Exclusive Preview: ‘Mimosa’ Reflects on More Than Tipsy Brunch With Friends

When you look at the breadth of LGBTQ+ media, there’s a running theme of most of the work—other than how white it tends to be and how it caters to a cis-hetero audience—and that’s how it often centers around the “coming out” process and being young. To be fair, the Hayes Code set us back decades and youth is central to much of the media. Also, thanks to the AIDS epidemic and restrictive laws, there’s a generation of people nearly missing because they died young and didn’t grow up to be elder examples of queerness to look to.

That’s one of the things so special about Archie Bongiovanni‘s first adult graphic novel, Mimosa.

Their book features the transition from one’s early twenties to late twenties and early thirties. We love YA LGBTQ+ literature, and there are obvious icons like Alison Bechdel, but there’s always room for more. That’s where Bongiovanni’s story comes in. Mimosa centers on a group of four friends coming to terms with being the “old gays” of the group. Because there’s no template to even attempt to accept or deny like there is for heterosexuals, they seek to carve out a space of their own.

Exclusive: Mimosa 

Abrams Comicarts reached out and gave us the opportunity to share an exclusive sneak preview of this story! Regular readers may recognize Mimosa as one of our most anticipated graphic novels coming out in 2023. However, for those that don’t, here’s the official synopsis:

Best friends and chosen family Chris, Elise, Jo, and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party, the crew decides to put on a new queer event called Grind-specifically for homos in their dirty thirties.

Grind is a welcome distraction from their real problems: after a messy divorce, Chris adjusts to being a single parent while struggling to reconnect to their queer community. Elise is caught between feelings for her boss and the career of her dreams. Jo tries to navigate the murky boundaries of being a supportive friend and taking care of her own needs. And Alex is guarding a secret that might change his friendships forever.

While navigating exes at work, physical and mental exhaustion, and drinking way, way too much on weekdays, this chosen family proves that being messy doesn’t always go away with age.

Check out the full story by pre-ordering here or at your local comic book store or indie bookstore. Mimosa releases March 7, 2023.

(featured images: Abrams Comicarts / Surely)

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