The Machine is Broken. Jared Sarnie. Fieldmouse Press. 2026. 30pp. $13.95. (release date: May 26, 2026) Available for pre-order at Fieldmouse and Asterism)
How to tackle a sensitive subject? Sometimes, you just have to dive in, honey. That’s the approach that Jared Sarnie has taken with his debut graphic novel about suicide. Sarnie appears to have come out of nowhere with this provocative work. Let’s dive in.
Our focus is a young woman named Lux. She has decided to kill herself. She goes to Zurich which is supposed to have the world’s first fully legal “suicide pod.” Who knew? Lux is bringing along her mom and, rather begrudgingly, her sister. Even if you’re familiar with how suicide has been treated in various media, recently and even throughout the ages, it retains its own particular sense of shock. How successful a work ends up being depends, in large part, on how you work with that sense of shock. We aren’t actually cheering, Lux on, are we? Sarnie leans hard on the provocative throwing in every dark comedy trope he can get his hands on in this over-the-top narrative that careens around in a very free-wheeling, sometimes confusing, sometimes glib, conversational style. The work goes in and out, this way and that way, sometimes comics, sometimes pop art, sometimes an ad promoting itself as the author’s debut graphic novel. At one point, Sarnie states that Alison Bechdel would be rolling in her grave only to then state that, no, Alison Bechdel is certainly not dead. So, quite a fun house effect.
No doubt, this is packed with energy and often has a special quality to it, offering interesting bits and visual treats. What inspired Sarnie to create his first graphic novel about a young woman seeking to end her life would be an interesting question. Often, the question reverts back as to what makes any creator believe they are the person to tell such a story. It’s a very significant question and one that anyone in crisis can make note of. Take this dark comedy for what it is, no more, no less. And then this begs the question: What exactly is this dark comedy? Well, as I suggest: it’s something packed with energy offering some interesting bits and visual treats. It’s an ambitious undertaking and perhaps thirty pages is a good start. Sarnie needs to ask himself why he chose to undertake this work in the first place and then go from there.
Sarnie presents the reader with a portrait of today’s troubled youth as he sees it with Lux as a stand-in. She is dealing with conflicting emotions, and she finds solace a little too often in fast food, especially McDonald’s. But life keeps letting her down. She can’t even rely on some soft serve ice cream from McD’s because, drum roll please, the machine in broken. And then she kisses a girl and that seems to help.
So, sure, I want to see more in the future from Sarnie and I hope my criticism proves constructive. Overall, Sarnie is on the right track and where things fall short is just part of the process. Making really good comics is not a sprint but a marathon. I don’t think anyone wants to leave the bar set at simply checking off boxes to whatever the zeitgeist seems to demand. That way of thinking will never create anything of lasting value.
Big shout out to Emil Ferris!
And, as for cartoonists rolling in their graves, who aren’t really dead, I’ve gotta say, big shout out to Emil Ferris as Sarnie clearly is feelin’ an influence there. And that’s okay, no doubt. I think Sarnie is having a good time as he basically is pushing this and that button, seeing how everything works in the world of comics. Yes, Jared Sarnie, there’s a lot you can do with this amazing comics medium. I look forward to seeing more.
