AMAZING DECISIONS
Amazing Decisions is a graphic novel collaboration between behavioral economist Dan Ariely and myself, coming out July 23, 2019. See a spread at the bottom of this page!
From the publisher’s website:
Dan Ariely, the New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational, and illustrator Matt R. Trower present a playful graphic novel guide to better decision-making, based on the author’s groundbreaking research in behavioral economics, neuroscience, and psychology.
The internationally renowned author Dan Ariely is known for his incisive investigations into the messy business of decision-making. Now, in Amazing Decisions, his unique perspective—informed by behavioral economics, neuroscience, and psychology—comes alive in the graphic form. The illustrator Matt R. Trower’s playful and expressive artwork captures the lessons of Ariely’s groundbreaking research as they explore the essential question: How can we make better decisions?
Amazing Decisions follows the narrator, Adam, as he faces the daily barrage of choices and deliberations. He juggles two overlapping—and often contradictory—sets of norms: social norms and market norms. These norms inform our thinking in ways we often don’t notice, just as Adam is shadowed by the “market fairy” and the “social fairy,” each compelling him to act in certain ways. Good decision-making, Ariely argues, requires us to identify and evaluate the forces at play under different circumstances, leading to an optimal outcome. Amazing Decisions is a fascinating and entertaining guide to developing skills that will prove invaluable in personal and professional life.
FROG
Frog is a 34-page autobio comic about my journey through gender over the course of my life. As a nonbinary or agender person, I’ve traveled a long path from being raised as a straight girl to living as a very queer, very trans individual. In Frog, I recall the scenic vistas along the way – successes, failures, and revelations.
Frog is available for purchase here.
Pages from Frog:
BAD DOG
Bad Dog is a 42 page comic about an experience being voluntarily hospitalized for suicidal intentions. The comic began on my hospital bed in a sketchbook my partner gave me to help pass the time and distract myself from the reality of being trapped in my room. Being a depressed and cynical trans person in the psych ward is no cake walk. BAD DOG covers the full experience from filthy emergency rooms to transphobic staff to the strange bonds you make with other people locked in the hospital with you. 2016.
Available for purchase here. Look through first five pages of BAD DOG below.
Sit and Think About What You’ve Done is a diary comic created during my recovery from top surgery in 2015. Drawn in real time, Sit and Think covers the physical and emotional struggles and successes I experienced in the weeks following the procedure.
Available for purchase here. Read the first 8 pages below.
FANTASY
REM is a series of two minicomics about a youth trapped within the oppressive structure of a hierarchical and precisely cruel society. Incompatible with the familiar but strangling restrictions of their home, Rem must venture into the deeper, darker wildlands on their own to discover not only what it means to avoid death, but also what it means to live. REM is available for purchase on here.
Below are a few assorted pages and details.
Eik is a 52 page queer fantasy/adventure comic low on words and high on conflict. The diamond-shaped hero, Eik, struggles with identity within a society where meaning is determined through physical form. Ultimately, Eik must discover what it means to express their true identity when the world has placed them in a box of suffocating wrongness. Action, intrigue, existential angst. This tale of queer and trans survival is available for purchase here. 2013.
Below are some details and assorted pages.
SHORTS + STRIPS
Behavioral Economics (BE) for Dogs is a bi-weekly comic series made in collaboration with my colleagues at the Center for Advanced Hindsight. The strip examines concepts in BE from the perspective of our much beloved canine companions. All strips can be found here.
Scraped Knees is a short comic made for an anthology called “What Lives in My Backyard” in 2013.
Speculative relationships is a series of scifi romance anthologies. Below find the first four pages of each my submissions for issues #2 and #3.
The Other:
I’ve Got You:
