About the Book About the Author
Issue 1 of FRESH ROMANCE features three stories:
School Spirit
School Spirit is a lighthearted take on classic high school romances with two queer women in the lead. Because Malie and Justine want to keep their romance a secret, they pretend to be competing over the same guy, Miles, but Miles also has a secret.
Created by: Kate Leth Arielle Jovellanos Amanda Scurti Taylor Esposito
Ruined
Ruined is a classic Regency romance, with lots of attention to period details. Catherine and Andrew are getting married – but neither one of them is happy about it.
Created by: Sarah Vaughn Sarah Winifred Searle Ryan Ferrier
The Ruby Equation
The Ruby Equation is a story about love in a coffee shop – where barista Ruby is on a mission to help people find love so she doesn’t have to deal with people anymore.
Created by: Sarah Kuhn Sally Jane Thompson Savanna Ganucheau Steve Wands
FRESH ROMANCE, a new digital romance comic magazine from Rosy Press, will debut in May 2015. The first issue of the monthly anthology features sundry stories ranging from a clandestine, queer high school love affair to an impeccably researched and illustrated Regency-era romance. In addition to three forward-looking romances, each issue of FRESH ROMANCE delivers a relationship advice column by a quartet of divorced writers, behind-the-scenes art coverage, and a fashion report.
Here are just a few of the comic creators working on FRESH ROMANCE:
Savanna Ganucheau is a colorist and illustrator currently living in Melbourne, Australia. Originally she’s from New Orleans, Louisiana, and misses it dearly. Honestly, she could really go for some boiled crawfish right now. She loves to make friends and talk to people. Chat with her Twitter – @srganuch anytime!
Sally Jane Thompson is a comic creator based in the UK. Currently drawing 19th c adventure “Red Jack” with writer John Dickinson for children’s comics serial The Phoenix, her work includes coming-of-age graphic novel Atomic Sheep (AAM Markosia), and comics and illustration for various publishers including IDW, Soaring Penguin, Imagine Publications and more. Her work focuses on thoughtful stories drawn with organic, expressive lines.
Sarah Kuhn is the author of the forthcoming Heroine Complex trilogy, starring Asian American superheroines, for DAW Books and the geek romantic comedy novella One Con Glory, which is in development as a feature film. Her writing has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Apex Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Back Stage, IGN.com, StarTrek.com, Geek Monthly,Creative Screenwriting, and the anthology Chicks Dig Comics.
Sarah Winifred Searle hails from spooky New England, where she writes and draws comics about relationships, history, and mysteries. You may recognize her work from Smut Peddler,Colonial Comics, Symbolia, or a bunch of other cool things. She is also exceptional at petting cats. Learn more about her work at swinsea.com.
Sarah Vaughn is the co-creator and co-writer of Alex + Ada with Jonathan Luna, published by Image Comics. She is an avid lover of historical romance novels and vintage romance comics.
Amanda Scurti is an illustrator, cartoonist, and colorist. She is a graduate of SVA and, when not voluntarily drowning herself in comics, enjoys petting dogs.
Arielle Jovellanos is an illustrator and comic artist (Five, School Spirit) based in New York. She likes sitcoms, showtunes, and storytelling structure. Also alliteration, apparently.
Kate Leth is a writer and artist best known for her webcomic Kate or Die and her work on the licensed comics Bravest Warriors, Edward Scissorhands and Adventure Time. She has a lot of tattoos and feelings.
Kevin Wada is best known for his cover work on Charles Soule’s run on She-Hulk, and has also contributed cover work for The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage, X-Men, Adventure Time, The Wicked and the Divine, Sleepy Hollow, Teen Titans, and Edward Scissorhands. He can be seen next as the cover artist for Catwoman.
Steve Wands is a Harvey Award Nominated letterer and all-round swell fellow. He leaves a trail of ABC’s across the pages of many DC, Image, BOOM! Studios, Kodansha Comics’, Roar, (and now Rosy Press) titles and does other stuff too (illustrating, inking, writing, making peanut butter & jelly sammiches). He lives in New Jersey with his wife and sons.
Ryan Ferrier is a Canadian comic book writer and letterer, and has worked with Image, Marvel, BOOM! Studios, IDW, Dark Horse, Oni Press, and Monkeybrain.
Taylor Esposito is a comic book lettering professional and owner of Ghost Glyph Studios. As a staff letterer at DC, he lettered titles such as: Red Hood and The Outlaws, Constantine, Bodies, The New 52: Future’s End, and New Suicide Squad. Prior to this, Taylor was credited on numerous titles for Marvel as a production artist. He is currently freelancing for major publishers and working on a new batch of creator-owned titles, to be announced soon.
