A Cut From This Weekend – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

A Cut From This Weekend

The title panel, "A cut from this weekend by Vanessa Davis," is embellished by soap bubbles, a plate, a sponge, and dish soap. The comic is drawn without formal panel borders. It is hand drawn, lettered, and colored in a watercolor style. The characters are illustrated with flushed cheeks. The drawings are playful and lively. Panel by panel description: 1. "I was washing dishes and cut my hand on a glass that shattered." Image of hands holding and washing a glass at a kitchen sink. 2. "There was no blood and no pain, which was scary." Vanessa holds up her right hand, which has a bright red gash surrounded by a glowing red halo. 3. "I had just read that someone I know had died. I saw it on Facebook." Vanessa's partner, a man with short blond hair and glasses, sits shirtless at a table with a laptop in front of him. Looking at Vanessa, he says, "Should we go to the store?" Vanessa, red-faced, hair half-up and half-down and wearing a blue shirt, turns to the side, not looking at him. She replies, "I guess we should—let me do the dishes first" 3. "I didn't turn the kitchen lights on and it was getting dark Vanessa stands at the sink, looking down at her right hand, sponge in her left. She looks a bit surprised and solemn. She says, "Hey please come here" Narration continues, "The person who died wasn't close to me. But she was a cartoonist I admire and she was very young."

5. "The cut was pretty bad and it made sense that I'd be upset" Vanessa rests her head on the kitchen sink counter, wincing in pain and holding her right hand at a right angle above her head. Vanessa's partner holds it. His head is obscured by the speech bubble, which says, "Keep it upright." Vanessa says, "Sob" "Ugh" 6. "But I was crying uncontrollably. I think it's because something physical happened to my body." Vanessa is slumped at a toilet lined with a pink cushion. She rests her head and arms, still raised, on it. She looks in pain. She says, "Huff" "Ugh, I feel sick" From off-panel, her partner says, "I'll get you some fizzy water" 7. "I knew that the crying was partly because of Genevieve even though I didn't really know her." To the left, Vanessa is in the same position at the toilet, looking up at her partner with a furrowed brow. To the right, her partner, viewed at a 3/4 angle from behind, looks at her with a serious expression. He says, "You have to pull yourself together! I can't help you if you're thrashing' around" Vanessa replies, "But I might barf!" 8. "But that's a thing, right? You take in information, harbor feelings. You do something to your body so they come out." The angle shifts so Vanessa's partner is on the left viewed from the front, and vice versa. He has a softer expression and holds her right hand in his, and reaches for a trash can with his left. Vanessa, upset, asks, "Why are you being mad?" He replies, "It's 'tough love'—I was just trying it out" Narration continues, "Sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose." Only the top narration of the next two panels is visible on this page 9 reads, "Last week everyone was posting that they were crying over the news." 10 reads, "You just sit and read these horrible things and then you cry, then tell everyone you're crying."

9 continued. Vanessa sits at her desk wearing a pink shirt, brow slightly furrowed, looking at a laptop. Speech bubbles come out of the screen: "I'm crying!" and a Facebook thumbs-up reaction. 10 continued. Same image as last panel, but no text bubbles and Vanessa looks more dejected, expression slightly softer. 11. "I have to say, it does feel good to cry" Vanessa leans on a bar, resting her head on one arm while raising the other. Her partner, mostly off panel, holds a bandage to her raised hand. She is crying and grimacing in pain. Narration continues, "So good sometimes I wonder if I'm faking it?" A close up of her face, which looks concerned, introspective, slightly ashamed, perhaps. 12. "Look, everyone's different. I'm clearly not a stoic. But some things seem too big to purport to digest." An image of a person's torso and right arm: they wear a gray cutoff muscle tee and show off their bicep half-sleeve black-and-white tattoo of a heavy commercial truck framed by the words "R.I.P. Dad" 13. "I felt like any comment I could make was too paltry, too lame, not anything." Vanessa walks away on a street dotted with a tree and a few cars in the background, wearing her blue dress and a red bag. 14. "Of course, here I am making a comic about it. I'll post it on Facebook." Vanessa sits with her face close to her desk, drawing in a sketchbook. There is a desk lamp and papers strewn on the desk. She looks tired, but content. "I have to say, it feels good to do it."

