Bitter Pill: Randy Shilts and the Dawn of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Pioneering reporter Randy Shilts fights to expose the truth during the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic. With hospital beds filling up, the clock is ticking. . . . What will it take to wake up the nation?

San Francisco, 1981. Drawn from true events, this graphic novel follows Randy Shilts—biographer of Harvey Milk and one of the first openly gay journalists hired by the mainstream press—as he receives a chilling call at the Chronicle: a Los Angeles patient is being treated for a rare and aggressive cancer. 

As Shilts digs deeper, a disturbing pattern emerges. The illness seems to strike only gay men, with early cases linked to a Castro-district bathhouse. A meeting with an infectious disease researcher confirms his worst fear: this so-called “gay cancer” is neither rare nor isolated—it’s the beginning of a national health crisis. With those in power slow to respond, Shilts resorts to bold tactics to force attention on the unfolding HIV/AIDS epidemic.

His relentless pursuit of the truth would help change history, exposing a catastrophe too many chose to ignore. In this dramatic graphic portrait inspired by the life and legacy of Randy Shilts, the creators bring to the page a story that feels both urgent and insightful.

Shilts’s groundbreaking reporting and books (The Mayor of Castro Street, And the Band Played On, Conduct Unbecoming) became cornerstones of journalism and LGBTQ+ history. This graphic novel offers a powerful new interpretation of the transformative moment that defined his legacy.

Featuring an afterword by Randy Shilts biographer Michael Lee, author of When the Band Played On: The Life of Randy Shilts.