Grace is a trans woman trying to get to California, where she can live as her true self and become an actress. (Of course, she plans to fund it by robbing wealthy folk while flirting with pretty girls.) When she swoops a gorgeous young noblewoman out of a stagecoach and plans to ransom her for cash, Flor is surprised to find that the woman is actually broke and on the run.

However, she’s a regular human-the kind who dreams of living on a quiet goat farm. The Ghost Hawk hunts for stagecoaches filled with tasty human prey, and feeds them to her monstrous children.įlor, the real Ghost Hawk, likely adores this story. Among them is the Ghost Hawk-a creature many believe to be part hawk and part woman. The comic is set in 1861, in the New Mexico desert territory, where many dangers threaten travelers. (Also, I’m a Pisces.) Gillman’s work is so well intentioned and beautifully executed that it might make you cry, too. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I think this story deserves my emotional response. Three years later, the comic is here and I’ve read it, and then read it again, and each time I open it, even though I’m only loading a digital review copy, I tear up a little.

It’s one of my favorite interviews I’ve ever done. As a librarian I was delighted to dig into Gillman’s research process, which involved a lot of time spent in public libraries, and especially loved exploring how Gillman built a fictional tale about heroic queer and trans teens within a framework of truth and possibility. We talked about Gillman’s process, and it was fascinating to learn about the laborious, wrist-aching process that goes into creating the gorgeous layer cakes of colored pencil which make their comics so distinct and beautiful. Three years ago, I interviewed incredible color pencil artist Mel Gillman about Stage Dreams, a young adult graphic novel they were drawing for Lerner Publishing’s imprint, Graphic Universe. A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Stage dreams by melanie gillman