‘Everyone is Someone’s Fetish’ by Tony Breed

Author: Cathy Camper

July 15, 2014

This selection of comics is taken from Tony Breed’s web comic Finn and Charlie are Hitched. Breed started his online comic in 2006, chronicling the lives of two married gay men, before gay marriage was legally sanctioned in large parts of the U.S.  The web comic was nominated for an Ignatz award, and the book was published with support from a Kickstarter campaign.

These stories share everyday life situations of the two men, their friends and families. The comics are taken straight from the web, so the stories begin mid-stream. Without an introduction, new readers may take a while to connect with the characters and their issues. There’s Corey, a burly college student, who’s trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to sleep with. Gus and Tina are getting married, and ask friend Charlie to officiate—at an outdoor winter marriage! Nina talks about the difficulties of raising her special needs child, and Ken’s not sure if the relationship he’s in with Corey will become monogamous.

Finn and Charlie are the couple others turn to for advice and stability. Their house is where people turn up for the holidays when others’ homes and families are dysfunctional. The guys discuss everyone else’s problems at the end of the day, while watching TV, or before going to bed, and it’s these cozy discussions, more than anything, that convey the trust and long-term commitment between the two men.

The sense of humor here is low-key, but one that nails the realities of coupledom. When Charlie and Finn find some old sheets in the closet from college, they admit, “They…kind of smell.”

“This is the stink of our love, “Charlie says.

“That’s very romantic, but I’m throwing them out.” Finn replies, in a round-about affirmation of the bond they share.

 

Everyone is Someone’s Fetish (Finn and Charlie are Hitched,Vol. 4)
By Tony Breed
Mega Hugs Press
Paperback, 9780966020534, 384 pp.
May 2014