REVIEW: ‘Sunflowers’, A Transcendent Mark in the Genre of Auto-Bio Comics

A longtime fan of Keezy Young, when I heard the news about their latest works titled, Sunflowers, I knew that I wanted to read it. Did I have the digital copy, yes but I knew that I wanted a print copy of this particular comic. So off to Silver Sprocket I went and pre-ordered. Nominated for best auto-bio comic in the 2023 Minicomic Awards, this 23-page auto-bio comic about living with bipolar disorder, features the very first page starting with the words, “Most people think Mania is fun”.

Moving from the euphoric, joyful part of the experience to the hurried, rushed, weird and scary seasons and back again–Young paints a complicated, vivid picture of their life and a countdown of what is never easy and never quite nailed in the movies and other media we consume.

Sunflowers’ storytelling is greatly enhanced by the artist’s artwork that pops and darkens with a gorgeous color scheme of brighter oranges and reds and darker blues. I also felt the inclusion of the artist adding many auto-filled internet search engines results about bipolar people on one page (when talking about stereotypes) really impactful.

Other pages like the interpretation of the artist drowning against the backdrop of blue colored moods from their mood tracking app help the readers visually take stock of just how low and overwhelming some days are. One of the reasons why Sunflowers is such an engaging read is the vulnerability, the honest and true approach Young takes in detailing and elaborating what a life–their life is like with such a misunderstood and complex condition, through text and art.

Sunflowers are actually my favorite flowers and while I don’t delve too deeply into the language of flowers I know that they can carry multiple meanings from being symbols of positivity and joy, they can also be interpreted as “false riches” for certain situations. The motif of the sunflower being present on the first page, with petals encircling the artist like fire on another page, wilting on a dark page and triumphantly standing tall with another on the final page strikes a chord in me.

Young’s comic about how isolating their bipolar disorder is, how lonely experiencing it can be, how perhaps this auto-bio comic about mental illness runs against the grain from other comics of the same genre for not being relatable or funny is a precious testament to their desire to keep wanting to connect and not hide.

I really, really appreciate all the parts of Keezy Young’s autobiographical comic on wanting to engage readers that people living with bipolar are people first and the comic ends on such a hopeful note even before I got to the author’s insightful afterword.

Lastly, in honor of World Bipolar Day, back in March 2024 — Keezy Young and Silver Sprocket published Keezy’s autobiographical comic, Sunflowers, online!

Silver Sprocket elaborated: ”Since being published, we have seen many people resonating with Keezy’s work across social media. We couldn’t be happier to see how helpful it has been to folks as a resource tool, as a way to feel less alone, and so much more. As such, we want to make this book accessible to everyone! So from now on, you can visit the Silver Sprocket website to read Sunflowers for free in its entirety.”

I love when comics work to be accessible to those who need them, those who are curious about them AND to who see them as tools to aid them in living their best lives. Young’s Sunflowers has certainly cemented itself as not only a piece of their body of work not to miss but also an crucial, timely transcendent mark in the auto-bio genre of comics of today.

Sunflowers is available from the Silver Sprocket store here.

Keezy Young is a queer cartoonist from the Pacific Northwest. Their stories are eerie, and often dark, but almost always hopeful at their core. Their work is character-focused, and they use action, romance, and mystery to explore LGBTQIA characters and themes. Mental illness is also an important focus in many of their stories.

Follow Keezy on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, or Bluesky. You can visit their website here.

Carrie McClain is an Californian native who navigates the world as writer, editor, and media scholar who firmly believes that we can and we should critique the media we consume. She once aided Cindi Mayweather in avoiding capture. See more of her on Twitter (X) and other places she can be found online.