A panel from Alison Bechdel’s new book, Spent . Art: © 2025 Alison Bechdel, Courtesy of Mariner Books and HarperCollins Publishers Alison Bechdel first realized she was a lesbian in college, after reading a suspicious number of books on the subject. For the burgeoning cartoonist, sex was as much a mental pursuit as a physical one, “a field of study that engaged both intellect and instinct in a fusion so heady, so visceral, indeed, so all-consuming” that she neglected her actual schoolwork. The