Graphic Novel Review: Teahouse GN 1

Teahouse volume 1

Author: Emirain

48 pages

Warning: The work being discussed is for audiences 18+ years of age. Caution when reading!

Welcome to the Teahouse, where a motley bunch are ready to serve in and out of the bed. Enter Sir Rhys, a regular client who has turned The Teahouse upside down with his blunt put-downs and skilled moves. Will he choose shy virgin Rory, or the ladies' favorite Axis? Axis is hoping he won't have to service Sir Rhys again, but he can't get him out of his head! What will happen when these two opposites meet again in the bedroom?

If you know me and know this blog, you know I love boys' love webcomics - and that my favorite by far is Teahouse by Emirain, which I not only crow about on a regular basis through Fujoshi O'Clock but even awarded the top slot of my favorite yaoi reads of 2011. So when Emirain came to Bishiecon 2011 as our main artist guests of honor, I knew I would have to buy a physical copy of the first chapter of my favorite BL web story - and I did! My copy was even signed!

And for ten bucks? It was totally worth it. Some might think buying physical hardcopies of webcomics is a waste of money, but I would argue quite the opposite! Considering all the yummy extras Emirain put into this slim volume, it was more than worth the cost, and I can't wait to pick up the next two chapters in this ongoing series.

As I said before, this is something just wonderful about Emirain's Teahouse. It could be its colorful cast of characters, or the steamy scenes of smut, or all the cool plot twists and storylines that keep popping up. No, it's probably all of the above, along with Emirain's killer colored artwork that truly accentuates all the beautiful men and women that populate the Teahouse 24/7. So you know that when you pick up the first chapter of Teahouse, you are gonna get a quality story. But what else is in this book that makes it worth the cover price?

Extras. Lots of shiny, sexy extras. Do you love full color artwork? You get half a dozen pages of artwork depicting Teahouse’s BL-licious boys. You also get several book-only scenes that were never published on the website, including a steamy as hell scene between Axis and Rhys: further proof that this book is for readers eighteen years of age and older. Also, a quite hilarious page of ‘unused edits’ that takes the last page of chapter one proper and turns it into a naughty bit of fun (double brownie points for all the boners – well, you’ll have to read it to believe it).

Plus – and this is where shit gets a little preachy – you get the chance to support some awesome ladies do what they do best: create amazing comics. It’s not enough to give ‘em page views on their site and share the link to their page around, although those are helpful too, don’t get me wrong! But as fans, we gotta put our money where our mouths are when we can, and sparing the ten bucks or so to start one’s physical Teahouse collection is certainly the right place to start.

And did I mention they have a lot more adorable merchandise featuring everyone’s favorite characters at the site’s store, ready for easy purchase? Because yeah.

You can read the comic, pick up a copy of the first chapter, and buy other sweet Teahouse swag at Emirain’s website. And you should totally do so.

(Psst, you can also follow Emirain on both Facebook and Twitter!)