Time under tension

Tinderella

by M.S. Harkness

Time Under Tension is a smart, funny, no bullshit work of autobiography, a story of searching for dignity in a world that rarely affords it and taking agency of adulthood in the face of so many easy excuses not to. M.S. Harkness is graduating from art school in Minneapolis and facing a crossroads in life. She has a strained relationship with her mother, a sexually abusive father on parole, and is in love with an aspiring MMA fighter who mostly hangs out with her to get high and already has a girlfriend and career prospects with a fight promoter. An art career feels untenable ― as one professor tells her, “Don’t expect to get by on this fucked-up broke girl shit.” She decides to get a personal trainer’s certificate ― it seems like a feasible and sensible career option ― but continues to dabble as a sex worker and weed dealer because the money is too irresistible. With idle hands due to no classes or full-time work, M.S. has ample time to aimlessly fuck around ― or, to get her shit together. “I want to be better, I want to be stable and solid. I don’t want to keep aimlessly shifting between untenable situations.” Harkness’s bold, precise black-and-white cartooning and eye for storytelling invites the reader in, while her sharp wit and naturalist ear as a writer takes it away from there. Never didactic, always real, Time Under Tension is a spirited and assured work of graphic memoir. Black-and-white illustrations throughout

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Autobiography

264 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2023

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The autobiographical work of M.S. Harkness continues to fascinate and frustrate me. This follow-up to Tinderella and Desperate Pleasures picks up the previously introduced strands of Harness' tangled romantic life, part-time sex work, exercise obsession, substance abuse, and coping as a sexual abuse survivor. I recommend you read those books before jumping into this one.

The longest book yet in the series, it tends to meander and get lost in navel gazing as it slowly circles around to the start of the series with Harkness working on and publishing her her first graphic novel, called Cellphone Cinderella here for some strange reason. I could have done without the confusing layouts of several double-page spreads, especially the trippy drug sequence.

Lots of friends and sequences are dropped into the book without reason or payoff, but it's all worthwhile when Harkness focuses on her emotional growth and her fractured relationship with an MMA fighter.

This sort of feels like a conclusion to the cycle, but I hope Harkness shares more stories from her life in the future.

[Megan Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some of Harkness's earlier books, so experiencing the polish and scope of one was a treat. This book is ambitious and deeply personal! I found some pages difficult to follow--particularly a dive into Harkness's family tree earlier on in the book. But a culminating spread of an emotionally charged acid trip really landed (and reminded me of Julie Doucet's recent work). I really loved the switches in style to weave different timelines and highlight certain moments--grainy frames of an MMA fight viewed on a laptop, or rough pencil sketches to convey a hazy memory from the past. Overall, this was a great addition to Harkess's titles, and I'll definitely read what she keeps putting out.

[Diana Flores · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graphic memoirs seem to fall in two categories: stories about someone's life that other people want to read / stories about someone's life that seem to be just for the author. Unfortunately, Time Under Tension fell into the latter category. I almost gave up halfway through- but persisted, and am no better for it.

The panels got tedious. The black and white heavy-line art was often way too text heavy, and then we'd go through pages with no text. At least I could flip quickly through these pages.

There's just too much in the book, and nothing that makes me care about what is happening to the author. Mainly because she doesn't seem to care either.

The beginning could use some refinement as well - it has flash backs, flash forwards, then back again --- and then everything else seems to happen in order after art school graduation.

What happened with her father and the lawyer? This seemed to kick off the book and then was never mentioned again.

In this book we have:
MMA fight scenes, and a relationship with the fighter (who has a girlfriend); a few pages of an illustrated acid trip (which is never interesting to anyone but the tripper); a book within a book (which I never could figure out- what that one was about- seemed to be yet another graphic memoir); therapy sessions, personal training exam prep, plus quite a few exercise panels; and threaded throughout all this, she is also a sex worker so we get some explicit scenes as well.

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced read via Edelweiss, this one will not go on as one I'd recommend. Publication date is October 24, 2023

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sophomore slump here, this represents a huge leap for MS Harkness who delivers her best book yet with this powerhouse new graphic novel, one of the best of the year.

Harrowing, shockingly honest, and ultimately inspiring.

[Maggie Dahlstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Structurally this is unlike anything Ive ever read. Harkness' grasp on narrative flow and dynamic is unmatched and thats not even getting into the question of content wherein tension acts as the perfect resolution to her memoir trilogy. Each book has improved in terms of craft and communication, but even with that said, tension exceeds all expectations. The scale and beauty of the art especially her city scapes are just insane. Go out and get this book, then track down the preceding two read them, and read this book again, its that good.

[Michael Guillot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graphic novel memoir is slowly becoming my new favorite way of (feeling like I'm) getting to know someone.

