About this project
"NOT FUNNY HA-HA" is a very special illustrated book. It is a bold, slightly wry, graphic novel illustrating the lives of two young women who go through two different abortions.
Following the lives of the girls (both coming from different cultural, family, and financial backgrounds), the novel begins at the moment that they decide to have abortions, then follows them through the process of choosing a clinic, reaching out to friends, partners, and/or family....and eventually the procedure(s) itself.
We watch as one of the girls decides to have a medical abortion, while the other decides on a surgical procedure. NOT FUNNY HA-HA does not address the events leading up to the pregnancy, or even the decision-making before choosing abortion as an option. It simply shows (with an understanding wink) what happens when a woman GOES THROUGH IT, no questions asked. It takes the viewer through the process from the waiting room to the bathroom to the weeks after, when the girls have gone "back to real life". It shows how each other them relates what happened to their world again, how they see their bodies change, and what that means to them.
The book is meant to be a non-judgmental, comforting, even humorous look at what a woman can go through after she decides to have an abortion.
NOT FUNNY HA-HA is a little bit technical, a little bit moving, and often funny. Although the subject matter is heavy, the illustration are light (drawn in simple pencil on paper), and the text is hand-drawn. The author takes a step back from putting forth any personal opinion whatsoever: simply laying out the events and possibly emotional repercussions that could, and often do occur. This is a book that a friend might buy for her girlfriend to read either before, during, or after going through an abortion. This is a frank, but touching look at something many, many women go through, in a format that has not been done before.
for more images from the book, please visit the NOT FUNNU HA-HA Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/NOTFUNNYBOOK
Risks and challenges
This is a tricky book project in some respects, but one that is very important to me to get out and into the world. It is meant to tell a story, but also offer some "technical" insight, in order to quell concerns and/or fears that may not have been answered in the doctor's office, or online. The hope is that is will give a sense of "we-are-not-alone" for many girls, women, families, and men who are touched by abortions.
Despite the fact that so many women and girls have abortions every day, in every city, all around us....it can be a lonely experience. In a waiting room filled with women sitting inches apart from one another, there is often an overwhelming sense of isolation during the process. Sometimes there is an "aftermath" that is not always talked about, as girls often jump back into daily routine quite quickly after an abortion. There can be sadness/anxiety/depression that can arise days, months, even years later.
I'm not attempting to place any judgment, meaning, or political stance one way or another on the subject of abortion; I would only like to offer a different, hand-drawn perspective to a procedure that happens every day.
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Almost. The drawings and story are finished, it just needs to be inked, printed, and distributed. I would like to do some press for this project as well, which also requires support.
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In independent bookstores that carry/support illustrators and artists doing interesting things. Probably not Barnes and Noble (yet).
You will also be able to get it online via my website.
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Roughly 100-120 pages, soft cover and hard cover versions.
Rewards
Funding period
- (30 days)