Comics By Mood: Comics to read when you’re…sad

Emily's mom and aunt run a bakery fueled by their magical powers to infuse emotions into the baked goods they create, and it's a great life until a car accident causes Emily's aunt to pass away. Emily and her mom struggle to find a new equilibrium in their lives, but as the distance between them grows, Emily breaks one of the family's cardinal rules and starts baking when she's sad.

There are a lot of things to appreciate about Crumble, from the exploration of the shapes grief can take to the different family dynamics and a dash of charming, sweet magic. I appreciate that the adults in this story are multi-faceted, showing how grief affects adults in kids' lives. The art is also vibrant and clear, easy to parse for newer comic readers.

Discussion of death and grief

Shannan Prukop

Hiroto is a 29-year-old who works at a local fishing spot in town and ends up making friends with the cranky 83-year-old Hanae, who dies and leaves her home to him. He hardly has time to process this or his feelings on the matter when he's suddenly informed that his 18-year-old cousin Natsumi is going to live with him because she got into art school. She's got her own feelings to process, living in Tokyo for the first time and away from her immediate family, plus the growing pains of college and art. And yet, life goes on.

Hirayasumi, while certainly sad, is not depressing; it acknowledges life's dark parts while celebrating its beauty and brightness. Over the volumes, we learn more about how Hiroto came to be working in a fishing pond, while we see Natsumi achieve success in her endeavors to become a manga creator. It's always a little of both.

Shannan Prukop

After Adara loses her mom, her dad moves them to Michigan. She feels adrift, but can't get him to talk about her mom. After her dad buys her a plant, Adara discovers that she can talk to plants just like her mother. However, her grief and her dad’s lack of communication threaten to disrupt her relationship with her succulent Perle and the process of adjusting to her new home.

Ideal for kids experiencing grief, this tender, beautifully illustrated story is about handling your emotions, caring for yourself, and moving forward.

Megan Rupe

In Limbo is Lee’s graphic memoir of her adolescence. Born in Korea and raised in the US, Lee’s story is drawn in greyscale but colored by the struggles of being both too Asian and not enough at once as she loses her first language and tries to find herself. As she moves through high school, Lee navigates parental expectations, changing friendships, and other hardships while living with depression. The detailed illustrations and use of dynamic page layouts help to express the way time expands and contracts as seemingly small moments last a lifetime and the day-to-day becomes a blur.

Young adults with similar struggles with mental health and/or being an immigrant will certainly relate to Lee’s story, but the truthful portrayal of adolescence is sure to resonate with many. Parents and friends of those with depression may also find increased understanding of their loved one by reading In Limbo.

Anti-Asian racism, suicide attempt, child abuse

Teresa Slobuski

Follow Takalo’s path of recovery when a ruptured aneurysm interrupts a quiet night at her home in Finland. Originally published one page at a time starting one year after the incident, she expresses the stress, grief, and confusion as she begins recovery and rebuilds her life. Using a finely honed, limited color palette and expressive pencils, Takalo beautifully captures her struggles with navigating the medical system, understanding her mortality, and finding meaning after tragedy.

People struggling with their own or a loved one's health struggles will find Momento Mori's story relatable and ultimately hopeful. Practitioners and students of medicine and psychology will learn a lot from Takalo's Story.

Medical trauma, mental health struggles, depictions of blood/bleeding

Teresa Slobuski

Mushi are creatures somewhere outside the rest of the defined types of the world that only some people can see, and mushishi are the people who study them and treat others affected by mushi. It is a quiet, melancholy life of wandering village to village in the Japanese countryside, sometimes encountering cases Ginkō, the mushishi this story follows, can't always save or treat.

Come for the moody art and the main character; stay for the beautiful, sad storytelling in Mushishi. The format is almost like a short story anthology, with Ginko wandering in and out of people's lives in largely unconnected moments. This story is perfect for a rainy afternoon spent indoors in a comfy spot meant for melancholy wonderings about nature and humanity.
Something to keep in mind: this is an older series, originally published in the 2000s; the edition discussed here is the new collector's edition, a 2-in-1 hardcover omnibus.

