Spent: A Comic Novel marks the return of an Alison Bechdel To Watch Out For. This fictionalized version of the celebrated cartoonist is exhausted by catastrophic breaking news, frustrated by the corporatization and Hollywood distortion of her deeply personal comic memoirs, and grappling with how she, her loved ones—or any of us—can find meaningful renewal in a world that feels increasingly compromised and contentious. Familiar characters—grayer and still gayer—like Sparrow, Stuart, Ginger, Lois, and Naomi reunite with Alison as they navigate this chapter of their lives.

The enjoyment of Spent may hinge on how deeply readers relate to Alison’s prognostications and tribulations and how well the humor lands. As expected, the doomscrolling, aggrieved Alison of Spent finds herself at the center of the very obstacles she faces. While she fumes over a fantastical and wildly unfaithful streaming adaptation of Death & Taxidermy—a tongue-in-cheek lampooning of Fun Home's literary legacy—she struggles to write her next book. Meanwhile, other characters explore creative outlets, grapple with the challenges of long-distance relationships, or navigate shifting sexual dynamics.

At times, Alison stumbles in her interactions with non-binary and trans concepts and characters. In these moments, she is rightfully called out for not making a greater effort to stay attuned to evolving realities. Spent, and Bechdel as its author, do not endorse Alison’s continued awkwardness; rather, the inclusion of these missteps is one of her character's out of sync frictions. However, some may find that these scenes muddy the satirical focus, raising fair questions about whether such moments—invoking outdated gender binaries and generational misunderstandings—are better left off the page.

This generational divide is apparent throughout the novel. The newer wave of queer activists is met with a mixture of confused suspicion and cautious admiration. Alison and her contemporaries struggle to reconcile the efficacy of this fresh activism with the shifting paradigms of relationships and identity. Still, continuity exists between these moments and the original Dykes to Watch Out For comic strips of the 1980s, where Alison and her friends railed against capitalist compromise while standing in the unemployment line, sharing a bowl of signature curry. There have always been both incrementalists and radicals in periods of political pressure. Bechdel’s slice-of-life cartooning has long captured the tensions within queer communities—no one is spared embarrassing moments or personal missteps, as each character stumbles toward a better understanding of themselves and others. However, this approach carries a risk: some moments may read not as warm, playful ribbing among a diverse constellation of interconnected groups, but as a perplexed critique of relationships, identities, and generations to which Alison—and Bechdel herself—do not belong.

The brilliance of Spent is grounded in Bechdel’s exceptional cartooning. She expertly engages the reader’s eye—text bounces within and even bleeds through panel borders to direct movement across the page. Background elements, from mischievous cats to wandering goats, infuse panels with motion, ensuring that even the most text-heavy sequences remain visually dynamic. Clever background gags appear in billboards, supermarket checkout lines, and street signage. Bechdel knows when to disrupt the grid, invert perspective, or elongate a panel to heighten emotion. She sometimes arranges characters in fluid, circular cascades that create a sense of connection and motion. And she plays with subtlety—zooming in on a character’s face just enough to emphasize the bewilderment of a bulging eyeball, striking the perfect balance between exaggerated cartooning and expressive realism. Scenes unfold in shadows, through windows framing dinner-table discussions, and even on rooftops, lending visual variety to many scenes and interactions.

Bechdel’s artistic vision is enriched by the contributions of her collaborators: Jon Chad’s meticulous shading and Holly Ray Taylor’s dynamic coloring. Chad’s shadows lend depth to every wrinkle and crease of middle age, making even sparsely illustrated backgrounds feel dimensional and lived in. Taylor’s bold, Crayola-like hues pop off the page, a striking contrast to the watercolor softness of The Secret to Superhuman Strength. This choice suits the comic-strip aesthetic well, evoking the consistency of high-quality newspaper strips while reinforcing the work’s intentional artifice—reminding readers that these characters are cartoons, crafted to provoke laughter, joy, and familiarity.

