#Megan Rose Gedris

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The Therapist. Art by Megan Rose Gedris, from the Technicolor Tarot.

[readtilyoudie]

SPECTACLE: BOOK ONE

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Spectacle

By Ro Salarian (FKA Megan Rose Gedris)

--BOOK ONE--

Pragmatic engineer Anna works as a psychic in the Samson Brothers Circus, but she doesn't believe in anything supernatural—until her twin sister Kat is murdered and comes back as a very demanding ghost. Sharing a room with her sister was hard, but now they're sharing a body while trying to identify the killer. With few leads, a troupe full of secretive folk, and strange paranormal occurrences popping up around the circus, solving the case seems near impossible. But the murderer in their midst may be the least of their problems...

--BOOK TWO--

A murder is tough thing to solve, even without temperamental performers, supernatural occurrences, and the ghost of the victim giving commentary. But as Kat's only link to the living world, it's up to scientifically-minded Anna to figure out who killed her sister—before any more murders rock the small traveling community. Yet as she gets closer to finding a lead, even more unbelievable events obscure the truth: roustabouts start sprouting horns, performers grow forked tongues, and a demon visits Anna's sleep at night. Does Kat know more than she's letting on? And can Anna keep the circus—let alone herself—safe?

--BOOK THREE--

From fake psychic to true believer, circus performer Anna finds herself dealing with the supernatural more and more, and is determined to use her growing powers to confront her sister's murderer. Has she finally figured out whodunit, and can she prove it before a demon does her in? 

--BOOK FOUR--

Anna's supernatural powers are increasing, but so is her worry that they come from a terrifying source. Everyone in the circus has developed mutations, and they're dropping like flies. Anna thinks she's found a cure, but a smooth talking faith healer insists he can save everyone... for a fee. Can she fix things before anyone else dies?

--BOOK FIVE--

At long last, sideshow performer Anna comes face-to-face with her sister's killer, and she is not in a forgiving mood. But there's a far more sinister enemy behind everything; one Anna and her friends might not be able to beat, one they might not even be able to reach. Only Anna is determined and ready for a confrontation, while everyone else is eager to put it all behind them.

---

A supernatural murder-mystery with a canon Aro-Ace protagonist in Anna. The cast is full of a wide variety of misfits with their many quirks and talents. The setting of a circus troupe / freak show it really interesting. I don’t wanna go into details because it’s fun to read an experience the details as they come.

[rockislandadultreads]

Queer Comics: Graphic Novels to Check Out

Pixels of You by: Ananth Hirsh (Co-writer), Yuko Ota (Co-writer), J.R. Doyle (Artist)

A human and human-presenting AI slowly become friends—and maybe more—in this moving YA graphic novel In a near future, augmentation and AI changed everything and nothing. Indira is a human girl who has been cybernetically augmented after a tragic accident, and Fawn is one of the first human-presenting AI. They have the same internship at a gallery, but neither thinks much of the other’s photography. But after a huge public blowout, their mentor gives them an work together on a project or leave her gallery forever. Grudgingly, the two begin to collaborate, and what comes out of it is astounding and revealing for both of them. Pixels of You is about the slow transformation of a rivalry to a friendship to something more as Indira and Fawn navigate each other, the world around them—and what it means to be an artist and a person.

The DC Book of Pride: A Celebration of DC's LGBTQIA+ Characters by: Jadzia Axelrod

Discover the rich history of DC’s LGBTQIA+ Superheroes in this inspiring gift-title featuring detailed character profiles and comic book artwork Celebrate Pride with DC’s LGBTQIA+ Superheroes. Written and curated by DC expert Jadzia Axelrod, The DC Book of Pride profiles more than 50 LGBTQIA+ characters in detail, including Harley Quinn, Superman, Nubia, Robin, Batwoman, Aqualad, Dreamer, Green Lantern, and many more. Discover their fascinating origins, amazing superpowers, and key storylines. This title is an indispensable and celebratory companion to the DC Pride comic books.

