*Artist's conception. Your terror may vary.
When Brian Fies' mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, he chronicled the events that followed in a serial web comic. Because it was online, Fies made it somewhat anonymous, but still very real. The comics have now been collected into this book, which traces the story of his mom's battle with cancer and the family's attitudes and reactions to it. It has both serious and humorous parts; at least some of it must have sprung from a need to find things to laugh at, despite their frustrations.
Fies admits that it's a very one-sided perspective. His two sisters and his mother may remember things differently, but I think the subjectivity actually works in his favor. The artwork is excellent with clean lines and a good balance between cartoony and realistic. The cartoon format also allows him to make interesting juxtapositions of odd visuals against the text.
It's a pretty short book but definitely worth a read; in 2005 it was the first digital comic to win an Eisner Award, sort of the Oscar of the comics world.
You can visit Fies' website here for some more information about Mom's Cancer and his current work.
Fed to jonathan's brain | June 23, 2009
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