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Expect bi-monthly boy-meets-boy comics in the new year
YAOI (also known as BL or Boys' Love) makes for a challenging comic genre to describe. Inspired by a genre of Japanese comics depicting male/male relationships created by women with a female audience in mind, the genre has found a sizable enough audience with American readers that a few comic publishers have created specialized imprints dedicated to these stories. YAOI stories vary greatly in tone and degree of romance/sexuality and the types of stories can run from high school drama to police procedurals or stories in historical settings. But there has always been something of a divide between YAOI's core female fanbase and gay men. Some gay men have criticized the genre for fetishizing gay male sexuality (similar to the way that straight men fetishize lesbian sexuality) and for depicting gay relationships unrealistically. The genre's female fanbase responds that the stories aren't meant to portray gay men, that the characters aren't really gay and that the genre should be left alone from male interference since there are so few places where women are allowed to express their fantasies freely. Now, that division doesn't represent everyone who reads YAOI. There are plenty of gay men who find emotional resonance and escapism in certain YAOI titles, just as there are plenty female YAOI readers who are happy to find gay men with similar tastes to share their interests.
Iris has three stories from its BL anthology When Worlds Collide that you can download to get a taste of Iris Press' take on the genre. But if you're impatient, after the break you can see the page from Paintings of You where the couple meet. What do you think? Does BL Twist look like a promising fix for escapist romance, even if it's not made with a gay audience in mind?
Submitted by on Tue, 2007-05-29 14:04. |
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But I'm wondering if there's a truce on the horizon. Bay Area-based publisher 
The problems I have with the
The problems I have with the yaoi mangas I've read, in English or in French, are that 1/they often depict "consenting" rape and 2/men in fixed sexual roles. It seems the women who create those books, and the women who read them, are going through some catharsis (and they like somewhat androgyne, pretty men), which of course is fine. After all, gay men aren't the target, as you wrote.
That being said, there already are some yaoi/yaoi inspired comics gay men can enjoy, in my opinion, like Incubus (review on my site). I haven't read the Iris books yet, but I plan to.
One funny thing: the When Worlds Collide anthology you mention has a cover which is rather heavily inspired by art by openly gay artist P. Craig Russell (I know you know him, I'm mentioning this for readers who don't), who's famous, among other things, for drawing extremely beautiful men in non-gay comics.
François
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Cultural translations
I find the arrival of western creators tackling the genre to be very promising since there seems to be less of an effort to distance the characters from gay men, which I'm seeing in the BL Twist press release.
That's a problem alright
Reality
Let’s get real. These comics are about the stories and the sex appeal. The two guys that are pictured are cute and will get some guys interested. However most gay men and boys like muscles. When I was nine I bought the comics just to see how good the artists drew the men. I know that is how other gay boys are thinking. Straights boys look for the slender, big breasted females. So if you want to attract gay boys and men you’ll have to make the men muscular and good-looking.
part of a larger picture
I'm not entirely convinced where this genre really started, but I think the entire market for this genre is growing and diverse. Personally, I am attracted to the concept of this genre, but largely turned-off by the artwork. It has little to do with lack of muscles or masculinity, but more to do with the stylized canon that is evident in most of the yaoi I've seen. I am no expert in this field, but somehow most of what I see pales in comparison to the quality and appeal that such creators as Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy), Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaa), and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). I can only hope that as the genre gains popularity and exposure, there will be a greater diversity to this genre. Maybe it wouldn't officially be included in what is known as YAOI, but could be very much inspired by it. If anyone is interested, there is an entire convention happening soon this October in San Francisco, called YAOICON http://www.yaoicon.com/