Spectacle #1 by: Megan Rose Gedris

Fan-favorite webcomic creator Megan Rose Gedris (Yu+Me Dream) crafts a compelling tale of magic, deception, and wonder in this stunningly illustrated comic about the bond between sisters. Pragmatic engineer Anna works as a psychic in the Samson Brothers Circus, but she doesn't believe in anything supernatural... until her twin sister Kat is murdered and comes back as a very demanding ghost. Sharing a room with her sister was hard, but now they're sharing a body while trying to identify the killer. But how can you solve a mystery when everyone around has their own shady secrets?

Blackwater by: Jeannette Arroyo, Ren Graham  

Riverdale meets Stranger Things in this debut queer YA graphic novel, developed from a hit webcomic. Set in the haunted town of Blackwater, Maine, two boys fall for each other as they dig for clues to a paranormal mystery. Tony Price is a popular high school track star and occasional delinquent aching for his dad’s attention and approval. Eli Hirsch is a quiet boy with a chronic autoimmune disorder that has ravaged his health and social life. What happens when these two become unlikely friends (and a whole lot more . . .) in the spooky town of Blackwater, Maine? Werewolf curses, unsavory interactions with the quarterback of the football team, a ghostly fisherman haunting the harbor, and tons of high school drama.

[nevinslibrary]

Comic Book Saturday

Little spooky, little weird, little deep too. It’s about two conjoined twins. Isabel and Jane. They perform in a traveling carnival freak show, that is until a surgeon wants to separate them. Well, he does, just no in the way he wanted to. Jane dies, Isabel loses an arm and a leg, and, also now, Jane come back as Isabel’s phantom limbs.

The thing is, though, that Jane was always the outgoing, strong, knew what she wanted twin. And so, now, not only has Isabel lost her twin, but, she has to figure out what her life is going to be like on her own too.

There was a lot going on in this graphic novel, and, in addition to the interesting and different plot, the art really fit the time period (the 1920s), and the themes of the book too. And, at the end was an Author’s Note and some ‘Carnival lingo’ that was really cool.

You may like this book If you Liked: M is for Monster by Talia Dutton, Spectacle by Megan Rose Gedris, or Bungo Stray Dogs by Kafka Asagiri

The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown

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Megan Rose Gedris - Spectacle Book One Alison Bechdel - Are You My Mother

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Preview: Spectacle Vol. 4

Spectacle Vol. 4 preview. Anna's supernatural powers are increasing, but so is her worry that they come from a terrifying source #Comics #ComicBooks

Spectacle Vol. 4 Megan Rose Gedris Anna’s supernatural powers are increasing, but so is her worry that they come from a terrifying source. Everyone in the circus has developed mutations, and they’re dropping like flies. Anna thinks she’s found a cure, but a smooth talking faith healer insists he can save everyone… for a fee. Can she fix things before anyone else dies?

[smashpages]

Smash Pages Q&A: Megan Rose Gedris on ‘Spectacle’

Megan Rose Gedris has been making comics for years. From Yu+Me to I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space to The Lady Eudora Henley and Darlin’ It’s Betta Down Where It’s Wetta, Gedris has been producing thousands of comics pages nonstop and more than a dozen series online and in print in many genres.

Her current project is Spectacle, an ongoing series published by Oni Press about Anna, a fortune teller and an engineer working at a traveling circus. In the first issue her twin sister Kat is murdered, though she lingers as a ghost, which comes as a shock to the scientifically minded Anna. The series is about finding Kat’s murderer, but it’s also about exploring the people who made up the circus and examining their lives. It is not just a beautifully drawn book, but a strikingly insightful look at a community of outsiders and performers.

Read more

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Writer / Artist:Megan Rose Gedris / Oni PressWhat do you get when you cross a murder mystery, an eccentric circus cast, and proof that the bond between sisters extends beyond this life? Spectacle #1 sets out to answer just that question, no chill necessary.

