Sugar Town

by Hazel Newlevant

Overview

A bisexual, polyamorous love story for the modern era.
Hazel is already in a happy relationship when she meets Argent, a woman who works as a dominatrix, but is sweet and tender outside the bedroom. How will she negotiate this new romance with her boyfriend back home? And what about his other girlfriend? Sugar Town is a fun, colorful comic about a young woman's journey through the delights and disappointments of multiple lovers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945509612
Publisher:	Silver Sprocket
Publication date:	08/01/2020
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	56
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

Hazel Newlevant is a Portland-raised, Queens-residing cartoonist. Their comics include If This Be Sin, Tender-Hearted, Sugar Town, and No Ivy League. They edited and published the anthologies Chainmail Bikini and Comics For Choice. They co-edited the anthology Puerto Rico Strong, published by Lion Forge Comics, which received an Eisner Award. Their comics have been honored with the Ignatz Award, Xeric Grant and the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant. They have worked as an Associate Editor at Lion Forge Comics, and are currently the social media manager of A Wave Blue World. They like to dance.

What People are Saying About This

Ask a Queer Chick - Lindsay King-Miller

The title might lead you to expect a story that melts away like cotton candy, but Sugar Town isn't just sweet—it's satisfying. This is the kind of healthy, honest, joyful, and sexy queer romance we need to see way more often

Interviews

Sugar Town is sweet without being syrupy. Newlevant carefully creates a narrative that combines the dream of more accepting spaces with a realistic portrayal of life as a queer millennial. Its bright artwork and proud depictions of queer romance will make any reader feel hopeful about love. Newlevant’s work reminds us to love more openly, even for those not in open relationships.

Editorial Reviews

The title might lead you to expect a story that melts away like cotton candy, but Sugar Town isn't just sweet―it's satisfying. This is the kind of healthy, honest, joyful, and sexy queer romance we need to see way more often (Lindsay King-Miller Ask a Queer Chick)

Hazel Newlevant draws like a dream and weaves a mesmerizing story. (Alison Bechdel)

From the Publisher

12/04/2017
At a party in Portland, Ore., recently relocated Hazel meets Argent, a friendly dominatrix, and feels an instant connection. Hazel is long distance–dating a guy named Gregor, but they’re in a polyamorous relationship, so falling for Argent is no big deal. Aside from the novelty of the bisexuality, polyamory, and kink elements, this semi-autobiographical romance comic is a simple and straightforward love story, perhaps too much so. Although the women’s courtship has its charmingly honest moments (painstakingly unpacking her feelings over Skype to maintain full relationship transparency, Hazel wonders, “Am I doing this right?”), the dramatic tension is ratcheted so low as to be nearly nonexistent. The characters are cartoon figures with heavy-lidded eyes and blushing cheeks, rendered in wobbly, warmly colored artwork that gradually improves as the book goes on. It’s an extremely gentle romance, unspooling as sweetly and mildly as the oh-so-Portland retro mix tape Hazel makes for her new love. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

It’s a human story of how real relationships can work outside of binary definitions. Newlevant’s drawing style is loose and friendly, with an approachability that invites comic readers in. The bright pink glow of the dance floor juxtaposed with violet rainy December nights creates the perfect setting for this touching holiday romance.

Lambda Literary - Cathy Camper

Sugar Town is the queer, poly, kinky comic of my dreams...It is full of tenderness, and explores the many varied ways we can love and take care of each other. The artwork is just a delight.

BookRiot - Laura Sackton

It’s worth reading Sugar Town, then handing it around to all your friends and saying, “Look, we can just have this. It’s perfectly okay.

Okazu Yuri - Erika Friedman

It's a sweet story with levels of complexity that surprise the reader, with every aspect of its emotional narrative feeling entirely earned.

High-Low - Rob Clough

Sugar Town...is [Newlevant’s] longest single work to date and her best. The book is an emotional and thoughtful look at falling in love and exploring the emotional work of polyamory. It felt like a breakthrough for the creator in a number of ways.

Smash Pages - Alex Dueben

Sugar Town is a touching story of a woman and her sweetie and her other sweetie, struggling with her feelings regarding her sweeties’ other sweeties . . . It’s a lovely story I highly recommend.

