The road to god knows ..., the first graphic novel by Canadian artist/writer Von Allan, introduces us to teenager Marie. Her obsession with pro-wrestling aside, Marie herself is fairly normal, though her life is not. Marie's mother Betty is a good-hearted, gentle woman who suffers from schizophrenia. When the story begins Betty has just returned home after a protracted stay at a mental institution. Marie is happy to have her mother back, but also nervous, dreading the erratic behavior that marks a resurgence of her mother's symptoms. Though Marie's father is present in her life, he is divorced from Betty, and Marie is the one left holding the bag, so to speak, when it comes to her mother's care. Marie's close friend, Kelly, is supportive, but it is clear that she is also incapable of truly understanding the issues facing Marie. It's no fault of her own. Kelly simply has no frame of reference. We soon realize how isolated and alone Marie is.
There's a lot to like about Allan's art and his storytelling. First and foremost is the fact that Marie is proportioned and dressed like a normal girl, not like some hottie who's fallen out of a Hot Topic catalog. She's a cute girl, but also awkward. The book seems to revel in the adolescent energy and uncertainty surrounding her. Allan's writing is stellar, and his dialogue never feels forced or unnatural. What's to be appreciated most about this book though, is the frank, compassionate way it deals with mental illness. In a day and age when people suffering from these diseases are still ostracized and used as the butt of jokes in popular media, or depicted as gross caricatures, it is a relief to "meet" Betty. Allan never sways from his point: Betty is a good person and a good mother, but she is also struggling to cope with a disease as soul-destroying as any cancer.
The world needs more books like this. --Sequential Tart (sequentialtart.com),
the road to god knows..., the first graphic novel by Canadian artist/writer Von Allan, introduces us to teenager Marie. Her obsession with pro-wrestling aside, Marie herself is fairly normal, though her life is not. Marie's mother Betty is a good-hearted, gentle woman who suffers from schizophrenia. When the story begins Betty has just returned home after a protracted stay at a mental institution. Marie is happy to have her mother back, but also nervous, dreading the erratic behavior that marks a resurgence of her mother's symptoms. Though Marie's father is present in her life, he is divorced from Betty, and Marie is the one left holding the bag, so to speak, when it comes to her mother's care. Marie's close friend, Kelly, is supportive, but it is clear that she is also incapable of truly understanding the issues facing Marie. It's no fault of her own. Kelly simply has no frame of reference. We soon realize how isolated and alone Marie is.
There's a lot to like about Allan's art and his storytelling. First and foremost is the fact that Marie is proportioned and dressed like a normal girl, not like some hottie who's fallen out of a Hot Topic catalog. She's a cute girl, but also awkward. The book seems to revel in the adolescent energy and uncertainty surrounding her. Allan's writing is stellar, and his dialogue never feels forced or unnatural. What's to be appreciated most about this book though, is the frank, compassionate way it deals with mental illness. In a day and age when people suffering from these diseases are still ostracized and used as the butt of jokes in popular media, or depicted as gross caricatures, it is a relief to "meet" Betty. Allan never sways from his point: Betty is a good person and a good mother, but she is also struggling to cope with a disease as soul-destroying as any cancer.
The world needs more books like this. --Sequential Tart (sequentialtart.com)
This is the story of a young girl in junior high school and her life with her schizophrenic mother. She (Marie) is thrust into the role of an adult far too early, having to essentially take care of her mother when she's not hospitalized with her illness. Marie is also missing a few days of school in trying to cope with this life, and is confronted with teachers who seem determined to make an example out of her without any interest in what she's actually going through. She does have a few bright spots in her life, as her best friend lives right across the street, her dad is at least occasionally around to help out (it's never explained, but her parents are at least separated), and a wrestling show is finally coming to her hometown. Much of the book is spent with Marie trying desperately to have a normal life with her mother unwilling to tell what past trauma has put her into this state, while being unable to get past it and move on with her life.
All told, this is a remarkably insightful and honest book. The helplessness of Marie's friend to do her any real good, her dad being unable with work to be any kind of full-time father to Marie, her alienation from kids at school (and even the teachers), all of these things would be bad enough. Throw in a mother who may or may not harm herself or Marie at any moment and who is incapable of being any kind of authority figure in Marie's life and well, I'm impressed. There are all kinds of ways that this comic could have gone wrong, and Von managed to cut through it all and make an outstanding graphic novel. It looks like he has at least another project in the works, and judging from the quality of this book I'd say he's someone to keep an eye on in the future. --Optical Sloth (opticalsloth.com)
The teenage years are hard, and having a schizophrenic mother does not help that. "The Road to God Knows..." is the coming of age story of one Marie, a teenage girl faced with her single mother's increasingly complex schizophrenia. Forced to grow up before her time, she learns many important lessons. "The Road to God Knows..." is an intriguing and touching graphic novel with a unique art style, highly recommended. --Midwest Book Review, January, 2010
With the road to god knows... Von Allan demonstrates that he's talented as both an artist and a storyteller. The Ottawa he conjures is beautifully and lovingly detailed -- on par, perhaps, with the London of Dickens or the Cleveland of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. Stylistically, I'm also reminded of Black Hole by Charles Burns and Sloth (among other things) by Gilbert Hernandez. Regardless of his artistic influences, however, what's clear throughout this graphic novel is that Allan is an optimist who strives to explore the human heart in all of its intricate complexity. --Small Press Reviews, December 28, 2009
Marie is the fat girl neither peers nor teachers care enough about to really know. She has a golden best friend, one whose little sister looks up to her, and for escapist heroics she follows pro wrestling, which provides relief from the reality of having a schizophrenic mother. Allan sensitively makes Marie the focus of her own story, never preaching to readers or relaying more knowledge than Marie gleans on her own. Initially, his artwork appears awkward. The characters have disproportioned bodies and adopt strange postures. Soon it becomes clear that this awkwardness reflects a major aspect of Marie's point of view. Facial expressions are distinctly rendered, though, and oppressive particulars of Marie's life--the hole in the wall made by the pan her mother threw at her, her overweight and estranged father's habit of sitting around in his Jockeys--drawn with stark simplicity. Allan is realistic about schizophrenia, too, including the dopey condition of a just-medicated patient. Good for those interested in mental-health issues as they relate to families, and also in girl spirit. --Booklist, January 1, 2010
