Medical Mentions is a new type of posting at graphicmedicine.org. The graphic works reviewed here are books whose primary topics are not medical, and yet they cover a medical topic with some depth at some point in the work. The rest of the work might be fictional or nonfictional, while the medical portion is often technical and five pages or more. The reviewer will usually neither recommend nor discourage reading the work, except when the rest of the work is deemed outstanding or terrible, respectively. Typically, six graphic works will be provided with one paragraph for each. With that in mind… Read More
Rx
‘You wont know the shape of your unravelling until it happens’ says Rachel Lindsay’s disheveled comic avatar, sitting on her bed in a breeze-block room of the mental hospital to which she has just been committed. ‘But you probably have some idea what it looks like’ adds her previous corporate self, from the advertising office where she was in charge of marketing antidepressants. Rachel’s fall has been sudden and dramatic: from well-paid, corporate ‘suit’ to ranting unemployed maniac, shouting obscenities at authority and at her concerned parents. It is not often, nowadays, that I find myself unable to put down… Read More
Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life
Book Review by Kevin Wolf Ellen Forney’s newest book, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life will be a very helpful tool for many. Rock Steady covers bipolar mood disorder in particular, and mood disorders in general. The book provides coping tools and treatments. It’s not a graphic “novel,” because it’s a work of non-fiction that can be used as a teaching tool for the general public and health care providers interested in the topics. It has no continuing characters, except the author, who appears infrequently; and is mostly text though there are cartoon images throughout. I recommend this work for… Read More
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me
guest review by Kat Georgakopoulos Ellen Forney thought that her unique personality propelled her creativity in just the right way. However, when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of twenty-nine, Ellen’s perception of herself was turned upside down. Manic, manic, and even more manic, Ellen was advised by her therapist to seek the aid of medication. But Ellen perceived medication to be a direct threat to her creativity. So she fought to preserve herself while simultaneously searching for stability. Through a full year, Ellen entered phases of total energy where she took on an incredible number of… Read More
Look Straight Ahead
Elaine Will is a Canadian cartoonist who just completed a graphic novel entitled ‘Look Straight Ahead’ about a teen boy’s struggle with depression/bipolar disorder. You can read it online here, for the time being: http://blog.e2w-illustration.com It’s been getting rave reviews…Kevin Bramer of Optical Sloth said “for a first graphic novel, it’s damn near perfect” and that it was “required reading for anyone who knows someone dealing with mental illness.” It’s also in the current Diamond Previews catalogue. If it gets enough orders, it will be officially released in print form in November. Elaine is also planning another graphic novel that… Read More