My Diary by Mio Matsumoto

Comics review by Aneequa Bhatti

The quirky line drawings of this beautiful comic by Mio Matsumoto follow the five months she spent in hospital, in her native Japane, being treated for cancer of the tongue. Personal and lovely.

Buy on Amazon: My Diary

When art student Mio Matsumoto discovers a lump on her tongue, at first she thinks it is simply an ulcer or boil. When she eventually goes to visit the doctor, she gravely learns it is neither but, instead, a cancerous tumour. Leaving her London art school to return to her native Japan for treatment, this graphic novel (based on Mio's own experience) is a pictorial account of the five months in hospital that followed.

Although the narrative is an incredibly serious subject, Matsumoto manages to bring humour to the comic which at first seems like a simple, lightly scrawled flip-book. What is appealing is the contrast between Matsumoto's typically girly preoccupations with a boy back in London or her handsome doctor, and the uncomfortable nature of her treatment which includes laxatives, enemas, and having to suck saliva out of her mouth with a tube.

Matsumoto soon realises that having cancer doesn't make you a nicer person. She often rows with her mother about staying out at bars, and then feels bad about it. 'I wanted to carry on watching TV rather than keep talking endlessly,' 'I know, I'm a kid and a bitch', she scrawls next to an illustration of her looking vacant.

Her distinct quirky line drawings accompanied by scribbled words are charming and add to the personal feel of the book, which as the title suggests, is the author's diary.

Creating this book must have been an extremely therapeutic process for Matsumoto as she traces her recovery, and as she was only 25 when diagnosed, this will be thought-provoking for the audience whether or not they have been affected by cancer. Either way, the happy ending will leave the reader with hope and feeling thankful for the simpler things in life.

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