Throughout Spent, moments of uproarious cartoon slapstick and hijinks balance its more introspective themes. Explorations of gender and sexuality are given room to breathe, punctuated by humor—an extra panel, a subtle camera shift to convey the nervous excitement of intimacy, the joyful audacity of stepping into the unknown.

Perhaps Spent is Bechdel’s deliberate reclamation of chaotic messiness—an intentional departure from her profound, introspective memoirs (Fun Home, Are You My Mother? The Secret to Superhuman Strength) and a rejection of the forced hagiography surrounding her public persona. Instead, the novel offers a simpler truth: Try your best to care for those within your immediate orbit. Be open to expansion. Absorb critique, embrace the struggles, and accept that collective progress will always come with moments of failure and fury—but that, ultimately, it is worth it.

Meeting Alison Bechdel in Buffalo in 2022 was one of the highlights of my life. To tell one of the greatest cartoonists of any generation that her work made me think, made me laugh, and—in the case of Are You My Mother? —deepened my understanding of Lacanian psychoanalysis more than some of my college courses, was an unforgettable privilege. Reading her newest work ahead of publication and revisiting its predecessors was thrilling. To have an author’s work remain a part of one’s life for so long is the closest thing to time travel—prompting reflection on who we were, who we are, and who we might yet become.

I love Alison Bechel and her work. Spent brought me such great joy to read and I can wait to pick up a physical copy!

I’m a big Alison Bechdel fan so when I saw she had a new graphic novel coming out I had to read it. This one easily could have felt too serious and political but Bechdel in her signature way made a book that is largely about a serious topic a laugh out loud funny book.

Thank you to Alison Bechdel, Mariner, and Netgalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this new graphic novel from Alison Bechdel. She has such a strong voice; I love the way she is able to weave together humor, anxiety, self-reflection, and trauma into a cohesive narrative that manages to be both serious and lighthearted.

Given that it is loosely auto-biographical and contains references to Fun Home, I shouldn't have been so surprised that it felt nearly like a companion/continuation rather than a standalone book. The main character, Alison, is grappling with her role in society and in her community as she grows older and feels less radical/relevant. Her last major writing project, a graphic novel account of her growing up amongst her father's taxidermy projects, has been made into a TV show by a major streaming network, but the director/writers have taken great liberties with the story. Alison loathes the television adaption and wishes she had not signed away the rights to the story so willingly.

Feeling out of control creatively and politically, she begins to brainstorm how she could turn her negative feelings about being financially stable and her guilty conscience about consumerism into a new project.

Throughout the meta-narrative, Alison pitches her self-effacing story idea, daydreams about developing an anti-consumerism reality show, and watches as her friends, neighbors, and wife all seem more content than she is in her daily life. Her wife becomes a farm influencer, friends experiment with polyamory, her resentful conservative sister comes to visit, her friends' college-age child brings their platonic partner to town, and her neighbors have a baby.

This story reminded me of all that I loved about Fun Home. It somehow felt like a warm hug and a lecture from a queer elder at the same time. Similarly to her other works, it is smart and funny, weaving together mishaps and jokes with deep philosophical questions and a bit of theory.

Goats, polyamory, and old people sex . . .

What's not to love?

It was great seeing some of my favorite characters from "The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For" again.

I absolutely LOVED this!

Alison Bechdel can do no wrong. This piece of autofiction made me laugh out loud. Highly recommend to fans of Fun Home.

5-11 update: Posted to TikTok
Alison Bechdel's new book uses economic concepts and details from production on a farm, a TV show based on her work, and her partner Holly's projects in a critical, colorful, moving, and heartwarming criticism of capitalism. As a book organized by chapters related to economic theory, it's more fun than that might sound.

Wonderful art, timely humor, social commentary, rural life, all kinds of relationships, creativity and commercialism–plus cats and pygmy goats, make this a stimulating and cathartic read. I laughed, pondered, and cheered. When I reached the acknowledgements, I choked up.

Due to devouring Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For books back when, reading Spent felt like coming home. A few of the chuckles came from experiencing these beloved characters grappling with middle-age. It’s funny and poignant to reflect on how lives turn out and to measure the distance between youthful ideals and where we find ourselves. The world has changed, and Bechdel remains on-point and relevant.

