LDCOMICS ONLINE FAIR 2025! Mandy Norman is a multi-disciplinary commercial artist living in North London. According to information provided she joined the LDComics Online Monthly meetings during her 2021 recovery from Long Covid. My Energy Thief grew out of that experience.
Mandy Norman’s My Energy Thief is a thorough step-by-step recounting of her journey dealing with the after effects of Long Covid. The book is divided into three parts and an epilogue. The first part introduces Norman’s Energy Thief (which is anthropomorphized as a giant hand) and its three incarnations: The Opportunist with its snatching bits of energy during life’s anxiety-inducing moments of frustration; The Professional which stealthily siphons energy while Norman is trying to complete large tasks, she has a wide range of social tools to counter this one; finally, and the main focus of the book, The Reoffender which overwhelms Norman’s senses causing intense stress. The Reoffender is depicted with “sorry warts” covering its giant hands. Part Two is ‘Befriending the Thief’ where Mandy attempts to learn how to embrace her fear of the The Reoffender and move forward.
Mandy Norman’s My Energy Thief delivers a lot of information very efficiently. Norman may not have a lot of experience in sequential narrative, but her extensive experience as a book designer and art director definitely makes up for that. The heavy subject of chronic illness is made all the more accessible through the simplified, thick-lined, cartoony art. Norman used a full page early in the book to emphasize her coping techniques against The Professional, and brilliant consecutive full pages, laden with large sound effects that depict the effects of The Reoffender. Likewise, the choice of giant hands to portray Norman’s chronic illness is a wonderfully versatile image that she imparts with a personality all its own as it first terrorized then worked with Norman to strengthen her mental health.
There are a number of graphic medicine and memoir type books in this inaugural LDComics online fair, where this book is available exclusively throughout July, but none quite as unique as this personal take on coping with chronic illness.
Mandy Norman (W/A) • LDComics Online Fair, £3.00
Review by Gary Usher
The LDComics Online Comics Fair runs across the month of July. Read all our coverage of the comics on offer here at BF.
