Comics/Graphic Novels

Sites We Like: Love in Panels

Jessica Pryde

Contributing Editor

Jessica Pryde is a member of that (some might call) rare breed that grew up in Washington, DC, but is happily enjoying the warmer weather of the desert Southwest. While she is still working on what she wants to be when she grows up, she’s enjoying dabbling in librarianship and writing all the things. She can be found drowning in her ever-growing TBR and exclaiming about romance in the Book Riot podcast (When in Romance), as well as on social media. Find her exclamations about books and pho on twitter (JessIsReading) and instagram (jess_is_reading).

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I recently came across this site, which is obviously a labor of love, in more ways than one. The creator of the site, Suzanne Krohn, is trying to make a database of all the comics featuring love stories and central romantic elements that she can find. It’s constantly being updated, but the work is definitely worthwhile.

Because romance comics are wonderful.

While the idea of comics as anything other than capes-and-tights is building amongst readers, there are still those who don’t link comics and romance. And why not? I pick up comics for the same reason I pick up romances: I’m looking for a brief read with an ending that won’t upset me. Just with non-genre fiction, comics can be up in the air about this; so I go for the stories that have to end well (including, sometimes, capes and tights stories). But my go-to for all stories are love stories, and Love in Panels is definitely going to help me find the right ones.

So how does it work?

The site address is easy to remember (it’s just loveinpanels.com) so you can always find it, unless you’re like me and swear it’s Love and Panels when you’re looking for it without your notes.

Suzanne is collecting a database of comics, kickstarters, and webcomics (though no manga) and providing at the very least title, purchase information, and creator descriptions. As she continues to read and discover, she might post a review, or post reviews by guests. The database is searchable and includes everything from “a dash of romance” to NSFW erotic romance. She’ll also occasionally post a review that is “this is not a romance so don’t let the title/cover fool you!”  It’s a great resource for people who aren’t looking to get into something that doesn’t have a HEA or that might be…falsely advertising a love story when there isn’t one.

And if you subscribe to email updates, you can get reviews or recs right there in your email! (Or you can add it to your RSS feed, if you still have one. Are those still a thing?)

All in all, it’s a great site if you’re looking for a new romance comic read, and I plan to use it pretty regularly.