One of my favorite graphic novelists, Alison Bechdel, has just released a new book, Spent: A Comic Novel. If her name sounds familiar, Bechdel is known for writing Dykes to Watch Out For, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama, and The Secret to Superhuman Strength. Bechdel’s previous works take place in the past, while Spent, in contrast, takes place mostly in the present. This fictionalized memoir includes some true parts of her life, but isn’t quite the truth. Regardless, this comic novel is a breath of fresh air, reminding readers that even though you can’t do everything, you can do something.
In Spent, Alison Bechdel is running a pygmy goat sanctuary in Vermont, alongside her partner Holly. Holly is becoming increasingly famous online for her wood videos, while Alison is struggling to find a purpose. She has projects she should be working on, but instead finds herself preoccupied with the news, worrying about climate change and obsessing over a populace on the verge of civil war, among other things. Alison decides that the way she can help humanity realize its misdeeds is to write a self-critical memoir about her own privilege and greed. While Alison tries to find motivation to work, she and Holly spend time with their friend group, watching a TV series based on Alison’s first book. If you have read Dykes to Watch Out For, you will recognize their friends as characters from that strip. Holly goes viral with a wood-chopping video sending Alison into an envy spiral. Why is she feeling this way? Why won’t anyone accept her writing, so she can save the world already? Alison, Holly, and their friends work through their individual struggles, while turning to each other for help and guidance. Capitalism, ethics, and politics are three of the major themes in Spent with each character juggling their own lives amidst a larger world landscape.
