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Nick Pope
Sixteen-year-old Nick Pope was born with prominent birthmarks around both of his eyes and faces teasing and bullying from both classmates and strangers. He also struggles with depression and confusion about his sexual orientation.
Nick finds refuge and release in drawing, and gains tentative confidence that his artistic abilities are worth nurturing and developing. His family moves across the city and he begins his sophomore year at a brand-new high school. On the advice of his ex-therapist, he starts writing and illustrating a diary that tracks his day-to-day adventures at school, at home with his family of two working parents and a precocious little brother, and his burgeoning friendships with fellow outsiders Sharita and Preston.
Beginning in late August 1987, this illustrated diary tracks three months of Nick's life, including his euphoric ups and painful downs. Fatal Attraction, arcade games Crystal Castles and Circus Charlie, and Dolly Parton's new variety TV show all find their way onto the page as Nick reaches a dramatic turning point.
First written by Christopher Stanton more than fifteen years ago and illustrated by Christopher Darling while he was a student at the School of Visual Arts, this brings Nick Pope to the world in a book nearly identical to its first edition. The diary offers a look at a young artist learning to value his own perspective as he uses his creative talent to understand the world and make connections .
The book is a testament to the tremendous talents of its illustrator, who passed away in 2018.
Recommended for mature teens and older.
Nick finds refuge and release in drawing, and gains tentative confidence that his artistic abilities are worth nurturing and developing. His family moves across the city and he begins his sophomore year at a brand-new high school. On the advice of his ex-therapist, he starts writing and illustrating a diary that tracks his day-to-day adventures at school, at home with his family of two working parents and a precocious little brother, and his burgeoning friendships with fellow outsiders Sharita and Preston.
Beginning in late August 1987, this illustrated diary tracks three months of Nick's life, including his euphoric ups and painful downs. Fatal Attraction, arcade games Crystal Castles and Circus Charlie, and Dolly Parton's new variety TV show all find their way onto the page as Nick reaches a dramatic turning point.
First written by Christopher Stanton more than fifteen years ago and illustrated by Christopher Darling while he was a student at the School of Visual Arts, this brings Nick Pope to the world in a book nearly identical to its first edition. The diary offers a look at a young artist learning to value his own perspective as he uses his creative talent to understand the world and make connections .
The book is a testament to the tremendous talents of its illustrator, who passed away in 2018.
Recommended for mature teens and older.
134 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 4, 2025
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Stanton
5 books7 followersChristopher Stanton is a creative writer and artist from Columbus, OH who has lived and worked in Los Angeles for thirty years. He received a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University and an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California.
His book Dandelion Crossing, about the first week of a controversial, brand-new suburban shopping mall in 1983, told through stories of fourteen characters who cross paths there, is now available.
Stanton also created the graphic novel Nick Pope, illustrated by the late Christopher Darling. It's the illustrated diary of a high school sophomore in 1987 who struggles with depression, bullying and low self-esteem. Nick draws to try to make sense of his chaotic world.
The book is on the shelves at more than forty libraries across the United States, both public and college, including Harvard, UCLA and Berkeley.
Its sequel - Nick Pope: Summer of '88 - was published in March 2026. It features drawings by Raymond Klecker and is a BookLife Editor's Pick, a Staff Pick from Independent Book Review, and it received a starred review from Kirkus.
Stanton's horror thriller Kings of the Earth, about a haunted surfing town on Lake Michigan, was nominated for the 2020 TopShelf Book Award. He published a second book: The Underachiever: Collected Stories in 2021. Both books are available on Amazon.
Stanton has also completed his second novel Neon Muscle, about a huge fitness center in Los Angeles in 1983. Centering on five characters connected to the gym, the book explores the 80s fitness craze, the emergence of AIDS, the LA art scene and the world of male strip clubs.
His book Dandelion Crossing, about the first week of a controversial, brand-new suburban shopping mall in 1983, told through stories of fourteen characters who cross paths there, is now available.
Stanton also created the graphic novel Nick Pope, illustrated by the late Christopher Darling. It's the illustrated diary of a high school sophomore in 1987 who struggles with depression, bullying and low self-esteem. Nick draws to try to make sense of his chaotic world.
The book is on the shelves at more than forty libraries across the United States, both public and college, including Harvard, UCLA and Berkeley.
