Documentary about the history of LGBTQ comics airs on PBS as controversy rages about books in schools

Though it tells a story based in history, the documentary, “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics,” is as timely as a breaking news alert. The 2021 film, which airs Jan. 23 as part of the PBS “Independent Lens” series, addresses how comics made by and for LGBTQ creators and readers faced initial struggles, then rose to prominence, notably marked by MacArthur Award-winner Alison Bechdel receiving massive acclaim for her “tragicomic” memoir, “Fun Home.”

When “Fun Home” went on to be adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, it appeared that comics about LGBTQ people were widely accepted. But that was before some conservative groups, parents, and others organized to oppose public schools including in their libraries material about LGBTQ experiences and characters that these groups found offensive or inappropriate.

Vivian Kleiman, the director and a producer of “No Straight Lines,” says it’s important for people to understand the impact such opposition has on books and creators. “It’s a very chilling moment in American history in terms of our democracy,” Kleiman says. “Our democracy has always been premised on freedom, and freedom of choice.”

“No Straight Lines” uses interviews, archival footage and images to talk about the early days of LGBTQ comics in the 1970s, through a boom in the 1990s when, as the film says, “every major city had a gay newspaper,” up to recent days, and the community that has developed around web comics.

Creators who turn up in the film include Maia Kobabe, who, since the film was completed, has become known as the author of “Gender Queer,” a memoir about coming out as non-binary, told in graphic novel form. “Gender Queer” has earned the dubious distinction of being the most-banned book in the country, according to the American Library Association. It has been condemned as “pornographic” by some elected officials, as The New York Times reported.

The documentary is inspired by Justin Hall’s “No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics,” an anthology published by the Seattle-based company, Fantagraphics. (Hall is a producer and principal consultant for the documentary.)

Rupert Kinnard, who is among the artists featured in the documentary, “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics,” is shown in Portland.Compadre Media Group/Courtesy of iTVS

Kleiman, who is based in Northern California’s Bay Area, anchors the film by featuring interviews with five artists whose work helped form the foundation for the LGBTQ comics world. Bechdel, the late Howard Cruse, Mary Wings, Jennifer Camper and Rupert Kinnard all contribute key memories and observations. Local viewers will be especially interested in hearing from Kinnard, a Portland resident who recalls growing up in Chicago, and impressing neighbors with his ability to draw Batman, Superman and Spider-Man.

Kinnard was a pioneer in bringing his perspective as a Black, gay man into his work, which led him to ask himself, “Why the hell am I drawing white superheroes?” Kinnard then created a Black superhero called SuperBad, who had a giant Afro that, as Kinnard says in the film, “was designed to strike fear in the hearts of every white person.”

That evolved into Kinnard creating “a more whimsical superhero,” a relatable character named The Brown Bomber, in honor of boxing legend Joe Louis’ nickname. While attending Cornell College in Iowa, Kinnard drew editorial cartoons featuring The Brown Bomber for the campus paper. In his senior year, Kinnard had his Brown Bomber character come out as gay.

In Portland, Kinnard was the founding art director for Just Out, an LGBTQ publication whose regular features included Kinnard’s strip, which paired The Brown Bomber and his lesbian sidekick, Diva Touché Flambé.

Kinnard was injured in a car accident in 1996, when he was in Mississippi to attend his grandmother’s funeral. The accident left Kinnard paralyzed from the waist down. In the film, Kinnard recalls talking with the late Portland-based cartoonist, John Callahan — who wasn’t gay but who, as a quadriplegic, also used a wheelchair — about how being differently abled might be reflected in an artist’s work.

Kleiman said it was an easy decision to feature Kinnard in “No Straight Lines.” “I knew Rupert in the mid-’80s, when he lived in Oakland, California,” she recalls. “Rupert was probably the first person on the list.”

It took several years to make “No Straight Lines,” Kleiman says. “To be honest, we never had full funding for the film. It was always chewing gun and Scotch tape.” Though the film screened at the prestigious Tribeca film festival in 2021, Kleiman says, “We were initially rejected by the commercial streamers. It must have been too hot for them to touch. It’s a time of retrenchment, and it’s a time of cultural wars that we’re facing, and censorship is on the rise. So for national PBS to feel like they could show this, I’m awfully proud of them. What it means is, the film can be seen for free by anyone in this country. Let all voices be heard is my motto.”

“The film is about making progress,” says Kleiman. “I’ve worked on a bunch of documentaries that have educated parents, especially parents in communities of faith, about their kids who have come out, and loving them in spite of not accepting their behaviors, per se.”

On the other hand, Kleiman says, “We feel like we’ve arrived at this age of acceptance and triumph, yet the horror of violence, against trans people in particular, is a nightmare. No documentary film is going to change the world entirely, but I hope this film will reach young people and give hope to some LGBTQ youth who feel isolated, and can see stories of folks who have felt that way, and overcome the challenges they faced.”

“No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics” airs on PBS’ “Independent Lens” at 11 p.m. PT Monday, Jan. 23.

— Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

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