Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

[leahandillyana]

I decided I wanted to post at least one comic during the pride month, and I’d like to close it with one I have very mixed feelings about – though unlike other stories I regard as such, my opinion on the story itself differs greatly on my opinion on circumstances surrounding it. Trigger warning for mental health issues, body dysmorphia, eating disorders and self harming in particular.

 

Firstly, the story. Heartstopper is a slow burn slice of life romance between two British schoolboys, Nick and Charlie. Neither story nor art are that remarkable, and honestly while I understand the appeal of the never-ending fluff, in my opinion it would have greatly improve the narration to cut it into a single, circa 200 pages long tankobon focused around Charlie’s issues. What I appreciate is the author introducing the issue of eating disorders in volume four, with Charlie facing such a problem and spending some time in a mental hospital because of it. It’s something I’ve never seen realistically portrayed in a comic before, and the information presented in the comic would be very helpful to readers facing similar issues. The pages presented below are from chapter six, featuring Nick’s POV on Charlie’s struggles.

 

Now, why is my opinion mixed? I have the following issues surrounding the comic:

 

-my issue with the author, who dismisses the BL wholesalely as supposedly fetishizing, as if her comic wouldn’t fit perfectly amongst BL manga (and its Japanese edition is sold as a BL manga), as well as the fact that the designs of the protagonists were adapted from a popular non-canonical couple from a certain cartoon – only both boys in Heartstopper are white, while the characters in the cartoon were not.

 

-my issue with Netflix, having chosen an unremarkable gay romance comic with white leads while ignoring more complex and original gay romance comics published on the same platforms but with leads of colour. The comic was barely a thing when it was picked by Netflix for adaptation, as opposed for similar webcomics that have been running for years (Starfighter might be too pricy AND spicy to adapt, but… man, Starfighter. And honestly, Boyfriends is right here! And speaking of Boyfriends…)!

 

-my issue with the fandom, which taken as a whole developed a MASSIVE grudge against the creator of Boyfriends, despite refreinbow being much less priviledged than Alice Oseman, being a transgender gay man living in Indonesia. The abuse of online mob refreinbow suffers from is sickening, and many of those vultures at the same time praise Heartstopper. While it’s by no means the creator’s fault, it left a bad aftertaste.

 

Nonetheless, I recommend the webcomic for those into slow burn and chaste teen romances.