Sarah and the Seed

January 29, 2012 7:31 AM

Sarah and the Seed - a 5-part comic about hope and babies by Ryan A.
posted by heatherann (20 comments total)

Wow that was awesome.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:40 AM on January 29, 2012

I don't think I get it. Nicely drawn, though.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:49 AM on January 29, 2012

You must have hope - and prepare.
That's what I got from it. Besides something in my eye.
posted by hat_eater at 8:16 AM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Love it!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 8:17 AM on January 29, 2012

Cool story, and well drawn. Very nicely weird.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:18 AM on January 29, 2012

Way loved it.......Wow....
posted by pearlybob at 8:57 AM on January 29, 2012

Wow indeed. Thanks for the post.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:38 AM on January 29, 2012

Oh my, the book the man is reading in Part 3 is a grimmer story about a plant baby...
posted by bubukaba at 10:47 AM on January 29, 2012

roomthreeseventeen, I rather suspect Ryan's saying something about grandparents there. That or he took the phrase "the fruits of her labor" at face value and ran with it.

Either way, that was pretty great.
posted by barnacles at 10:48 AM on January 29, 2012

I was worried that this was going in a very different direction... but man, that's a beautiful ending. Love it.
posted by sonika at 11:20 AM on January 29, 2012

excellent stuff!
posted by elphTeq at 11:29 AM on January 29, 2012

Now I feel bad because I thought it was, frankly, kind of creepy. Just me then?
posted by Space Kitty at 12:01 PM on January 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

Now I feel bad because I thought it was, frankly, kind of creepy. Just me then?

It's metaphor made visual and literal. That's always jarring to the conscious mind.

You wanna see creepy? Make yourself and four other friends keep dream journals for a month, with a policy of censoring nothing. Then pass them around. You'll all find out what weirdos you really are.
posted by clarknova at 1:02 PM on January 29, 2012

Maybe that´s it because I rarely remember my dreams.
posted by Space Kitty at 3:09 PM on January 29, 2012

I know nothing about this man besides having read this comic. And I'm willing to bet $100 that this is an infertility allegory. It's a story about the unanticipated ways families are made - AR, fostering, adoption - the incredible length of the path, the terrible fear it will never happen for you, and the requirement to hold on to hope against all odds. And, in no small way, how absolutely nuts it can make you.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:14 PM on January 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

DarlingBri, that's how I read it too. Through so much of the comic, there's a palpable sense of emptiness -- of space left unfilled -- and I can't help but believe that's a deliberate visual decision meant to echo the husband/narrator's emotional landscape.
posted by sobell at 9:07 PM on January 29, 2012

All I can think of is "twelve kids? In a world this crowded? These people are monsters."

It is lovely, beautifully made and told. But holy fuck that is way, way too many kids. Way to propagandize for bringing the collapse of the overloaded Earth that much closer, Ryan.
posted by egypturnash at 10:41 PM on January 29, 2012

All I can think of is "twelve kids? In a world this crowded? These people are monsters."

egypturnash, your definition of "monster" varies wildly from mine, even though I agree the planet is overcrowded.

I bet I could vehemently espouse some do-good ideal by which you could similarly be judged monstrous...
posted by IAmBroom at 7:54 AM on January 30, 2012

You don't have to go far to find one, Broom; I'm a transwoman.

If you wanna reserve "monster" for more overtly horrible things I guess that's okay. But wanting to have twelve kids, and raise them in the resource-devouring Western way? That's pretty monstrous in my opinion. It's just that the monstrosity is hidden under sentimentally and biologically-hardwired "oh they're so cute" reactions.

But I look at that story and just see locusts.
posted by egypturnash at 10:25 AM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

egypturnash, I took the 12 as a symbolic number, like the 12 tribes of Israel, 12 nights of Christmas, 12 months of the year, 12 inches in a foot, 12 disciples. It's a number of completeness and wholeness, and this is a concept which echoes throughout the comic.
posted by heatherann at 8:51 PM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]