Prokaryote Season by Leo Fox

A QUEER FABLE ABOUT THE DANGERS OF OBSESSION

"A single-celled organism doesn't toil. It doesn't stare at the ceiling and cry. It doesn't have ill-fitting clothes. It doesn't do anything, that's the whole point. It just is."

Sydney and Laurelie are best friends searching for the contentment of oblivion. Failing that, they'd like to be adored. Laurelie, by their caustic boyfriend Trip, and Sydney by Laurelie. On a typical night partying in the woods, Sydney grows frustrated with their unrequited obsession for Laurelie, and asks for a wish to be granted by the curious cosmic creature Starman. Not only will Laurelie love Sydney, but Laurelie will be dependent on them — will need to be saved by them. When the wish becomes deadly serious, Sydney and Trip will be forced to figure out how to save Laurelie for real, or risk losing the person most important to them both.

A beautifully illustrated graphic novel about sickness, ennui, romance, and finding meaning in one's own self.

Order now and receive two vinyl stickers: "Because you're both bottoms" and "I'm terrible queer representation." 

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2024 Cartoonist Studio Prize Shortlist

"Love feels like a sickness in Prokaryote Season, like a hypochondriac need for control. Fox’s beautifully oozing artwork and delicate prose create a story of obsessive desire to be felt with one’s entire self." – Val Wise (Cheer Up!, Délicatesse)

"Surrealist candy for the angsty and limerant queer soul. A blend of fluid art and storytelling that both soothes and disgusts in every desirable way." – Mady G. (Be Gay, Do Comics)

"A thoroughly satisfying and relatively elevating tale of character growth masquerading as monastic monk’s work. I like the idea of this book stepping into a world different from the present so that its trans characters are unburdened by the obligation to address the ubiquity of cis bullshit." – Arpad Okay, DoomRocket

"Prokaryote Season, in its Shakespearean biospheric whirlpool, expounds earnestly on power and ownership over friends, lovers and the clump of cells that make up your own body." – The Comics Journal

"Kind of a fairytale quest, kind of a casual confrontation with desire. Leo Fox’s illustrations recall illuminated manuscripts like The Book of Kells, but done in a black-and-white, punk zine style." – The Beat, "Best Comics of 2023"

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