I mentioned two short works by Tillie Walden in a Reading Graphically post. Her two longer graphic novels deserve some attention, too.
First, there is Spinning (2017), which tells of her time as a competitive youth figure skater, first in New Jersey, and then in Austin, Texas. Then, there is On A Sunbeam (2018), a space opera of sorts, complete with spaceships that look for all the world like Siamese fighting fish.
Both books, at their core, focus on two themes: first, a deeply human look at young women coming out as lesbians and, second, the importance of finding a community to belong to.
I find Walden’s work incredibly direct emotionally: it never fails to move me, whether it is looking at the highly mundane moments associated with ice skating (waking up early, going to practice, never getting enough sleep, the long boredom of meets, etc) or a galaxy-spanning yarn focused on a group of intergalactic building renovators doing what they can to keep the crew together.
Seriously.
If you enjoy graphic novels that are aimed at human relations and emotional directness, these are for you. And Walden remains one of the brightest young lights in the field.