Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Courtesy Ellen Forney and Penguin Random House LLC
For her graphic memoir about her experiences having bipolar disorder, author and artist Ellen Forney explains that she used several different drawing styles to show her different moods.
In Marbles, Forney chronicles her diagnosis shortly before turning 30 and her ability to come to terms with the disease, especially her fear that medication will dull or distort her creativity and livelihood. Within her own narrative, Forney includes stories of famous artists and writers who also may have suffered from mood disorders in an effort to highlight the tension between public conceptions of the relationship between crazy and creative. The memoir captures the highs and lows of bipolar disorder, along with the effectiveness and impact of various treatment options from lithium to yoga.
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Graphic Novel Excerpt from MARBLES: MANIA, DEPRESSION, MICHELANGELO, AND ME: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR by Ellen Forney, copyright © 2012 by Ellen Forney. Used by permission of Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
All rights reserved.
In this two-page spread from author and artist Ellen Forney’s graphic memoir Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, readers can see how words can tell the specifics of the scene while the art shows the emotion.
Here, the author and artist has shown us a literal depiction of feeling “unmoored.” Goofy drawings can point to the absurdity of some scary situations! This “cloud” —fear of an impending mania—is also a thought balloon.
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Graphic Novel Excerpt from MARBLES: MANIA, DEPRESSION, MICHELANGELO, AND ME: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR by Ellen Forney, copyright © 2012 by Ellen Forney. Used by permission of Gotham
Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
All rights reserved.
A patient who is trying to understand clinical information related to a diagnosis or treatment can become confused or overwhelmed by data.
In her graphic memoir, author and artist Ellen Forney wanted to include a succinct description of diagnoses and mood states related to her bipolar disorder. She was originally going to draw a swing – like a “mood swing” – but the metaphor needed to show movement up and down, not sideways. And she decided to use a carousel.
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Courtesy Ellen Forney
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Courtesy Ellen Forney
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Courtesy Ellen Forney
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Courtesy Ellen Forney
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV), American Psychiatric Publishing, 1994
Courtesy Ellen Forney
Author and artist Ellen Forney consulted the DSM-IV, the official guide to the diagnosis of mental health disorders, and other scientific literature, when she was researching and creating her graphic memoir Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me about her diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder. One of her goals in creating Marbles was to make scientific data understandable to all her readers.
Physicians Desk Reference: PDR (64th ed.), Medical Economics Co., 2010
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Author and artist Ellen Forney consulted the Physicians Desk Reference, the official guide for understanding prescription medications, when she was researching and creating her graphic memoir Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, about her diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder.
Finding the right medications turned out to be a long difficult process for Forney. Her depictions of the side effects of the various drug is particularly poignant.
El Deafo, Cece Bell, 2014
Text and Illustrations copyright (c) 2014 Cece Bell. Used with the permission of Express Permissions on behalf of Amulet Books, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
In the graphic memoir El Deafo, author and artist Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her experiences wearing a hearing aid using illustrated rabbit characters.
After battling spinal meningitis at the age of four, Bell lost her hearing and had to wear an awkward Phonic Ear hearing aid. The hearing aid hung on her chest and had wires that ran to her ears.
Bell discovers that her Phonic Ear allows her to hear things she shouldn’t, such as her teacher going to the bathroom. Bell considers this a superpower and dubs herself “El Deafo,” which helps her cope with reality and learn new ways to connect with people.
For more information about hearing problems in children, visit MedlinePlus.
From El Deafo, Cece Bell, 2014
Text and Illustrations copyright (c) 2014 Cece Bell. Used with the permission of Express Permissions on behalf of Amulet Books, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
Author and artist Cece Bell tells a charming and powerful story of her childhood hearing loss. Here we see how she imagines herself as a classroom hero—with her hearing device strapped to her chest.
For more information about hearing problems in children, visit MedlinePlus.
