Hardcore punk and therapy, the perfect combo

Hardcore Happiness

A Graphic Journey to Find Punk's Positivity

by Reid Chancellor (Author)

When you listen and scream along to your favorite punk or hardcore band, does that help your mental health or reinforce your frustrations? Artist Reid Chancellor leads us on a tour through hardcore musicians that have struggled with mental health—and written about it in their songs. In this standalone graphic novel, Chancellor picks up the discussion he began in Hardcore Anxiety, in an engaging narrative that will be deeply relatable to anyone grappling with identity, fear, and loss in the mosh pit.

SUBJECT: Memoir / Comics / Punk / Microcosm Published / Mental Health / Trauma

PUBLICATION: Jun 3, 2025

PRICE: $16.99

ISBN: 9781648413995

FORMAT: paperback, 6x9", 192 pages

WHOLESALE: $10.19

CARTON QTY: 44

ART: b&w illustrations

Marketing Notes

Author’s previous titles (Hardcore Anxiety, GG Allin Coloring and Activity Book and Rock n Roll Terrorist) have sold 65,000 copies across all formats
Swedish digital distribution platform Record Union conducted a 2019 survey and found that 73% of independent musicians struggled with mental illness, particularly depression, anxiety, and panic attacks; a 2017 survey conducted by Help Musicians in the UK found similar results
A 2022 study found that despite concerns about aggressive music harming listeners, “fans derive a range of emotional and social benefits from listening to heavy metal music, including improved mood, identity formation, and peer affiliation”

Reid Chancellor is an artist and illustrator from Owensboro, KY. His previous work includes Hardcore Anxiety: A Graphic Guide to Punk Rock and Mental Health(2019) from Microcosm Publishing and Rock and Roll Terrorist (2020) also from Microcosm. He Kickstarted and self published Summer Vacation (2023), his first long-form fiction work. When he is not creating comics he is an established illustrator for gig posters and screen printing. He has been fortunate to work with artists like Descendents, Melvins, and Violent Femmes. As a kid he dreamed of playing music in front of millions of people, now he is perfectly happy reading, writing, and drawing comics with his wife and two cats by his side.

A small, innovative publishing house, Microcosm Publishing specializes in work designed to make the reader feel good about being alive, take an active role in bettering their life, and impact the world around them. Microcosm has developed a reputation for teaching self-empowerment, showing hidden histories, and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom with books and zines about DIY skills, food, politics, and art. Our books are printed in the USA.