Bingo Love – Comic Book Review: An Important Love Story

Bingo Love offers readers a cute yet emotional queer love story just in time for Valentine’s Day. Author Tee Franklin’s story features relatable themes, enjoyable art, and a powerful message about love and living the life you want.

I was provided a copy of Bingo Love for review. The opinions are my own.

Some of you might have heard about Bingo Love before. The Kickstarter by Tee Franklin saw tremendous success and was picked up by Image Comics. The campaign’s success showed there is a huge portion of readers looking for comic book stories featuring the properly-handled diversity of race, sexuality, love, body types, and more.

Tee Franklin isn’t a stranger to voicing her opinion about comic books needing more representation. She’s a vocal advocate known in comic book circles. That’s why I was glad to see her own work reflecting what she stands for.

Here’s the official synopsis:

When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid-’60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.

From TEE FRANKLIN (NAILBITER’s “THE OUTFIT,” Love is Love) and JENN ST-ONGE (Jem & The Misfits), BINGO LOVE is a touching story of love, family, and resiliency that spans over 60 years.

One of the things I liked about Bingo Love is how it talked about queer people being pressured into living a heteronormative life. Even though progress has been made when it comes to LGBTQIA+ acceptance, there’s still a lot more to be done. Furthermore, every step taken in support of queer representation continues to be met with opposition at every turn.

The story follows Hazel and Mari from 1963 to 2038, showing readers how society changes with time. Do I think there won’t be any anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment by 2038? Nope. But it’s still good to see fictional works depicting a more queer-safe world, offering hope to many.

Hazel and Mari are likable characters. They grow in front of the readers, which allows you to connect with them. Tee Franklin (working with Jenn St-Onge, Joy San, Cardinal Rae) does an impressive job of showing why the love between the two women matters as they try to overcome obstacles presented by their family and societal expectations.

The cartoonish and cute art helps make Bingo Love look like a lovely and romantic story. There’s also a lot of detail, with each character looking and acting differently. You’ll get to see a lot of body type, size, and racial diversity, all done in a manner that comes across as wonderful on each page.

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin is a beautiful and diverse love story that talks about how powerful love can be as well as what it means to be a family and standing up for what makes you happy. Having a February 14, 2018, release date, you should definitely pick a copy or two up!

Have you read Bingo Love? Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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