From El Deafo, Cece Bell, 2014
Text and Illustrations copyright (c) 2014 Cece Bell. Used with the permission of Express Permissions on behalf of Amulet Books, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
Author and artist Cece Bell seamlessly folds a lesson about how to read lips into her story of growing up as the only deaf kid in her elementary school.
For more information about hearing problems in children, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for El Deafo, Cece Bell, 2014
Courtesy Cece Bell
For more information about hearing problems in children, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for El Deafo, Cece Bell, 2014
Courtesy Cece Bell
For more information about hearing problems in children, visit MedlinePlus.
The Infinite Wait and Other Stories, Julia Wertz, 2012
Courtesy Julia Wertz
Author and artist Julia Wertz’s graphic memoir about the impact of two major influences in her life—the autoimmune disease lupus and comics—is comprised of three short stories. The first story is a about Wertz’s professional life. The second story chronicles Wertz’s severe illness and lupus diagnosis. The third story is a love letter to the artist’s favorite childhood public library.
Wertz uses irreverent humor and a meandering narrative to describe her journey from a drunken post-adolescent fumbling through life and struggling with illness, to a functional adult who still relapses into bad behaviors from a past life every now and then.
For more information about lupus, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for The Infinite Wait, Julia Wertz, 2012
Courtesy Julia Wertz
In The Infinite Wait, author and artist Julia Wertz tackles her newly-diagnosed illness – lupus – with dark humor. A self-described cranky misanthrope, she makes her story serious and funny at the same time.
For more information about lupus, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for The Infinite Wait, Julia Wertz, 2012
Courtesy Julia Wertz
“When I cover something in a comic, it’s already a little less painful as I’m writing it. …I see patterns I can’t see otherwise. I’m learning about myself right along with the readers.”
- Julia Wertz, from an interview with The Paris Review
For more information about lupus, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for The Infinite Wait, Julia Wertz, 2012
Courtesy Julia Wertz
In panel four, Julia gives an insightful translation of her doctor’s show of compassion.
For more information about lupus, visit MedlinePlus.
Turning Japanese: A Graphic Memoir, MariNaomi, 2016.
Courtesy MariNaomi
In her graphic memoir, author and artist MariNaomi recounts a personal journey of discovery that included her experiences with panic attacks, culture clashes, and struggles to communicate.
MariNaomi, whose mother is Japanese and father is a White American, is 22 years old when she undertakes this journey. She travels to San Jose, California where she falls in love and works at a bar for Japanese expats and then moves to Japan.
Eventually, MariNaomi adjusts to her surroundings, gains a new perspective on herself and her heritage, and becomes proficient enough in Japanese to have a conversation with her maternal grandparents.
For information about Panic Disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
From Turning Japanese: A Memoir, MariNaomi, 2016
Courtesy MariNaomi
In Turning Japanese: A Memoir, author and artist MariNaomi’s panic attacks begin when, wanting to explore her Japanese heritage, she starts working in hostess bars. Here, she shows the weight and energy of her attacks; everything begins to push her down.
For information about Panic Disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
Cancer Vixen: A True Story, Marisa Acocella Marchetto, 2006
Courtesy Marisa Acocella Marchetto and Penguin Random House LLC
Cancer Vixen is the story of author and artist Marisa Marchetto’s breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
A cartoonist for Glamour magazine and The New Yorker, Marchetto’s graphic novel confronts and subverts the threat of the disease. For example, her illustrations show microscopic cancer cells sticking out their tongues, as well as Marchetto screaming at Death, “Cancer, I am going to kick your butt!” The graphic novel addresses the everyday occurrences that people being treated for breast cancer experience, such as chemo-induced night sweats. Additionally, Cancer Vixen shows readers what it feels like to go through the process of diagnosis and treatment, including the stresses on relationships, friendships, self-esteem, and work.
