By Danielle L. — Last month as part of Trade Rating, I wrote about the 2017 Kristen Gudsnuk comic, Henchgirl. Today I’ve decided to change things up a bit, and so I’m going to be writing about manga. Specifically, the manga I’ve chosen to discuss today is Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love, which is both written and illustrated by Mira Onga Chua.

Enjoy!

Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love

I first learned about this series at my local comic shop last summer, where I saw it listed in Previews Magazine. The cover alone — which features the two main characters together with a motorcycle — was enough to grab my attention. Then, I read the preview text that would eventually appear on the back cover of the book…

Leo’s the hottest senior at Princess Andromeda Academy and her adoring fangirls have one goal: beat her in a road race and win the chance to date her! Unfortunately for them, the only thing Leo loves more than breaking hearts is her faithful motorcycle, Bethany. But when a mysterious girl named Vega takes Bethany away, Leo finds her heart may have been stolen, too.

I love everything about this. You see, the main crux of Roadqueen, as implied by the above summary, is a fraught love story between Leo and Vega. From the opening chapter of this story, it is clear that Leo is not a character who has previously or is likely to reciprocate romantic feelings. Breaking down this barrier fast becomes key to her character arc. 

Vega, meanwhile, has romantic challenges of her own, but they are very different from Leo’s. The best summary of the problems Vega is dealing with comes from Vega herself, who says in Chapter 7, that she “started giving up on the idea that [she]’d ever find love.” 

What this does is give us two characters who have problems with love, but who are facing problems that come from very different places. This creates an excellent tension between them as our story unfolds. See, over the course of the story from the duo’s meeting to the eventual climax, Vega enables Leo to chip away at her insecurities as well as at the idea of love and change herself, even if only a little bit, out of being as the story calls it a “gay fuckboy.” The growth in this situation is perhaps best exemplified by the duo’s date at a fair, during which Leo goes above and beyond to win a little keychain for Vega. 

A keychain may seem like a small prize, but in the context of this story it is emblematic of both Leo’s slow acceptance of her feelings and Vega’s realization that it is possible for her to be loved after all. 

A page I am finding myself appreciating more and more during my frequent rereads of this book is the page that depicts Leo and Vega seated together on Bethany the motorcycle, just before taking off. The matching styles and color of their clothing paired with the relaxed feeling of both characters creates a clear signal that this is where their story concludes, in spite of Boots’ voiceover of “I’m sure we’ll all meet again someday.” The Leo and Vega we see riding into the distance are just not the same characters introduced in the opening chapter — they’ve come so far. 

And it’s over the course of their shared journey that Mira Ong Chua’s thesis emerges through the actions of Leo and Vega, that thesis being that you can’t be a jerk and expect to find love in your life. At best, it will be similar to Vega’s past in that all relationships will be shallow and end as quickly as they began. By that same token, however, acting like a “gay fuckboy” will ruin current and potential relationships, too. It’s these lessons in the larger context of the character growth that makes for a rich and enjoyable and intense emotional read, or in my case, many re-reads. 

Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love
Writer/Artist: Mira Ong Chua
Publisher: Seven Seas
Price: $15.99 (paperback) or $9.99 (digital)
Released: October 2019

Danielle L. likes to write about comics. Follow her on Twitter @eldritchlesbian.