GRAPHIC MUNDI
PARAKEET GN
An account in graphic novel format, based on the author's own experiences, of a boy coping with his mother' suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Bastien is eight years old, and his mother is ill. She often has what his father and grandparents call "episodes." She screams and fights, scratches and spits, and has to be carted away to specialized clinics for frequent treatments. Bastien doesn't like it when she goes, because when she comes home, she isn't the same. She has no feelings, no desires, and not much interest in him, and he imagines her as a comic-book heroine, like Jean Grey, who may become Dark Phoenix and explode in a superhuman fury at any moment.
TWISTER GN
(W) Roland Burkart (A) Roland Burkart
The last thing Piedro remembers is diving into the lake on his day off from work. Now he lies in a hospital bed with a wheelchair at his side. Casting a shadow from the doorway, his caretaker remarks on "how quickly one gets used to this kind of thing," as she goes on to empty his catheter bag and to help him into his wheelchair. Piedro must now deal with a growing mix of fear and powerlessness that surges within him as he realizes that he will be paralyzed forever. In time, Piedro's feelings of hopelessness are offset by the realization that he can find both love and a degree of independence. With the support of his family and friends, he makes his way through rehab and finally gets back to the business of living.