HODO

A deeply affecting portrait of a woman’s life from the author of the Harvey Award-winning Moms
At first there was “Lake,” and then there was “Island.” Or was it the other way around? A story told in two parts, it is up to the reader to determine where they’d like to begin this eerie journey. Based on a true story that Yeong-shin Ma felt compelled to help share, together these two parts are Hodo—the story of a painter, whose hard and dark past is brought to life with sensitivity and authenticity.
Lake—
Hodo is haunted—by her mother and step-mother, her classmates, a neighbor, and yes, literal ghosts. She is also five years old. Through masterful cartooning, we see a child’s despair in the face of pervasive violence, and her confusion as to why bad things keep happening to her. We see the edges of her depression begin to appear.