Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia

April 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us - Ms. Magazine

This autobiographically-inspired graphic novel explores mental health and schizophrenia in a surprising and emotionally honest story with a fantastical cast of animal characters.

Fox Foxerson’s got a new roommate. Fox Foxerson’s got a new job. Fox Foxerson’s got a date. The roommate is only a little strange, sometimes. The job seems to involve . . . filing? It’s not very clear. The date seems to be more interested in someone else. Fox would rather be making art.

As the oppressive weight of the everyday routine beats down on Fox, nothing is going right. And it doesn’t seem like anyone can help -- not Fox’s roommate, not Fox’s friends, and definitely not the nurses and doctors at the hospital, who don’t seem to take notice of anything Fox tries to tell them. Fox needs some time and space to figure things out. This quirky, humorous graphic novel tinged with pathos, immerses readers in the constant question: are you okay? Fox is not okay, but Fox is working on it.

Christi Furnas is a queer cartoonist, illustrator, oil painter, and disability rights advocate. She has exhibited in galleries across Minnesota and in New York City. Christi’s career includes over ten years of arts administration, teaching art workshops, and numerous speaking engagements. With a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant Christi created the mini-comic, Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia, which she has since developed into a full-length graphic novel. The comic’s protagonist, Fox Foxerson currently has an advice column in Dispatch, a Twin Cities publication covering arts and culture. Christi lives with her partner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is her debut graphic novel.