eyed, apparently transgender beauty named Grace, who is en route to 'the theater in San Francisco' and on the run from 'conscription' into the Confederacy. 'Fine young ladies always make for the best ransoms―and company!' Flor quips with a lascivious wink. On cue, Flor swoops in, demanding loot and kidnapping a Southern belle, who modestly hides her face under a green bonnet. In the New Mexico Territory circa 1861, stagecoach passengers pass the time making conversation about Civil War strategies and Southwestern desperados. "The Ghost Hawk―otherwise known as Flor―is a queer Latinx bandit with a bird-of-prey helpmate who wields a six-shooter and wears a leather hat atop her voluminous black mane.
In addition to their comics work, they are also an adjunct professor in the Comics MFA Program at the California College of the Arts, where they teach classes about making comics and professional practices.
As the Crow Flies has been named a 2018 Stonewall Honor Book, won the 2018 Excellence in Graphic Literature Award for Best Middle Grade Graphic Novel, and been nominated for an Ignatz, Eisner, and Dwayne McDuffie Award. They are the creator of the webcomic and graphic novel As the Crow Flies, published in 2017 by Iron Circus Comics. Melanie Gillman is a cartoonist and colored pencil artist who draws positive queer and trans comics for young readers.
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