Thanks to the original webcomic and advance copies of this graphic novel making their way into the hands of critics, there's already a mountain of praise out there for this book. And now that I've gotten my hands on a copy, I can see why. Cancer runs through my father's family, butI've been lucky in that no family member to which I'm close has been afflicted with the disease. Yet. Genetics says it's going to happen sooner or later, and I have to thank Brian Fies for preparing me for providing a map for a road I know I'll be travelling. The storytelling here is comparable to that we see in Tom Beland's True Story Swear to God, but the subject matter is far more serious. Fies has crafted not only a touching and amusing personal story, but a textbook for anyone who faces the difficult task of seeing a loved one struggle with a life-altering health crisis.
Three grown siblings -- a writer, a nurse and an actress -- are not quite so shocked to learn that their middle-aged mother has developed cancer of the lung and the brain (the former led to the latter) given that she's been a smoker her entire life. Brother, Nurses Sis and Kid Sis work together (and against one another) to help their mom through the ordeal, all the while knowing that her chances of beating the cancer altogether are all too slim. The only person apparently unfazed by the odds is the patient herself, but that may not be the result of a strong resolve, but due to a willful blindness.
Fies's style is one readers might expect to find on a newspaper's comic-strip page. He boasts a simple, expressive style that nevertheless conveys a strong sense of reality. He has a great eye for anatomy, and his cartoony approach still allows him to convey subtleties in progression. There are moments when the panel/page layouts make it clear that this story originated as a webcomic, but Fies has managed to convert it to print incredibly well. Speaking of layout, despite the small size of the book and its pages, Fies manages to convey a lot of information -- both visual and textual -- on each page, in each panel. His character designs certainly convey the individuality of each of the real-world personalities, but at the same time, the simpler leanings in his style also allows the reader to see him or herself in each of them as well.
In that same vein, Fies's decision to omit actual characters names -- leaving things simply at "Nurse Sis" and "Kid Sis," for example -- further allows the reader to insert himself or herself into this scenario. The characters are still well developed and individual, but there's always that gateway, that universal approach to the characters, that makes it so easy to see oneself in the story. I don't think it's a happenstance of the author's effort to maintain the anonymity of his family. It's a smart yet subtle storytelling decision.
Fies tackles the subject matter with brutal honesty, venturing into territory he didn't even need to. I'm specifcally referring to his relationship with his father and the dynamic he played in Mom's cancer crisis. It would have been enough for him to just inform the reader he was out of the picture. But then again, the father ends up representing more than a past family rift, but a holistic point of view when it comes to health care.
The writer/artist also approaches his mother's illness and its effects on the whole family with a great degree of humor, but it never seems as though he's making light of a serious situation. It's clearly a release, both for the characters in the story itself and for Fies as part of the creative process. The repeated instances of comedy and light-heartedness serve as the perfect setups for the moments of real emotional impact.
Mom's Cancer is a must read, and if you know someone whose family is going through a similar ordeal, even if that person is not a comics reader, this graphic novel is something you should get into his or her hands. 10/10