For more information about breast cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
From Cancer Vixen: A True Story, Marisa Acocella Marchetto, 2006
Courtesy Marisa Acocella Marchetto and Penguin Random House LLC
Cancer Vixen is the story of author and artist Marisa Marchetto’s diagnosis of breast cancer and her subsequent treatment.
In this panel, Marchetto shows us the moment of her diagnosis—when her world came to an end.
For more information about breast cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
From Cancer Vixen: A True Story, Marisa Acocella Marchetto, 2006
Courtesy Marisa Acocella Marchetto and Penguin Random House LLC
Cancer Vixen is the story of author and artist Marisa Marchetto’s diagnosis of breast cancer and her subsequent treatment.
In these frames, Marchetto shows readers one exchange with her doctor and how she recorded their conversations.
For more information about breast cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me, Sarah Leavitt, 2012
Courtesy Sarah Leavitt
In this revealing and moving graphic memoir, author and artist Sarah Leavitt chronicles her mother’s decline and eventual death from Alzheimer’s disease.
Tangles is broken into three vignettes that span from the time when her mother, the emotional center of the family, was at her prime, to the point when Leavitt and her family become caretakers to the artist’s mother due to her worsening condition. Tangles tells the story of a woman’s transformation from a vibrant, nature-loving intellectual into someone helpless and struggling to comprehend the world around her while her family deals with feelings of shock, fear, sorrow, and anger—and tenderness and love.
For more information about caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, visit MedlinePlus.
From Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me, Sarah Leavitt, 2012
Courtesy Sarah Leavitt
Author and artist Sarah Leavitt’s mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s; the family provided home care for six years. During that time, Sarah drew about her experiences. In these panels, Sarah says, “[I] had a vision of myself as a child, trying to grasp [my mother’s] leg as she fluttered away to join the birds."
For more information about caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, visit MedlinePlus
Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371, MK Czerwiec, 2017
Courtesy MK Czerwiec
In this graphic memoir, author and artist MK Czerwiec recounts her experience as a new nurse caring for patients with HIV/AIDS during the mid-1990s, which was the height of the epidemic in the United States. During Cerwiec’s time in Care Unit 371, medical advancements changed the treatment and prognosis for people with HIV and AIDS and slowed the progress of the epidemic in the United States. Czerwiec draws from her own memories and oral histories to illustrate the personal impact these experiences had on her. Taking Turns also tells of the lasting impressions Care Unit 371 made patients and staff.
For more information about HIV/AIDS, visit MedlinePlus.
From Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371, MK Czerwiec, 2017
Courtesy MK Czerwiec
Author and artist MK Czerwiec was a nurse in an AIDS unit in the 1990s. Czerwiec wanted to memorialize her patients’ stories and her own. Her work serves as a striking reminder that health care professionals are real, emotional beings, too.
For more information about HIV/AIDS, visit MedlinePlus.
Mom’s Cancer, Brian Fies, 2006
Courtesy Brian Fies; Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies. Copyright (c) 2006 Brian Fies. Used with the permission of Express Permissions on behalf of Abrams Comic Arts, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
When journalist Brian Fies’ mother was diagnosed with lung cancer that had metastasized into a brain tumor, he processed his experiences through writing and drawing. Originally created as a serialized internet comic, Fries’ had is work published as a graphic novel, Mom’s Cancer. He uses honesty and humor to illustrate how illnesses change both patients and families. The book chronicles how Fies’ mother optimistically chooses to fight the cancer, as well as how he and his two sisters cope with their mother’s diagnosis and treatment. Mom’s Cancer captures the complex relationships that exist between doctors, patients, and families.
For more information about lung cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for Mom’s Cancer, Brian Fies, 2006
Courtesy Brian Fies
Brian and his siblings support and argue with each other as they navigate their roles as caregivers for their strong-willed mother. Brian draws his wife’s observation, in words, as a literal interpretation, in pictures.
For more information about lung cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
From Mom’s Cancer, Brian Fies, 2006
Courtesy Brian Fies; Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies. Copyright (c) 2006 Brian Fies. Used with the permission of Express Permissions on behalf of Abrams Comic Arts, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York. All rights reserved.
