Under a dock,

a turtle. No bigger than a pet

in an aquarium tank.

I swim up behind it,

charmed by its leisurely paddle,

admiring the swing of its tail,

the sturdy thrust of the tiny limbs,

and the present swivel of its critical head as

ponderously it turns to face me,

opening its scissor maw

Scheletri, Zerocalcare.

I’m making some publicity to Italian artists, we have a lot of good graphic novels here, and lots of awesome authors.

It’s a throwback on some autobiographical events of 2002 that have repercussions on him after 20 years.

meet him.

tall, lean. eyes one colour, mouth another.

he makes you laugh, makes you wait

for that one thing only he says.

look at him.

see him.

love him.

meet her.

a whirlwind of

temporary passion

and unabashed rudeness.

she wants a trophy.

he convinces himself to want nothing at all.

love them both differently.

see the clash.

watch how they bring out 

the worst

in each other.

There’s a tentacle monster on my ceiling.

He’s a knitted lime ball with wiggling appendages

and one large brown eye, half-lidded.

I could call him Weary,

christening him after his attitude.

He looks into my cluttered room,

the disheveled piles categorically sorted,

the bed unmade and covered in crumbs,

and passes judgment in silence.

If I turn him around

his bored gaze will roll down Tremont St

where the light from the Loews Theatre

casts red undulations over my ceiling.

Did you know they turn the sign off

at 2:14 in the morning?

I don’t know when they turn it on.

Cool headlights file down Tremont

between hollow orange streetlights,

and, if it’s a Friday, cars will fill the three lanes,

people will fill the sidewalk,

A new comic diary for Patreon, if you like my work, want to support it and see more of it do click the link. I send exclusive pages to all my patrons almost every day, plus work in progress and sketchbook scans.

Author: Bex OllertonPublisher: Andrews McMeel PublishingReleased: July 4, 2024Find it on Goodreads | More Graphic NovelsReceived: NetGalley Lavender Clouds is a collection of slice-of-life comics centered around mental health and overall well-being. It’s one of those comic collections that hits hard for those who have ever felt this way. In that sense, I feel like this book couldn’t be more…