Shannan Prukop

Alex hasn’t visited her hometown to see her grandmother in a long time, but now her grandmother has passed away. When she arrives in Indigo Harbour to pack up her grandmother’s belongings, Alex discovers that she can barely remember anything about the town, and her memories of her grandmother are oddly fuzzy. Grieving yet determined, Alex sets out to find answers.

With a lovely, mysterious town and a quest exploring loss and memory at its center, this is a tender, whimsical story; it will be popular with fans of gentle fantasy, such as K O’Neill’s work or Lee Ostertag's lighter work.

A little bit of swearing

Megan Rupe

Vaughan’s fast-paced storytelling and Henrichon’s richly detailed drawings form a perfect match in Pride of Baghdad. Readers will follow 4 lions as they are freed from a zoo during a US air raid of the city. The animal protagonists provide some separation from reality, but the devastation of war is starkly on display page after page. As they move through the largely destroyed and abandoned city, the lions struggle to find food and safety and disagree on the best plans for their now uncertain future. War and predators combine for a meditation on the senselessness of violence most appropriate for older teens and adults.

People interested in broadening or deepening their perspectives on war and violence will be drawn through the brutality by the beautiful, dynamic art and story in Pride of Baghdad. It may also be an excellent addition to classes in war and conflict studies or literature exploring those themes.

War, blood, guns, animal violence and death

Teresa Slobuski

Jade has a lot riding on her summer art intensive, affectionately called The Art Farm. It is her chance to get accepted into art school on a scholarship, which is the only way she'll be able to make it happen financially. Right before she leaves for the summer, her best friend Phoebe is hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Jade wonders how she can go off and make art for the summer while her friend is suffering. Through her art, and with a touch of magical realism, Jade is able to work through her anger, guilt, and worry to figure out a way to be there for Phoebe, as well as make room in her heart for new friends at the art intensive.

Aspiring artists of all mediums will relate to Jade's struggle to make art that says something meaningful.

Discussions of suicide and hospitalization for mental health.

Tayla Cardillo

Matt loves his nanny, Ruby; she's practically part of the family. While he, his mom, and his little sister are on vacation, Ruby passes away unexpectedly. The whole family is devastated, but Matt seems to be having the hardest time. He feels like everyone wants to move on with their lives like Ruby never existed, and Matt doesn't want to forget someone so special to him. So when his friend suggests a sleepover on the new nanny, Miss Swan's first night, it seems like the perfect thing to cheer Matt up, but Miss Swan may not be what she appears on first inspection. Wrapped in a classic witch-in-the-woods tale is a story about grief, family, and keeping a loved one's memory alive.

Fans of monster tales will love this story, which is equal parts scares and heart.

Death of a love one, fantasy typical violence

Tayla Cardillo

When Abby transfers to an all-girls private school, Wilberton Academy, she thinks that all she will be able to do there is bide her time until graduation. Then, unbeknownst to her, Elizabeth Woodward, one of the most popular girls in school, sees her sitting on the sidelines at a party and talks to her. This conversation makes Abby feel like this new school might not be so bad after all. The next morning, Elizabeth is found dead. Abby gets pulled into unraveling the mystery of Elizabeth's death and discovers secrets about this school that she never could have imagined.

Both readers who remember the 80s (when the story is set) and those who don't will relate to the universality of teenage angst.

Death, misconduct of a teacher with underage students, homophobia

Tayla Cardillo

Sometimes despair calls for a side of humor, and that is just what Knisley does in WOE. Follow the antics of her cat, Linney, in a celebration of life and exploration of managing sickness and ultimately saying goodbye to a beloved pet. Featuring charming and brightly colored illustrations, Knisley perfectly captures the ridiculous spirit and liquid body of all cats. Anyone with a cat or another pet will be able to relate to the joys and sadnesses in this book.

WOE is a great pick for helping tweens, teens, or adults process the unique grief of losing a pet.

Animal illness and death (not graphic)

Teresa Slobuski