#mis(h)adra

[iasminomarata]

MIS(H)ADRA IN FRENCH!! published by Bliss Éditions! so amazed and happy to have this book - which is so precious to me! - printed in french and now available to even more readers.

[read-alert]

Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata

This is a graphic novel depicting an epileptic college student's struggles with ableism, the hopelessness that comes with not being able to do certain things, and the frustration that comes with meds that only kind of work.

I loved this one. First of all, the art is gorgeous, and I love how format and the colors of the pages themselves affect the mood of the pages. At Issac's most hopeless, the echoes of ableist comments form the panel borders, making you flip the book around to be able to read them in a way that reminded me a little bit of House of Leaves. But whereas House of Leaves' breakdown in format is meant to create a sense of hostility against the reader, that the house is breaking the bounds of the book to create a struggle for you, here it's the concept of inaccessiblity itself making things hard, which was really fun.

I do also appreciate the theme of learning to ask for help even when you feel like a burden. The other main theme is that it's worth it to keep fighting through, even if you can't see a way for it to be better, as is often the case with disability. That our lives are worth living even if they're hard, which is something found too little in mainstream depictions of disability. The two dovetail together nicely with the concept of disability kinship and support networks.

I had a great time with this book and am excited to get to read more of the author's work. 5⭐️

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Today's disabled character of the day is Isaac Hammoudeh from Mis(h)adra, who has epilepsy and is visually impaired

Requested by

[Image Description: Drawing of a boy with white hair with pink roots. He is standing in front of pink doors with his eye closed. He has a white eye patch over his left eye and a purple sweater with pink stripes. Around him are blue strings with beads. He has a light skin tone.]

[nightmaretour]

I just finished Mis(h)adra and holy shit, it's so good! The art is incredible. Beautiful. I can't even describe how much I love it. The depiction of epilepsy is so much better than I could ever have imagined for something put on paper, I just love it. The story of living with epilepsy, dealing with the medical system and learning to live with it is so real and relatable. It's actually made by someone who has epilepsy. The only thing I dislike about it is that there isn't more of it. 100% recommend, please read it

[silver-stargazing]

Disability Pride Month must be smiling at me this year because I finally discovered the kind of epilepsy representation I’ve always been looking for: epileptics in comics and graphic novels created by people with seizures and/or epilepsy.

Anyway, please read Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata if you get the chance. The story follows Isaac, an Arab-American in college, as he manages his epilepsy and deals with a lot of related issues such as drinking at parties, repeatedly missing class because of seizures, not having a support system, and trying to get medication refills when you can’t technically prove to your doctor that you have epilepsy.

The book is also just visually stunning and I’ve truly never seen better visual representation for epilepsy. I especially loved the running theme of representing the ongoing threat of auras and seizures as knives constantly hanging around Isaac.

[Image ID: A 3 panel excerpt from Mis(h)arda:

Panel 1: Isaac, a man who is the main figure in all three panels, is sitting at a classroom desk, staring distantly while three knives with eyes circle around him. Three speech bubbles, one for the off-screen teacher and the other two for two off-screen students, are behind him, the teacher’s speech is heavily obscured by the knives. Teacher says, “You all have the study guide already so if you stick to that you’ll be (...) But just so you (...) there will be multiple choice (...) questions.” First student says, “They say he has a drug problem or something and almost failed out.” Second student says, “No way!”

Panel 2: Isaac has an annoyed look on his face and tries to wave away the knives. Teacher and First student are still off-screen, their speech bubbles appear behind Issac with Teacher’s bubble still partially obscured. Teacher says, “There will be a decent amount of questions about the chapter on gender politics in the countries of the (...) so make sure you don’t skip (...) one.” First student says, “Yeah, he might be the only one in our class to not walk at graduation.”

Panel 3: Close-up view of Isaac as he watches the knives disappear. He is visibly sweating and appears frustrated. Second student says (off-screen), “Makes sense. I mean, look at him. He always looks like he’s on something.”

/End ID]

As a general warning, there is a pretty big TW for eye trauma. Isaac also experiences a lot of ableism and racism from the medical community, which can be triggering.

[iasminomarata]

Today marks Mis(h)adra’s 2nd anniversary in print 💜

I really can never truly express in just words the feeling of happiness that swells in my heart when I think about the journey that this comic has taken me on. When I nervously posted the first few pages online all the way back in 2013, I never would have guessed that it would become such a guiding light in my life — but it has. Not only has making the comic given me more happiness and better health, I have had the opportunity to meet so many kind people, so many readers with so many experiences that have enriched my own life. Sometimes, when I hold the book, it still feels so surreal; I still feel my heart beating the way it did when I first opened up the box two years ago that contained the first copies, which is pretty amazing.

To this day, whenever someone comes up to me at a con, or even so much as messages me, to tell me that they read and resonated with Mis(h)adra, I have to hold back from tearing up; it means so much to me, and I cherish every kind word that comes my way about this comic.

Thank you, always, to everyone who has read Mis(h)adra. I am, and always will be, eternally grateful to my readers, and will always carry this comic as a light with me on my continuing journey.

[iasminomarata]

would you be willing to describe or show what your auras are like?

the motif of daggers in mis(h)adra are pretty much 1:1 as far as how my auras feel! you can see some imagery at the comic’s page on my site – http://iasminomarata.com/mishadra 

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Reluctant Reader Wednesday: Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata

Isaac is a college student who can’t balance his epilepsy with the rest of his life. His friends, his teachers, his family, his school, his social life … everything is falling apart. The worst part is, nobody seems to believe him when he tries to describe his symptoms. He’s the only one who knows what it feels like to be trapped inside a body and a mind that won’t obey him.

This is a unique graphic novel that’s visually stunning. It will help readers begin to understand what it’s like to live with epilepsy, and even though it’s fictional it’s based on the author’s own experiences as an epileptic. It’s also a great read for anyone looking for stories about trying to communicate with your friends and family.