Author and artist Brian Fies created Mom’s Cancer in real-time installments on his blog. One of the ways he dealt emotionally with his mother’s cancer was to get very analytical, to focus on presenting things he could explain.
For more information about lung cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
Ghost, Whit Taylor, 2015
Courtesy Whitney Taylor
Given the opportunity to spend a day with three of her idols—dead or alive—author and artist Whitney Taylor’s comic avatar embarks on an eye-opening journey of self-discovery and healing from a past trauma. Taylor meets Charles Darwin, Joseph Campbell (the mythologist), and her future self. Together, the three guide the author to a better understanding of herself and the human experience, and they help her come to terms with her sexual assault. The author’s journey is beautifully illustrated in vivid color and combines realism and fantasy to both inform and convey emotion.
For more information about sexual assault, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for Ghost, Whit Taylor, 2015
Courtesy Whitney Taylor
Ghost begins and ends with a vignette Whitney wrote when she was in a psychiatric hospital for PTSD.
For more information about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), visit MedlinePlus.
From “The Myth of the Strong Black Woman,” Whitney Taylor, The Nib, March 8, 2015
Courtesy Whitney Taylor
In this internet comic, author and artist Whitney Taylor responds after discovering some troubling information - “Black women are one of the most undertreated demographics for depression.”
For information about Health Disparities, visit MedlinePlus.
Sketches from Outside the Margins, Seattle/King County Clinic, 2017
Courtesy Seattle/King County Clinic
The Seattle/King County Clinic is a temporary pop up clinic that provides free health care to thousands of people. Patients and families travel miles to see doctors, dentists, and optometrists. People wait in long lines, sometimes overnight, to receive treatment at this health care event.
Sketches from Outside the Margins is a collection of comics—graphic medicine—created by a team of cartoonist journalists. The cartoonists spent four days interviewing patients who shared generously their stories about why they had come to the clinic.
For information about Financial Assistance for Health Care, visit MedlinePlus.
Original artwork for “Rosa’s Family,” E. T. Russian, Seattle/King County Clinic, 2016
Courtesy E. T. Russian
E. T. Russian is one of a team of cartoonist journalists who, in 2016, were invited to visit the Seattle/King County Clinic, an annual free pop up clinic where thousands get health care. The cartoonists asked patients, “Why are you here?” and created comics from their stories. This is Rosa’s Family’s story.
For information about Financial Assistance for Health Care, visit MedlinePlus.
The Bad Doctor: The Troubled Life and Times of Dr. Iwan James, Ian Williams, 2015
Courtesy Ian Williams
Author, artist, and general practitioner in the United Kingdom, Ian Williams presents a narrative of medicine from the perspective of a doctor questioning his decision-making abilities. The protagonist, Dr. Iwan James, is a general practitioner with obsessive compulsive disorder. In the book, Dr. James faces typical dilemmas in his medical practice, such as terminal care, emergencies, and managing bereavement. However, Dr. James also ponders his own life, reflecting on his past as a troubled child and the everyday issues he encounters as an adult living in a small rural town.
For more information about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), visit MedlinePlus.
“Dr. Robot will see you soon,” The Guardian, Ian Williams, July 27, 2016
Courtesy Ian Williams
A doctor and graphic medicine pioneer, Ian Williams has a topical weekly comic about health care in the British newspaper The Guardian. In these frames, Williams shows us that doctors, too, worry about job security!
Graphic Medicine Manifesto, MK Czerwiec, Ian Williams, Susan Merrill Squire, Michael J. Green, Kimberly R. Myers, and Scott T. Smith, 2015
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Written by artists considered at the vanguard of graphic medicine, Graphic Medicine Manifesto contains scholarly essays that provide background on the genre, define the basic principles, and consider its storytelling power and potential to widen the scope of literary scholarship.
