My Trip with Drip

by Kristina Bowers

Josephine Mark’s graphic novel My Trip with Drip tells the story of a shy, determined bunny and a gruff, lone wolf who embark on a journey through the forest to escape a vengeful hunter and, along the way, discover what it means to care and be cared for.

Originally published (2022) in the author’s native German, and later translated to English, My Trip with Drip has been recognized for its excellence in German children’s literature, winning the Max and Moritz Award for Best Comic for Children award in 2022. Mark’s cinematic framing and visual gags add as much characterization as the quippy dialogue, throwing in references to folk songs, film, and literature for adult audiences and holding a younger audience’s attention with colorful illustrations and wacky hijinks. Part action, part buddy comedy, My Trip with Drip takes the reader through the changing seasons of one Bunny’s journey with a life-threatening illness, an unlikely friendship, and determination to survive.

One of Mark’s four solely-authored full-length graphic novels, My Trip with Drip is an equal-parts funny, emotional, and exciting tale that is at least somewhat inspired by the author’s own journey with (unspecified) cancer treatment. Our duo – Bunny and Wolf – meet at a clinic where Bunny is receiving a routine infusion and medication and Wolf is sewing himself up from a gunshot wound. When a human hunter shows up wielding the shotgun responsible for Wolf’s injury, Bunny’s accidental deflection of a bullet meant for Wolf ties the two together when Wolf insists on repaying the life-saving action.

Wolf and Bunny recover from the Hunter’s attack at the woodland clinic and Wolf declares it is the Wolf’s Code to save Bunny’s life in return (Excerpt from page 23)

Wolf takes Bunny as a travelling partner, IV-pole, medications, and all.  While the hunter’s pursuit pushes the two forward through rivers, over snowy ridges, and briefly into a mystical bear’s cave, Wolf often tells Bunny to buck up and push through, dismissing the value of pack bonds or reciprocal relationships. At the same time, Wolf begrudgingly cares for Bunny through his actions, supporting Bunny through physical exhaustion, losing fur, and emotional lows. Although Bunny’s diagnosis isn’t specified, the medications he brings with him include the chemotherapy and cancer drugs paclitaxel cyclophosphamide, and herceptin along with sodium chloride (salt) which is used to flush IVs, paracetemol (a pain killer Americans might know better as Tylenol), and ether – an anesthetic.

Wolf lays down the rules for his new travel partner and takes inventory of Bunny’s medications and supplies (Excerpt from page 38)

Whether cancer or another chronic illness or condition, readers will relate to the physical and emotional upheaval that comes with navigating fluctuating health. At times, Bunny feels like a burden to Wolf, cursing the “despicable disease” and telling Wolf that he’s just slowing him down but Wolf steadfastly supports Bunny and doesn’t leave him behind despite Wolf’s own complicated feelings about needing someone just as they need you (72; 107).

Bunny and Wolf escape a tough biker bar but as Bunny sees his hair flying off into the wind, he admits he feels miserable and doesn’t want to burden Wolf (Excerpt from page 72)

Overall, Mark tells a heartwarming, but not overly saccharine story of a Bunny saddled with “the drip” setting out on a life-changing, and life-saving, trip with a lone-Wolf who discovers just how strong bonds forged through care can be. This almost 200-page graphic novel will appeal to children and adults alike who may be going on their own trips with “drips” as well as all those who have gone on these trips with them.

Kristina Bowers Bio

Kristina Bowers is a wife, cat parent, and a PhD candidate in English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies currently residing in State College, Pennsylvania. Along with reviewing for Graphic Medicine, Kristina enjoys researching disability rhetoric and health communication and loves to read science fiction and hike in their free time.