Women Write About Comics - Annie Blitzen

The reader may be drawn in by the sheen of the art and smiles on the fashionable character’s faces, but in delving deeper they can discover people who live lives that are both outside the norm yet motivated by fundamental human desires. This is Newlevant’s victory.

Broken Frontier - Robin Enrico

The bright colors and open lines Newlevant uses keep the mood upbeat. It creates an excitement for the reader that mimics well the fizzy feelings of first attraction and flirting. I loved reading about such interesting queer characters, and the different choices they’ve made from the traditional, and how well it was working for them. The characters are open and accepting about their feelings for each other, making them great examples to follow in living an authentic life.

Comics Worth Reading - Johanna Draper Carlson

The novella tackles polyamorous relationships, feelings of not providing enough in a relationship, feelings of inadequacy and the feeling there is not really a home for one to call “home” through brief, touching scenes that go deeper into Hazel’s and Argent’s fears. These segments are ones that people in their ‘20s can relate to, and I appreciated them greatly.

The Gatepost - Robert Johnson Jr.

It’s that emotional honesty . . . that elevates Sugar Town beyond the reader’s expectations. It’s a book that deals frankly with some very tender feelings—deep vulnerability, yes, but also embarrassment, passion, anxiety, and finally genuine love.

The Comics Journal - Tegan O'Neil

Sugar Town is a frank, sweet look at a pair of queer girls getting to know each other. They make mistakes, they figure things out, and they figure out what they want to be together.

Loser City - Elizabeth Brei

Hazel Newlevant draws like a dream and weaves a mesmerizing story.

Alison Bechdel

I also loved the art style, which reinforces that warm and welcoming feel. I want to crawl inside the pages and curl up there. This is definitely one of my rare 5 star ratings: I loved every panel, and I know I will return to it when I need something hopeful to dive into for a little while. What a treat.

The Lesbrary - Danika Leigh Ellis

Sugar Town is sweet without being syrupy. Newlevant carefully creates a narrative that combines the dream of more accepting spaces with a realistic portrayal of life as a queer millennial. Its bright artwork and proud depictions of queer romance will make any reader feel hopeful about love. Newlevant’s work reminds us to love more openly, even for those not in open relationships.

Comicsverse - Molly Barnewitz

2018-01-22
In this graphic novel, the simple story of two weeks in the life of a young woman provides insights into the complexities of polyamorous relationships.Away from her New York home and boyfriend while visiting her parents in Portland, Oregon, for the holidays, Hazel feels a little insecure walking into a queer dance party on her own. But her nervousness disappears when she makes a connection with the warm and friendly Argent, a lesbian sex worker, whose dominatrix handle just happens to be Hazel. As flirting turns into affection, Hazel tells Argent about Gregor, a New York graphic artist with whom she has an open relationship ("We're open, or poly, or whatever"). Hazel is equally honest with Gregor, who, between phone calls and Skype sessions with her, is enjoying a visit from his other girlfriend, Rebecca. While Hazel seems calm about this situation, she confesses to Gregor at one point: "I'm irrationally worried you'll ditch me for her." Negotiating the fine line between attraction and jealousy, Hazel ultimately manages to accomplish the tricky feat of launching a loving bond with Argent while strengthening her connection with Gregor. Newlevant's (If This Be Sin, 2013, etc.) vivid illustrations show the clear influence of Japanese manga style, with its stylized portrayal of facial features and character poses. The author's subtly colored panels are attractively detailed, and her characters are well-drawn, both literally and figuratively. Hazel's innocent idealism and Argent's sexy warmth are conveyed in dialogue, body language, and costumes (the bunny romper Argent wears for her birthday date with Hazel being a prime example). Their nontraditional relationships are presented in a straightforward manner as both normal and successful. In fact, the major thing missing from their story is convincing narrative tension. Hazel's moments of jealousy and anxiety are brief and easily overcome, and Argent and Gregor seem almost too open and accepting to be true. Hazel's up-close encounter with Argent's dominatrix side ends with pain medication and cuddles but little insight into the passions that draw lovers into sadomasochistic play. But the comic format is especially appropriate for providing a peek into alternative romance, and Hazel's story is a sweet and positive look at youthful experimentation.A lushly illustrated comic that explores bisexuality, queer culture, and unconventional sex through the upbeat story of a woman's vacation romance.

Kirkus Reviews