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On the Dark Side of the Moon（我們在月之暗面）

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by Yu-Ling Kung   On the Dark Side of the Moon (2024) is a graphic novel by Beck Kao, an independent comics artist and toy designer from Taiwan and the founder of Uniautomata Studio, which published the book. It is difficult to guess what kind of story lies inside from the cover. The black, landscape-format cover shows only part of the Moon and the title, with no main characters or clear clues about the genre. Once I started reading, I found the story full of unexpected turns. At first, the main character, SYD, is a professional basketball player on the… Read More

Red Scare

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by Saily Marrero   Liam Francis Walsh’s Red Scare is an action-packed story full of magical flying powers, secret agents, and adventure set in 1950s America, the age of polio, UFO sightings, and the Red Scare. The art style is a call back to its 1950s setting, borrowing from earlier superhero comics and noir styles with clearly defined outlines, stark contrasting shadows, and onomatopoeia (Crack! Oof! Bump! Klump!) littered throughout its pages. Walsh explores various medical issues like bullying, polio, disability, and mental health through its middle school heroine, Peggy, and other characters. The main medical issue explored in the… Read More

I Am Not These Feet

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Thanks to Adam Cadwell, who put me onto Kaisa’s work. He met her at a comics convention and didn’t realise she didn’t have (flesh and blood) feet until she pointed out that what she stood on were hi-tec prosthetics. Kaisa was born with deformed feet that caused her discomfort and made walking distances problematic.  As she got older, arthritis set in, requiring painkillers and orthopedic shoes. After meeting a prosthetist and a number of amputees, Kaisa decided to get both her feet amputated. If that sounds like a radical move to you, it seems that her doctor was of a… Read More

The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time

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I read this some time ago, in almost total ignorance of the context of ‘BD’s story within Gary Trudeau’s long running Doonesbury strip. Indeed, I read it in almost total ignorance of Gary Trudeau’s views and vast body of work, as well as the significance of Senator John McCain’s foreword. On top of this, I now realise, I read it in ignorance of the development and background of the DSM4 catagory of PTSD and it’s relavance to stories about soldiers returning from war. I was wondering what to say about it but couldn’t get it straight in my head. So,… Read More

Acme Novelty Library 18

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Chris Ware does melancholy very, very well. I could read any of his many works and find themes of depression, alienation and anxiety within them. I have picked this one because it also deals specifically with disability. An unnamed girl, refered to as “Nanna” whilst working as a nanny for a middle class family, has suffered a below knee amputation after a road traffic accident in her teens. Her story was actually introduced to readers as one of Ware’s “buildings stories” in Acme Novelty Library 16. This volume covers her lonely life after leaving art school. Her self esteem is very… Read More