There’s nothing funny about growing up into adulthood with a mental illness. It happens to a lot of people, and for a lot of people it’s a big secret. Toronto artist Adam Bourett’s debut graphic novel is an autobiography told in two main parts, 2002 and 1998 in which Adam battles romance, visions, imaginary friends, family and mental illness — Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) to be specific. His renderings are chock-full of emotion, at times painful depictions of a personal struggle in which he, Adam, is growing leaves and branches from inside his stomach to signify his ‘craziness’ and pain. He has a family, a therapist, a boyfriend and there are moments of humour, but I don’t think a lot of this is supposed to be funny. It’s real life captured in the framework of his creativity. It’s a well-drawn comic that hopefully will exorcise some of the pain Adam has been dealing with over the years. (Jack Cena)
by Adam Bourret, $13.00, 100 pgs, 169 Gladstone Ave, Toronto, ON, M6J 3L3, im-crazy.com