By Mom, By Me #2Comic, Karen Scheer and Rachel Scheer, 12 pgs, etsy.com/shop/RachelComics, $5.52
Not everyone will spend their 20s backpacking abroad or moving homes with various roommates, but for those who do, they sure do have a great story.
By Mom, By Me brings you on an autobiographical journey written in the younger Scheer’s voice as she tells stories about her and her mom Karen’s experiences as college aged girls. Though they’re a generation apart, the similarities in their adventures are distinct and intriguing.
Karen, a child of the ’50s, shares post-college experiences that young people of today are unlikely to encounter, such as hitchhiking with strange men, or getting a job straight out of college! However, Rachel grew up in the ’80’s and has a slightly more relatable experience, as she shares the story of getting (a little too) high with friends and travelling overseas alone.
The illustrations are amazing and really take the reader through the zine as if they’re alongside Rachel and her mom for every adventure. Each page is made up of four quadrants that has a meaty piece of text alongside a picture that almost seems like it moves with the words of the story.
By Mom, By Me serves as a reminder to take risks and explore the world. It’ll (probably) turn out okay in the end.