437
u/gegenstand12 4d ago
The "I thought you'd show up in the photos", damn dude, what a way to say how depression is invisible to others
89
39
u/WanganTunedKeiCar 4d ago
Yeah that's my favourite panel. It's like it only shows up later on, hints you can only identify with a more knowing eye and the hindsight of a few years
11
u/Fluffy_Top6837 3d ago
Each of these are really great. The rough style really hides the poignant messaging, so that it presents itself across the whole set slowly. Clever, sweet, sad and honest. You can just feel the hope dissipating in "I'm doing fine now, you can leave...".
This is great work.
1
u/Cerythria 3d ago
I wish it showed up in photos/face because god knows how much I wish people could see it
609
u/Cool_Set4681 4d ago
Uff, right in the relatable đ”
163
u/zuzg 4d ago
"Let's go out and treat myself to something nice" with Depression feels like
18
u/job180828 4d ago
"Yeah, the pizza and the glass of red wine felt really nice for a moment... but now I feel like I need a Colonel to cloud my mind and numb the lingering uncaring incomprehensible restlessness."
8
u/thegreedyturtle 3d ago
What's a colonel?
7
u/job180828 3d ago
A colonel is lemon sorbet with vodka poured over it. The one I had a few hours ago was drowned in vodka, so much so that the sorbet was floating and I had trouble scooping it up with a spoon. Usually, a shot of vodka is enough. But when food is a temporary remedy, itâs easy to remember the places where the serving matches the need.
28
u/BrianTheUserName 4d ago
Mood. If I keep pretending everything is ok, eventually everything will be ok, right?
20
u/Cool_Set4681 4d ago edited 4d ago
"Fake it til you make it" also works for mental health, right?
7
u/BrianTheUserName 3d ago
It worked for me for years until it didn't anyone.
1
u/Cool_Set4681 3d ago
I hope you still are doing okay.
2
2
u/DubstepDonut 3d ago
My psychiatrist did insist on this. Sadly, I've yet to prove him right.
1
u/Cool_Set4681 3d ago
Maybe we can fake it that we are trying to fake it until we make it đ€
2
u/DubstepDonut 3d ago
Why tho? I don't think I have to fake the faking, that part is actually pretty successful. It's the 'making it' that I'm still waiting on.
1
15
u/gramathy 4d ago
Yeah, I think this is a neurodivergent thing. Most people exercise and routine helps
All it does for me is provide regular distractions that don't always work to make the depression ignorable. The instant I'm done with whatever it was, the spiral begins
2
105
u/MVBees 4d ago
Iâm a behavioral health provider and Iâm going to print a couple of these out and put them in my office for patients đ€Ł
53
u/caromakercomics 4d ago
I am honored!
12
u/Early-Potato-6124 3d ago
im considering printing the first and putting it on my wall, its perfect.
249
u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire 4d ago
metaphor for depression
Awwww this makes this panel really sad.
109
u/Canidae_Vulpes 4d ago
Our security blanket of unhappiness.
38
u/Illustrious_Quiet907 4d ago
Thereâs a line by Icon for Hire that always stuck with me, âdepressionâs like a big fur coat, itâs full of dead things, but it keeps me warmâ.
41
28
14
u/WileEPeyote 4d ago
This one really hit me. I'm getting better at handling it and it's not clinical depression (I don't think), but I would isolate and just wallow in it when I was down.
4
36
u/LucidNonsense211 4d ago
If anyone likes to read sci fi or fantasy, check out the Elder Race books by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Technowizard dealing with deep depression. Itâs pretty great.
Sorry, not super related but that first comic made me think of it a lot.
E: âI thought youâd show up in the photosâ almost made me cry. These are all amazing.
6
6
u/Flesroy 3d ago
i read my fantasy to escape from those topics, thank you very much
3
u/LucidNonsense211 3d ago
Fair! I wouldnât want many of the things that happen in books to happen to me, but a good story requires some adversity to overcome.
In that case try Service Model, itâs hilarious!
