Content warning: This review discusses suicidal ideation. If you or someone you love is in a mental health crisis, help is available through non-carceral resources like Blackline, Kiva Centers Groups and Wallflower Alliance.
Cleo, a 16-year-old adopted Japanese-American whose anxiety and depression drive her to suicidal thoughts, is fresh out of the hospital and trying unsuccessfully to reintegrate into her old life. What she doesn’t know is that her real struggles are just beginning, as she finds herself encountering an increasingly terrifying succession of ghosts. Is she losing her grip on reality, or is the explanation much, much worse? A Haunted Girl is written by Naomi and Ethan Sacks, drawn by Marco Lorenzana, colored by Andrea Mossa and lettered by Jamie Martinez for Image Comics.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Written by father-daughter duo Ethan and Naomi Sacks, Image Comics’ A Haunted Girl is partly inspired by their experiences navigating Naomi’s depression and suicidal ideation. It tells the story of an adopted Japanese-American girl named Cleo as she returns to school for the first time since being hospitalized in a psychiatric institution after a suicide attempt. When she starts seeing a parade of ghosts, a mysterious ghost boy appears and tells her she is the only one who can stop a supernatural apocalypse.
One of the most notable things about this four-issue miniseries is how true to life its depiction of depression and anxiety is. Through Cleo and her dad, Gus, we see how difficult it is to not only struggle with mental health, but also watch these struggles from the outside. Cleo is starting therapy to help her adjust to returning home and to school after being hospitalized, but she still sees ghosts and gets panic attacks. At the same time, her dad tries to provide support, but also doesn’t completely know how. He wants her to “return to normal” as quickly as possible and doesn’t realize that learning to manage her mental health is their new normal.
I relate to Cleo as someone who has depression and chronic suicidal ideation. She is struggling to adjust to her new normal, but still tries her best. She is also more than her depression, shown to be a martial arts champion and someone who experiences moments of joy such as eating cake with her dad.
Rounding out the cast is Cleo’s therapist Marcy, Cleo’s best friend Flor and the mysterious ghost boy. Marcy is a refreshing take on most comic book depictions of therapists that tend to be cold and detached. Marcy is professional yet warm and friendly, offering empathy with a quirky spin. Flor does her best to help Cleo in small ways, such as singing the lyrics to “Stronger” by Canadian rock singer Sass Jordan. However, Cleo mostly shuts Flor out until near the climax of the book, perhaps because she doesn’t know how to act around her after being hospitalized. Finally, the mysterious ghost boy and his backstory that is teased and gradually revealed provide an enticing link between Cleo and the comic’s supernatural premise.
In fact, the supernatural apocalypse premise enhances the mental health aspects of the comic by using ghosts as a metaphor for how people who struggle with mental health can feel haunted by their personal demons. The Japanese goddess of life and death Izanami is also used as a poignant allegory for suicidal ideation and the choice to keep on living.
Marco Lorenzana’s chilling art of the specters is accented by Andrea Mossa’s bleak pale grays and luminescent blues and greens. The ghost boy is particularly well designed because he looks like he could become Cleo’s friend, but he has a sinister undertone to him. Also, the specters’ ominous auras are represented by Jamie Martinez’s lettering, particularly their black speech bubbles and white lettering.
All in all, A Haunted Girl is a raw and hopeful tale of the horrors of depression. Its authentic characters, visually striking artwork and heartfelt story will surely relate to those who deal with depression and need to know there is hope.
A Haunted Girl is available in trade, collecting issues #1-4.
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
