Work-Life Balance

February 20, 2023
Berlin-based cartoonist Franz follows her L.A. Times Book Prize finalist Shit Is Real with a caustic comedy about the ways young people try (and often fail) to reconcile their online lives with time IRL. A trio of protagonists are all patients of the same self-absorbed, scatterbrained therapist. There’s Anita, a sculptor making ceramics for Instagram and Etsy, whose professional jealousy becomes destructive; Rex, a food delivery messenger and freelance programmer whose code is essentially stolen by a successful wellness startup called Agileal; and the sex-obsessed, wannabe influencer Sandra, who gets fired from her administrative job at Agileal after her unhealthy need for intimacy and attention turns into harassment. Franz sports a subtly surreal illustration style, recalling Heinz Edelmann’s album art from Yellow Submarine, which augments both the humor and mundane horror of the internet’s “everything everywhere all at once” nature. The story highlights the lack of separation between digital and analog, as hobbies become jobs, humans become brands, and constant connectivity becomes isolation. Franz’s mordant and melancholy graphic novel reveals the irony of “social” media.

December 2, 2023

Three hapless people troubled in their work life find some consolation, no thanks to unhelpful therapist Dr. Sharifi. Anita churns out ho-hum ceramics for Etsy sale, though she yearns to create "real art" like a colleague who's having a posh gallery show. Sandra sexually harasses a male colleague at the Agileal company. Rex, offering his software to the same company, panics when his design is stolen without payment, and he must survive doing pizza deliveries. These mostly realistic plots are creative and wryly funny, with some goofy touches. Agileal requires staff to wear smiley slippers and use "ergo beanie" chairs while cruelly misleading Rex and Sandra. The supposed therapist gives no advice, keeping clients at arm's length while pampering herself. Franz (Shit Is Real) color codes her roundish, almost Thurber-esque characters: purple toned for Anita's world, orange for Sandra, green for Rex. Mental musings and memories appear in smudgy monochromes. In this work, while therapy may not be therapeutic, failure may not quite be failure, either. Readers will enjoy the absurdities yet will likely relate. VERDICT An inventive take on workplace barriers to mental health, the failure of safety nets, and the resilience of those relying on them.

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