This is Universal Love, a month-long spotlight on LGBTQ comic book stories that I have enjoyed over the years. This isn't meant as a "Best Of" list, since there are so many great works out there and so I'll spread the love around a bit, as it were.

Today, based on a suggestion by reader Alex H., we take a look at Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe with colors by eir sister, Phoebe Kobabe.

Maia Kobabe is a non-binary artist who uses the Spivak pronouns (e, eir, em). I just figured I would fill you in on the pronouns before I use them in the piece.

The introduction of the graphic novel from Lion Forge is striking, because Kobabe makes this big point of noting that e is not someone who is particularly interested in doing memoir work, and then e goes out and writes and draws a freaking brilliant memoir! It's pretty darn funny, when you think about it.

Kobabe explains eir early days, with a particular point of noting that eir parents are quite liberal people, so they certainly never pushed gender stereotypes on to Kobabe, but at the same time, it is one thing to say "You can be whatever kind of woman you want to be" and it is a whole other thing to acknowledge that there is a whole other possibility out there. Obviously, those sorts of ideas were unknown to Kobabe, as well, so it is particularly powerful when e starts to figure it out...

I especially like how e depicts that twisting feeling of uncertainty about it all. What a wonderful visual.

At the same time, while Kobabe notes a number of instances of "lusting" after people (there's a great bit about eir school's queer/straight alliance slowly turning into a Lord of the Rings fan club, of sorts, with the group trying to figure out which characters are gay), e realizes that e is truly asexual, which leads to some drama in college when a girl who shared some classes with Kobabe began to fall in love with em, all without Kobabe even knowing! It's a fascinating sequence, as this girl broke up with her boyfriend for someone that she didn't even actually know! That makes it all the more painful when Kobabe has to explain that e just isn't interested in a romantic relationship...

Such heartfelt stuff. You can feel the trembling emotion.

Kobabe delivers that same feeling again when describe eir visits to the gynecologist...

E really twists your soul reading those sequences. I felt so bad for eir during them. It's really messed up.

Another fascinating sequence is when Kobabe gets into One Direction fanfiction, but realizes that e doesn't really know how to describe the romantic stuff, so e decides to go on Tinder to experiment (the whole Tinder sequences are some of the best parts of the book).

I really thought Kobabe did a particularly strong job when e describes the importance of using the proper pronounces for eir. Seeing em describe the pain that e feels when people use the wrong pronouns was just so visceral. That page should be shared by lots of people to explain to others what it feels like.

This was an excellent memoir and well drawn by the Kobabe siblings. Kobabe is such a compelling voice.

Thanks to Alex for the suggestion!

If anyone else has a suggestion for a great LGBTQ comic book, I've gotten all my choices for June, but I'll continue this feature beyond Pride month, just less frequently, so feel free to continue to send in suggestions to me at brianc@cbr.com!