Why doesn’t marriage come with a manual? Well, now it does – in graphic detail, thanks to Soaring Penguin Press, who are publishing I Do I Don’t: How To Build A Better Marriage by licensed therapist Chandrama Anderson (MA, LMFT) and talented cartoonist Nur Jaffar G. Latip.
I Do I Don’t, reviewed here recently on fa.com by Will Morgan, tells the story of a young couple, Ben and Grace. Struggling to make their marriage work, they turn to a couples therapist in an effort to find out the root of their problems and how to fix them.
A unique blend of narrative, theory, and applied practice, I Do I Don’t allows readers to follow along with Ben and Grace as they learn how upbringing and personal trauma impact our relationships and attachments. The book makes use of visual cues including coloured word balloons to emphasise emotional states to make complicated concepts more understandable. Each chapter ends with Put It Into Practice, a set of worksheets that parallel the homework set for Ben and Grace by the therapist.
“Anderson effortlessly breaks down complex neuroscience principles that affect our behaviour in a way that anyone can understand while also using more familiar self-help concepts like Love Languages and various other therapeutic practices,” say Soaring Penguin. “Latip’s crisp, beautiful, and expressive black and white art allows the reader to empathise with them all the more.”
I Do I Don’t also features a foreword by John Killcullen, CEO and founder of the “…For Dummies” line of informational books.
Whether you’re a graphic novel lover or new to the art form, I Do I Don’t seamlessly allows any reader to quickly absorb, understand, and put into practice Anderson’s therapeutic concepts.
“Not all of Soaring Penguin’s experiments have been successful in the past, but one of the things they’ve never been afraid to do is push their boundaries,” notes Will Morgan in his fa.com review, “and this 200+ page graphic novel guide to relationship therapy is a step quite different from anything they’ve taken before. It’s also quite effective… Chandrama Anderson’s script does an admirable job of breaking a complex web of clinical concepts down into readily comprehensible segments.” Morgan has some reservations about the book, but feels, overall, “an intelligent and insightful read.”
Soaring Penguin Press describe the book as an essential tool for couples seeking to improve communication in their committed relationships, as well as students and therapists looking for new tools to reach their patients.
Chandrama Anderson MA, MFT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2007, and the president of Connect2 Marriage Counseling, Inc. Chandrama combines knowledge from many fields – anything that lights her passion for couples – to help you be your genuine self, find your own voice, and build a better relationship.
Nur Jaffar G Latip is a talented young artist, living in Marawi in the Phillipines. His nuanced understanding of character design and gesture, his sophisticated use of color, and his solid storytelling chops mark him as an artist to watch.
Soaring Penguin Press is an Eisner and Ignatz Award nominated UK-based graphic novel publisher, which moved to a crowdfunding model to support its publishing back in 2020.
Established in 2010 (but in existence much earlier), they have published a number of notable titles, including Loisel’s Peter Pan (in English for the first time), To End All Wars: the Graphic Anthology of the First World War (nominated for two Eisner Awards), Ellen Lindner’s The Black Feather Falls (nominated for an Ignatz for Outstanding Series).
More recently, they published Salmonella Smorgasbord, a retrospective of the work of Mark Stafford, and Mario Cesar’s Blessed Cure, a translation of an award-winning story about a young gay man growing up in repressive Catholic culture of Brazil.
• Read Will Morgan’s review of I Do I Don’t here on fa.com
• I Do I Don’t is available to pre-order now from amazon.co.uk (other Amazon sites including Amazon Canada list it as being available in May 2024) | 220 Pages | ISBN: 978-1-908030-57-3
Soaring Penguin Press is online at soaringpenguinpress.com | Facebook | Instagram | X |
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Creating Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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