Since it's an election year, I decided to do a Joe Bob Briggs-style dissection of where the graphic novels Suburban Glamour, Hazed and Faker — the former features British high-schoolers, while the latter two are about college-aged students — stand on issues young people face today. All three have female protagonists, although they are written by men. Other than the fact that there are some cuss words and some drug use, Suburban Glamour could be appropriate for people as young as mature preteens, while Hazed has been described by David Press for Broken Frontier and confirmed by writer Mark Sable as a "more grown-up story along the lines of the Minx line."[1] Faker, a Vertigo title, is "for mature audiences."

Suburban Glamour, by Jamie McKelvie, with colors by Guy Major and Matthew Wilson, is from Image. It's about Astrid and Dave, two best friends in a boring English suburb. As her 17th birthday looms, however, Astrid begins seeing her childhood imaginary friends, and learns that she is connected to the fairy folk.

In Hazed, a "black comedy"[2] written by Mark Sable and drawn by Robbi Rodriguez, with graytones by Nick Filardi and letters and design by Kristyn Ferretti, also from Image, alt-girl feminist Ileana decides to attend a Southern university known for its Greek system. Her roommate there is a conventionally attractive lady named James. Ileana is pledged to a sorority (she decides to subvert it from the inside) and James isn't. Ileana is subjected to the punishing ministrations of sorority sister Val and undergoes drastic amounts of plastic surgery, while James' rejection sends her in a downward spiral. James rebounds, however, and teams with Ileana to wrong the sororities and frats in kind — and then some.

In DC/Vertigo's Faker, written by Mike Carey and drawn by Jock (Mark Simpson), with colors by Lee Loughridge, Jessica Kidby, a hardboiled Midwestern freshman, and her roommates Sack (a male athlete), Yvonne or "Y-Front" (a lesbian hacker) and Marky (a promiscuous bisexual) have a party in which they drink and consume controlled substances. They are eventually joined by their last roommate, Nick Philo, and it's soon discovered that no one but his housemates remember him. One of them is not what they seem.

Underage Drinking/Drugs:
Suburban Glamour: In England, the legal age to purchase alcohol and drink in bars is 18, but children and teenagers can consume alcohol with adult supervision in private homes. Main character Astrid drinks a beer at a party, and abstains from drugs. However, someone laces her drink with speed. Her friend Dave smokes some weed to impress a pretty girl, and becomes ill from the mixture of marijuana and beer.
Hazed: The young women binge drink. They prefer prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall, although Prozac is frowned upon. They use drugs (generic versions of Dexatrim, etc.) to lose weight, and what looks like protein powder or supplements to cause others to gain weight.
Faker: The characters liberally consume alcohol and drugs at a party. Grad students have been working with a big corporation to create the drug "Liquid Crystal Information Suspension," a liquid computer hard drive, otherwise known as "angel's kiss." Exposure can cause hallucinations.

Birth Control:
Suburban Glamour: The subject is not mentioned.
Hazed: Protection is readily available on campus. Ileana provides James with a morning-after pill early on in the story, and then as part of their revenge, Ileana and James pinprick condoms, causing many of the sorority girls to become pregnant.
Faker: It is not mentioned, but since Jessie sexually blackmails her professor and is depicted after the act extracting the "evidence" with a pipette, and this appears to be not the first time she's done this, it can be assumed that she is on birth control.

Family Values:
Suburban Glamour: No matter how glamorous your birth parents are, the ones who assumed responsibility for you are your real parents.
Hazed: James' mother cuts James off when the latter fails to make it into a sorority.
Faker: Sack learns that his father was not his biological one; he refuses to meet his birth father.

Body Image:
Suburban Glamour: You don't have any yet, because you're "weird but fit, right." But, "You only look human because you grew up around humans," so you don't know what you really look like … yet. You may not have a true form because "We always, all of us, have on one mask or another."
Hazed: Fat is circled. Extensive plastic surgery ensues. Another way to feel good about yourself is to control or ruin the appearance of others.
Faker: Even though you literally consist of vomit, hot ladies will sleep with you because of your good personality.

Slogans:
Suburban Glamour: (on community) Astrid: There's one thing that I forgot I have here: choice.
Hazed (on terrorism) Ileana: It's time you realized who the real enemy is.
Faker: Jessica (on environmentalism): You shouldn't drink the water. You really shouldn't./My boyfriend is soluble in water.