The first section places graphic medicine within an academic context, discussing research on the genre’s literary merits and multidisciplinary relevance. The second section explores how graphic medicine can improve health workers’ understanding of the patient experience. The third section delves into techniques, iconography, and the ways in which comics convey meaning.
Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Novel of Mental Illness, Clem Martini, 2010
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Between 1976 and 1986, doctors diagnosed two of the four Martini brothers, Ben and Olivier, with having schizophrenia. Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Novel of Mental Illness chronicles the Martini family’s battle to understand and cope with the illness.
The Martini’s relationships were strained, they faced problems trying to balance medications, and navigating a complex and deficient health care system was a challenge.
Illustrated by Olivier and written by one of his younger brothers, Clem, the graphic novel explores peoples’ lack of understanding about schizophrenia and mental illness in American society, as well as in parts of the health care field.
For more information about schizophrenia, visit MedlinePlus.
Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person, Miriam Engelbert, 2006
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Author and amateur cartoonist Miriam Engelbert was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, at the age of 43.
Engelbert began drawing her experiences as a way to process and cope with the illness. Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person is a collection of comic strips that reflect upon various facets of Engelbert’s experiences. Each strip tackles a different subject, such as awkward interactions with family and friends after her diagnosis, her feelings of despair and isolation, and the realities of nausea and baldness.
Engelbert died of cancer in 2006, shortly after the book was published.
For more information about breast cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir, Roz Chast, 2014
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In this graphic memoir, author and artist Roz Chast, a cartoonist for The New Yorker, writes about her aging parents, both of whom lived into their 90s. The book tells the story of the last few years of their lives through cartoons, family photographs, and documents combined with narrative.
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? records how Chast came to terms with caring for a father who was suffering from dementia and her overbearing mother.
For more information about caregivers, visit MedlinePlus.
Comic Nurse, MK Czerwiec, 2006
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Czerwiec writes and illustrates a variety of work related topics including her experiences as a nurse working with people with AIDS. Interspersed between the discussions of her experiences as a nurse, she also covers other life experiences from her childhood, like getting an ant farm as a child, or daily life, like contending with people on cell phones in public.
For information about Health Occupations, visit MedlinePlus.
Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, Anders Nilsen, 2012
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, cartoonist Anders Nilsen tells the story of his six-year relationship with Cheryl Weaver, his fiancée, who died of cancer. Using personal photographs, postcards, letters, and sketches, Nilsen provides the reader a window into the couple’s relationship, despite life not always going according to plan.
In the final chapter, “Hospital,” Nilsen tells of Weaver’s hospitalization through the stark handwritten-journal pages. The chapter details the anxiety and despair the author felt as he watched his fiancée undergo chemotherapy and die.
For more information about bereavement, visit MedlinePlus.
Dragonslippers: This is What an Abusive Relationship Looks Like, Rosalind Penfold, 2006
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Dragonslippers is based on author and artist Rosalind Penfold’s experiences living through an abusive relationship. Told through Penfold’s sketches, created after abusive events, the images show how the episodes were linked, and how she felt at the time and after ending the relationship.
The book begins when Penfold, a successful business-woman, meets Brian, a widower and father of four. The reader witnesses the evolution of the relationship as it moves from love and affection, to signs of control and abuse, to more severe abuse, and finally, to Penfold leaving.
For more information about abusive relationships, visit MedlinePlus.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Alison Bechdel, 2007
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In this graphic memoir, author and artist Alison Bechdel chronicles her childhood, coming out, and her relationship with her late father. Set in rural Pennsylvania in the 1960s and 1970s, the memoir uses gothic illustrations to tell a story that is both funny and heartbreaking.
Bechdel’s father was a high school English teacher and a third-generation funeral parlor owner, as well as a closeted gay man. Through Bechdel’s complex relationship with her father, the book addresses gender, sexual orientation, dysfunctional family life, emotional abuse, and suicide.
