First Year Healthy purports to be the story of a young woman, recently released from the hospital after an outburst, and her burgeoning relationship with an odd, perhaps criminal Turkish immigrant. In a scant 48 pages, working with a vibrant, otherworldly palette of magentas, yellows, and grays, Michael DeForge brings to life a world whose shifting realities are as treacherous as the thin ice its narrator walks on.

First Year Healthy is all it appears to be and more: a parable about mental illness, a folk tale about magical cats, and a bizarre, compelling story about relationships.

Author/Artist: Michael DeForge
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Page Count: 48pp
Size: 6 x 9
Notes: hardcover, full color
Date of Publication: January 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-1770461734