Safe From Harm by Joan Edam

One of the first books I reviewed on this blog was Safe From Harm by Joan Edam. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Lockdown, war, pandemic, inflation, fire and flood. Comics have come and gone. But, lo! Joan Edam has completed and collected his book. If, like me, you are going to Thought Bubble you can pick it up there as one of the newly debuting books.

Safe From Harm is a meditation on childhood, adulthood and life. With square graph paper summoning up maths class daydreams in winter, staring out of the classroom window as the sky darkens. An Alice in Wonderland trip through the woods with monsters and creatures both naughty and nice. 

But this is not a whimsical journey. We encounter doubt, fear and most powerfully of all, grief. The quest in search of the certainties of childhood is one doomed to failure. Ultimately we all have to grow and change even when it comes with suffering. We are never really safe.

The book also reminds me of the work of Tillie Walden, at least via the Little Nemo in Slumberland influences on both books. Safe From Harm is a little more succinct and more firmly in the photocopier and letraset world than any of Tillie’s books though.

If you want to read a book that is original and carries a deceptively powerful emotional punch then Safe From Harm will not disappoint.