For information about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Health visit MedlinePlus.
Funny Misshapen Body, Jeffrey Brown, 2009
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In Funny Misshapen Body, Jeffrey Brown recounts his childhood love of comics and how he became a cartoonist. Each chapter of the graphic autobiography covers an event or period in Brown’s childhood and adolescence. He narrates his binge drinking, experimentation with drugs, and being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in high school.
Additionally, Brown includes stories related to his love of comics and artwork. Funny Misshapen Body includes stories about the manager of a comic shop becoming Brown’s mentor, his part-time job painting wooden shoes in college, and the problems he faced while attending art school.
For more information about Crohn’s disease, visit MedlinePlus.
How I Made it to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story,
Tracy White, 2010
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In this semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Tracy White details what it’s like to struggle emotionally as a teenager with drug addiction and bulimia. The story follows 17-year-old Stacey Black as she goes through a number of ordeals, including a stay at a mental hospital after she breaks a window. The story reveals Black’s slowly changing perspectives on herself and her world.
For information about Child Mental Health, visit MedlinePlus.
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened, Allie Brosh, 2013
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
The comic-illustrated essays in Hyperbole and a Half reprise content from Allie Brosh’s web comic and personal blog, as well as new material.
Brosh’s honest, poignant stories range from the challenges of moving with dogs to her struggles with severe depression, ADHD, and synesthesia. Brosh’s comics about her battles with clinical depression provide accurate and accessible stories about the disease, and maintain some humor and levity because of her writing and crude illustrations.
For more information about depression, visit MedlinePlus.
Lighter Than My Shadow, Katie Green, 2013
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Lighter than My Shadow is based on author and artist Katie Green’s struggles with anorexia and self-esteem, and her eventual recovery.
The graphic memoir follows Green from her early childhood, when she hid uneaten toast behind a bookcase, to her teenage years when she became increasingly obsessed with food and control issues.
In the second half of the book, Green looks at cycles of recovery and relapse, and a betrayal of trust by a therapist. The story captures how hard and complex anorexia is but ends with guarded optimism that there is hope for getting better.
For more information about eating disorders, visit MedlinePlus.
Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe, Tom Batiuk, 2007
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Tom Batiuk is the creator of the syndicated Funky Winkerbean comic strip.
Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe is a reprint of strips he started in 1999 about his cartoon character Lisa Moore, a young married mother who discovers a lump in her breast. Moore copes with a cancer diagnosis and undergoes treatment, which leads to remission. However, a recurrence of the breast cancer eventually takes her life.
Batiuk, a cancer survivor himself, captures the ups and downs of life with cancer showing the hope, humor, and tragedy of living with the disease.
For more information about breast cancer, visit MedlinePlus.
One Lump or Two? Things That Suck About Being Diabetic, Haidee Soule Merritt, 2009
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Haidee Merritt was diagnosed with a Type 1 Diabetes at the age of two. One Lump or Two? is a collection of her cartoons, covering more than a decade, about living with the disease. Merritt began drawing doodles, which progressed into a medium with which to share her daily struggles and experiences.
The book offers insight into what it’s like to have diabetes as a lifelong condition, exploring the difficult and overwhelming nature of the disease, as well as the dark humor that can be found in it. For example, one cartoon, “Simple Pleasures,” encapsulates the joy of opening a new, sharp needle for insulin injections.
For more information about diabetes, visit MedlinePlus.
Our Cancer Year, Harvey Pekar, 1994
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Our Cancer Year is an autobiographical graphic novel co-written by comic book author Harvey Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner, and illustrated by Frank Stack.
The book is an unflinching chronicle of the year after Pekar is diagnosed with lymphoma. The novel tells the story from the point of view of both Pekar and his wife, who was his primary caretaker. It portrays the real and imagined fears that beset Pekar as he goes through chemotherapy and survives his illness.