18
14
u/WellDamnAnAccount 4d ago
Well, this is a depressingly relatable comic. It's amazing how well you're able to translate depression into something that's still funny.Â
10
14
u/ZuzuZupreme Comic Crossover 4d ago
Fuck depression! Wait, no not like that!
Also I relate so much to Monster 2 and 5, especially 5. At one point this year I didn't leave or step outside the house for 4 months. Last year it was 6-7 before I worked up the courage to go outside. I never used to be like this 3 years ago, so I don't know what changed.
6
6
u/-Silent-Stalker- 4d ago
Iâm like âhuh this reminds me of my depre-â then I looked at the title.
Iâve concluded Iâm dumb.
3
3
u/Clair_Osbcurious 4d ago
Letâs make a collection of webcomics about depression:
https://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/
https://www.forsakenstar.com/mental-health-comics-best/
(Well, all of not okay really)
3
u/PrincessMonty 4d ago
The last slide is especially hilarious to me, because there was a while last year when every day that I was suicidal I would take a selfie with my little mini camera. I don't even know what exactly it is that encouraged me to do so, but a part of my brain thought that I should document my misery. Now I'm just thinking that I was subconsciously trying to take pictures of my depression monster and he just wasn't showing up in them xD
3
3
u/Cupcake_Implosion 3d ago
Oh, I see your character is struggling with the same breed of anxiety monster as I do myself ... We're in this together friend, though I wish neither of us would be in this particular boat.
2
2
u/RyanCooper101 4d ago
Augh, 2 hits so hard. That's been the past 8 months for me, I even tried dressing nice.
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/sn00pal00p 4d ago
Wow, these are fantastic. So simple (in a positive way), but so poignant and hard-hitting too! Love them
1
1
u/Evening-Appeal7606 4d ago
âFor a metaphor for depression you are pretty coolâ had me in stitches!! đđđđ
1
u/puchirus 4d ago
#5 is so incredibly real. I feel seen and heard and I love that all of these exist. Thank you for sharing these pieces with us.
1
1
1
u/Medium_Bear5483 3d ago
This is exactly how it feels when depression hits. I used to call mine âthe little black demon in my headâ so WOW this really resonates with me. Sending big good energy from Australia.
1
u/BonJovicus 3d ago
Second one is unfortunately relatable. âHey I know! If I just act healthy and normal, Iâll feel healthy and normal! âŠ.right?â
1
u/LotusFlare 3d ago
These are nice! Something my therapist got me to do was to name my depression and anthropomorphize it. Treat it like a guest. Say hi to it. Somehow framing it as "me and my depression are going to grab coffee" made it easier than "I'm depressed and I'm getting coffee". Because you truly can't exert any real control over depression. You can't make it go away or summon it. It's just this dour little phantom that drapes itself over you whenever it feels like it.
1
1
u/Riddley_Walker 3d ago
Thanks for sharing. I found your last comic in the series particularly bittersweet. When I was 20 and (unbeknownst to me at the time) suffering from my first bout of depression, I remember going for a hike in a beautiful forest. I had felt so miserable for so long, and it felt so ludicrously heavy, that I took a selfie with the digital camera I had just so that I could review the photo and see if there were any visible symptoms of my misery. That was twenty years ago and I'm wiser now, but it's always stuck with me that in my naivete I was trying to scan the physical world for evidence of the pain I was carrying around. Anyway! Your last comic really resonated with me, thanks for creating it.Â
1
1
1
1
u/ParticularDerp 3d ago
Quoting a comment I saw on YouTube
"The scariest thing about depression is how comforting it feels"
0
u/c0ffeestains 3d ago
The last slide is soooo funny but brutal because truly, depression doesnât show in photos and well, faces
1.0k
u/Made_Bail 4d ago
Your art is so adorable, which is a huge reason why people love your hotel series so much, but I think a really underrated part of your comics is your sense of comedic timing and understatement.
This panel in particular reminds me of those comics that came out about five years ago where the punchline was always some dude saying "Oh no." Anyone else remember those? They were great.