A new comic anthology visualises 17 personal accounts of mental health

The comic industry, and the creative industry at large, is a difficult sector to break into. One of the aims behind the new comic anthology Mind Over Margins is to provide equitable commissioning opportunities for young talent amidst this landscape. Another is to bring conversations centred on lived experiences around mental health to the fore. Published by Liverpool-based Comics Youth and Marginal Publishing, the graphic medicine anthology (referring to the use of comics in medical education and patient care) tells 17 different autobiographical narratives “from the eyes of marginalised youth”, a Comics Youth release explains.

Comics Youth continues: “Marginalised groups such as LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, ethnically diverse and chronically ill young adults are more likely to face mental health problems than the wider population, with trans young adults, in particular, facing increased rates of depression and anxiety.” The creatives behind Mind Over Margins tell entirely individual stories around mental health, stigma and discrimination; one story, for example, makes tangible the look and feel of anxiety through character design. An eclectic number of approaches to style and sequential storytelling appear across the anthology, which underlines the multiplicity of perspectives present too.

Spanning subjects including depression, ableism, hospitalisation and more, this selection of comics offers a nuanced, personal and honest look into mental health – a topic which, at times, can be rushed to be summarised and condensed. Or worse, not discussed at all. Rhiannon Griffiths, MD of Comics Youth, explains how the works emerged from discussions with the artists on their “experiences of being marginalised and struggling with their mental health”.

“They felt there were often gaps in understanding between their experiences and how they were discussed and viewed by health care professionals and the community at large. They felt solidarity in sharing their own stories with one another, so we wanted to make something that bridges the gap and shares that experience of solidarity in an authentic way.”

Discover the collection, now available for pre-order, on the Marginal Publishing site.