Maya Kern is a freelance comic artist, illustrator, and musician based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the creator of MONSTER POP! and various short stories, including REDDEN and HOW TO BE A MERMAID. Maya enjoys changing hair color every few weeks, taking naps, and petting her cat. You can find her work at mayakern.com.
Marcy Cook is a creator of short stories, comic book scripts, interviews and articles. She’s also a semi-professional cat wrangler with an insatiable lust for Lego. When not slapping words together she’s a sci-fi geek, comic book fan and avid reader. Follow her on Twitter: @marcyjcook
Marissa Louise is a colorist, painter and MOBY DICK obsessive. She works relentlessly through the rainy season in Portland, Oregon to emerge during the brief summer months to hike, swim, and find interesting objects. She aspires to one day ride horses or reindeer in Mongolia.
Kyle Latino has been drawing comics since 2009. His comics work has been published in Image’s anthology OUTLAW TERRITORY Vol. 3, and in Monkeybrain’s digital Comixology exclusive PRIME 8’s. He has also being running a Patreon page since August of 2014. Kyle lives with his wife in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jen Van Meter writes comics including HOPELESS SAVAGES, THE DEATH DEFYING DOCTOR MIRAGE, and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: BLACK CAT. All her favorite foods begin with C and she is extremely fond of naps. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Visual artist Rafaela Herrera graduated from the ENPEG La Esmeralda INBA (National Institute of Fine Arts) and the CMA (Centre Morelense of Arts). She started her career professionally in 1997. Since then she has not stopped creating, always trying to learn more and improve her technique. She has expanded into different areas such as illustration (digital and traditional), painting, mural painting, video, music, photography, animation, among others. She is currently exploring the comic as a medium. She has worked as a freelancer for different companies.
Marguerite Bennett is a comic book writer from Richmond, Virginia who currently lives in New York City. She has worked for DC Comics, Marvel, BOOM Studios, and IDW on projects ranging from BATMAN to FOX’s SLEEPY HOLLOW. She has been fortunate enough to see over a million copies of her work published.
Gail Simone is a multiple-award-winning writer of comics and animation, having helmed acclaimed runs on characters like Deadpool, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the Birds of Prey, as well as the cult classic SECRET SIX, and the creator-owned hit, LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS. She is currently working on a revived SECRET SIX, her first Vertigo title, CLEAN ROOM, RED SONJA for Dynamite Comics, and several creator-owned works not yet announced. She lives in Oregon with her family and two rescued greyhounds.
Editorial Reviews
"The result of an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign by publisher Janelle Asselin, Fresh Romance from Rosy Press is an anthology style, romance comic that features a wide selection of well-known talent such as Kate Leth and Marguerite Bennett. With stories that deviate from the heteronormative standard, Fresh Romance takes a progressive stance on romance and highlights diversity in terms of creators, genres, and character design. Heartwarming, giggle-inducing, and cute as hell, Fresh Romance is truly joyous to behold." - http://www.newsarama.com/27372-best-of-best-shots-...
"Who says the romance genre is dead? Fresh Romance calls back to the classic romance comics of the 1950’s in the best way possible, while also putting a contemporary spin on the genre. Each issue follows an anthology format, offering a diverse lineup of creators, characters and storytelling styles. It’s the sort of comic that would struggle to find an audience as a traditional print comic, which is why we’re glad Comixology provided a different option." - http://www.ign.com/wikis/best-of-2015/Best_Digital...
"I had never read a straightforward romance comic before, but I’m super glad that Fresh Romance #1 was my introduction to the genre. Showing three very different, but all very enjoyable, chapters in romance stories, Fresh Romance #1, edited by Janelle Asselin, has something for everyone. My favorite story is “School Spirit,” written by Kate Leth, with art by Arielle Jovellanos and colors by Amanda Scurti. This supernatural and queer high school romance hits all the right notes when it comes to humor, drama and teenage love. The other comics, “Ruined” and “Ruby’s Equation” just make this issue even better, providing nice changes of pace and their own pleasant art and stories." - http://www.autostraddle.com/drawn-to-comics-my-15-...
Four stars on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25611156-fresh-..."Once again something that I just got from noisetrade!!!This is just the beginning of a series and I love it. There are three completely different stories in there but they are all about love.The graphics are really beautiful and the stories are just really great written. Super easy to read. I seriously can't wait to see how things will develope."