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A lesbian mech rom-com graphic novel by Ignatz and Prism Award-winning cartoonist Emma Jayne!
After many grueling years of defending against colossal, violent creatures, the machine that will turn the conflict in humanity's favor is nearing completion...until the war unexpectedly comes to a sudden, peaceful resolution.
The world rejoices. However, two women fall into crisis as their life's work becomes obsolete. Commander Sugimoto and her lead engineer Mischa Polyakov have spent nearly every waking moment together since the project's inception, but without the pretense of their careers and world-ending calamity, do they have a reason to stay in one another's lives?
After many grueling years of defending against colossal, violent creatures, the machine that will turn the conflict in humanity's favor is nearing completion...until the war unexpectedly comes to a sudden, peaceful resolution.
The world rejoices. However, two women fall into crisis as their life's work becomes obsolete. Commander Sugimoto and her lead engineer Mischa Polyakov have spent nearly every waking moment together since the project's inception, but without the pretense of their careers and world-ending calamity, do they have a reason to stay in one another's lives?
80 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2023
166 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
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March 15, 2025If you’re looking for a fun one-sitting read, why not pick up this trans lesbian “mech rom-com graphic novel,” as the blurb describes it? I feel like you’re already sold, but I’ll keep going anyway. LSBN is a project to develop a mech suit to battle the giant, monstrous aliens that have descended to Earth. But just as it’s ready to launch in earnest, the war ends: Arrival-style, someone has learned how to communicate with the aliens and negotiated peace.
That leaves Commander Sugimoto’s LSBN project in limbo, and her attitude has made her basically unemployable elsewhere. Mischa Polyakov is an engineer on the project and idolizes Sugimoto—both for her technical brilliance and for being a role model for trans women in this profession. On their last day, they impulsively take the mech out for a joy ride… and some other impulsive activities.
This is only 80 pages, so there isn’t enough space for a lot of sci-fi worldbuilding. Instead, it focuses on these two characters and their relationship with each other. Despite the page count, they both feel like fleshed out characters, and their romance is believably complicated, even awkward at times. Romances between two trans women are still pretty difficult to find in fiction, so it was nice to read a comic that celebrated their relationship (including sex scenes).
I thought it was an interesting choice that these two feel like side characters in the world of the novel: I would imagine that the woman who deciphered the alien’s language and negotiated peace would be the main character. It’s a fun twist to instead be following the characters left adrift after this sudden change.
This graphic novella is a quick but satisfying read. How can you go wrong with a lesbian mech rom-com?
Review originally posted at the Lesbrary.
That leaves Commander Sugimoto’s LSBN project in limbo, and her attitude has made her basically unemployable elsewhere. Mischa Polyakov is an engineer on the project and idolizes Sugimoto—both for her technical brilliance and for being a role model for trans women in this profession. On their last day, they impulsively take the mech out for a joy ride… and some other impulsive activities.
This is only 80 pages, so there isn’t enough space for a lot of sci-fi worldbuilding. Instead, it focuses on these two characters and their relationship with each other. Despite the page count, they both feel like fleshed out characters, and their romance is believably complicated, even awkward at times. Romances between two trans women are still pretty difficult to find in fiction, so it was nice to read a comic that celebrated their relationship (including sex scenes).
I thought it was an interesting choice that these two feel like side characters in the world of the novel: I would imagine that the woman who deciphered the alien’s language and negotiated peace would be the main character. It’s a fun twist to instead be following the characters left adrift after this sudden change.
This graphic novella is a quick but satisfying read. How can you go wrong with a lesbian mech rom-com?
Review originally posted at the Lesbrary.
September 3, 2023
The premise of this adult sci-fi short graphic novel was intriguing - what happens when war is all you know, and it's suddenly over? The characters and plot were not compelling, and the book is too short to set things up with any depth.
July 29, 2024
Campy, cute, sexy, FUN. Enjoyed every single page of this silly T4T dy*ke romance. The art and color choices are both really cute and very legible.
There's a lot of criticism in the comments arguing this book is too short to be impactful or good and doesnt have enough sci-fi eleme ts, but I completely disagree.
Jayne does a great job of very quickly establishing the vibe of the world, the characters, and the relationships involved despite the short length of the book overall, a feat many graphic books 3-4x in length fail to do.
I *do* wish the book was longer, but that's because I enjoyed it so much I was sad to be done with it!! I'd much rather have a book that leaves me wanting more rather than one where the whole things drags.
Also I get why someone would pick this up and think it was gonna focus heavily on the sci-fi aspects but that's not what this is -- it's a campy lesbian rom-com with a sci-fi setting.