Published On: October 29, 2023

Vanessa lies in a neon green hospital bed with her legs in stirrups. She is actively in labor. Two people hold onto her legs, encouraging her.

Lorraine wears a pink-orange Butterick 2920 dress and jewelry. She smiles and holds up a dirty martini. She says, "The doctor says it calms my nerves. We won't be out too late."

Kim sits at a desk but is turned to face the viewer. A PC, keyboard and mouse are on the desk, and there is a chair a couple feet away. She is wearing glasses and comfortable clothes. Her legs are crossed. She holds a pencil in one hand, and grabs her shoulder with the other. Her dog sits at her feet; his ear is turned inside out. She points out that he's worried. "April 14. Worked on final project for class all day. Neck hurt. Tony took this picture because Molly and I both looked a mess. Enzo got a bad report card yesterday so we laid out some repercussions."

Lynn, in black and white, chugs from a glass.

A cat sits at a window sill, looking boldly at the reader. The fronds of a palm tree are reflected in the window. "April 8. Thursday. Worked. Tony had a union meeting, via Zoom. I had a call w/ team member from class. Enzo had mock trial."

Derek, wearing an orange turtle neck, poses with his arms outstretched above his head and making peace signs. His eyes are closed and he is smiling; he appears smug. There are camera flashes surrounding him, and two people hold microphones up to him. He says, "Hey! There's nothin' wrong with crying. Or been' soft. Or pig boys. I'm still a nice guy and that's what matters."

A person dressed in a green park ranger uniform holds a boom box over a beaver's dam. It plays water sounds. A beaver works on the dam and thinks, "Whatever, I don't care where I build it."

A girl looks over at a dog, who sits behind a fence. A red sign reads "BAD DOG."

A reddish brown building with smoking chimneys.

Derek sleeps in a hammock. He says, "JFC. KMS."

"Rory runs in a field surrounded by palm trees and other foliage. Description: "April 2. Watched Rory. Worked."

Young Lynn gazes at herself in a full length mirror. She is wearing a blue dress and too-big blue heels. She appears pregnant.

Derek sits on the floor with one of his kids, who reads a book and looks slightly bored. The title reads "Escape." Derek is talking to his kid.

Kim sits at a picnic table amongst trees and foliage. Caption: "March 26-27. Worked. Enzo's mock trial team won circuits. A co-worker bought me pho for my bday. I ate it at the park on break."

"Women often say they become invisible as they get older." Vanessa walks in a crowd, sandwiched by two fashionable younger women walking in different directions.

Part of a hand-drawn and colored map, labeled: "The Southwest Corner of Minneapolis in the 1960s..."

A man, likely Tony, stands on a ladder against the roof of a house, positioned right by a satellite dish. The house door is open. Reeds in the corner add a sense of balance to the panel. Description reads: "March 20. Saturday. Worked. Two summer permaculture practicums are now being offered. It will focus on the installations of food forests. Might have to quit my job in order to take'm. Anxious about the financial hit but I'd have more time for art/comics."

A black and white image of a house, with trees in the front and back and a speech bubble that reads, "What's new?"

Three people sit at a round kitchen table on a checkered tile floor. They appear to be in conversation. Description reads: "March 14. Spent the night at moms place in Bradenton. Ann and Mariely are on the night shift so we visited with them when they got home in the morning. Afterwards we got takeout breakfast and walked in the woods. Drove home after and relaxed."

Derek dressed like Uncle Sam, in a triumphant pose

Kim stands at a threshold, looking into a room with tiled floors, a dresser, a large artwork of trees hanging on the wall, and a small waste bin. Description reads: "MARCH 7 SUNDAY"

Elsewhere part II thumbnail - Lynn as a girl, next to a telephone pole, with marks from hot nails on her cheek.

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