If you’re drawn to visually interesting artwork, this is definitely a series to consider. Gedris’ artwork has a playful picture book quality to it that flirts with the idea of shapes and shadows without quite committing, lending the story a fantastical atmosphere that’s delightfully subtle. Gedris actually does paint with watercolors, so whether the textures are traditionally or digitally produced it’s obvious that she’s familiar with how to achieve just the right balance of pleasant pastel and saturated hues. The simplistic lines used for the faces also yield surprisingly striking expressions and the wandering text feels less like spoken word than a feeling you happen to intuit; you can tell that the sequential art is thought less in terms of cinematic quality than page composition and I really appreciate artists who take advantage of their medium in this way.

 The characters are inventive here as well, especially since it can be tricky to bring originality to a circus setting. This circus is neither an uncomfortably close family nor a horrific torture trap, but really a cut and dry job where the members have agency. Everyone from the chef to the mermaid to the ringmaster has a distinct personality and natural dialogue, a fact that makes them easy to connect to. Similarly, our main character Anna’s brilliance doesn’t feel tragically wasted, just simply ahead of the time she lives in and probably actually put to its best use where she is. In fact, I found myself most curious about how Anna’s inventions might play a bigger role in the story as the steampunk mechanics were fascinating to read about without feeling overly dry. I’m excited to see where the supernatural and scientific elements blend and clash in the next installment.

 Read on here. [x]

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[comparativetarot]

The Fool. Art by Megan Rose Gedris, from the Technicolor Tarot.

Who knows what lies beyond the rainbow? Only one way to find out.

[readtilyoudie]

SPECTACLE BOOK THREE

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Graphic Novel review: Spectacle vol. 1

Short version: Anna and Kat are twins working in a circus, Anna as fortune teller and Kat as knife thrower. When Kat is violently murdered, her ghost resides in Anna, in the hopes of finding the killer. While she’s there, Anna begins to manifest actual second sight...and the rest of the circus seems to be changing for the strange as well.

What I thought: This is a hard one to liken to other works, because it’s a graphic and the subject is usually only shown on tv. You don’t get a lot of circus stuff in type or on illustration, because the setting lends itself so much t movement and flash and amazing feats of acrobatics, but Spectacle gets away with it because you hardly ever see any of the circus itself. 90% of the story happens in various trailers and behind the tents, and that story is so interesting that’s perfectly fine.

What do you like? You like mystery? There’s not only one murder, but once she starts seeing other ghosts, Anna becomes armchair detective to a dozen others. You like weirdness? It’s a circus, of course it’s weird, there’s conjoined twins and a mermaid and a charismatic douchebag who can put his feet behind his ears, and that’s before people start randomly growing horns. You like semi-sentient technology? We got us a fortune-telling machine (nearly accurate). Kooky, chunky art like Samurai Jack? That’s the whole volume, baby! You want lesbians? There’s at least two.

I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic, and I think everyone will find something to like about it all. The characters are fully realized and complicated, the rules of the universe mysterious but consistent, the execution and timing flawless. A+.

I only know of one book to compare this to and it’s not a graphic novel, so here’s a random list of Stuff you might like as well.

Read if you liked: Mechanique by Geneveive Valentine, Carnivale (2003), Mirrormask (2005), Freaks (1932).

[comiccrusaders]

Solving a murder is difficult enough without demon attacks. In this issue, Anna learns a new use for salt, and how to give an genuinely good apology.

(W/A/C/CA) Megan Rose Gedris Age Rating: Young Adult Genre: Supernatural/Mystery Price: $1.99 Page Count: 22

PREVIEW: Spectacle #7 Solving a murder is difficult enough without demon attacks. In this issue, Anna learns a new use for salt, and how to give an genuinely good apology. (W/A/C/CA) Megan Rose Gedris Age Rating: Young Adult Genre: Supernatural/Mystery Price: $1.99 Page Count: 22

[lgbtpopcult]

Awesome Sapphic Graphic Novels Part 2

Kim Reaper Vol. 1: Grim Beginnings, Sarah Graley

I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space, Megan Rose Gedris

Goodbye My Rose Garden

Spectacle, Megan Rose Gedris

Paper Girls, Brian K. Vaughan

The legend of Bold Riley

Patience & Esther: An Edwardian Romance

Band VS Band vol.1, Kathleen Jacques

Maria Llovet’s Eros/Psyche Vol. 1

The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire