About January 2023

Feb10
by on February 10, 2023 at 10:00 am

A series of four panel comics, all rendered in magenta and green. ON RESTART: In the first panel, Emily stands in an empty space, facing right, as the narration begins: "Man, the first couple weeks of 2023 absolutely--" Here, Emily's yelling interrupts the narration: "SUCKED." In the second panel, Emily is visible from the waist up, angrily counting off moments on her fingers. The omniscient narration is gone, replaced with her speaking: "I've had professional breakdowns, my anxiety is through the ROOF, and to top it all off, my permanent retainer of 15 plus years BROKE." In the third panel, Emily is shouting so much that she's vibrating, arms out in a power pose. "And the repair--" she continues yelling, "which is just GLUING A WIRE BACK ON--will cost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS." In the fourth panel, Emily is now suddenly lying on the floor, her soul floating out from her mouth like a cartoon. It finishes speaking: "this is just gettin' all the bad luck out of the way, right?" --- ON REPEAT: In the first panel, a pit is visible in the ground, marked with a wooden sign with a crossed out circle. The narration begins: "January really has just been an endless sequence of falling into a pit over and over and over again." In the second panel, Emily is barely visible in a mass of water, seemingly at the bottom of the pit. Only her glasses peek up over the edge of the water. She looks tired. The narration continues: "It feels like this happens every winter, even before the pandemic. Despite my best efforts, I find myself isolating, pushing everyone and everything away." In the third panel, Emily slowly pulls herself out of the water onto a large rock, her clothes dripping with water. The narration goes on: "And it's easier to write about it all in this detached way rather than reach out. I can filter it here, select and control my vulnerability rather than actually let myself be seen." In the fourth panel, Emily looks upward, toward the exit of the pit, dripping with water and sighing. "I'll try again," the narration concludes, "because I always do. But rigt now, I think I'm just a coward." --- ON DISTANCE: Each panel looks like a frame in a video call, with each panel showing a new person. The narration exists in the black bars above and below the frames. In the first panel, Alex happily chats. She has big curly hair, glasses, is wearing a sweater, and crocheting a large blanket. She sits in a large comfy chair with a cozy living room behind her. The narration starts: "I know--" In the second panel, Denz grins conspiratorially. They're wearing a plaid shawl, have their hair pulled back, and various piercings. They're sitting on a couch in front of a window with blinds. The narration continues: "It's not quite the same--" In the third panel, LiZz laughs as she rips wrapping paper off of a gift. She has short, shaggy hair, glasses, and is wearing a t-shirt. She's sitting on the ground by a curio cabinet, with her dog behind her. The narration continues: "But I am still--" In the fourth panel, Emily sits at her desk, smiling softly with her hand on her cheek. She has earbuds in and is wearing glasses and a sweatshirt. The narration concludes: "So, so grateful for this."

Thanks as always for reading.

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