Its sequel - Nick Pope: Summer of '88 - was published in March 2026. It features drawings by Raymond Klecker and is a BookLife Editor's Pick, a Staff Pick from Independent Book Review, and it received a starred review from Kirkus.
Stanton's horror thriller Kings of the Earth, about a haunted surfing town on Lake Michigan, was nominated for the 2020 TopShelf Book Award. He published a second book: The Underachiever: Collected Stories in 2021. Both books are available on Amazon.
Stanton has also completed his second novel Neon Muscle, about a huge fitness center in Los Angeles in 1983. Centering on five characters connected to the gym, the book explores the 80s fitness craze, the emergence of AIDS, the LA art scene and the world of male strip clubs.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 13, 2023
What a wonderful story. I read it in one sitting. It’s like a comic book diary filled with humor and drama. I’m lucky enough to know the author who recently published it and made it available on Amazon.
I loved how he mentioned films that I actually knew and loved from 1987: THE HIDDEN, LESS THAN ZERO, FATAL ATTRACTION and others.
The story is about a misfit high-schooler. We ALL feel out of place at different points in our lives. I loved it. The author in his afterword wrote a significant sentence that we must all take to heart: “Keep moving forward and reaching out to people when you need it!”
Here are some of the profound lines that captured my attention:
“I want to be an artist when I grow up.”
“I’m not like everybody else.”
“I smiled at her like I practice in the mirror.”
“Lower the deflector shields. When they’re down people can’t hurt me.”
Accounting is like LIFE, a series of debits and credits. As humans we need to balance it.
A jock strap in gym isn’t so bad after all and he thinks it has empowered him somehow.
“Bad things and good things. Is this what the rest of LIFE is like?” (Answer: YES!)
“Just stick with it and people will realize how cool you are.”
“It’s always the kids who look a little different that have the most to offer.”
“I’m writing a diary, with illustrations.”
He has this confidence that’s like a new jacket he never wants to take off.
He had this look in his eyes like he’d left the water running in the sink and didn’t notice that it had overflowed.
I figured I should just GO WITH IT.
I had this feeling in my stomach like I was traveling through a whirl of colors and words that linked together and wrapped around me like a blanket, keeping me safe.
“Some people look at the world and they just see the surface.”
I got up early and felt very confused, like I had just caught a football pass and didn’t know which way to run.
“I want to be on my own. Make my own choices. That’s what a real man does.”
I loved how he mentioned films that I actually knew and loved from 1987: THE HIDDEN, LESS THAN ZERO, FATAL ATTRACTION and others.
The story is about a misfit high-schooler. We ALL feel out of place at different points in our lives. I loved it. The author in his afterword wrote a significant sentence that we must all take to heart: “Keep moving forward and reaching out to people when you need it!”
Here are some of the profound lines that captured my attention:
“I want to be an artist when I grow up.”
“I’m not like everybody else.”
“I smiled at her like I practice in the mirror.”
“Lower the deflector shields. When they’re down people can’t hurt me.”
Accounting is like LIFE, a series of debits and credits. As humans we need to balance it.
A jock strap in gym isn’t so bad after all and he thinks it has empowered him somehow.
“Bad things and good things. Is this what the rest of LIFE is like?” (Answer: YES!)
“Just stick with it and people will realize how cool you are.”
“It’s always the kids who look a little different that have the most to offer.”
“I’m writing a diary, with illustrations.”
He has this confidence that’s like a new jacket he never wants to take off.
He had this look in his eyes like he’d left the water running in the sink and didn’t notice that it had overflowed.
I figured I should just GO WITH IT.
I had this feeling in my stomach like I was traveling through a whirl of colors and words that linked together and wrapped around me like a blanket, keeping me safe.
“Some people look at the world and they just see the surface.”
I got up early and felt very confused, like I had just caught a football pass and didn’t know which way to run.
“I want to be on my own. Make my own choices. That’s what a real man does.”
December 15, 2023
I absolutely loved this short graphic novel about a sensitive artist kid in high school in the 1980s dealing with girls, an inappropriate male teacher, a physical abnormality and more. Definitely a kind of funny/poignant/bittersweet Linda Barry vibe. I love the illustrations by Christopher Darling.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews