by Robert Mailer Anderson & Jon Sack
paperback: 144 pages
published May 21, 2024
"Beautiful, wickedly funny and, above all, joyous… Destined to become a classic!" — Andrew Sean Greer
Reeling from her parent's tragic death, teenaged Billie is uprooted from her native Austin, Texas to live in Liberal, Kansas - which despite its name, is not politically, or socially, liberal. Her Uncle Hank and Auntie Em protest, but Billie's new guardian is her godfather Adam, "a gay, film geek stuck inside a jock’s body – a jock’s world." With his wisecracking partner Steven, they run the Starlite movie theater, an oasis for film buffs and "the friends of Dorothy." Together, they face new challenges in their relationships and from the conservative town as they become Billie’s parents, help her "reinvest in life" as they all travel the rocky, yellow brick road of love and heartbreak.
Liberal, the adopted home of The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy, also has its share of wicked witches with unsettled scores. And a high school of students fighting 21st century culture wars. Along the way Billie meets Clara — a goth, lesbian Dorothy impersonator who’s used to being an outsider — Simon, her irrepressible and karaoke-obsessed younger brother – and Dylan, who finds himself caught between his cowardly allegiance to a rigid clique and finding the courage to act on his attraction to progressive Billie.
My Fairy Godfather tells the bittersweet tale of how film, poetry, and music connects us to who we’ve loved, who we’ve been, and who we are becoming — and that lying beneath the façade of teenage cynicism is the profound desire to be understood and loved.
"Wonderful! The story is moving and funny and the characters just leap off the page!" — Sherry Jones author of Josephine Baker’s Last Dance
"Page after page is attractive and eye-catching.... a crowd pleaser... it's what you'll want from a fine and well observed drama." – Slings and Arrows: Graphic Novel Guide
“My Fairy Godfather is a spot-on treatment of the themes of tolerance and intolerance regarding sexual orientation in conservative Kansas which centers on a repertory theater screening classic Hollywood films. It is especially notable for providing comics artist extraordinaire, Jon Sack a chance to step into the limelight with 135 pages of really excellent work." — Copacetic Comics