I'd love to see a follow up book or comic strip series set in this world and more of these characters, one of the best graphic books I've read this year!
There's a lot of criticism in the comments arguing this book is too short to be impactful or good and doesnt have enough sci-fi eleme ts, but I completely disagree.
Jayne does a great job of very quickly establishing the vibe of the world, the characters, and the relationships involved despite the short length of the book overall, a feat many graphic books 3-4x in length fail to do.
I *do* wish the book was longer, but that's because I enjoyed it so much I was sad to be done with it!! I'd much rather have a book that leaves me wanting more rather than one where the whole things drags.
Also I get why someone would pick this up and think it was gonna focus heavily on the sci-fi aspects but that's not what this is -- it's a campy lesbian rom-com with a sci-fi setting.
I'd love to see a follow up book or comic strip series set in this world and more of these characters, one of the best graphic books I've read this year!
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December 18, 2024t4t lesbians in stem 😎✊🏻
this was cute but way too short imo, i wanted to get to know the characters more.
this was cute but way too short imo, i wanted to get to know the characters more.
June 19, 2023
Campy Science Fiction with the right amount of smut. Love it!
July 22, 2024
This book has a pretty great title, and that's about all it has going for it. It is extremely lacking in both character development as well as plot. Additionally, I did not like the art in here at all and for a graphic novel that is one of the more important parts.
August 18, 2025
I liked the premise of this - what happens when you're a sci-fi lesbian who's spent years building an enormous mechanical killing machine and it turns out peace was always an option? Unfortunately that's where my praise starts and ends. The art was kinda amateurish, and the colors were inconsistent throughout the work. Sometimes I could tell they chose different palettes for the mood lighting, which is fine, but other choices seemed like straight-up mistakes, like changing the Commander's jacket colors from brown to blue-and-white after they ride in the mech. The story itself felt rushed and incomplete, borderline fanfiction-y. It was both too expositive and lacking in information, like the sudden arrival of Cecilia, who it seems like we're already supposed to know and hate. Overall, I was seduced by the premise but underwhelmed by the execution.
August 19, 2023
3.5. Extremely cute 🥺
September 5, 2024
T4T transbian short romance story with a setting of post giant monster fighting world peace. I wish our characters were larger on the cover because the size of the robot vs tiny size of the characters had me expecting we’d see more of it so my expectations were a bit off. A fun quick read with a spicy scene and sweet queer romance. Lovely to see trans sapphic authors having the chance to write trans sapphic stories.
October 31, 2023
Not a lot of substance, but I guess it is very short.
August 7, 2024
I love how gay this is!
March 20, 2025
Trans lesbian mecha monster romance...so true. Sweet and funny but too short to do much more than be entertaining.
March 25, 2025
Cute but insubstantial.
May 16, 2023
The story of this comic is clear, but the characters feel flat. The book is too short to give character background or depth, so the primary relationship lacked any hook to keep me invested.
December 27, 2023
Short, sexy queer comic with cool concept art and cool ideas. The cover art is everything! I could read a whole lot more about these characters!
May 11, 2025
Emma Jayne’s LSBN is a bold, queer graphic novella that blends romance, mech sci-fi, and a dash of existential drift into something delightfully unexpected. It’s funny, sweet, and unapologetically queer—with a confident sense of style and sensuality that’s both emotionally satisfying and visually stunning.
Set in a post-war world where two women—Commander Sugimoto and lead engineer Mischa Polyakov—find themselves untethered after their life’s work becomes obsolete, the story explores what happens when purpose disappears but connection lingers. Without the urgency of survival or the daily routines of military structure, the pair are suddenly forced to confront a new question: Now what?
There’s a lot packed into this short book. Jayne captures a queer kind of aftermath—one full of awkwardness, liberation, and slow-burning desire—with humor and care. Their joyride (and the joy ride that follows, if you catch my drift) is both hilarious and tender. The chemistry is electric.
That said, I did find myself wishing there was more. The brevity of the story left me hungry to better understand the emotional evolution between Sugimoto and Mischa. As a demisexual reader, I would have loved to see their connection deepen over time rather than being dropped into the story just as things are changing. Still, what LSBN offers is a rich, unapologetic slice of queer sci-fi that breaks from genre expectations in all the right ways.
One note for the curious: If you are looking for a discreet read, this is definitely a “read it at home” title. There are a few explicit scenes (beautifully rendered and completely in-character), so if you're picking it up through a library interlibrary loan—like I did—you might want to skip reading it at the reference desk.
For readers looking for something short, steamy, and sweet with heart, humor, and lesbians in mech suits, LSBN delivers.
