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From Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Vivian Kleiman (“Color Adjustment”) comes an in-depth look at the evolution of queer comics, starting in the 1970s when LGBTQ+ stories were not in popular culture. Through the careers of five scrappy and pioneering cartoonists who depicted everything from the AIDS crisis to “coming out” to same-sex marriage, “No Straight Lines” captures the beginnings of queer comics, from its origins as an underground art form to its progression into a social movement, culminating with its long-awaited mainstream acceptance into comic books, newspaper strips, and graphic novels.
Heralded as “enjoyable, “informative,” and “quietly powerful” by the Los Angeles Times, and “entertaining” by CBS News
When Alison Bechdel received a coveted John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship, known as the MacArthur “Genius Grant,” in 2014 for her best-selling graphic memoir “Fun Home,” also the inspiration for the Tony Award®-winning Broadway show of the same name, it signaled the acceptance of LGBTQ+ comics in mainstream American culture. However, that moment was, in reality, the culmination of a community’s decades-long history of tackling complex issues through a grassroots artistic movement.
“No Straight Lines” features interviews with five queer comic book artists, including Bechdel, Jennifer Camper (“Rude Girls and Dangerous Women”), Howard Cruse (“WENDEL,” “Stuck Rubber Baby”), Rupert Kinnard (“B.B. and the Diva,” “Cathartic Comics), and Mary Wings (“Come Out Comix”).
These pioneering queer artists use comics as a tool for social change and queer acceptance. They brought the queer experience to life in a changing world, showcasing the everyday pursuits of love, sex, and community through a humorous and artful lens, and pushing what was once a marginalized underground scene into the mainstream.
In the documentary, artist interviews alongside their work, are interwoven with stories of landmark moments in LGBTQ+ history — from the Stonewall Riots to the AIDS epidemic and more. Taken together, it’s the story of how the queer comics scene shed light on the experiences of generations in a community previously underrepresented in the media and popular culture.
Filmmaker Quote:
‘No Straight Lines' is the story of a DIY art form—often considered junk food for kids—that over the past 50 years has been used by queer artists as a powerful medium to represent our lives,” said Kleiman. “More than a chronology of milestone events, I wanted to create an intergenerational story of our emergence from rejection to acceptance, and help LGBTQI youth feel safe.”
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Credits:
Director/ Producer: Vivian Kleiman. Producer and Principal Consultant: Justin Hall. Executive Producers: Ellen Poss, Gerald Herman, Cort Lane, Greg Sirota. ITVS
