Customer Reviews

Chelsea Boys

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been following the Chelsea Boys for years and am thrilled to see that they have finally gotten their stories together in a book. In my opinion, this is the only strip out there in which the characters open themselves enough to expose the reasons for who they are. The boys deal with real issues that face all of us (and I mean all of us - gay or straight) in real life and gives depth and "realness" to gay people.

The writing by Allan Neuwirth is insightful and poignant. And, as always, Glen Hanson's illustrations are brilliant. I look forward to future additions to the Chelsea Boys library.

With charm, wit and talent Messrs. Hanson and Neuwirth have managed to straddle the line between sweet satire and real pathos. Tempered with a feel for contemporary issues facing gay and lesbian New Yorkers, "Chelsea Boys" is like a gay 'Doonesbury'.
Beginning with a cute 'meet' we are introduced to 3 inhabitants of a Chelsea apartment share. The characters and their milieu are so sharply crafted in line and words that we identify with them immediately.
We need little introduction to recognize friends and lovers from our own lives in Nathan, Sky, Soiree, Lucie and Ricki, their follies and foibles. The authors manage to take even serious world issues (Sept. 11th) and turn them into thought-provoking, entertaining strips.
I have been a big fan of the strip since I moved to New York and its a pleasure each time I read it to see how the characters have grown as I have in this wonderful, crazy, complicated city I am now proud to call my home.
I'm so glad that I can finally read all the strips consecutively in one volume. Needless to say this will be a great gift for all my out of town friends who are sadly New York deprived.

Hanson and Neuwirth have created warm, acerbic, witty, and utterly human characters who totally defy the Chelsea Boy stereotype. So don't let the strip's title fool you. These guys are universal-just like gay men from Pasadena to Poughkeepsie. This is a great collection, both for the terrific drawings and the wonderfully inclusive stories about these three gay roommates and people of ages, races, and sexual orientations in their lives.

Chelsea Boys is a bi-monthly strip that most readers wish was daily. It always sparkles with wit, even when the authors are steaming about an injustice or the prejudices hidden within seemingly benign attitudes. The strips are always funny but the characters aren't just caracatures. They have depths and heart and contradictions just like real people. Glen's artwork always pleases the eye, and the chance to just sit and wallow in a bookload of the strips, rather than parsing out the pleasure in two minute doses every two weeks, is a glutton's delight. I recommend this book highly, not only to gay readers, but to everyone who loves to laugh. That a little wisdom comes with the laughs won't bother you.

Neuwirth and Hanson use the lighthearted medium of a comic strip to deliver deeper and more serious messages about the reality of being a modern gay man. Every strip has a lesson to ponder and the authors smash sterotypes wide open. Ironic indeed that the strip is named Chelsea Boys given the author's overwhelming proven point that sterotypes are rather silly given the fact that noone indeed ever lives up to the expected ideal.

Neuwirth and Hanson add a work of great relivance and importance to the cannon of gay literature. This is a must have for every gay man's libray! A great gift for friends too!

Chelsea Boys is a very funny tale of 3 main characters that defies the norm we're used to seeing in the gay community. Rather than limit themselves to dating and sex(fun things never the less),the authors have tackled loss of parents, gay parenting and racial issues.This isn't your grandma's strip. Even though this format is known as a comic strip, I like to think of it as a complete story. Every strip follows the characters as they negotiate life with each other and with the greater community at large. Where else do we see such diversity in the gay community. Blonde and buff, short and jewish, black and sassy. On the surface, these may seem like stereotypes but if you read into their stories, they have to face many complex issues in their lives. Even though the story takes place in the neighborhood of Chelsea, it really represents all of Manhattan with it's wit and humanity.

I have always wondered why there are so few really good, funny well drawn gay comics out there. Gay men are such talented people and have a wide varity of interests..why isn't that reflected in comics? CHELSEA BOYS has everything- lust, wonder, humanity, truth, and humor, in a perfectly sweet package.

I can't choose a favorite character, it's the great combo of all of them that makes this cartoon always exciting and fresh.

I was very pleased to find on the development of the boys and the different drawing styles of the bodies. Mr Hanson is a true talent and never boring with the way all the character are rendered. There are so many nuances with the humor, facial expressions, and the body language. The subject matter is also non-typical (thank god!) of other gay comics, always dealt with in the best way possible: with good humor. I'm sure some of the antics are based on actual incidents, like the sexy leatherman buglary? Or the Pride day lesbian/gay man sex romp? Truth is stranger than fiction!

This by far is the best collection I've ever owned...and the price is a steal.

A compilation of the "Chelsea Boys" comic strip series that appears in many gay papers and online. The boys are familiar characters in gay comics, and in fact, the same trio, dumpy everyman, buffed innocent, and sassy snap-queen previously appeared in Jerry Mills' "Poppers." But Hanson and Neuwirth move beyond the gag-a-month format to add a complexity to the characters, giving them back stories and crises, making them fragile, multidimensional, and likeable.

Overall, this is a pleasant diversion, deserving a place on the shelf next to Allison Bechtel's "Dykes to Watch Out For" and the opus of Howard Cruise.

I must confess- I didn't follow the chelsea boys saga before I got this Book; Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down!
I caught myself Laughing out loud late at night like a lunatic.
The characters are beautifully illustrated and developed. I feel like my friends and I have traits from all the characters, Which makes it more fun, sometimes scary.
To ME is like a GAY- SEX AND THE CITY.
KUDOS to Glenn and Allan's talent.
I Can't wait for this wonder duo's new book.
Again, this one is a perfect gift for any Occasion (Im getting a few books for those last minute emergency gifts)
Buy this book and give it away, anyone could use a bit of laughter this days.