Although I couldn't relate much to her financial situation, I valued her exploration of her career journey and the challenges that come with success.I was grateful for the wonderfully drawn and characterized animals. The cats! They're a delightful counterpoint to heartbreaking world headlines and the ongoing events affecting the lives of LGBTQIA+ and all marginalized people in the US.

Highly recommended to mature readers of graphic novels, humor, LGBTQIA+, and general readers due for some chuckles. I’m going to read more books by Alison Bechdel.

My thanks to Mariner Books |Harper Collins for the e-ARC via NetGalley for consideration. These are solely my own opinions. I'll add the TikTok link when I post.

I've long been a fan of Bechdel and this was her most fun book so far. With characters and a plot that closely resemble her life but diverge in some amusing ways, its almost like an alternative personal history. It explored current political issues in a reflective and humorous way. The scholarly detail in her previous books is absent and instead there's some soapy perspective on friends of the main characters who have long lived in a co-op. I found it more compelling than her previous books, I really got engrossed in the plot and the characters. An entertaining and heartfelt departure from her usual books that will be popular with old fans and new readers alike.

Wow - I loved this! Alison's fantastic illustrations and humorous writing style are at it again. I really enjoyed this graphic novel and felt like it did a good job of encapsulating how a lot of us may feel during this particular political administration, and appreciated the tongue in cheek humor in which Alison was able to talk about it. I think this will be a great book discussion book for a graphic novel book discussion - would be fun to compare some of her work against the other!

Interesting graphic novel about the challenges and joys of small scale farming as told by an artist married to a farmer in a female same sexton union.

As with all of Bechdel's novels, I am a fan. Bechdel's alternate version of her own life story is funny and seems to be, in part, written for fans of her work. Characters and themes from previous works come back to life in a colorful way in Spent. Instead of being introspective, like Bechdel's Fun Home and Are You My Mother, Spent is a commentary on the world at large and the nature of expectation placed on artists for more, more, more. This work reads like an author's attempt to talk through their creative process and their guilt for being successful, while also critiquing why the world makes them feel that way.

All in all, Spent is funny graphic novel that captures Bechdel's voice and society's current attitude.

Graphic novel memoir taking place during Covid. Struggles with dealing with success but also trying to continue her work and be an ethical person as well. Many of the friends are apparently from her Dykes to Watch out For.

Timely, funny, and rich with wit. Alison Bechdel is a must read. The story within Spent calls to mind the meta show within a show or book within a book of Seinfeld or Curb brought up to the year 2025.

As always with Alison Bechdel's graphic novels, once I started reading this I simply could not stop. Unlike her memoirs, this had me SCREAMING with laughter in every chapter! This book is frighteningly relatable for anyone trying to figure out how to keep doing their normal, income-earning tasks in the face of the chaos of the daily news. It's also hilariously self-aware as the characters navigate social media and advocacy in late-stage capitalism, shifting relationship dynamics, and the struggles of parenthood and pygmy goat ownership. Ultimately, Spent was an utter delight, especially for fans of Bechdel's earlier works. Minor content warnings for mentions of pregnancy, abortion, and infertility; major content warning for sexual content.

Returning to the smart, snarky, and fun style of Dykes to Watch Out For, Alison Bechdel graces us with a fictionalized memoir of her more recent years. She's running a goat rescue farm with her partner, Holly, trying to handle the existential crises of late stage capitalism and Trumpism, finding her place in a world where she has more social capital than she ever expected. Some of your favorite characters are back (Sparrow, Stuart, Ginger, and Lois), settling into old age, trying to stay true to their values as they lose touch with the youth (like an ace, NB, poly J.R.). They're still experimenting, they're learning humans have more in common than we often like to think - they're struggling to engage with Marx and learning more about the concept of mutual aid. It's a short work, so I don't want to say too much. But if you're hitting a point in your life where you're thinking about how capital and age influences our queer values in both theory and practice, read this.

