Marry Me a Little gets a *STARRED REVIEW* from Kirkus Reviews

Below is the review, many thanks to the writer!

A personal look at same-sex marriage from an award-winning comics creator.

Like his colleague Alison Bechdel, Kirby had a long-running series syndicated in the gay and alternative press; this is his debut memoir. In 2013, not long after same-sex marriage was legalized in their home state of Minnesota, Kirby and his partner of 10 years, John, tied the knot at the "very romantic" Hennepin County courthouse. However, "being white, middle class, & male afford[ed] John & me the privilege to ramble on about being 'of two minds' and 'ambivalent' about this marriage process," he notes, and puckishly details all the phases of the wedding, from issuing email announcements ("remember Earthlink?") to suit selection ("business casual with a touch of retro flair") to choosing the wine for the reception. Alongside their story, the text includes a recap of same-sex marriage politics, including California's Proposition 8 and the 2015 Supreme Court decision to affirm the right to same-sex marriage; a guide to wedding-related pop songs and big- and small-screen nuptials; and quite endearingly, a subplot concerning the couple's beloved dog. The narrative continues through several dark recent turns of events, including the tumult of the Trump years and the pandemic, as well as the currently simmering threat to marriage equality. The author supports the easygoing tone of the political content with an interesting graphic choice: The text and drawings are black-and-white with accents of red and blue; hazy red and blue spots float through the panels in a way that seems to suggest the increasingly divided partisan ambience of the country. Near the end, the author sums up the narrative: “Our life together: a mix of little stuff and big stuff, arguments and heart-to-hearts, personal quirks and private jokes, doubts and commitments, work and play, joy and grief…day-to-day life stacking up into years gone by."

Panel by panel, this graphic memoir is wry, intelligent, compelling, and adorable.