M.S. Harkness (cool name) tells a pretty interesting story that's sad, funny, somewhat relatable, and impressively positive in spite of it all. Sometimes the black and white imagery was a little hard to make out exactly what was happening in certain panels, and some of the spreads were downright overwhelming, but I think that all seems to fit well within the context of the story, so maybe it's all intentional!

Curious to know exactly what's fact vs fiction. Feels intensely personal and a little meta, so if she's really putting it all out there like this, wild, but also, kudos!

[Dair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done autobio book. Nicely drawn and worth a read. The first Harkness book I have read but definitely not the last,

[Chris Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Fantagraphics release I missed from 2023. My first Harkness; good! Would read more.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the first quarter of this book, where timelines were jumping back and forth so much. That part felt very disconnected and it was not a great start for getting the reader to connect with the storyline or characters, in my opinion. The rest of the book was cool, but nothing I went crazy for. I particularly liked the therapy sessions and rants about feelings - MS seemed really aloof in the beginning and it was nice to see them open up more. It took courage to share these sentiments and traumatic memories, but I kind of agree with another review that says that this is more of a memoir for the author than it is the reader. Which is totally fine!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of a sudden I believe in autobio again. Yes this has tinges of the typical sadboy/girl mid-20s art school grad work that is so common for this genre. But this is formally daring and has some truly raw, harrowing shit in it. Really incredible pages here (including probably the best representation of what an acid trip actually feels like) especially when the seemingly simple cartooning style gives way to unexpectedly complex panel constructions. It's an unassumingly astonishing book; I didn't realize when I picked it up that it was a sequel to a previous work (it stands just fine on it's own fwiw), and yet another trip to The Beguiling will be in my near future.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an eventful time in MS Harkness’ life: she’s graduating art school, she’s making comics, she’s having an affair with an MMA fighter, she’s doing a lil sex work on the side to fund it all, she’s studying to become a personal trainer, and her incarcerated molesting father is trying to make “amends”. Tense indeed.

Despite not being a fan of memoirs from people still quite young, I thought Time Under Tension was pretty good - certainly warranted given Harkness’ very unusual life! It’s also my first Harkness comic and I gather this is her third memoir (in 6 years - very productive!), so maybe I was more impressed because I’m reading about her life afresh rather than for a third time (assuming she doesn’t rehash old material). Either way, she’s a talented cartoonist.

That said, I didn’t totally understand the numerous time jumps in the first part. There’s a scene, then it’s 2 weeks prior; there’s another scene, then it’s 1 week before that; there’s a scene then it’s 2 weeks after that; then it’s 1 month before graduation and then it’s the night before graduating. These jumps didn’t add anything to the narrative or mean anything to me and I wasn’t sure why she just didn’t tell the story chronologically.

I was never bored reading the comic but parts of it are definitely more interesting than others. The artist residency in Pittsburgh and the various scenes with friends were fun, and the scenes involving sex work or mentions of her horrible childhood were jarring but in a way that kept the narrative unpredictable and compelling; the relationship with the MMA fighter and her pursuit of her personal trainer qualification were less so.

Like the best cartoonists, Harkness has her own drawing style and, while the book as a whole is never dull to look at, it does feel quite same-y for the most part. Occasionally though she’ll show off an amazing splash page like when she and her flat-mate were getting trashed and it gets very trippy (even though those pages are a nightmare to read!).

And she’s a good writer too, similarly unexpectedly throwing out a beautifully poignant line out of nowhere like “One day, I’ll remember it into something better than it ever was.” Helluva way to sum up a relationship while also saying so much by not saying any more.

The book just kinda ends - there’s a half-hearted attempt at growth but it doesn’t feel convincing, mostly because the book was just about stuff that happened to her at this point in her life - and I’m guessing the life story continues in the next one. Which is fine but, as the unevenness of this book highlights, navel-gazing has its limits and I’d like to see someone as talented as MS Harkness stretch and try for more focused fiction instead at some point.

As it is, Time Under Tension is a memoir full of dark material but Harkness is a likeable protagonist and the book never descends to self-pity - the opposite in fact. Worth checking out if you’re a fan of slice-of-life comics but don’t expect anything too deep or impressive from it.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time under Tension (2023) is the third in a series of comics memoirs by M. S. Harkness, a midwesterner. I read the first one, Tinderella (2018), in 2022, about her youthful travels through sex and drugs and bodybuilding with a background of trauma, and really was attracted to her style and brutal honesty. Desperate Pleasures (2020) I read yesterday in one sitting, more of the same, though heading into “monetizing” her sexual life through occasional sex work, with better art chops and better, tighter storytelling.

This third one, Time Under Tension, I have also finished in the past couple days. I am tempted to say, in meme style, that this is her "breakthrough” book (breaking through to comics fame, which has not yet made many rich), as she is getting older, and after graduating from a Minneapolis Art School and getting certified to be a personal trainer, more stable. She also writes with some insight and clarity about wanting a different life, which she is demonstrably doing:

“I want to be better; i want to be stable.”

