Délicatesse

by Val Wise

Primrose Van der Peer, an operatic contralto, has only played men onstage. Her debut as a leading lady should feel monumental, an invitation to the femininity she's always been denied, but instead the role seems to haunt her, even when she's not performing.

Délicatesse is a story about perception, performance, and trying to be a good woman - even if you're not sure you're one at all.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

32 pages, ebook

Published September 10, 2021

About the author

Val Wise is a comic artist and illustrator from the Southern US. He works primarily as a comic book artist, with a specific interest in stories about transness and coming of age.

Reviews

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the concept and the wonderful art, but the brevity here really brings my rating down. Between the short length and the minimal dialogue, I feel I don't have the opportunity to become intimate with the characters or meaningfully appreciate the intersection of size, gender, attachment to musical/creative production, and (abusive) relationality.

[Nore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very pretty. Much better if you follow Wise on Twitter (I do, incidentally) and have had a chance to meet the characters through his art; otherwise, this falls a little flat, as it's extremely short. Some little nitpicky errors with dialogue flow - I had to reread a panel here and there, as the bubble layout wasn't clear as to which to read first.

But man, yeah, very pretty.

[Sadifura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicatesse was a wonderful read about gender, fatness, sexuality, and how they intersect, but sadly, it was woefully too short. I would've wanted this to be extended to about a novel's length, probably around 200 pages would suit it.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

brief (almost too brief) but captures a lot for the length. i love the way this author depicts fat characters and can't wait to read more!

[unironically_resurrected · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely phenomenal!!!