YA Graphic Novel ‘Hey, Mary!’ Shines A Queer Light on Catholicism & Self-Acceptance (Exclusive)
To celebrate National Coming Out Day 2024, The Mary Sue can reveal an exclusive excerpt from Hey, Mary!, an upcoming LGBTQ graphic novel from Oni Press. Written by Andrew Wheeler and illustrated by Rye Hickman, the book follows Catholic high schooler Mark, whose feelings for another boy cause a crisis of faith as he’s suddenly saddled with hundreds of years of judgment and shame. He also worries about how his parents will respond.
But perhaps Mark doesn’t have to suffer for being queer. In Hey, Mary! he seeks advice from a local drag performer and his priest, but also receives unexpected help from important figures in Catholic history and lore. His surprise advisory council includes Joan of Arc, Michelangelo, Savonarola, and St. Sebastian.
“Faith is not something you get up to at the weekend,” said writer Andrew Wheeler in the announcement. “Being raised in the Catholic Church is not just about Sundays and holy days; it’s every day. My family was Catholic, my community was Catholic, my school was Catholic, and I was Catholic, absolutely and to my core. Realizing that I was also gay as a teenager meant finding ways to reconcile my relationships with all those parts of my life, because my queerness and my Catholicism are both indelible to my identity.
“Writing Hey, Mary! has been part of that lifelong process of reconciliation, and a chance to talk out in the open about that process in a way that can hopefully resonate for people with similar experiences,” Wheeler continued.
Visual storyteller Rye Hickman said, “When I was a little younger than Mark I attended a private Christian school where it was an explicit school policy to expel any student who was discovered to be gay. At that time, my friends were all obsessed with manga. I found myself fixating on some books more than others—ones where a character changed sex, or where same-sex attraction was such strong subtext it might as well have been text. Much like Mark looking at the painting of Saint Sebastian, I kept that locked away deep in the back of my mind—I was normal! Just like Mark.
“His journey starts with fear, hurt, and denial—the way it did for a lot of us. Andrew wrote levity and joy into Mark’s first steps, despite the heaviness of hiding yourself from yourself, and I think that’s the universal heart of this book, visible from the start. Joy, wonder, and love are too powerful for fear to hold sway forever,” Hickman continued.
Check out an exclusive preview from Hey, Mary! below.
LGBTQ people of faith aren’t the only ones who struggle to reconcile their identities, though of course many share similar stories to Mark. Reconciling your sexuality and gender when you come from a deeply homophobic and transphobic culture is hard and often incredibly painful. Resources and support are available for those who need them.
Since 1988, National Coming Out Day has been celebrated on October 11 to commemorate the courage of those who identify publicly as queer or trans, and to support anyone who is still figuring things out or who cannot publicly claim their sexuality or gender for fear of violence or other punishment. The day is named for the “coming out of the closet” metaphor, but many in the LGBTQ community have moved away from this language because it positions queer and trans identities as shameful. Some have instead chosen to talk about “inviting people in” to the knowledge of their identity, which is more about building trust than offering people the opportunity to reject or harm them.
Next spring, Hey, Mary! will add to a growing LGBTQ literary canon that tells realistic stories of growing up queer that also allows its characters to experience affirmation and joy. The graphic novel will be available everywhere books are sold on April 15, 2025.
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