M.S. Harkness, Time Under Tension page 73 (Fantagraphics 2023) NSFW

NSFW - IGNATZ nominated author/artist M.S. Harkness continues her autobiographical description of parental sexual abuse, higher education, relationships, drug dealing, sex work, obsessive behavior, barely avoiding poverty, working out at the gym, and [insert life crossroads event here].

M.S. is graduating from art school in Minneapolis and facing a crossroads in life. She has a strained relationship with her mother, a sexually abusive father on parole, and is in love with an aspiring MMA fighter who mostly hangs out with her to get high and already has a girlfriend and career prospects with a fight promotion. An art career feels untenable — as one professor tells her, "Don't expect to get by on this fucked-up broke girl shit." Spoiler alert - she does and is.

She decides to get a personal trainer's certificate — it seems like a feasible and sensible career option — but continues to dabble as a sex worker and weed dealer because the money is too irresistible. With idle hands due to no classes or full-time work, M.S. has ample time to aimlessly fuck around — or, to get her shit together. "I want to be better, I want to be stable and solid. I don't want to keep aimlessly shifting between untenable situations."

Her minimal line drives forward the narrative, feeding off of the hard cold weather of her environment. I find myself staring at her hair on every page - the bound, lifted up bundle of black shifting shape above her head. A metaphor of her life.