Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Comic Book

Edited by Leighton Gray and Vernon Shaw. Oni, $19.99 trade paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-62010-631-0

A feast of all manner of meet-cute scenarios, based on the cult hit video game Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, which allows players to romance gay single dads, gets served up in this affable comics anthology. Each standalone story, put together by rotating artists and writers, teams up two or more of the dads from the game—jock dad Craig, preppy dad Joseph, brainy dad Hugo, goth dad Damien, and on and on—in gentle narratives of romance, parenting, and small-town life. The dads attend a class reunion, make a video together, and work on school science fair projects, with occasional help from their supportive kids and their sardonic female friend Mary. Despite the wink-nudge premise of a neighborhood inhabited almost entirely by hot, single gay men, the seduction never gets much steamier than kisses and lingering shots of dads taking their shirts off. The art varies in style, but is generally chipper and cartoony, featuring racially diverse characters. Aimed squarely at fans of the game, the authors don’t always introduce the characters and their backgrounds, instead hopping right into the mild beefcake action. But it’s nevertheless enjoyable, light fare, offering eye candy for any reader eager for more upbeat queer-focused fiction. (May.)