M.S.’s “father” is a registered sex offender, she one of his victims, and while in jail he wants to apologize to her. She is disturbed by the request, not much into forgiveness. She wants healing, she wants joy, she wants a life:

“I wanted nothing more than to arrive at the present, reconstituted into something I had never been.”

That title, Time Under Tension (TUT), refers to “the amount of time a muscle is held under tension or strain during an exercise set. During TUT workouts, you lengthen each phase of the movement to make your sets longer." This I take to be a productive metaphor for what she is doing in personal training and in life, and she is not hammering this too hard. She has a pretty supportive mother, supportive roommate, and among the flurry of guys in and out. . . of her life, there remains one, an MMA fighter who has a girlfriend, whose image works its way through all three books.

The guy, now a long time friend, sometime lover, sort of gives his blessing to her to write about him, though it seems clear to me she will do what she wants. She is tough, not asking for permission of anyone to do anything. Of her relationship to him, she says,

“I remember everything clearer than it really happened. One day i’ll make it into something better than it ever was.”

I like that memoirish honesty. She’s a better writer, more insightful, making her way to a productive , need I say healthier life (and I understand is a part time comics instructor, too), with a self-deprecating humor. Will we still read her when she gets her life more together?

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like the body of her work deals with the work of the body. In this set of her memoir tales, there's a clear parallel with her friend Murmur, who is a fighter-and-a-lover, or perhaps a former one of each.

The drawing is really crisp, and there's a darkness to Harkness both in ink and how she thinks. Her hair in the book is an amazing cross between a zingbat font and a Cure emoji. She plumbs the depth of what might be another person's despair, but she seems capable of rising to challenges. Basing that some on the book itself, and some on listening to an interview between her and Noah van Sciver. As a side note, Mr. van Sciver seems like such a sterling supporter of the arts and other artists.

Anyways, this has an art school confidential flair, complete with the requisite financial limbo dance beneath a parade of sex, drugs and MMA. Like any good punk memoir, just the fact it is being written makes me happy the author survived! Both University *and* ye olde school of hard knocks.

Made me remember going with my then middle school kids to the local high school art exhibit and caught a little off guard by the many not-so-subtle cries for help. That pencil thin therapy line between artful angst and psychiatric anxiety? Should have known it was around the corner.

Since then I've tried talking to one of my kids about that split in general, and not done a good job honestly. I have Hunger Artist worries about young creators, where the hunger devours the artist. Could be comics or music or stand-up, wherever the font of creativity is born out of inner turmoil. Or worse, necessarily perpetual inner turmoil. Sacrificing one's self at one's own inner emotional volcano.

Granted from pp14, Harkness was sadly born into another's damn volcano.

Anyways, I did enjoy the contrast of mind/art vs body, where this book of mind/art sort of champions the body. Time Under Tension indeed.

[Edward Champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first tango with M.S. Harkness and definitely not my last (I have ordered her two other volumes because TIME UNDER TENSION was interesting enough for me to be curious about her other work). I appreciated her bluntness in describing her part-time sex work, as well as her dogged refusal to get to the roots of her experience. And that's something you need to be prepared for when reading this. We learn that Harkness's father -- a vile man who sexually abused Harkness as a child -- has asked to communicate with her, but this plot thread is abandoned. Indeed, there are many abandoned threads here as we initially jump back and forward through time, only for the "action," so to speak, to settle in with her boyfriend Vicente's fighting career. Which I found less interesting that Harkness's own story, which I wanted to know more of. There are double-page spreads of family lines and sprawling depictions of time spent in various pockets of the world. I also liked the way Harkness "cross-cuts" between disparate inside and outside tableaux within her nine panel setup. This is a graphic novel about getting through every day, but it stubbornly refuses to reveal even as it DOES reveal. This isn't a narrative strategy that always works, but, in an age of unfettered confessional comics, it's nice to see someone who plays her cards close to her chest and suggest that what you see at the surface level isn't the entire story.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

M.S. Harkness' newest entry is yet another graphic memoir, though one that demonstrates her immense growth as a storyteller. Time Under Tension depicts Harkness' life leading up to her graduation from art school and the various external stresses she juggles. The story opens to Harkness making ends meet as a part time sex worker while also navigating a strained relationship with her MMA fighter boyfriend, who happens to be dating someone else too. Adding to the stressful mix is a formal apology from her abusive father's therapist which Harkness has no interest in acknowledging. Spiraling from a lack of control in her life, Harkness travels to Pittsburgh to work alongside legendary cartoonist Frank Santoro while also completing her certification to become a personal trainer (hence the title of the book). Harkness does not really present her own struggles as anything unique, but what she does convey extremely well is that every aspect of her life is steeped in some level of dissatisfaction and frustration.

