HEAD TRIP: A TRUE STORY #1 REVIEW

[Andrea Speed]

Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Titles: Head Trip; Antiquities

A man returns home to find his father in the grip of Alzheimer’s disease in this autobiographical comic.

Writer & Artist: Sean Seamus McWhinny
Cover Art: Sean Seamus McWhinny


This is a minicomic really, a teaser of things to come, but one good enough to make me eager for what comes next. It’s a basic, low key story about Sean, who comes home after being in Japan, and discovers how badly Alzheimer’s disease has affected his father - and subsequently the rest of his family - in his absence. It wasn’t that he didn’t know his father had it, it’s just always a terrible realization that someone you knew is slipping away from you. It’s not some dramatic decline, but an erosion so slow that you don’t notice how bad it really is until it’s huge.

Although this story is specifically about Alzheimer’s, it can apply to almost any situation where some starts slipping away from you: dementia, mental illness, perhaps even severe addiction. There’s a certain awful helplessness when people you know start receding right in front of you, becoming someone you don’t know, something so different you don’t recognize them, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. This is captured in deft, subtle strokes, employing a more stark metaphor by the end of the main story. It’s neither maudlin nor overwrought, which can be a tough line to ride.

The art is simple but effective, a gently comic style that still captures facial expressions quite well. Sometimes the panels get rather small - being a minicomic doesn’t give you a lot of space - but there’s not too much detail loss or blurring. There’s something very appealing in the artwork’s black and white simplicity.

This is - or at least should be - available at Prism Comics’ online store or IndyPlanet’s site. A thoughtful, compassionate read.





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