Best Comic Zine: The Purpose

This isn’t the first time Kimberly Edgar has tackled a deeply personal experience through a zine. Their previously Zine Awards-nominated Bacchanalia came from the anger they experienced in the face of sexual assault.

Now, Edgar is back, this time taking home the medal for The Purpose, a zine “about a character who is deeply depressed and trying to heal herself through extreme self-isolation,” Edgar writes.

The zine “questions whether mental health is the responsibility of the individual or the community. How do we get better when the world around us continues to sink?”
Edgar renders each image with gouache and watercolour, tools they wield adeptly.

“This zine stood out to me due to the beautiful artwork and strong storytelling, as well as the message itself,” says Zine Awards judge Jenn Woodall. “Navigating the world as a person with mental illness is a difficult task, and one that often requires we take our care into our own hands and try to find how we can best heal.”

“One of the strengths of this story is that there is no real ending or resolution. But there is an acceptance that we need help from others in order to heal, and of the necessity of accepting that life will sometimes bring us difficult emotions,” Woodall adds.