InsaneJournal

First, let's meet our main character, Cody, a senior high-school grad enjoying the last days of summer in Hawaii before going to college.





The other tiger he runs into is Todd, a close friend since sixth grade who recently had a falling out with Cody before they graduated high school.

Three guesses what they fought over, and the first two don't count...

Once on the plane, Cody gets a rather "interesting" neighboring passenger who happens to be an Aussie wolf named Jake.







What makes things worse (for Cody) is that Jake happens to be his assigned dorm-mate at the university where Cody's attending (wow, what are the odds?):





I had to laugh at Jake wagging his tail when the Dean figured out that Jake was seeing his son.

Needless to say, Jake found himself "volunteered" in the Student Exchange program for America. And Cody, still hiding in the closet and realizing that this is the last thing he needs (being in the closet, Cody knows this is a big temptation), tries to find another college student to exchange dorm-mates with him. But he soon finds that there are roommates worse than Jake:



Needing to step outside, Cody meets up with the university hall's handyman/janitor, Jeff...and the university's gardener, Thor, a bison who has a personality that could give Marvel's Wolverine a run for his money.





Cody then feels quite lonely in his first day of college even before classes start (even though he makes an acquaintance with a fellow alligator freshman named Boris). Then he remembers that Todd (though Todd and Cody are both attending the same college) isn't on speaking terms with him, and Cody knows why:





Feeling the need to get away from Jake and another annoying dorm-mate named Zach, a surfer skunk, Cody then realizes a perfect way for him to avoid his growing attraction to Jake and keep his desires in control.



Unfortunately, plans go awry when Zach and Jake both try to give Cody some useless (and unwanted) job advice.



But as luck would have it...









This, I admit, is a bit illogical; if I see a hulking muscle guy who towers over me by a foot and who wears glasses, I'm not going to think he's a pushover and I can mess with him just because he wears glasses.

Still, Sam has misgivings about hiring Cody while Cody, as much as he tries to deny his feelings, can't help but have some attraction to Doug. And then he runs into Jeff:







Yes, Cody, it's exactly what you think it means. But Cody, still insecure about his homosexuality, then finds that life in college got much more difficult when he: 1.) runs into Todd, 2.) has Sam humiliate him in the bar on his first night of work, 3.) lies to his father about finding a girlfriend when he confesses to his parents that he got a job and needs funds to take his "girlfriend" out, and 5.) gets into a fight with Jake and Zach.

It's a lot for Cody who suddenly realizes that because he's been pushing people away so that they wouldn't discover his secret...



Jeff, then seeing that Cody needs a friend, invites Cody to his apartment to watch the Superbowl.



And then Cody gets another revelation:



Unfortunately, Cody doesn't know the way back to the dorm campus, and Jeff realizes that Cody guessed the truth that Jeff's gay, but Jeff misunderstands this reaction from Cody...



I love, love, LOVE these next pages. It's rare to see a comic that addresses being gay in a serious tone and without mocking it or making it sound weird or superficial, so if anything, the mentor role Jeff assumes for Cody is heart-warming.















And so now, Cody realizes that Jeff was right. He can be gay and no one will make a big deal over it, he shouldn't try to hide and suppress, and if Doug likes him (as evidenced by the spilling of the drink), then perhaps it's not the end of the world to accept his sexuality. So everything's solved, and Cody is going to grow and get a "happily ever after", right?

WRONG!





And this is only the first two issues on public domian. Vince Suzukawa published 8 issues, and the 9th one will be out in January 2010 (this comic is released biannually). More information about the comic and how to order it can be found here:

I.S.O. comic Website

I.S.O. comic LiveJournal community (note: you must join to see previews of future issues)

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