My Brain Hurts, Vol 2
by Liz Baillie
Liz Baillie crafts a Degrassi-style teenage soap opera about queer punks in New York City! Our story resumes with Joey in a coma after an incident of queer bashing and Kate and Desi's relationship on the rocks. Desi's really religious, and Kate's really not, and they struggle to find a middle ground. The boys get caught smoking and uh, other things in the boys room, Kate getting in awkward situations with a hate crime perpetrator at her internship job, and much much more! Will queer teenage romance succeed? Will our heroes prevail over high school principals, skinheads, and a homophobic society?
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"MY BRAIN HURTS is a fine first major work for a cartoonist, ambitious in its emotional scope and resonant in its themes."
"What I like about My Brain Hurts is that it doesn't try too hard. Liz Baillie focuses on the small stories of the ordinary lives of these characters. She does not try to thrust them into some larger than life story. It works very well for her."
"Liz Baillie's art has come a long way since the beginning of the series, which took her six years to complete. It now presents fully-realized characters and backgrounds, with an expressiveness that a lot of more seasoned cartoonists might envy her."
"Liz Baillie is representing comix DIY esthetic. Her collection, My Brain Hurts is a great trip into teen social issues. She creates some fine character filled with realistic issues on relatable terms. I highly recommend checking out her stuff, the collection is so cheap, you can’t pass it up."
"My Brain Hurts is a tremendously interesting comic that largely does not require one having the first volume to enjoy. Liz Baillie, the creator, has created an overwhelming interesting set of individuals that are linked together in a timeless story (despite some hints – such as Midnight Dragon –being placed in the narrative). The artistic style is somewhat similar to Carrie McN’s Assassin and the Whiner and Zero Content (by Fly), while the different segments of this volume break the action quite well. Aside from the narrative itself, there are a few bonus features that further flesh out the story. This means that there is a “where are they now” type of closing, where grown-up drawings of each featured member are accompanied by a paragraph on what they are doing, while other pieces (such as the script, draft drawings, and the like) really create a fullness to this volume that will bring readers back for more. While the first volume of My Brain Hurts is not essential to properly understand the narrative at the beginning of this volume, purchasing the former will increase enjoyment of the latter. While some fans of books and zine narratives may shy away from anything in a comic format, I feel that Baillie’s work here is a great bridge between the styles."
"Don't think this is your regular teen-angst after-school special. Baillie addresses issues about sexuality, child abuse, drugs, friendship and bigotry all while maintaining realistic storytelling through believable dialogue and characters."