CW's - Homophobia, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Genocide, Infertility, Racism, Transphobia, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation

This is a semi-biographical book loaded with absurd humor, politics, and friendship. My favorite part of the book is the vividly colored artwork. The characters were okay but unrelatable. The story seemed to have no continuity. But then it may be that it felt like this to me because I just didn’t get this style of humor. After I finished I couldn’t really explain the premise.

This entry into the Alison Bechdel autobio world is just as fun and quirky as the rest. The farm life and the commentary that always comes from the heart was an enjoyable ride. I look forward to more and more.

My thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance copy of this graphic novel that takes a look at the modern world a writer of graphic novels finds herself in, the toils of writing and creating, life among goats, and life among people just trying to get by, in life, in love, even podcasting.

The world is a mess, one doesn't need to be a seer with a crystal ball to see this. The country we find ourselves in is acting like that weird uncle, the one who blamed everyone for his failings, the one who never tried, and never will do anything except complain. Things are grubby. Dingy, dirty, falling apart in ways that will take years to be noticed, and probably never fixed. Graphic novels however are flourishing. Not just men in capes, but of all kinds. Horror, kids, classics. And lots of stories about people just talking about their lives, the ups the downs, and the normalness of being human. Much of this can be attributed to the works of Alison Bechdel. Starting with comics in strip form Bechdel has been creating works drawing on her life, her friends the changing world for quite a while. Winning prizes, being added to school reading lists, and being banned with the best of authors. Bechdel's Spent is a comic novel about a sequential arts creator with the name of Alison Bechdel who lives in rural New England, as she deals with goats, a wife, friends, and being a human post-COVID.

Alison Bechdel and Holly are happily married, running a pygmy goat sanctuary, reentering the world after COVID, and seeing their country change around them. Bechdel is also dealing with the effects of semi-fame as a streaming adaptation of Bechdel's graphic novel Death and Taxidermy is winning Emmys, gaining praise, as well as making things difficult for Bechdel in many ways. Bechdel's sister wants to write a book detailing the true story of Bechdel's father, and wants Bechdel to edit her thousand page manuscript, while at the same time banning Bechdel's book due to her conservative values. Bechdel is getting grief for not being on social media enough to push Bechdel's new graphic novel, while Holly is wining heats and minds with youtube videos on cutting trees and swinging axe. Goats are pregnant, old friends are acting life young goats, and all around them the world is changing in ways they always feared, but never thought possible.

A mix of satire, politics, and a lot about goats. Oh and human love, and companionship. The story goes to a lot of places, but one never gets lost in the narrative, and frankly one learns a lot about the many, many, many, ways of love, and how things can get complicated. Very complicated. The writing is funny, and yet there is an undercurrent that even when laughing, one gets the point. People are people. We have to let people, even people we love make mistakes and take chances, no matter what we think. We also have to stop being judgemental, even when we talk about being accepting. Well not as free as the young people here, but still that could be me and my attitudes. The story is good, strong, and gives all the characters something, leaving few changed at the end, including the character names Alison Bechdel. The art is really good. Warm, detailed, bright, funny when needed, and compliments the writing in many ways.

Fans will enjoy this, as well as new fans. Familiarity might help the enjoyment, but Bechdel does a good job of explaining the characters, their relationships and what is going. One can start here exploring the world of Bechdel, and what a world it is. One of my favorite writers graphic or otherwise. No one creates works like Bechdel, and this one delivers.

Another excellent book my Alison Bechdel! I loved the references to her own life, and the ways this “Alison” character’s life differed. The goats were adorable!

Bechdel's sharp wit and observation is back in book about current society and money. In a setting that's like her life, a cartoonist who popular book was turned into a prestige tv show. Meanwhile, the author and her friends in progressive Vermont that tries to help and stay politically active despite all that's going on in the USA. The art is crisp and detailed. The middle-aged bodies are drawn with honest indifference. The humor in the leftist kids, who left a polycule, helping on the farm with goat kids as the parents are hiding their throuple was a deliciously funny irony. There is no easy and clear way to deal with modern life except with friends and community.