How Loathsome is a series of goth

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

, LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 comics by Ted Naifeh

Ted Naifeh

Edward "Ted" Naifeh is an American comic book writer and artist who gained notoriety for his illustrations in the goth romance comic Gloomcookie...

 and Tristan Crane. Originally published in 2003 in four separate issues, the series was released in a graphic novel

Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...

 format in 2004 by Comics Lit/NBM

NBM Publishing

NBM Publishing is an American publisher of graphic novels. The company specializes in non-superhero comic genres and has translated and published over 150 graphic novels from Europe and Canada, as well as several works by Americans...

.

The story chronicles the misadventures of several, loosely connected residents of San Francisco, as it addresses issues of gender identity

Gender identity

A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...

, sexuality

Human sexuality

Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...

, fetishism

Fetishism

A fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a man-made object that has power over others...

, drug use

Drug use

Drug use may refer to any drug use; or:* Drug abuse* Drug addiction* Entheogenic drug use* Medication* Performance-enhancing drug use* Recreational drug use* Self medication...

, and goth subculture

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

.

How Loathsome received the Ninth Art Lighthouse award for "Best New Series" in 2003, and was runner-up for its "Best Bookshelf Comic" award in 2004.