This month on Comic of the Month we enter the poetic world of Hana Chatani.

The Spinoff’s creative director Toby Morris writes:

Nobody in New Zealand comics does colour or composition quite like Hana Chatani. Over the last few years she’s caught the eye of local fans with her thoughtful and stunningly illustrated stories that tie together sensitive, intelligent stories, a unique approach to using colour to depict moods, and clever page and panel compositions that often feel like they’re dancing you through the story. She has a unique style and tone, and we’re excited to publish a brand new story here today.

I asked Hana to explain the thinking behind it:

“I assume it’s quite a common thing, but I have a terrible habit – or a predisposition – to conjure up completely imaginary scenarios of myself in the worst possible situations. These fabricated situations involve real people in my life who are often very close to me. In my imaginations, we often have a disagreement or a misunderstanding that goes horribly wrong. This is most definitely a reflection of my fears and insecurities in real life, and when I’m in a particularly bad spot with my mental health, I spiral down with especially vivid and detailed visions of these scenarios playing back to back, each getting worse than the ones that came before.

“Aside from feeling very real fear, anger, misery and helplessness from the fake accounts that would probably never happen, I also feel shame and guilt for putting negative words or actions into the imaginary versions of the people I love. I know they would never say or do things like they do inside my head. …Or maybe I don’t.”

Content warning: the following comics contains blood, death, depiction of a corpse and mild gore.