I was so hoping that this would be a light romp about some friends talking and having a fun night out on the town, but considering the subject matter (and the country) involved, I guess that was never going to happen. There’s still plenty of humor, love and insight, but there’s also terror and threats possibly coming from every direction. I should backtrack a little: this came out in 2019 and won the Ignatz award, then won the Prism award in 2020, so plenty of people knew all about this, it’s just new to me. There’s even a sequel (Trans Girls Hit the Field) that I’m all kinds of curious about. I bring this up because the reality on the ground is probably even more grim now than it was in 2019, so I don’t know why I was expecting all sweetness and joy. Well, hoping, not expecting. Still! I’m an optimistic dummy sometimes. This one is all about Cleo and Winnie going out on the town, obviously. Cleo is new to transitioning and is incredibly self-conscious about her appearance and whether or not she’s “passing,” while Winnie has been at this for awhile and is the one encouraging Cleo to keep going with their planned fun night no matter what they run into. Reading this also really highlights the genuinely terrifying list of threats that you have to clock if you’re trans on any given night. Why is that dude on the train staring at you? What’s the best way to react to getting casually called a “gentleman”? There’s also the sheer terror of having to use a public restroom and the relief of finding one that just contains a single toilet. Still, I don’t want to spend too much time on the negatives (if I haven’t already), because the heart and soul of this comic is the joy and the conversation. Winnie always being a source of comfort and courage (even though it’s eventually revealed that that’s mostly because she’s been through exactly what Cleo is going through and knows that it does in fact get better), Cleo pushing ahead in spite of it all, and them managing to have a mostly wonderful time out, assholes be damned. Flipping through this again, it’s the joy that stands out, and that’s what makes up the bulk of the comic. It’s a comic that pulls no punches, but it’s also a hell of a read. Check it out, is what I’m saying. $7
Posted by Kevin 
