PRIDE MONTH 2026! If there’s one thing that seems even more important than celebrating queer voices during our Pride Month coverage at BF it’s celebrating new queer voices (to us anyway). Laura Zajacz’s Totally is a 30-ish page slice-of-life one-shot that follows the story of Abby, a somewhat aimless teen growing up in 2000, whose random meeting with another rebellious teen in a Taco Bell will prove to be a pivotal point in her life.
Totally is one of those stories that can afford to be slight in plot because its emphasis is on character study. In that regard, it’s a carefully constructed and flawlessly paced set piece. After a chance meeting, Abby and her unnamed and fleeting friend spend just the briefest of moments together as they conspire to wind up the restaurant manager. But it’s those unruly antics, and the subsequent pursuit of the pair, that will lead Abby to reflect on her sense of self and sexuality. When the narrative timeline shifts forwards in the second half of the comic existential themes of transience and the ephemeral nature of so many of our experiences also come to the fore…
Zajacz’s cartooning is instantly appealing – somehow managing to plant one foot in caricature and the other in a recognisable reality. It’s irreverent, expressive, and draws the reader into Abby’s worldview with a deceptive ease. Panels constantly shift from black and white to colour which has the effect of both rooting the story in the past and communicating the immediacy of the moment at the same time.
Use of perspective here is constantly mutable throughout, emphasising a sense of wider environment, while her panel to panel storytelling can move seamlessly from high energy to more meditative sequences. A latter section where she uses a kind of visual shorthand to underline the passing of time in the lead-up to Abby’s move to college is especially effective.
Totally is beautifully observed and, simultaneously, piercingly introspective; a short visual essay on the key moments that shape us on the path to determining our identities. Not just excellent queer comics storytelling but also simply one of the best comics shorts I have read so far in 2026. A most auspicious start to our Pride Month coverage for 2026 at Broken Frontier.
Laura Zajacz • Self-published, CA$10.00
Review by Andy Oliver
