Medical Mentions are a group of graphic works. The graphic works reviewed here are works whose primary topics are not medical, 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 part of the review with one paragraph for each. Prior Medical Mentions… Read More
How Are You Feeling? A Comics Anthology
BY ISHANI ANWESHA JOSHI How are you Feeling? A Comic Anthology (2025) by Andeasyand (author and illustrator), Vinita Ramani (writer), Griselda Gabriele (artist), Wayne Rée (writer), and Nurjannah Suhaimi (artist) is a collection of the first three issues of Singapore-based independent comic publisher Difference Engine’s DE Shorts imprint. Each issue is published as a single chapter with individual prefaces and author biographies. While chapters two and three focus on a single narrative, chapter one contains multiple short narratives centered on the theme discussed. Throughout the book, white, blue, and red are predominantly used, while other formal elements, such as panel… Read More
Best Breasts in the West
By Maria Fitzgerald Each chapter of this medical related memoir shows a different vignette from Trishelle Jeffery’s life. Many chapters concern a fibroadenoma in Jeffery’s breast. The book opens on Jeffery discovering a lump in her breast. As different incidents in Jeffery’s life unfold, we see that she is a student in college, and that she has a job as a nude model for life drawing classes. In one chapter we learn about how Jeffery allowed a sculptor to apply insulation foam on her torso as he tried to make a mold, for a cast of her. She is… Read More
The New Girl
awaiting review
Blossoms in Autumn
by Soph Myers-Kelley Blossoms in Autumn is a soft, delicate love story concerning two older, single adults dealing with grief and loss. Some of the medical topics covered include sexuality of older adults, grief, menopause, menstruation, isolation, sex work, and pregnancy. It might be more suitable for young adults and older, given the nudity and sexual depictions. One of the adults, Ulysses, is a 59-year-old man recently let go from his long-standing job with a moving company. Ulysses’ transition into retirement is anything but joyful; he becomes lost in the routines that used to bring him happiness. Cleaning his… Read More
Cycling & Menstrupedia
Book reviews by Alison Kent When I was approaching menarche in the early 1970s, I was informed about what was about to happen to me by my embarrassed mother, who thrust a wholly inadequate pamphlet into my hands, featuring irrelevant photos of long-haired white girls in flowing white dresses running blissfully through fields of flowers. It left me with more questions than knowledge, gaps I filled by talking to peers (who were often worse-informed than I was). Laura Szumowski’s book, Cycling: A Guide to Menstruation, states in the dedication, “For me when I was in the 4th grade, because… Read More
Painted
awaiting review
Go with the Flow
Book Review by Kevin Wolf In its own quiet way this graphic novel, Go with the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann, provides an excellent teaching tool. Though it’s mainly for middle and high school students, I highly recommend it for all ages, genders and orientations. This graphic novel’s actions are in real time with all dates lining up with the 2019-2020 school year. It’s about friendship, menstruation, bullying, frustration with school administration, fighting back, and taking responsibility. Go with the Flow revolves around four diverse characters Christine, Brit, and Abby, three friends from childhood, and the new… Read More