What Time Under Tension does better than her previous memoirs is the increased confidence as a storyteller. Everything about this has a distinctive feel to it, from her stylish, angular lines, to the succinct and droll tone of the script. The book has an episodic feel to it, but its a quick read and gets to the point with ease. There are a few pages where Harkness experiments with layouts, but the sequence that stands out the most is the lengthy MMA fight that employs some true mastery of the form. The heavy linestyle employed by Harkness has never looked more appealing than it does here. Adding to the vibrant visual flair of the artwork is a sense of maturity in the way the events are depicted here. There isn't a self-indulgent or aggrandizing tone to any of the story beats - it all comes off as deeply insightful and earnest in approach.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: sex on page, violence, abuse, drugs

I assume writing this was cathartic in some way for the author. They have been through a lot in their life, and I don't think I can judge that specifically. Life experience is personal.

However, the composition of this book was very hard to follow. There were no transition scenes at all, and it would jump from completely different conversations and places with no warning. Some of the text and internal thoughts blurred together and I couldn't tell if they were still speaking or just thinking things. Some storylines weren't concluded, or randomly thrown in where it didn't make sense. I just wish it had some more cohesiveness to it.

[Leslie Carnahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually really enjoy graphic novel memoirs. But sadly this one I don't think was for me. I do appreciate the honesty and the darkness in the storytelling. It can't be easy to share the things that she's shared in this book. But I found the story very hard to follow at points. The art kind of went everywhere. And at the beginning were things jumped back and forth.... I just found this hard to follow. Do I think that this person is a good artist and storyteller? Yes. Was this book for me though? No.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is that special memoir that doesn't treat itself too preciously while retaining all its vulnerability, humor, and humanity. It's a glimpse into the minutae of a talented woman's life, where detail is its richness. Not detail in the art, which is bold and cartoon, but in revealing family histories, inner monologues with sharply honest introspection, and ways of living outside social norms. This review probably makes it sound more highfalutin than Harkness may have been going for, but there's no denying its power. Just make sure you don't mistake the acid in the freezer for something else.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good memoir. I didn't personally resonate with much of the author's troubles, but I definitely can understand the grind-yourself-to-the-ground mentality that comes after college graduation. The world is big, and you struggle to find your place in it. Even if my troubles aren't the same as Harkness, I can feel her anger, her tension, her pain, her excitement, and her hope. I hope she's doing better now.

[Margogo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like the drawing style. A lot of drama and pain that is left unprocessed - like in real life, oh wait. Appreciated the openness, especially the way M.S.(Montney Shaddox) talks about her sex work side of life with her friends.

And finally, characters I can tell from each other as they have something definitive in the way they’re depicted. Even easy to differentiate hair styles depending on whether events happen in the past or present. One of my main pet peeves with a lot of graphic novels. Hurray.

[Slavestosushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is stunning. Beautiful and hideous at all the right moments. The pace of modern day living so present in the writing and the graphics. I was blown away but the metaphor of the mountain, its fullness and overwhelming accuracy.

I oddly enjoyed the size of this book at well the shape of its pages and the weight of it. I will look for other works by Author Harkness.

[Rory Toohey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An indie comic that's a navel-gazing memoir? Who ever heard of such a thing?

Perhaps I'm being too harsh - everyone does have their own story to tell, and Harkness's story is indeed unique. Despite the plethora of autobiographies out there, this one does have an edge and unevenness to it that's both good and bad - an acquired taste for sure.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few attempts at connection with the reader, and MS is smarter/much more interesting than many doing this genre, but ultimately I am left wondering: why put so much work into a book that's basically a surface-level narcissistic exercise? I should probably just stop reading autobio comix tbh...

[D.J. Desmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real, emotional, yet funny. Right up my alley.

This pairs well with Zoe Thorogood's work, but with more sex work and less active depression. This story is someone pulling themselves up against all odds in multiple ways.

Recommended to graphic novel fans

[SilviaR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Loved it even though it felt like a good punch in the throat at times. The illustrations are expressive and I think the author is also a great storyteller. I’ve been reading all her books and they just keep getting better.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this. Autobio graphic novels about 20somethings floundering is waaay in my wheelhouse, so of course I loved it. I laughed out loud at several points. The art is distinct and I loved it too. I'd totally recommend it.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artist really shows the struggle of survival and depression with little to no family support. I like to go into books blind so I had no idea how dark this graphic novel was when I started. The art itself is sharp and ragged which adds to the depth of the story.

[Caroline Cash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book of the year. Cannot recommend enough.

[ETHAAAN B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

M.S. DOES IT AGAIN! HER BEST YET. QUEEN OF AUTOBIO.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

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