Quarantine Comix: A Memoir of Life in Lockdown by Rachael Smith Review

Rachael Smith began documenting her quarantine experience shortly after the first lockdown began in the UK in 2020, and Quarantine Comix is the end result: a collection of one-page black and white diary strips with the occasional full colour splash page thrown in.

It was a pretty decent book that I’m sure many readers will relate to - I know I did. The strangeness of being locked down in your home, particularly that first time in March 2020, figuring out a new daily routine, trying not to let the news drive you crazy (but being unable to stop consuming it), adjusting to the new world order of webcam meetings/calls in lieu of then-ordinary face-to-face interaction - all of us experienced a version of this last year (and, of course, continuing into this year).

The quar affected people with mental health issues more than most and Smith is one of many who suffer from depression. A lot of the strips here deal with trying to maintain a healthy mindset, mostly through humour - she represents her depression as a black dog called Barky (the creature on the cover) and her optimism as a white dog called Friendly and has dialogues with both, which, while still serious, were amusing.

Some of the strips have fairly banal messaging - “Less thinking, more drinking” and “My body has gotten bigger during lockdown… but it’s ok… because I think my heart has gotten bigger too…” - and I’m so over cartoonists doing strips about their cats. We get it, cats are cute! And some of the material feels repetitive: trying to be productive but failing and being lazy, missing her beau Rob, etc. and mostly isn’t very funny.

But it’s an accurate snapshot of how the quar was for people. The bizarre run on toilet paper in the early days, the feeling of the days blurring together into one, of time passing both slow and fast, and the juxtaposition of being both neurotic about being close to people in public spaces while also experiencing the loneliness that comes from lack of physical contact with others. I also really liked the full colour splash pages - maybe they seemed more vivid following pages of black and white strips but they were gorgeously coloured.

The quality is a mixed bag but I found Rachael Smith’s Quarantine Comix more charming and enjoyable than not, even while the pandemic continues unabated (for now).