For the Moderns
I like superhero comics, but I live for Chynna Clugston-Major's Blue Monday. The fourth and final issue of the latest series, Painted Moon, came out yesterday, and it was perfect. Bleu's confession to Mr. Bishop; Victor and Clover (though Painted Moon is set before their first kiss in Lovecats); the revelation of the "match made in Hell," Erin and Alan... there's nothing else like Blue Monday. My collection, listed in chronological story order, not publication order:

Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright (trade)
Blue Monday: Absolute Beginners (trade)
Blue Monday: Painted Moon nos. 1-4
Blue Monday: Lovecats
Blue Monday: Dead Man's Party
Blue Monday: Nobody's Fool

The three one-shots are collected, for those who are interested, in the trade Blue Monday: Inbetween Days. And you should all be interested, because Blue Monday is amazing. It's one of the principle inspirations for In Search of the Perfect Lesbian. I will count myself fortunate if I can ever write anything half as good. Coming early next year, and about this I am wicked exicted, Blue Monday: Thieves Like Us! Thank you, Chynna!

The Perfect Lesbian - Timeline
The "Distant" Past - Just after the New Year: Margaret starts dating Mark Greenwald. She is upfront about being a virgin and tell him she won't sleep with him until she's "ready." Late Spring: Svetlana Kamenskaya breaks up with Scipio so that she could date Ari Vronsky; she did nothing inappropriate and didn't start seeing Ari until after she'd dumped Scipio.

Friday, October 23 - Margaret's boyfriend Mark tells her he is spending the night hanging out with his roommate Ari. In reality, Ari spends the night with his girlfriend Svetlana, and Mark has a secret rendezvous/tryst with his ex-girlfriend "Jennifer Davies" (the first name might change; the last name will definitely change, as I already have too many English surnames). Mark and Jennifer sleep together; he justifies it as a meaningless fling to relieve the months of celibacy he's endured while dating Margaret, but feels some pangs of guilt.

Saturday, October 24 - Homecoming - Mark picks Margaret up at her dorm and escorts her, Mary, and Stacey down to 1213 (Pete, Scipio, Parker, and Brandy's house) for parking-and-tailgating. The whole gang heads to the Big House and enjoys a Homecoming victory. After the game, Mark takes Margaret back to his apartment and confesses. Margaret explodes. She punches him in the nose, kicks him in the junk, and storms off. Feeling betrayed and thinking herself a fool, Margaret puts on a short skirt and tight shirt, leaves her panties at home, and heads off to a party at the Pikes' house. There, she loses her virginity to Jeremy Metz. Tra la la la la. Arriving back at her dorm room, she finds "do not enter" written in the white board and hears the sounds of Stacey and her boyfriend, Roger. In the rain, she trudges down to 1213 and falls asleep on the couch in Pete's room.

Sunday, October 25 - Mark calls Margaret; it does not go well.

Saturday, October 31 - The Halloween Party - After a mostly bad week, containing the supershort story "Before the Perfect Lesbian," Mary compells Margaret to attend the famed 1213 Halloween party. Margaret is doing her best not to enjoy herself when she hears a cry of delight from behind her, "Omigod, are you Dorothy?! Are you R. Dorothy Wayneright?" She turns around and beholds the most intoxicating girl she's ever seen, Kari Putterman. It brings Margaret no end of delight that Kari actually knows what her costume is. They talk for a few minutes and when Kari goes back to her friends, Margaret begins to think there might be something to this "perfect lesbian" theory of Pete's.

Tuesday, November 3 - Margaret's day is made when she gets hit with a book in the back of the head: it's Kari, announcing that they have a lecture together, though they hadn't known each other before they met at the Halloween party.

Wednesday, November 11 - Armistice Day - Svetlana and Scipio have dinner, an attempt to restore some semblence of a friendship after months of tension. Ari takes adventage of Svetlana's absence to committ suicide, hanging himself in her apartment.

After that, the dates get less specific.