WHY isn’t there more historical romance in graphic novels? It’s the perfect format. Lots of opportunities for beautiful, emotional closeups, and it’s much easier to draw settings and costumes for the period instead of trying to recreate them for filming. Maybe the research is off-putting, but dang, I’d love to see more.
Let’s start with Ruined, written by Sarah Vaughn, penciled and colored by Sarah Winifred Searle, and inked by Niki Smith. Catherine Benson is marrying Andrew Davener. He needs her dowry to save his ancestral home, while her reputation is in tatters, so she must marry to regain respectability.
The two come to agreement early that, as they do not love each other, they will be companions, and the rest of the book is (spoiler) their journey to actually falling in love.
As for the rest of the cast, Catherine’s sister resents her not marrying for love, while Andrew’s sister Gemma and his aunt are all the relatives he has left. The closest thing to a friend Catherine has is her lady’s maid, Lee, but she dreams of making fashionable clothes in London. (There are many women in this book, appropriately, each with their own desires.)
I like how much this book trusts the reader. There are plenty of places where the art — and the characters’ expressions — are left alone to carry the meaning. Particularly the couple’s awkwardness with each other early on. Things aren’t spelled out, and thus close attention is rewarded.
I also like how the cast is diverse in skin tone and body type, among other things. Catherine’s sister prefers the company of women. Gemma has fears and anxiety about leaving her home. Thankfully, it all comes around for the better as we spend time with this cast, and we see that love is shown in many different ways.
For more of her work in a similar vein, Searle has also illustrated, and written, Patience & Esther.
We turn now to I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner. This one puts a trans spin on Jane Austen-style stories.
Eleanor and her cousin Charlotte grow up playing with neighbor George (who was born Georgiana but feels more comfortable as a boy). Charlotte must make a good marriage in order to support her parents, which is difficult, as she has dark skin. Eleanor takes care of her worried father. George is in love with Eleanor but is being told to find a suitable husband in the hopes it will knock “her” out of these tendencies (although George runs the estate much better than older brother John, who ran away to London).
Gossip convinces George that he shouldn’t spend so much time with Eleanor so she can find a husband of her own, which confuses Eleanor, who just wants to keep being friends (which means spending all their time together) with George.
It’s harder to explain, I think, than to read and enjoy. These poor characters, trapped in history when it’s so obvious what their happy endings should be. I loved the time I spent with them, and it did feel very Austenesque.
There’s also an illustrated “History Corner” about LGBTQ and Black people in Regency England.
If you’re looking for more in this genre, there’s the more metafictional The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor, in which a girl who loves gothic romance enters one. Any others I should know about?
English (US) · 