Look Again, A Graphic Memoir

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Named one of the Best Comics and Graphic Novels of 2022 by The Mary Sue!

Here’s what readers have said:

“Much like Liana Fink’s Passing for Human, this graphic novel examines the creator’s life as a creation myth of sorts … this unflinching examination of trauma and the fragmentation it leaves behind is well worth the investment.” The Mary Sue

“Intense, articulate, and self-reflective, this makes one look hard at the shifting nature of memory. And involving graphic memoir for enthusiasts of the genre.” Library Journal

Trembley “uses the cartoon medium imaginatively. By carefully unfolding the complexities of trauma and memory, Trembley has created a quasi-psychological/therapeutic thriller, one crafted with equal parts mystery, honesty, and empathy.” Publisher’s Weekly

“Dense, layered, nuanced, and deeply personal … Trembley’s work to replicate her emotions that morning is brutally successful … The first time I recall being hooked in a similar way with a graphic novel is while reading Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home … each author unflinchingly explores their emotional psyche.” Gay League

This one-woman Rashomon is not only an engrossing page-turner, it’s also a profound argument for the power of comics to convey the fragmented nature of traumatic memory.” Matt Madden, author of Ex Libris

“Trauma shatters what we think of as truth. This deeply moving memoir perfectly captures how we rewrite the stories we tell ourselves in order to heal. I’m so grateful I read it.” Danny Gregory, author of How to Draw Without Talent

“A wise and vital consideration of memory, PTSD, and how our memories form around trauma. A welcome addition to the Graphic Medicine canon!” Nicole J. Georges, author of Fetch and Calling Dr. Laura

“Both unsettling and reassuring, navigating the thorny and ever-branching paths of memory, psychology, fear and trauma, while excavating the power of art and comics as sources of healing.” Bishakh Som, author of Apsara Engine and Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir

“A masterclass in reassembling narratives of trauma and of self, leading us through with patience, authenticity, and vulnerability, providing a guide for the rest of us.” MK Czerwiec, author of Menopause: A Graphic Treatment

“A re-seeing of a traumatic event, making the case that we change our own experience! In the gaps between our traumas and the stories we tell about them lie all the blanks, shifts, and elisions that are connected like dots into meaning.” Rhoda Janzen, author of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Read an interview I did with Rob Kirby of Publisher’s Weekly.

About the Book

Once, while walking my dogs in the woods, I found a dead body.  

Have you ever experienced a terror, grief, or confusion so great that when you try to share it you can only find shattered images floating in darkness?  You try over and over, but can’t tell the story, to yourself or to anyone else.  My speculative graphic memoir, Look Again explores the fragmented–and fragmenting–nature of trauma by tracing the confusing evolution of my narrative, a process often experienced by trauma sufferers and their loved ones.  

With vulnerability, humor, and a bickering Dragon, Hawk, and Pickle, this story shares my “crazy” initial reaction, my striving to tell about it in a coherent way, and my failure to reach understanding for more than two decades… until I shared the experience through comics.  Because the grammar of comics mimics the structure of traumatic memory with fragments and gaps, working in comics helped me–and can help anyone–create new understandings of the most complex experiences in our lives.  

You can watch a short live reading of an excerpt here (1:30-11:30).

For more information, contact me: beth AT SequentialArtistsWorkshop DOT org