Additionally, Our Cancer Year includes the everyday struggles and humor involved in keeping up with world events, purchasing a house, and trying to work, all while caring for someone who is ill.
For more information about lymphoma, visit MedlinePlus.
Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories About Mental Illness, Darryl Cunningham, 2011
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Darryl Cunningham’s graphic novel is based on his experiences working on a psychiatric ward while training to be a mental health nurse in England.
Psychiatric Tales contains 11 black and white illustrated vignettes about people suffering from mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, anti-social personality disorder, depression, and schizophrenia.
Hoping to foster empathy and reduce stigma, Cunningham illuminates the isolation, fear, and tumult people with mental illness face.
He also considers his own anxiety and depression after coming to the realization that he no longer wanted to be a mental health nurse. Ultimately, the book encourages people grappling with mental illness to use their talents and desires to help themselves cope.
For more information about mental health, visit MedlinePlus.
Skinny Leg, Jenny Lin, 2012
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In 2009, artist Jenny Lin was hit by a garbage truck while riding her bike. Skinny Leg, a graphic novel with pop-up and fold-out elements, tells the story of the accident and Lin’s recovery.
Skinny Leg shows Lin’s experiences by interspersing a straightforward account of the accident with intimate observations of the worlds within and around her, which are highlighted by her drawings. The graphic novel explores the nature of perception, memory, and storytelling in relation to trauma, illness, and recovery.
For information about Leg Injuries and Disorders, visit MedlinePlus.
The Spiral Cage: Diary of an Astral Gypsy, Al Davison, 2003
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
In the autobiographical graphic novel The Spiral Cage, author and artist Al Davison chronicles his life with spina bifida. Beating the odds from birth, Davison consistently defied society’s expectations of people with disabilities, though sheer force of will.
When he was born, the doctors told his parents that he wouldn’t survive, and when he did, they predicted that he would never walk. Yet, Davison taught himself to walk and attended a “normal” school. In addition to these early experiences, the novel discusses how Davison learned karate and studied Buddhism as he matured, and eventually became an illustrator. Despite enduring painful surgeries and setbacks, the book shows Davison flourish with an unyielding optimism and drive.
For more information about spina bifida, visit MedlinePlus.
Stitches: A Memoir, David Small, 2010
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Children’s book illustrator David Small recalls his experience with teenage cancer in the autobiographical graphic novel Stitches.
Small’s father, a radiologist, exposed him to numerous x-rays as a child to monitor a sinus problem, which later caused thyroid cancer. His unhappy, uninterested parents did not tell him about his illness, but took him to undergo an operation to remove the cancer. The doctor removed his thyroid and one of his vocal chords, rendering him unable to speak. After the operation, Small struggled living in a hostile household, while trying to heal and adjust. A caring psychiatrist and art helped him recover.
For information about Radiation Exposure, visit MedlinePlus.
Epileptic, David B., 2005
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Epileptic is the graphic autobiography of David B., born Pierre-François Beauchard, who grew up with an epileptic older brother.
As a boy during the late 1960s in a small town outside Orléans, France, the author played with his older brother, Jean-Christophe. When Jean-Christophe was struck with epilepsy at age 11, the family traveled around Europe to see a host of alternative medicine experts and find a cure.
Upset by his brother’s condition, Beauchard learned to cope by drawing, which provided a window into his emotional states. The story charts Beauchard’s complicated relationship with his brother through his childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, as well as Jean-Christophe’s ongoing battle with epilepsy.
For more information about epilepsy, visit MedlinePlus.
Take Care, Son: The Story of My Dad and His Dementia, Tony Husband, 2014
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
British cartoonist Tony Husband wrote the graphic novel Take Care, Son about witnessing his father’s dementia slowly take him away from his family.
Written as an imagined conversation between Husband and his father, Ron, the book chronicles the progression of the disease and what it was like caring for someone struggling with dementia. Husband acknowledges all of the interests his father had prior to the disease and how his father slowly began to forget names, dates, and appointments.
