Netflix is indeed capitalizing on the fact that there's more to comics than just superheroes fighting off aliens and gods saving the planet. The streaming service recently adapted Charles Forsman's The End of the F***ing World and on the heels of two seasons of crude, dark humor and existential crises so many teens face, the streaming giant followed up with an enthralling adaptation of Forsman's I Am Not Okay With This.
The latter wasn't as grounded as the former, though, and dealt with Sydney (Sophia Lillis) as a teen in Pennsylvania struggling with her sexuality, bullies and burgeoning superpowers. The adaptation did maintain Forsman's bleak outlook on life as represented in his comics. The reception to both series has been pretty positive, which means there is clearly a market for this kind of story. Comics has plenty where that came from, so here are just a few comics to check out if I Am Not Okay With This struck a particular chord.
THE SOUND OF THE WORLD BY HEART
Written and drawn by Giacomo Bevilacqua, The Sound of the World By Heart (Lion Forge) follows photographer Sam as he takes a two-month sabbatical from engaging in any sort of verbal communication with people in New York. It's one part artistic experiment to see how he feels about the city and one part distraction from past tragedies in his life. The Sound of the World By Heart veers into soft sci-fi territory when Sam discovers that some of his memories have been deleted. He also notices that some of his black and white photos have one particular redhead in them -- and she's in color. He embarks on an evocative journey to solve this mystery while his publisher and family continue to worry about his mental health.
Romance fans who enjoyed I Am Not Okay With This and are interested in an ethereal love story will likely love The Sound of the World By Heart, which is less action-focused than Bevilacqua's other works.
HEART IN A BOX
This Dark Horse Comics seven-issue story, written by Kelly Thompson and drawn by Meredith McLaren, deals with Emma, a young girl who gives up her heart after a life filled with sadness, loss and abuse. She doesn't want to feel anymore, so she makes a sinister deal with a character who's just slightly more handsome than Mephisto. Emma realizes she's made a terrible mistake, however, and quickly tries to take back her heart, only to be told she has to assemble it piece by piece in a box to become whole again.
Heart In a Box is filled with intriguing characters, violence and a ton of unfortunate situations wherein Emma has to dig deep to get out. She learns a lot about herself, as well as the concept of love -- not just loving someone else, but loving herself wholly and truly. It's not an easy read, especially for those who just went through a breakup, but it's totally worth the trip. The story delineates the difference between connection and attraction, which helps Emma mend bridges with so many people in her life. Heart In a Box is for mature readers only.
PAPER GIRLS
This Image Comics title is one of the most acclaimed in recent years, focusing on four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls (Erin, MacKenzie, KJ and Tiffany) in Stony Stream, a fictional suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Brian K. Vaughn, Cliff Chiang and Matt Wilson began the series in 2015 and painted a story similar to Stranger Things. When the girls are out delivering papers on the morning after Halloween, they find their town struck by an invasion. Mysterious forces from the future appear and they're wrapped up in a temporal conflict filled with scares, drama and yes, death.
Paper Girls is another mature, brilliant coming-of-age story as they test themselves, discovering truths about each other and what friendship means along the way. Think of Stand By Me but with hard layers of sci-fi, horror and comedy packed in. This story ran for 30 issues, while also being very thought-provoking in how it addressed diversity and inclusivity, especially on the LGBT front. With an Amazon TV show in the works, readers who enjoyed I Am Not Okay With This will surely enjoy Paper Girls, which features some of the most badass girls in modern comics.
THEY'RE NOT LIKE US
Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson, Simon Gane, Jordie Bellaire and Fonografiks crafted a beautifully haunting series with They're Not Like Us, which follows telepath Syd as she meets a group of jerks with powers like hers after a failed suicide attempt. The story basically explores what it would be like if the X-Men were brats, with their leader, the Voice, proving to be a despicable Professor X as he wants the kids to create chaos, even if it includes killing their family. They're Not Like Us tests Syd in a big way -- which may also be the case with Syd in I Am Not Okay With This Season 2, since she finally spoke with the mysterious Shadow Man who wants her to use her powers for evil at the end of Season 1.
They're Not Like Us is brilliant in the way it depicts Syd trying to fit in and how she struggles with compromising her morals, as she doesn't really want to be a criminal or anarchist. It's pure, unadulterated and unhindered because there's no backdrop of superhero continuity blocking its exploration of themes such as entitlement, narcissism, and trauma using people who are really unlikeable. This leaves Syd with an identity crisis that is highly relatable and definitely worth checking out.