Bitter Pie #18

Charlott, the main character of Bitter Pie #18, reminds me of Hothead Paisan, another tough woman in an independent comic who wore shirts with thought-provoking slogans and questioned the world’s absurdity.

In this installment, Charlott finds herself locked away in a mental institution (The Betty Rubble Clinic) where she is forced to break her heroin habit. She is literally confined with a bunch of characters. Lucy of Peanuts is Charlott’s psychiatrist, sitting in a booth proclaiming her fee, updated from 5 cents to $50. Other patients on the ward include Cathy and Nancy from the funny pages, Pippi Longstocking, and Velma from Scooby-Doo.

After six weeks with no improvement and an actual increase in anger, Lucy and Betty Rubble herself decide to subject Charlott to a new experimental treatment. She is turned over to Dr. Bjorkian for months and months of “singing” therapy. Finally Dr. Bjorkian announces that Charlott’s treatment is complete and she will soon go home. Charlott tells Pippi that she’s getting out of the hospital, and Pippi reminds her of the good deal they have in the clinic, with free food, free beds, and free drugs. When Charlott counters that in the clinic their independence is restricted, Pippi points to her head and says, “Freedom’s IN HERE Charlott…it’s not OUT THERE…anywhere.” Of course, two pages later when the story takes a turn to the macabre, this optimistic thought is forgotten.

The black and white drawings in this publication are well done and clever. Especially haunting is the image on the first page of Charlott about to receive an electroshock treatment. Nancy, Lucy, and Betty Rubble may have been lifted from official sources and inserted where needed, but the artist may be a particularly clever imitator. Serene looking photos of pop songstress Bjork represent Dr. Bjorkian. As in all good comics, the art here is as important as the dialogue and does its job to help move the plot along.

I greatly enjoyed touches like Velma’s media hating paranoia, the number 13 tattooed on Charlott’s arm, and shirts with slogans like “Why Bother” and “You fill me with inertia.” The author/artist also takes jabs at the Western psychiatric model, especially the dependence on pharmaceuticals and experimental therapies. She seems to believe that treatments doled out in mental hospitals don’t really work because they don’t touch the core of patients’ problems.

Despite the dark themes of Bitter Pie #18, I would like to read upcoming issues so I can find out what happens to Charlott and the other characters. I am also interested in all the issues that came before and the events that brought Charlott to The Betty Rubble Clinic. This comic was a quick read that I got through in less than ten minutes, but it has kept me thinking long after seeing the last page.

Review by Chantel C. Guidry