Love and War #1

Love and War #1

by Andrew Wheeler, Killian Ng (Colorist), Aditya Bidikar (Letterer)

Aster Academy finished second in last year's Tug-of-War Championships, and Domo shared a kiss with his captain, Gabriel, during their celebrations. After a summer apart, Domo wants to pick up where they left off – but Gabriel has disappeared.

In Gabriel's absence, Domo must compete for the captaincy against star athlete Jocasta, whose determination to win is straining her relationship with her girlfriend, Nessa. Can Domo lead his team to victory while he struggles with his feelings for ambitious Gabriel and flamboyant Emil?

Love-and-War is a queer sports rom com about how our conflicting passions can pull us in different directions!

Part of the Comixology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on Comixology and Kindle. Read for free as part of your subscription to Comixology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime. Also available for purchase via Comixology and Kindle.

Genres: Graphic Novels, LGBT, Comics, Queer, Romance, Sports, Contemporary

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 12, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Andrew Wheeler is a Shuster and Eisner-winning writer and editor. His credits include Another Castle at Oni Press, Love and War at Comixology, the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurers Guides, and the Prism-nominated all ages LGBTQ anthology Shout Out.

Reviews

[atlas ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this a is super cute issue with lots of diverse characters but also super short! i saw this on kindle unlimited so i wanted to give it go. i hadn't even read the description so finding out this was about tug of rope was pretty funny.

[Kasia (kasikowykurz) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Świetne!

[Vanna Book-Mage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved how gay this was!

[Cal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm definitely intrigued and the art is very cute. Not sold on tug of war being taken this seriously but I'm ready to be wrong.

[Autumn D’Auria | bookedbyautumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book on Kindle Unlimited. I thought this was a great first book in the five-book series. This book had a great balance between sports (tug of war) and relationships. This was a fun, interesting, and engaging read. This book is only twenty-three pages long so you are able to quickly read this book in one sitting. I can't wait to read the next issue!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this on kindle and it’s 23 pages of confusion tbh

[Rebecca Crunden]

Super cute!

[Meg Scarbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute but defo could’ve been one book instead of five short ones

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute but very short story, omw to read the next one because I want to know what happened

[Nicole Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

the story isn't anything special at this point but it's intriguing and i definitely want to know more and see where it goes

[Blade Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 volume comic series about a high school tug-of-war sports team. 2/5 volumes published. The story follows a team of diverse athletes and include plus size, black, poc, MLM and wlw representation.

The volumes are super short and not enough happened in each one for them to be individual installments. Very underwhelming

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

+
- It's free with Amazon prime.
- LGBTQ rep
- It's SHORT (as in: less than 30 pages, so if you're struggling with your reading quota...)
- Tug of war is an /interesting/ sport to pick, so I'm at least curious how that part of the narrative will develop

-
- The art is ... fine, though more than a few panels just looked ... off.
- The worldbuilding is threadbare, the "rival school" is "evil" apparently (though no actual justification is given for this aside from them being "intense"), tug-of-war is simultaneously supposed to be incredibly prestigious but the team is (apparently) struggling to recruit, etc.

Conclusion:
I didn't expect much for a free work; apparently my expectations were mostly correct. I can't say I'm impressed, but I might give the series another chapter or two just to see if it catches my interest (and also to help meet my yearly reading quota, lol).

[Nes🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Domo is starting a new year at Aster Academy for arts and sports. He’s apart of a tug of war team who won second place at last year’s championship. On his first day of the new school year he’s waiting for his friend and teammate Gabriel,who doesn’t show up. Things happened between them at the championship,then he went away for the summer and Domo can’t seem to find him. Until later that day in a very unexpected place!

I won’t lie I didn’t even read what this was about when I started this because the cover alone sold me. So when I read this was about a tug of war team I couldn’t contain my laughter. Now I’m not making fun of this at all I think that’s so freaking cute! It just shocked me, from what I can tell so far this is a queer sports comic and I’m sold !

[Elaine White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a chapter of Volume 1, so it's super short, but it's the start of a cute story. Domo is an Anchor in Aster Academy's tug-of-war school team. 2 months ago, after a competition, his friend and teammate Gave kissed him...then ghosted him. They haven't spoken since. Now Domo is back for a new school term and Gabe is gone. Domo has been made co captain in Gabe's absence, and a new complication arrives in the form of new student - pro ballerina - Emil...who seems to have taken a shine to Domo!

[hannah ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a super cute, super short read but i felt like each instalment was sooo short. the pacing was good considering the short length of each comic, but nothing was fully developed - we're only brushing the surface with the characters by the 4th instalment, and there's only one more left in the series:( pretty diverse too, and really liked the art style. overall though, was feeling very underwhelmed, i wanted more.

[legna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to this series from seeing a black girl on the cover, and went into reading it with moderately high hopes. the story follows Dominic, and Nessa two friends who go to a school who's known for tug-a-war? So far it seems like a regular high school story, nothing special but its a fun read when you're bored.

[kenzie rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

oohhh I love this so much :)

Oh this is such a cute start to this series. I am happy for queer representation as I am always looking to read inclusive graphic novels, etc! You should give this story a go. It’s all about the test of relationships, sporty vibes, and a dose of healthy competition. Who doesn’t love a story with all of those things combined?!

[Rebecca Gustafson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had such a good time reading this! This is a queer sports romcom about the tug of war team at a university.. which is such a unique premise. It was fun to read about the dynamics of a tug of war team.. something I don’t think I’ve ever thought about. Definitely has the workings to be a heartwarming and cute story.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun and very interesting start to this series. I was not expecting Tug-of-War (since I didn't really read what this was about before reading), though I guess I should have figured from the cover and the title. This definitely gave me some Fence vibes, in the best way. I'm excited to see where the story goes.

[kaitlphere · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this issue. The sub-genre of LGBT sports comics has been a great genre to follow. This series has the additional ridiculousness of the sport being tug-of-war. I hope I remember this series in the future to keep following it.

[Ashlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid first volume. I’m interested to see where things go from here. I don’t think I’ve ever given much thought to tug-of-war and the fact that there could be a championship for it, but it makes sense. I love the representation I’m seeing so far as well.

[Ashleigh (ash_and_books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rep: mid-plus size queer MC (Domo), Black mid-plus size queer MC (Nessa), queer SCs (Gabe, Jocasta)

Author Rep:
Queer author (Andrew Wheeler, he/they)
Nonbinary illustrator (Killian Ng, they/them)
Queer Indian letterer (Aditya Bidikar, they/he)

I don't like Jocasta at all.

[Gio · Rating 2 out of 5]

mega curtinho e um tanto confuso
a hq entrega personagens diversos que parecem carismáticos, mas em 23 páginas somos apresentados a casais, crushs e um conflito facilmente resolvido e não relevante o suficiente pra ser um gancho pras próximas edições

[Jos · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of promise for this comic, but it was quite short and was mostly set up (which is uncommon). The art was consistent and matched the vibe. Based on this first taste, I will definitely continue with the series.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore this art style - and the range of characters. Love the diversity <3 Can't wait for the next issue!

[Hannah-joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5⭐️

[Fatu · Rating 3 out of 5]

He tardado literalmente 10 minutos en leermelo. No fue gran cosa. Te sirve para un viaje en tren donde no tengas gran cosa que hacer. Deportes y gays again.

[Libby Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute!

[Brittany Cash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very similar to the Fence graphic novel series, so if you liked that series check out this tug of war based one!

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is my new favorite art style & the diversity of all the characters makes my heart smile