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It took them two years, but it was worth it: editors Robert Kirby and David
Kelly have once more brought together an impressive group of queer
artists and writers, this time for all-new stories, and all in color (the previous volume was partly reprints
from the zines days, and only partly in color). As you can see from the authors'
list, most of the usual gang is back, with a few newcomers.
 The book opens with a delicious treat: a
one-pager by Howard Cruse, who manages in 8 panels to give us a complete story
with believable and moving characters. I wish Cruse had done more than one page,
but I'll take what I can get.
 While Cruse's is the shortest contribution,
Andy Hartzell's is the longest, with a 12-page story that confirms, if need be,
that the author of the excellent Fox Bunny Funny is the kind of
artist who can take any seemingly half-baked idea and run with it. This time, he
offers a story set in the near future, when the world is in the grip of serious
global warming. A young man who has a weird body chemistry which enables him to
withstand extreme temperature meets another young man, himself the victim of an
even weirder condition. The two form a strong friendship that slowly changes
into more, but this off-center world isn't kind to lovers...Hartzell's talent
for fleshing out characters and situations, as well as his strongly illustrative
style and dense pages, create a completely believable story, and a very moving,
unique one. Maybe even more as most of the other contributions are rooted
in reality.
 That is certainly the case with Robert Kirby's
sad story of an infuation gone wrong, with a main character coming too close to
the world of a small time criminal, or with Tony Arena's young punk guy being
groped anonymously during a concert. That might sound like the stuff of jerk-off
dreams, but Arena creates a real sense of discomfort as his still closeted
character (whom we remember from previous issues of Boy Trouble)
grapples with the situation, divided between "shame and arousal", as the writer
puts it. You feel like reaching out to the character to try and reassure
him.
 Far more
upbeat are the contributions of David Kelly and Craig Bostick (alone and
together), especially the adaptation of a song called "Punk Rock Boy",
which I found utterly charming, as much for the lyrics as for the bright, light
art.
Other artists' stories are as good as can be expected: Justin
Hall finds another escort's tale to give us, this time complete with a client
who has a fetish for Batman and Robin--hilarious and strangely erotic; Tim Fish
and Sina do what they do really well, with a fun romance from Fish and an
autobiographical story from Sina, who manages to laugh at himself and look too
cute to be true at the same time; Michael Fahy, who seem to like lists,
shows the humor in the pathetic by creating order out of chaos; and then there
are half a dozen more contributions all worth your time and money, like Brett
Hopkins who reunites his characters from the previous volume, Steve MacIsaac who
keeps on experimenting with narration and bears; Jennifer Camper, who offers
a cruel and vengeful story; Robert Triptow who tells the true story of his
almost exploding appendix...So many reasons to like this wide-ranging
anthology.
And I can't finish this review without mentioning the striking
design work, a continuation of the previous volume's, but this time in color.
The colored pages, varying for each contribution, are useful but never
intrusive, while the old-style typed contributors' information pages look like
they're really made to help readers know more about the artists involved. It's a
wonderful, attractive package, no pun intended.
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