Love Is Love is a 144-page graphic novel released in December 2016 by IDW Publishing in collaboration with DC Entertainment with many characters appearing from other publishers and franchises with explicit permission in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. The comic became a New York Times bestseller and over US$165,000 was raised by the sales, which was donated to the victims. The comic was produced with volunteer work by dozens of artists and featured the first official comic based on the Harry Potter media franchise.
Contents
Background
On the 12th of June, 2016, Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The nightclub was a gay bar and the perpetrator had decided to commit a mass shooting in response to the United States' airstrike a month prior that killed Abu Waheeb, a leader of the Islamic State in Anbar, Iraq. No evidence points to Mateen knowing the Pulse was a gay bar.
Publication history
Format
Unlike most graphic novels, the book is a mass anthology with one or two-page-long shorts, comic strips or single illustrated pages lacking panels or dialogue bubbles. IDW Publishing simply referred to it as an "oversize comic", as did Goodreads, Geek.com, and Comic Book Resources.
List of contributors
The following is a list of contributors listed in the Love is Love comic.
Marc Andreyko
Sarah Gaydos
Robert 'Bob' Harras
David Hedgecock
Maggie Howell
Jamie S. Rich
Chris Ryall
Jordie Bellaire
Elsa Charretier
Steven Cook
Stories
Many of the stories featured in Love is Love revolve around LGBT-related relationships and discrimination, and they sometimes utilize pop culture icons such as Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Deathstroke, and Wonder Woman. One tale is about a forgotten Golden Age superhero, Rainbow Boy, who uses his powers to fight "Doc Drumpf" and his armies of "Spider Haters".
Reception
Love is Love won the 2017 Eisner Award for Best Anthology. The book holds an average rating of 9.6 by five professional critics on the review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup.
The book was banned in a Texas school due to "extreme homosexuality".