Set in a post-war world where two women—Commander Sugimoto and lead engineer Mischa Polyakov—find themselves untethered after their life’s work becomes obsolete, the story explores what happens when purpose disappears but connection lingers. Without the urgency of survival or the daily routines of military structure, the pair are suddenly forced to confront a new question: Now what?
There’s a lot packed into this short book. Jayne captures a queer kind of aftermath—one full of awkwardness, liberation, and slow-burning desire—with humor and care. Their joyride (and the joy ride that follows, if you catch my drift) is both hilarious and tender. The chemistry is electric.
That said, I did find myself wishing there was more. The brevity of the story left me hungry to better understand the emotional evolution between Sugimoto and Mischa. As a demisexual reader, I would have loved to see their connection deepen over time rather than being dropped into the story just as things are changing. Still, what LSBN offers is a rich, unapologetic slice of queer sci-fi that breaks from genre expectations in all the right ways.
One note for the curious: If you are looking for a discreet read, this is definitely a “read it at home” title. There are a few explicit scenes (beautifully rendered and completely in-character), so if you're picking it up through a library interlibrary loan—like I did—you might want to skip reading it at the reference desk.
For readers looking for something short, steamy, and sweet with heart, humor, and lesbians in mech suits, LSBN delivers.
April 4, 2025
3.5/5
A short Sci-Fi novella with two trans women learning to love each other.
It's cute, it's like a short bite of what seems to be an interesting story. The book starts with the end of what seems to have been a terrible alien war, and we get to see a team of war engineers wondering what will become of them, and it ends with the main characters' new beginning (new love, new job..)
I would've needed more time to really connect to the characters but I think the author managed to let the audience know quite a lot about them and their world in such a few pages. The sex scene was cute, really tender, and quite beautifully drawn. (It's pretty graphic so make sure you're ok with that!)
A short Sci-Fi novella with two trans women learning to love each other.
It's cute, it's like a short bite of what seems to be an interesting story. The book starts with the end of what seems to have been a terrible alien war, and we get to see a team of war engineers wondering what will become of them, and it ends with the main characters' new beginning (new love, new job..)
I would've needed more time to really connect to the characters but I think the author managed to let the audience know quite a lot about them and their world in such a few pages. The sex scene was cute, really tender, and quite beautifully drawn. (It's pretty graphic so make sure you're ok with that!)
December 7, 2024
This is a short story that doesn't have a ton of time to lock you into a ton of anything but it makes pretty fun use of it's short run time to have two lesbians be a little gay together, do the romcom misunderstanding and get back together. I don't love the Romcom misunderstanding but I appreciate the cute little T4T lesbian romance and the fun art and colors of this book. I wish there was some more here, some of them being in love and working together after everything on the new project and them getting to build a bit together but it's a good time.
August 8, 2023
Perhaps I had a bit higher expectations for this, but this campy sci-fi romcom story felt like it lacked edge and characterization. It's a fun enough and brief read, so it never really overstays its welcome. But it's also pretty forgettable and the artwork has a bit too "sanitized" of a look to it which doesn't really appeal to my tastes much.
December 15, 2025
Rounding up because indie graphic novels have a place in my heart.
The story was pretty simple but did start off in a funny place. Giant mech team is decommissioned because a linguist figured out how to talk to the giant monsters attacking cities. There is a graphic steamy scene, so I wouldn't recommend it to any younger readers despite the bright colors on the cover.
The story was pretty simple but did start off in a funny place. Giant mech team is decommissioned because a linguist figured out how to talk to the giant monsters attacking cities. There is a graphic steamy scene, so I wouldn't recommend it to any younger readers despite the bright colors on the cover.
February 21, 2025
A very cute t4t romance and quick read. Love the premise and I really enjoyed a lot of the humor. The dialogue was a strength at times, but also lacked in giving depth to the characters. I still enjoyed the illustration and story a lot and would recommend for a fun, fast read.
June 17, 2023
it's okay but there was more lesbean sex and less robots than expected
August 9, 2023
Pleasant but too slight to make much of an impact. The concept was interesting but all a bit underwhelming.
September 1, 2023
This was so cute and wonderful and colorful and that is all.
September 8, 2023
mid, but fun
October 14, 2023
Fucking hilarious.
October 26, 2023
Absolutely loved this book! Loved the premise, the art, the representation, the boldness. Really enjoyed this lovely little book. Looking forward to more by Emma Jayne in the future!
November 12, 2023
Build a mech to fight kaiju, suddenly make peace with the kaiju... what happens to the mech and all the homoerotic tension among the employees making the mech??? Kisses and stuff I guess.
December 1, 2023
Five stars zero notes. Trans lesbians are the best, hottest people on earth
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews