THE FIRE NEVER GOES OUT

The portrait of an artist as a young (wo)man.

Artist, writer, and youngest National Book Award finalist to date, Stevenson’s rise to prominence in the graphic-novel industry was meteoric, yet fame couldn’t fill the gaping hole she often felt in herself. Adrift during her college years, Stevenson found a fan base in drawing fan art. A summer internship with BOOM! Studios—later her publishers—offered a glimpse of her future…and doubtlessly contributed to her career. But independence and isolation, struggles with her faith and sexuality, and serious mental health issues persisted despite success. Otherwise told from a first-person point of view, the book sometimes detours into second person for discussions of mental illness, which may elicit a sense of intimacy and immediacy for readers. Both the art and narrative thread are intermittent and somewhat impressionistic; the illustrations are largely in grayscale, often with characters adrift in white space, lending a feeling of rawness but also incompleteness. Absent are the bright colors, sly humor, and polish of her other pieces, such as Nimona(2015) and the Lumberjanes series. Rather than a how-to guide to publishing or a behind-the-scenes peek at Stevenson’s artwork and process, this is a highly personal tale of an emotional journey that somehow also manages to feel universal.

A snapshot of success and struggles that adds to the conversation about mental health.