Fresh Romance

LIBRARY JOURNAL -- With the romance genre a healthy segment of both print and ebook publishing, it makes sense to bring comics back to their roots-in the 1950s, romance comic books sold millions. The digitally based Rosy Press has been serializing "sweet to smutty" love stories from comics creators since May of last year, and now through Oni delivers the first volume of collected stories. This isn't classic Archie, folks: the opening tale features a closeted lesbian high school romance plus a counterplot involving a classmate witch who's snuggling up with the guy everyone thinks the lesbian couple are fighting over. Other narratives introduce a Regency bride grieving the swain she couldn't marry, a humanoid extraterrestrial tasked with matchmaking the Earth-living lovelorn, and a twist on the beauty-and-the-beast concept. The writing is uniformly first-rate in plotting and pacing, while the art keeps momentum in quality and appeal via styles ranging from baroque to curvy-yet-spare plus vibrant-through-chaste coloring. VERDICT This enjoyable collection for ages 18 and up will draw fans of romance manga and romance novels who are willing to try another format.-MC "Once upon a time, you could get your tales of love in several forms-paperback romances and rom-coms, sure, but also romance comics. While they've fallen out of fashion, one woman wants to bring them back."-JEZEBEL "Romance comics are coming back-and the world has Janelle Asselin to thank."-ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY "Romance is making a long overdue comeback - in comic books, at least."-HOLLYWOOD REPORTER/ HEAT VISION "Superheroes are great and all, but sometimes a girl wants a little romance with her beautifully-drawn comic books."-NERDIST "Heartwarming, giggle-inducing, & cute as hell, Fresh Romance is truly joyous to behold." - Newsarama