49 Days by Agnes Lee

Published by Levine Querido

Kit is on a journey and it is not an easy one. It begins with an unpassable cliff set beside a roaring tidal sea. Every time she tries to pass, the sea smashes her against the rocks. The only way to move forward is with patience, care and perfect timing. But it is too easy to slip on the rocks.

Kit’s family are on a journey as well. It is a journey of pain and grief. Because Kit is dead.

49 Days tells the story of that journey of grief. The title refers to the Korean Buddhist tradition of a 49 day period after death during which the soul journeys before moving to the next stage of reincarnation and rebirth according to Buddhist theology.

Two pages. The first shows four panels as a young man and woman clean and pack an apartment. The second shows a clean room with a mattress stacked against a wall.

During that period of seven times seven days the family and others who grieve will meet to pray. These prayers can help guide the soul on its journey. They may also undertake ceremonies. We see the difficult struggle with loss as family members each react in their own way. Some participate in the prayer rites only reluctantly as Kit was not religious.

One of those ceremonies involves the sharing of food and sometimes the setting aside of food for the one who has died. Slowly the family come together to make homemade Kimchi. We learn about Kit’s life through this. Cooking with her family, introducing her non-Korean friend Kevin to kimchi on a hike.

Three panels. In the first a woman sits saying "much better". In the second we see some food. In the third she says "The best."

49 Days has a quality of gentle movement. The progress of the family as the nature of their grief changes is gradual and we follow them for the whole 49 day period. This mirrors the progress of Kit as she reflects on her life as she undertakes the difficult journey. We see her reflect on events, on her fears and regrets at all she will miss. We also see her share in the food prepared by her family.

The sense we get is that it is not big events, but the small details of life that are important. Kit’s family recall the silly squabbles, her cat looks for her, she remembers her last meal being a PBJ sandwich.

Four panels with no dialogue. A woman manoeuvres across a rock face.

Agnes Lee’s art has a quiet expertise. She uses minimal lines in a very effective way. Her portrayal of physicality and body movement is superb as we see Kit move and stretch, leap and climb. Panels are skilfully used to illustrate her journey across natural barriers and to give a sense of scale from the grand to the tiny. The colour palette is used to represent events in the past, the present and Kit’s journey.

49 Days deals with a universal experience that comics has not addressed too often, one notable exception being A J Dungo’s In Waves. The book avoids melodrama. It is not about shock but about what comes after, loss, grief and ultimately some kind of acceptance. The understated writing works perfectly with the minimalist art style to produce a delicate and thoughtful book that rewards repeated reading.