Recent Reads: Bird Brain: Comics About Mental Health, Starring Pigeons by Chuck Mullin

Source: From Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review this in no way alters my opinion or review.

Bird Brain: Comics About Mental Health, Starring Pigeons by Chuck Mullin
Publisher:  Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date:  November 19, 2019

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:







Goodreads Synopsis: 

Bird Brain is a collection of brutally honest, brilliantly weird comics exploring what it’s like to live with mental illness . . . using pigeons.
When Chuck Mullin began experiencing anxiety and depression as a teenager, she started drawing comics to help her make sense of the rollercoaster. Eventually, she found that pigeons—lovably quirky, yet universally reviled creatures—were the ideal subjects of a comic about mental illness. Organized in three sections—"Bad Times," "Relationships," and "Positivity"—and featuring several short essays about the author’s experiences, Bird Brain is a highly relatable, chuckle-inducing, and ultimately uplifting collection of comics for anyone who has struggled to maintain their mental health.

Review: 
Bird Brain is a graphic novel of sorts that is about mental health but told through pigeons instead of people. It addresses things like fear, depression, anxiety, social awkwardness and overall just the bad times and how they impact life. 

I did not expect this book to be so heavy as it is comics about pigeons, but it is about a very difficult subject matter for some and might even be a little triggering. However, the comics are relatable and put mental health on the forefront which it needs to be more often. 

I also didn't expect for this book to also include blocks of narration from the author. I think it might have been better served throughout with the comics versus in the long blocks. They seems a bit long-winded and since I was expecting comics I found that they really took my attention away from the images.

I liked this collection and found it to be soothing, in that I related to so many of the anxiety based comics, but it wasn't a love it book for me. 

If you are looking for an interesting take on mental health in a more whimsical medium, this would fit that build.