Throughout the book, Husband and his family lovingly care for his father as best they can.
For more information about dementia, visit MedlinePlus.
The Hospital Suite, John Porcellino, 2014
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
The Hospital Suite is an autobiographical graphic novel that details cartoonist John Porcellino’s fight with a series of physical and mental health issues from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
Already suffering from a hearing disorder, Porcellino had emergency surgery to remove a benign tumor in his lower intestine. Post-surgery complications and a series of other illnesses led to increased anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. Together, these issues created problems in his marriage and work life. Eventually, Porcellino began to feel better through medication, lifestyle modifications, and Buddhism.
For more information about coping with chronic illness, visit MedlinePlus.
Probably Nothing: A Diary of Not-Your-Average Nine Months, Matilda Tristram, 2014
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Matilda Tristram, a British writer and animator, found out she had bowel cancer when she was 17 weeks pregnant with her first child. The graphic memoir Probably Nothing tells the story of her diagnosis, treatment, and pregnancy.
Tristram decided to keep the pregnancy and plan her cancer treatments around the baby’s health. She underwent surgery that left her with a colostomy bag and had 6 months of chemotherapy. The novel reads like a diary, conveying the highs and lows of Tristram’s everyday life during this period.
For more information about cancer during pregnancy, visit MedlinePlus.
7 Miles a Second, David Wojnarowicz, James Romberger, and Marguerite Van Cook, 2012
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
David Wojnarowicz was a painter, photographer, writer, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City art world of the 1980s. Written by Wojnarowicz, drawn by James Romberger, and colored by Marguerite Van Cook, 7 Miles a Second is a graphic memoir about Wojnarowicz’s life and his battle with AIDS. He died of the disease in 1992.
Wojnarowicz wrote the book, which contains sci-fi illustrations, beginning with his youth as a gay prostitute on the streets of Manhattan. The graphic memoir chronicles his battles with homelessness and drug addiction, and his living with AIDS and waiting to die.
7 Miles a Second conveys Wojnarowicz’s frustrations with the U.S. government’ response to the AIDS epidemic and people’s indifference toward people with AIDS.
For information about Living with HIV/AIDS, visit MedlinePlus.
My Depression: A Picture Book, Elizabeth Swados, 2014
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
The graphic autobiography My Depression depicts author and artist Elizabeth Swados’s struggles with severe, long-term depression.
Swados originally hid her life-long battle with depression from those around her. She pictures her depression as a small black cloud that morphs into an endless black hole that includes feelings of self-loathing and wanting to end her life.
The book also documents Swados’s efforts to manage her health through medication, diet, therapy, and even consulting a psychic.
For more information about depression, visit MedlinePlus.
My Degeneration: A Journey Through Parkinson’s, Peter Dunlap-Shohl, 2015
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Cartoonist Peter Dunlap-Shohl was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 43. His graphic memoir, My Degeneration, shows how the illness has affected his life.
The book explores the depression and shock that accompanied his diagnosis, his progressively worsening symptoms, and the medication he took to manage symptoms and the drug’s side effects.
Throughout the narrative, Dunlap-Shohl changes his diet and exercise routines, finds support groups, and tries to maintain a positive attitude while coming to terms with an incurable disease.
For more information about Parkinson’s disease, visit MedlinePlus
Special Exits: A Graphic Memoir, Joyce Farmer, 2010
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Special Exits is based on author and artist Joyce Farmer’s experiences taking care of her aging parents in their last days. The graphic memoir tells the story of an elderly couple, Lars and Rachel, who live on their own in South Los Angeles. The couple tries to maintain their independence as their health declines, but this proves increasingly difficult, especially when they are stuck inside their home during the 1992 riots. Their daughter, Laura, steps in to help as much as she can, performing household chores, helping her parents with personal hygiene, and eventually becoming their caretaker as they move closer to death.
For more information about caregivers, visit MedlinePlus.
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