Endsickness by Sofia Alarcon. Conundrum, 2025. 9781772621075. 148pp.
This book features eight short comics by Alarcon about “climate change and eco-anxiety” (says the back cover). “Positive Thinking” opens with just that, but then becomes a fantasy about leaving everything behind. Most pages in “Special Delivery” feature a street and four houses; what’s happening in each, including a leaf blowing scene, implies a different apocalypse. The end is perfect. “Patagonia” is narrated by a person who did their part by buying a Patagonia sweater, and is clearly trying to stay positive in the face of ecological calamity. It’s funnier than it should be. “Afterlife” offers a chance to laugh at the ideas preppers live by. “Lonesome Garry” is just flat out hilarious. “Lonesome Garry and his kind are believed to be extinct in the wild.” He’s in a zoo where he’s cared for. I can’t post an image from this story because he’s naked throughout.
Not every story is in color, but when they are, they mostly feel like they were done with pencils. Along with the slow pace of the stories, this creates a sense of the craft that went into their creation. Her humor is deadpan, and, unlike many collections of short comics, every story here is worth reading.
